Despite a lifetime of trying, I've never found anything (habit, behaviour, practice, intention, effort, achievement, circumstance, etc.) that has consistently worked to
bring about a peaceful state of mind.
I would suspect that most human beings would say the same.
I have however noticed that my peace is not actually circumstance or action related, even though I tend to frequently make that attribution.
Instead, I have found the experience of peace to be much more beautifully complex, and paradoxically, much more beautifully simple than that.
Sometimes I feel peace. Sometimes I don't.
Let
that rest quietly for a moment or two.
I once felt profound peace in the middle of a car accident and once felt deep suffering surrounded by the incomprehensible beauty and peace of nature.
If circumstances or actions create peace, how could this be possible?
I never did anything to intentionally feel that peace during the car accident. I never did anything to intentionally feel that suffering while out in nature. It just happened.
I never realized the profound significance of this until just a few years ago.
Oddly,
it didn't leave me hopeless...
It left me free.
With Love and Laughter,
Jonelle