Here are some great insights on inner peace by Eckart Tolle , a great spiritual teacher and author.
“Peace is not being asleep or being numb. It’s the opposite. It’s a state of heightened aliveness, when we become more conscious rather than less, and this requires an awareness of the kinds of thoughts that habitually go through your mind.
Peace is immune to the polarities of life: the highs and lows, the hots and colds, the so-called goods and so-called bads. This is why peace is so crucial. Nobody goes through life without encountering all these experiences, inspiring or upsetting. When someone close to you dies or you have a health problem or you lose our possessions, you probably can’t feel happy. Nobody could. But do you need to feel in absolute despair? Do you need to feel devastated? If you are at peace and connected with that deeper level in you, those kind of emotional extremes don’t occur. You’ll have a calm that is not affected by whatever happens in the world, because you have an acceptance and understanding of whatever happens in the world.
Not only does our mind strain away from the calm of the present moment, it also judges and interprets such a moment—usually negatively. For example, let’s pretend a co-worker just received a promotion. The voice in your head says that you should have gotten the promotion or that your boss just prefers that co-worker, even though you’re the stronger candidate.
In this case—and most cases—it’s not the external circumstance (not getting job) that’s making you unhappy but what you’re telling yourself about those circumstances (“It’s not fair!”). In other words, your thoughts are making you unhappy. When you change this habit, you will stop resisting what is happening in your life. You can become friendly with the present moment and find an opening into the spiritual dimension. This is one of the most important spiritual practices in the search for peace. Old irritations—like being trapped in a traffic jam—are no longer upsetting or anxiety provoking. You become internally aligned with the reality of what is happening: You are in a car, you aren’t moving…that is all. You don’t have a problem, not right this second. You might even notice a mother singing to a child in a neighboring car or the vibrant blue of the sky. You have become friendly with life itself, and with the experiences offered you everywhere.
There is an intelligence in the movement of life, which goes far beyond the limited intelligence of your thinking mind. This is the spirit. When you begin to trust in your spirit and life itself, you begin to feel a peace. You are no longer separate from that greater intelligence from which life unfolds, you are no longer to trying to get somewhere else or find something missing.
The old religious word for this kind of trust is “faith.” Some religions would say they have faith in God, some would say they have faith in a higher power, but whatever name people chose, they are talking about that which underlies all life. Peace comes from this trust. Peace comes from being aligned with the present moment. Wherever you are, you feel that you are home—because you are home.”
Soul Homework For Ourselves & Our Clients
1. Write down negative thoughts that came up today.
2. Write down how can I look at this in a different way that would give me peace or healing
