
Recognize any beliefs you have about how things should or shouldn’t be.Notice every single thing about them so that you see them completely. They might be painful feelings or subtle tensions in the body. Welcome these experiences with friendliness, curiosity, and allowing – just as they are.Even if your inner experience is resistance itself, be curious about meeting it directly. You are being conscious of your own inner experience. This means you are not focusing on the events in your world or on the mental stories running in your mind. Turn your attention inward to the emotions and physical sensations that you are experiencing.It is an invitation to live in the “Yes!” Here’s how: Peace is revealed to us when we stop resisting what we experience. This truth begs the essential question: Do you want passing happiness or enduring peace? The Way to Inner Peace If we stake our happiness on things that are temporary, what happens when they appear or disappear? There goes our happiness. Peace is not to be found in any temporary arising that is, anything that comes and goes, which includes events, people, objects, thoughts, emotions, etc. We cannot design the world to our liking or even control our own thoughts and feelings. Why? There is no “outer peace” because we are not in charge of the circumstances of our lives. There is only one kind of peace, which is inner peace. We go on to resist these reactions by minimizing them, avoiding them, or wishing they would change. Our mottos are “no” and “not this.” We then react internally with physical tension, frustration and despair, and a mind spinning with opinions and justifications. When we resist, we are locked in to what we want and are not open to what life is actually offering us. Resistance wants to rewrite our personal histories and ensure that our plans materialize. The inner war is perpetuated by resistance – that is, not wanting to feel the way we feel, not wanting people to do what they are doing, not wanting events to occur as they are occurring. When we are finished with the futility of old habits and want to know the truth more than anything, we are ready for the journey we have become warriors for happiness and for peace. The starting point is the longing to be free, to end the inner war with our own experience that brings us stress, confusion, and dissatisfaction. This post defines inner peace and explains why warrior qualities are needed, and the next one will expand on the specific virtues that help us walk the path to peace. The journey to discover inner peace is a ruthless one that requires the qualities of the warrior. Warriors don’t simply fight they show courage, strength, and perseverance as they take a stand for what they know to be true. Google the phrase “warrior archetype,” and you will find magnificent stories of gods and goddesses from many cultures and traditions that highlight personal qualities inspiring us to thrive in the face of challenges.
