Your peace is not a luxury.
It is the bare minimum.
A balanced nervous system is not reserved
for the elite, "successful", privileged, or righteous
Your peace is not a luxury.
It is the ground you need to simply stand
to simply see
to simply listen.
Without your peace
every action is a transposed attempt to reclaim it.
every movement is
anxious
dry
rushed
murky
desperate.
Your peace is not a luxury
it is from a foundation of peace
that every action is a direct expression of unfiltered love.
every movement is
spacious
unifying
effective
light
seamless.
Your peace is not a luxury
do whatever you must to reclaim it.
to enter peace
is to enter the container of God.
-- from my journal 12.3.22
I do that.
I constantly trick myself into believing that my peace is a luxury.
As if it's some kind of reward.
I keep catching myself in the narrative of:
"If only _____, then I could be at peace."
The quote for this week is:
Ego says, "Once everything falls into place, I’ll feel peace."
Spirit says, "Find your peace, and then everything will fall into place."
-- Marianne Williamson
As I explored in my journal entry above, your peace is primary.
However... it's not something that you can "get".
You can't "get" peace. It's not something to be earned or gained.
It is something to be remembered.
Peace is your birthright.
Claim it.
Claim it
not through any kind of efforting...
but through surrender.
In this past year, peace has felt very concealed in my life.
My world felt burdened with so much heaviness, that "peace" felt like a distant dream.
Our spirits HUNGER for peace, just as the physical body HUNGERS for homeostasis.
Peace is a big topic. There's a lot to unpack here. So I'm just going to share what feels most alive and important to me right now. However, my intention here is never to tell you anything. I'm just offering my own experience, and I encourage you to explore yours. Experience your own answers. Just like the word "shanti" is merely pointing... I am just a finger pointing to the real thing. Only you can step through the door. I can only describe it. I can only point.
So... what is peace? What is this word "shanti" pointing to? For that is the purpose of this series -- to not simply check off a mental understanding of the word, but to marinate in the experience... the state... the vibration that the word points to. Simply, we are using the word as a tool to go beyond the word. We use the rational mind as a tool to go beyond the rational mind.
Your ability to recite a definition is only superficial knowledge. True, knowledge, true understanding, is gained through direct experience. For example... how do you become a good basketball player? Just by studying the rules? No, it takes years and years of direct experience PLAYING the game -- being immersed in the experience of basketball.
In that same vein, to more deeply know what peace is, requires years and years and lifetimes of exploration, immersed within the experience of peace.
I ask again, what is peace? In my own experience... peace is always present. Peace is something that is integral to the heart. Peace is a divine attribute. Peace is clarity, order, justice, and calm. However, in this human experience, in order to evolve, in order to grow, we experience constant oscillation. Our circumstances constantly oscillate between periods of revealment, and periods of concealment. Perhaps peace is intensely concealed in your current circumstances, but that doesn't mean peace isn't there. Just because we can't see the stars in the daytime, doesn't mean they stopped shining.
What does peace feel like? To me it feels like safety. It feels like evenness of mind (one of the definitions of the word yoga ;). It feels like I am held in unconditional love. It feels like I am deeply present. I've felt immense peace in the midsts of objectively fractured heartbreaking chaos. And I've also felt the most confused and conflicted in times of objectively tranquil waters. Obviously our external circumstances, in their many layers (environment, relationships, bodies, minds, etc.) have an effect on our state. And with honest discernment, we can do our best to align our environments (external and internal) to be best conducive to peace.
But often, things can feel very out of your control, right? And this is when it can be incredibly helpful to remind yourself that peace is within you. (Even just try it as an experiment). In the storm, remind yourself -- peace is who I am. My very essence is peace. When I become quiet... and I sift through all the noise of the world and all the noise of my mind... what remains? My very essence: peace. The core of who I am. It is I who rests eternally in the heart. To touch down in that place for a mere moment, can provide even just a drop of nourishment. And sometimes I am starving for even just a drop.
When you do feel at peace, where is that peace coming from? Do you feel peace because your stable job gave it to you? Or your awesome friends? Or your cozy house? Or your good health? Did they give you peace?
They may have been the trigger... but that peace flashed forward from within your own heart. The job, the health, the friends, the house served as a REMINDER of something that you already are.
Everything is a mirror.
This is your invitation into the exploration of peace. Remember it within your heart. Surround yourself with the environments of body, mind, people, media, atmospheres that remind you of peace. This is not selfish. This shift of environment doesn't necessarily need to be anything grand or dramatic. But be honest with yourself. And set aside time to simply marinate in stillness. Rest in your heart. Know peace.
Know peace and as a side effect, your circumstances will fall into place.
Know peace and you will root into a powerful, loving, nourishing foundation. A foundation that will support not only your own growth and joy, but everyone who comes near you. The more we cultivate our essence, our vibratory state (as is the intention of this series)... it is like applying a perfume that blesses everyone who catches your scent. Because you are clearing yourself to be a channel of love.
The painting I created for SHANTI is a call to plant your roots in peace. Nourish your peace, and you will grow into a tree that provides shade and fruit for many. The right palm upheld (abhaya mudra) means "all is well"... no matter what is happening, that hand never wavers. In both the horror and the bliss, there is unshakable faith: all is well.
peace of body.
peace of mind.
peace of soul.
Shanti Shanti Shanti ॐ
♡ Kat
Also, I'm selling the art prints from each week!
If you'd like one, you can grab one in person or order below ↓
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