We are all seeking Shanti, peace. But often we think we’ll find peace only when everything outside is “perfect” – the way that we want it to be. We think – “when everything is perfect, then I will feel peace. If only the person who is in front of me agrees with me, and does exactly what I want them to do, then I will experience peace.”
That kind of peace is conditional. True peace has no condition. No one should be able to take away that connection to the divine that resides within our own heart in the form of peace. In every moment, in every situation, we have a choice – to choose peace over conflict.
Each of us has a personal responsibility to maintain that connection. The world will never be the way we expect it to be. There are so many people, everybody has their own idea, and everybody wants the world their way, which is not possible. Diversity outside will always exist; true peace arises when, no matter the circumstances, we don’t lose our inner stability.
There’s an old saying: when faced with a field full of thorns and broken glass, instead of trying to clear the field, put on a pair of shoes and walk through it. Protect yourself first. Strengthen your peace, then move through the world and help spread it.
Conflicts in life are inevitable. When a conflict arises, we really need to look at what is happening. We come into a state of conflict when we want things to be a certain way and there is someone who doesn’t agree and does something else. Then all our energy begins to flow towards the conflict and negativity and soon we are lost.
Instead of reacting, can we turn those moments of conflict into moments of spiritual practice? Can we rise above our mind-held beliefs about what is right in the name of protecting our peace? We do have the power to be tolerant, to hold compassion for the other, and to rise above conflict — not as victims, but through devotion to our own inner peace.
It’s not weakness — it requires courage, commitment, and devotion to back down and detach from the need to be right. The highest “right” is our connection to the divine, and when we’re devoted to that, we don’t get caught up in little conflicts.
It takes work. It takes sacrifice. But what a small price to pay for real wealth — the peace in our heart.
May we spend our time looking for those seeds of peace not conflict.
