"This Week"
Bahrain Meditation Centre
22^nd July, 2006

Lest You Forget ? Peace is Your Power

We tend to take peace for granted. As long as there is no one making war
with our nation or there is no noise in our neighborhood, we might think
peace reigns. But it doesn?t. Real peace is not a state of affairs in the
world ? it is a state of being within oneself.

The absence of peace is demonstrated by the number of ways that we search,
usually in vain, to alleviate the stresses and strains of modern living. If
inner peace was present in our life we would travel less, eat less, shop
less, work less, struggle less, talk less and think less. In some cases
?less? might, for short periods, become not at all! Such are some of the
ways that we search for peace. Is inner peace present or absent in your
life? Without inner peace it will be impossible to give love in your
relationships and find happiness in your life.

To many, inner peace is not a very interesting subject. They have not yet
learned that peace is the very ground of our being and the power to be
effective in every area of our day-to-day life. Here are seven vital
aspects of all our lives in which our effectiveness will depend on the
quality of our inner peace.

Inner Peace as CALM
Staying calm when all around you would prefer to be in crisis and chaos is
only possible when you are grounded in your inner peace. Do you know how to
do that? Or do you get sucked into others dramas and influenced by their
emotions. If you do, it means you have lost your connection with your inner
peace.

Inner Peace as CREATIVITY
Life is filled with challenging situations. Life is relationship and every
relationship is an opportunity to be creative. Every interaction requires
your ability to create the most appropriate and effective response. Try
being creative when you are peaceless, stressed and worried. Inner peace
and creativity go hand in hand.

Inner Peace as CONCENTRATION
Why are you not able to concentrate on one thing at a time? Why are you so
easily distracted? Could it be that you have not yet discovered the inner
peace that allows you to focus and concentrate. You probably know its there
but you have not yet learned how to anchor your self within it.

Inner Peace as COMMUNICATION
As you walk and talk you radiate energy into the world and into your
relationships. Ever wondered why peace doesn?t always come back to you from
others? Could it be because you didn?t radiate peace yourself? Can you
give the gift of peace to another? If you can it means you can give it to
your self. If you can?t it means you have not started to find peace within
your self.

Inner Peace as CHOICE
What is life but a series of choices, until we reach the stage where we need
to choose no more, That?s when the right thing to think, say and do become
obvious. In the meantime we need to be able to hear our intuitive wisdom to
make right choices and decisions. Why can?t we hear our inner guide ? could
it be because there is too much inner noise of too many thoughts, too many
mixed feelings, and not enough inner????..?

Inner Peace as POWER
Have you ever noticed what makes a person powerful? It has little to do
with position or status. Any power derived from these is soon lost the
first time they lose their temper. One of the biggest factors that inspires
others to follow is the ability to exercise great self-control. And the
foundation of self control is inner peace. The absence of a peaceful mind
means self control is impossible.

Inner Peace as PURPOSE
Why are you here? To be scared, stressed or just too busy for the most
important person in your life? Your self! Life will always have no purpose
or meaning until you first find yourself ? and to do that you will need to
rediscover what has always been there within your self ? your inner peace.

As you know, peace in the world is becoming harder to find and even harder
to sustain. Outer peace is dependent on inner peace. The paradox of inner
peace is it?s always already there within each and every one of us. We only
need to take the time to look, see it, feel it, know it and be it. In the
words of Oliver Wendell Holmes, ?What lies behind us, and what lies before
us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us?

Question: Which of the above applications of inner peace do you need to
develop in order enhance in your life today?

Reflection: What are three current habits which seem to sabotage your inner
peace most often? Take a moment to reflect and write them down.

Action: Visit HYPERLINK
"http://www.just-a-minute.com/"www.just-a-minute.com and familiarise
yourself with ways to take a minute of meditation or contemplation to access
your inner peace each day.

Om Shanti
(I am a peaceful soul)

 Tel: +973-17-712 545, meditate@batelco.com.bh, www.bahrainmeditationcentre.org
Bahrain Meditation Centre is administered by B.K.W.S.U. (visit: www.bkwsu.org.uk)