What is “peace within”?

 According to Webster dictionary, peace is “a state of tranquility or quiet” or “a state in which there is no war or fighting”.  Can we reach a state of tranquility where there is no fighting within our minds no matter what the world is dropping on us? Regardless of how much money we have, our ultimate human desire will remain to seek inner peace. Here are several steps I suggest to help find that serenity:

1.Establish regular prayer and meditation on a daily basis. I have written several articles regarding this issue and its importance. In this article I explain how our body starts releasing nitric oxide once we start our prayers/meditation and use a word or phrase repeatedly. Additionally, scientists claim the practice contributes to neurogenesis. This increases the size of our frontal lobe. Our frontal lobe is responsible for executive functions, such as decision making, clarity, organization skills, etc.

In a study conducted in 2008, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studied individuals practicing compassion meditation, and found that it altered their brain function in positive ways. It also improved mood and reduced anger and stress. meaning less stress and anger translate with "PEACE WITHIN".

2.Practice mindfulness. 

There are millions of individuals who do not believe in God, but believe in forces such as nature or energy, etc. Reaching peace within is not exclusive to those of us who believe in God. One can reach peace within by simply conducting a mindful life, known as mindful meditation (religious individuals can follow it as well, in addition to their daily prayers). Mindfulness is another very important approach toward living peacefully. It has amazing health benefits.The reason why mindfulness is so powerful is because most of us conduct our lives using our subconscious mind. In the 21st century, we act almost exactly the same as our ancestors did thousands of years ago by following our subconscious mind (95% of time).

 Our actions are learned from our parents or others around us. They learned similar behaviors from their parents, and so on. We might realize that we are not different from what they do simply because we do not use our conscious minds as often and rely heavily on our subconscious minds. We need to be present in each moment by simply paying attention to the HERE & NOW. Mindful meditation has been investigated by many scientists. Indicating to have many benefits including reaching peace of mind.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/smi.2551).This simple YET VERY DIFFICULT act of practicing and focusing at HERE & NOW. Can change our entire view about life and help greatly in reaching peace and serenity within.

Most likely the easiest way of paying attention and being present without distraction. Is to observe everything, without any judgments. Examples are paying attention to the breathing the rise and fall of your chest and abdominal muscles. Without interfering to its speed or in its quality. Simply observing, If get distracted, acknowledge the distraction and go back.

Simply observing, If get distracted, acknowledge the distraction and go back.Continue the task of observing the breathing.   

Sometimes if you can talk to yourself without being heard( otherwise it be seen as unusual behavior). This can be helpful in your mindful practice. Example: I am here at this grocery store. The walls in this section are all white. There is a leady with green skirt and there are many cereal boxes etc.  Try to describe everything, while using ALL your senses. 

3.Always put yourself in other people’s shoes.

Imagine if we always used our mind and felt what others felt. Make a decision based on how others might feel given the same situation. That way you take actions based on an understanding of each situation and an understanding of each other.  

4.Control your ego

According to Webster’s dictionary, ego is “the opinion that you have about yourself”. Unfortunately, some of us have such a huge ego that we feel the need to distinguish ourselves from others. This is not entirely bad if we are doing positive things. However, individuals with a big ego are sometimes willing to commit atrocities to set them apart from others. History books are full of these types of leaders and individuals.  How can we tame this dragon of the ego?

Let’s not allow individuals to take our frustration and use it in todividing and a force to propel themselves forward. Keep practicing mindfulness, meditation, and prayer, and keep reaching out to others in  order to better our world.  There is a love and kindness meditation (compassion meditation) that I use in my talks. I would like you to repeat these words every day when you wake up, if you are in line at a grocery store/train station, etc. HERE :

“May I be healthy and live a life free of pain”
“May I be happy with joy in my heart.”
“May I live in peace with serenity in my life”

       A)   Never allow temptation 

 Never allow temptation to take over so much that you reach a point of no return.  Rumi, my favorite Persian poet (10th century), tells the story of a man who was on his way to Baghdad. He notices a giant sleeping snake. It is winter, and the snake is hibernating. So the man thinks, “This is great! I can go show this snake to people and make money.” He carries it all the way to downtown Baghdad and starts a show. Curious people gather around the man. As the crowd grows, it gets warmer and the snake wakes up. It attacks, poisons, and kills countless people—including the man who wanted money and fame. Rumi then asks, “how could a human being give in to temptation? How could one allow the giant sleeping snake within us to get so big that we are no longer capable of controlling it?”

So let’s keep your ego under control and avoid temptation before our temptation rules our lives and devours our being.

           B)    Remind yourself of how temporary 

               Remind yourself of how temporary our stay is in this world. We all come from dust and return back to dust, no matter how big or small we are in life. Regardless of all your success, unless you are an Egyptian pharaoh, you will die without taking your belongings with you. All that is left is your memory; try to make it good. Personally, when I feel overwhelmed and stressed over small things, I go to a cemetery just to put life in perspective and remind myself to enjoy the present. I also like to look at pictures taken from space and observe our relative insignificance in the vastness of the universe.

So, let’s keep our ego tamed. Let’s love one another as Jesus teaches us or as the Quran verse 30:21 teaches us, “LOVE is a Divine sign”. Or, as Buddhism teaches, “LOVE is a gift of one's innermost soul to another so both can be whole”.

Let us once and for all break the cycle of violence and turmoil in the 21st century and place a STOP to the learned habits from our ancestral past by starting to shape our own PEACE within our own universe first.

Thanks for visiting www.curenaturally.org. For questions, please call our office at (616)-777-0608 and leave a message.Wish you the best in managing your stress.  If you want to learn more about how meditate and the science behind it, feel free to sign up for Dr. Girgis’s seminars on our website..  Feel free to follow us on twitter for our latest postings.

 Ashraf Girgis N.D.