True Peace Is Within

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

— Buddha  

Have you ever felt anxious or scared and immediately sought a person or an item to calm your nerves? 

I have. 

I’ve sought out spiritual teachers from multiple religions. I’ve read books. I’ve used items. 

These teachers and books and items have helped calm my mind and heart, but I never became dependent on them. 

They pointed the way towards true peace – and that way was within myself. 

You’ll likely never find peace in politics – as it’s always changing and politicians lie and attack each other… there’s no peace in that, but a large number of people look to politicians for some reason.  

So how do you discover peace within yourself? 

Begin by meditating. 

It won’t happen overnight, but if you seek peace for long enough – you will have it. 

Opinions and Reality

“In Zen they say: ‘Don’t seek the truth. Just cease to cherish opinions.’ What does that mean? Let go of identification with your mind. Who you are beyond the mind then emerges by itself.”

— Eckhart Tolle

This idea is one that I am still practicing, and it is of a zen-type origin.

The reality that we all are much more & less than the opinions we create & speak about ourselves & others.

The idea that our real self is an experience beyond words.

This is an idea & a reality that is difficult to comprehend & even more difficult to experience, yet it is liberating to practice.

It’a at least a meditation, and at most a way of life.

What opinions are you holding within yourself that weigh you down? Opinions that anger you? Opinions that limit your experience?

Here’s a meditation guide to get you started.

Fight For Your Mental Freedom

“If the words ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ don’t include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn’t worth the hemp it was written on.”

— Terence McKenna

Experimenting with your consciousness is not for everyone, and it’s sometime seen as taboo, but it should always remain open to experiment with. Clearly. Even if it brings clouds & smoke your way at times, it can also bring clarity and love.

I don’t encourage anyone to experiment with their consciousness. I encourage people to do what works for them.

I, though, once or twice a year, use a high dosage of a psychedelic, and it takes me to often heavenly and sometimes hellish places … it’s worth it to me every time, since I rarely do it, and since the experience is so alien & cosmic & beautiful, for me at least.

The integrations before during & after are important, but sometimes the purpose is about the experience itself; nothing more & nothing less. There & then. Here & now.

It’s not for everyone, but if you’re interested in the psychedelic experience, here is a guide containing preparations & activities before during & after your experience.

Trip well 🙂

From The Outside In To The Inside Out 

In the United States & places of the West, people are often, if not always, living from an outside-in perspective. 

They experience life never within themselves, but always outside of themselves – reacting to environments & people rather than experiencing life. Most have literally become a product of their dead political environments, & not a part of the true living nature that is within us & all around us, at all times. 

I have studied & practiced methods & techniques from both the East & the West, & I enjoy learning about all of them. I do prefer living life from the inside-out though – I prefer living empowered within myself – & not being a reactive machine conformist to nothing – to a dead society. 

I choose life & non-conformity every time. 

This doesn’t make me better than anyone – it just is me making a choice to choose what I believe & how I perceive life – rather than taking someone else’s word for it – rather than being manipulated by the criminal oppressors of this world… 

Here’s Alan Watts with a short relative paragraph to this topic:

“Just try and see something from another point of view for a change. I’m not saying that we should do what the Hindus do, but just look at it in from another point of view. And they would smile at us and say, ‘You really think it’s as real as all that?’

‘Have you never experienced what’s on the inside of this game?’

See the trouble with you Westerners is you never experience first. You never got down to the root of reality. You don’t know that state of consciousness. And so you’re frantically trying to patch everything up, and pin it all together – Screw the universe up so that it’s fixed…

You can never do it. All you’ll be doing is wildly rushing around and creating trouble.”
-Alan Watts

My question to you is, are you experiencing life? 

Or merely existing? 

Do you live as a reaction? 

Or do you live alive & active?

Meditations are a great way to begin going within and trying the inside-out perspective — to at least try it for even a short time and see if it’s for you or not for you. It’s perfect either way! 

Begin your meditations here: 

The Phantom Mind & The Active Present

“. . Action always happens in the present, because it is an expression of the body, which can only exist in the here and now. But the mind is like a phantom that lives only in the past or future. It’s only power over you is to draw your attention out of the present.”

— Dan Millman

If I were to tell you that there are people & organizations working to manipulate people out of the true present moment, you may or may not believe me.

There are also some who work in love to bring themselves & others into a loving present moment – which is more difficult than living in the past or future, but it’s where everything is truly happening, all the time.

Anyway, Millman talks about the phantom mind & the present moment here. Action happens in the present moment, but even in action many people are living in the past or future & not actually in the present.

The phantom mind is powerful, but the true present moment is more powerful, & usually more beautiful.

Meditation practice is one of the best ways to experience the direct present moment.

Begin here, now 🙂

7 Meditations For Any Time & Place

Life is all sorts of things. 

There are a range of ways of life, and it is what it is. It’s alright.

Distractions surround us daily, and personally, meditating is a method I use to get focused & be empowered, and to journey well.

I wrote & published The 7 Psychedelic Meditations as a meditation guide for people who use psychedelics, but these meditations can be practiced by anyone in everyday life.

These meditations help me & others live beyond distractions, and into a more focused & strong & centered life.

Buy it today on Amazon, and let me know what you think! 

Enjoy 🙂

Comparing, Thriving

We as humans often compare ourselves to each other – or to people of the past. But the thing we probably do most is compare ourselves to our immediate environments & those there.

Sometimes our environments become boxes and trap us in, and sometimes our environments provide freedom.

When we thrive & strive to improve ourselves, to live our best lives, helping others, we are living in more freedom.

When we are comparing ourselves with anger, hating, envious, offensive & defensive, we most likely stay in a box.

I have heard that winners focus on winning, and losers focus on winners.

You can be a winner & focus on other winners too, just don’t look into the sidelines or crowds too long or you may get lost in them, with them, and you don’t want that if you’re a leader, a person of influence; someone attaining their own freedom.

10 Quotes From Dan Millman’s The Peaceful Warrior To Bring You Happiness Today

1) “There is no need to search; achievement leads to nowhere. It makes no difference at all, so just be happy now! Love is the only reality of the world, because it is all One, you see. And the only laws are paradox, humor and change. There is no problem, never was, and never will be. Release your struggle, let go of your mind, throw away your concerns, and relax into the world. No need to resist life, just do your best. Open your eyes and see that you are far more than you imagine. You are the world, you are the universe; you are yourself and everyone else, too! It’s all the marvelous Play of God. Wake up, regain your humor. Don’t worry, just be happy. You are already free!” 

2) “Reality never matched their dreams; happiness was just around the corner — a corner they never turned. And the source of it all was the human mind.”

3) “Sometimes sorrow, sometimes joy. But beneath it all remember the innate perfection of your life unfolding. That is the secret of unreasonable happiness.” 

4) “And so I awoke to reality, free of any meaning or any search. What could there possibly be to search for? All of Socrate’s words had come alive with my death. This was the paradox of it all, the humor of it all, and the great change. All searches, all achievements, all goals, were equally enjoyable, and equally unnecessary.” 

5) “Act happy, be happy, without a reason in the world. Then you can love, and do what you will.”

6) “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”

7) “‘What do I do then, now? Where do I go from here?’ Dan asked Socrates.

‘Who cares?’ He yelled gleefully.  ‘A fool is ‘happy’ when his cravings are satisfied. A warrior is happy without reason.  That’s what makes happiness the ultimate discipline—above all else I have taught you.’”

8) “Stay in the present. You can do nothing to change the past, and the future will never come exactly as you plan or hope for.  The warrior is here, now. Your sorrow, your fear & anger, regret & guilt, your envy and plans and cravings live only in the past, or in the future.”

9) “Like most people, you’ve been taught to gather information from outside yourself; from books, magazines, experts.  Like this car, you open up and let the facts pour in.  Sometimes the information is premium and sometimes it’s low octane.  You buy your knowledge at the current market rates, much like you buy gasoline.  Like this gas tank, you are overflowing with preconceptions; full of useless knowledge.  You hold many facts and opinions, yet know little of yourself.  Before you can learn, you’ll have to first empty your tank.

10) “Wake up! If you knew for certain that you had a terminal illness – if you had precious little time left to make use of your life and consider who you are, you’d not waste time on self-indulgence or fear, lethargy or ambition.  You do have a terminal illness – it is death. Be happy now, without reason – or you never will be at all.”

4 Quotes on The Importance of Remembering Death

After reading these quotes, let me know, comment about what the thought of death inspires within you.

“Of all the footprints, that of the elephant is supreme. Similarly, of all mindfulness meditation, that on death is supreme.”
-Buddha 

“Every third thought shall be my grave.”
-William Shakespeare

“To practice death is to practice freedom. A man who has learned how to die has unlearned how to be a slave.”
-Michel de Montaigne 

“So this is how a thoughtful person should await death: not with indifference, not with impatience, not with disdain, but simply viewing it as one of the things that happens to us. Now you anticipate the child’s emergence from its mother’s womb; that’s how you should await the hour when your soul will emerge from its compartment.”
-Marcus Aurelius