Being peace

[rebeka sultana]

Good morning everyone from warm Jakarta!

I 've joined the peace competence group just now and would like to ask friends how do you create peace with yourself. I read Ephraim’s discussion and liked when he wrote peace begins from our heart. Now tell me how you bring that peace in your heart? How you create it? What thoughts help you to do that and is there any process to create, restore peace in our hearts all time? Or in case we fall from the wagon of peace how can I come back to peace mode again?

I begin with my experience. I ask myself ‘are you in peace now’

A small voice in side me replied ‘Yes I am mam”   Hahahahah….

What causes me loss my peace? This can be a long list of  things….and then I ask myself who is the gate keeper of those many things?

I myself.

I realized this after years of reading, discussing with friends and with those who seems are all-time-in peace. I literally asked those people ‘what is your magic’?

The replies most of the time were ‘acceptance and self love’.

There are three quotes I read that I want to share with you today

“If it is to be it is up to me’

“ No one can hurt you with out your consent’

“This too shall pass’.

Friends lets start sharing our experience of keeping self peace, then we will move to community peace and world peace. How about that?

 

Peace for all

Rebeka

 

[Laurence Gilliot]

Hi Rebeka,

 

Could you explain what you mean by 'If it is to be, it is up to me"? Thanks!

 

Laurence

[rebeka sultana]

Laurence,

As they say in Bahasa Indonesia "Competency mulai dari saya'. Every thing begins with me, what I want from other I give it away first...i think this is the meaning . It's a quote I read somewhere.

Rebeka

[Laurence Gilliot]

Thanks for explaining the meaning, it is clear now to me :-)

 

I love this subject of 'Being peace' and it is part of my daily practice. There are so many things we can do to cultivate peace within ourselves. So much that I do not know where to start...Well, let's start with the most important step...

 

BREATHING... I breathe in and I am aware of my in-breath. I breathe out and I am aware of my out-breath.

Whenever we feel emotions come up, we can go back to our breathing. Focusing on our breath helps us to bring our body and mind at the same place. We relax our body and we can observe what is going on inside of us. Hum... I feel... anger... or sadness... or excitement... Hum... hello my old friend 'anger', you are back again. That's ok. And you then accept the anger and fully embrace it. You can imagine that you take your anger like a crying baby into your arms and take care of it. Do not try to change it, or resist it. At some point, it will go away by itself.

If sitting is too hard, you can go for a walk. When you walk you are fully concentrated on your steps. You feel the earth under your feet. With every exhale you let go... let go... let go... of whatever doesn't serve you,  into the ground.

 

If you want to know more about this simple practice, I recommend the book 'Being peace' of Thich Nhat Hanh.

 

Peace to all of you

 

Laurence

[Phil]

Good morning Rebeka, 

It is interesting. I have been talking and thinking a lot about this question over the last few weeks. 

Here is one idea that I have found to be very helpful.
It does not come from the Constellation.
It does not come from me.
It is not meant to be the whole answer or THE answer. 
But it is a good start. 

 

'Why am I not at peace?'

'Because you are angry'

'But I am not angry.
I am not shouting at others.
I do not feel angry.'

'No, but there is a tension within you.
And you dwell on the weaknesses of others.
In your mind, you emphasise their faults and their weaknesses.
And they grow within you.
You build up a picture of them that is not the true picture.'

 

(And here is the very beautiful next step.)

 

'Yes, that is right. But what can I do about this?'

'Think only about their strengths.
Their true strengths.
Put to one side these imagined failings.
Put to one side their real failings.
And dwell on strengths.
Their strengths.
And your own.' 

 

Phil

[Laurence Gilliot]

Hi Phil, who wrote this beautiful text?

[Phil]

...the words are mine....but it is not my idea....phil

[rebeka sultana]

Nice poem Phil !
Let us share more poems, quotes and arts on peace that we appreciate.

Rebeka

[rebeka sultana]

A Rose In the Midst of Violence

Violent anti-government protests wracked the capital of Thailand for over 2 months, resulting in many dead and wounded. However, there were simple moments of peace that stood above the surrounding violence. Here, a young woman gives a soldier a rose in appreciation for his service. 
 
Source: Internet

 

 

 

 

[wiwin winarni]

Dear Rebeka;

 

It's nice to see you again posting inspiring blog on Peace.  This also become my concern, am I Peace now? Facing this challenging life? Thanks to provide such a milestones so I could reflect my own life and Peace in my life, in my soul.

 

Will contact you soon if I am in Jakarta, really want to see then :)

 

Big Hug

Wiwin

[zoneziwoh]

beautiful

[Elischia Fludd]

Hello everyone!

 

I enjoyed reading this post and all the responses. This is such a moment to moment struggle, coming into and maintaining peace, yes?

 

For me, it starts with silence. To have peace you must be able to revel in silence. I find it's nice to have a starting point, a baseline if you will, to tap into my peace daily. I sit or lay down in stillness after prayer (for those who do not pray, that is fine) and reading. To be generic, my point is to take stillness and positive, peaceful nurturing to excite, repair and develop the peaceful self.

 

I love re-defining the well known proverb that "all good things come to an end". My version of this is "all good things come to an end if they are not replenished." Therefore, my peace is not an ending, but a continuum and the more of it I seek after, the more of it I will have.

[Pamela Villamor]

Hi Rebeka,

I am Pam of Philippines. Yes indeed Peace should start within ourselves. "walk the talk as they say" Living your own word in simple terms. I'ved been a neophyte in peace work, had some ooportunities to share my knowledge to some people especially in grassroots level, teaching diffirent tools on how to achieve peace, it its a great challenge for me to show in deeds all the things that im teaching. It takes a strong foundation for you to live and become an example of your own teachings. As peaceworker/community worker lets always go back to ourselves from time to time, lets ourselves be a good foundation in order for us to be more equip and ready for whatever challenges that will come along as we journey towrds our passion. I'm a Christian maybe I would say that my main source of my strength is my God, with great belief that He will take good care of me no matter what and make make an inspiration for others. God bless everyone. :)