The journey to peace in the world is both an outer and inner movement. It is essential to cultivate peace inwardly, not only outwardly. As the Buddha said, “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” When we are experiencing greater peace within ourselves and take that peace into our outward actions that we see more kindness, empathy, and compassion in the world.
Expressing love, kindness, empathy, and compassion are qualities of our true nature. To intuit the necessity for these virtues and make connections to reveal where to apply them are innate to us. There is a realization for this to happen—to realize that every atom, cell, every species, community, planet, star, galaxy and so on all share a universal intelligence.
That all these things connect.
They make a whole.
They reveal harmonies between everything and every living being.
When this universal wholeness is grasped and experienced, we are in a state of union/oneness, or in other words, yoga.
We stray from our natural ability to connect, to intuit, and thus stray from a state of wholeness and love. Our culture is in a state of disharmony, of disconnection. We are taught to neglect and even destroy the connections, the intuition that makes them, proves them. Thus, we may and do destroy the earth and exploit millions of beings on the planet. Our innate intelligence has been dulled or completely covered up.
But, don’t worry. Things are changing and they are changing systemically through both outer work and in particular, the inner work of yogic practices, such as meditation, deep relaxation, asana or physical postures, chanting sweet songs, pranayama or conscious breathing, as well as other practices that allow the body-mind-spirit to slow down and connect more deeply with who we truly are and what our purpose is. We are waking up to how our actions impact the earth and other beings. Day by day through this inward journey, we are making outer changes to improve life for all on this planet.
Inner peace (and outer peace) lead to world peace. The movement of peace within is a vital part of increasing our awareness so we may take peace into every daily thought, word, and action. This means being consistent and regular with these inner practices to make greater impact on outer change so that all beings may thrive in a peaceful world.
Anna Ferguson is the co-creator of World Peace Yoga, a style of yoga that inspires peace in action, developing intuition, deepening empathy, and expanding compassion. You may connect with Anna via Facebook.
