Take It Easy

“The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress, is the easiest type of existence.”
​~Norman Vincent Peale

This week’s quote cuts right to the heart of the matter. Afterall, what is the point of being on the spiritual path if you don’t experience any real-world benefits? We all know we should be cultivating a state of inner peace, but we rarely question why. What is the benefit of being at peace? Why bother pursuing a life of harmony? What is the purpose of self-realization?

The short answer is that inner peace makes your experience of life so much easier. When you are at ease, everything you do is easy. Whereas being in a state of tension only adds unnecessary strain to a given situation without providing any benefit. Tensing up your shoulders and gripping the steering wheel won't get you through a traffic jam any quicker- just as squinting your eyes doesn't actually improve your eyesight. 

Instead of pursuing inner peace, maybe we should be pursuing inner ease. To do this, don’t worry so much about silencing your thoughts, instead focus on opening your heart. Most people believe they will find peace once all their problems are solved and all their distractions are gone, but as Eckhart Tolle says, “you find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.”

And so, once again, we are faced with the ultimate question: who are you at the deepest level? This is when the path of self-realization comes into play. Because when you know that your true essence is both infinite and eternal, you carry within you a deep well of tranquility. As the author Elizabeth Gilbert once wrote, “We don’t realize that, somewhere within us all, there exists a supreme self who is eternally at peace.” 

So, the next time you feel yourself getting tense, see if your tension is serving you in any way. If not, then simply let it go and return to a state of inner harmony. Being at ease might not solve your problems, but it will make them much easier to deal with.