[blockquote source=”Pema Chodron”]”The peace that we are looking for is not peace that crumbles as soon as there is difficulty or chaos. Whether we’re seeking inner peace or global peace or a combination of the two, the way to experience it is to build on the foundation of unconditional openness to all that arises. Peace isn’t an experience free of challenges, free of rough and smooth, it’s an experience that’s expansive enough to include all that arises without feeling threatened.”[/blockquote]

My apologies, my dears for this delayed posting. I had written such a beautiful draft yesterday, however, in my distraction it was lost to a few unsavory ‘digital demons. ‘

My goodness, we live in a chaotic world. Our office desks have become cluttered with deadlines and details, and our inboxes assaulted with a steady stream of ‘absolute musts.’

Close your eyes, and you’ll strain to escape it, as our ‘space between’ becomes overrun by that ‘digital hum.’

In any given day, we are over-scheduled, under-valued, over-whelmed…and subsequently, racing to catch up, once again.

And, in that process we have inadvertently compromised our spiritual well-being. All the while wondering, ‘will it ever end?’

As humans, our natural inclination is to avoid those circumstance which cause us discomfort or pain. We don’t like chaos, yet we are surrounded by it. And, our attempts to structure, to schedule…to organize…have left us feeling so helplessly lost.

But, the Buddha taught that we should embrace, rather than turn away from these such distractions – to regard them with the honesty and compassion they deserve. Only then may we begin to understand the true nature of our suffering. It is from this understanding that the path to happiness if forged.

Look at any image of the Buddha and you’ll notice a beautiful smile upon his face. But that smile is not born of material wealth or personal successes, rather – it’s the result of a deepened equanimity from within.

It’s hard to pin down a precise definition of ‘equanimity.’ In Buddhism, it is often intended to demonstrated a profound calmness of mind. One that can not be upset by the challenges of this world.

But, I think it’s far more engaging than this.

While there are many stories written of the Buddha, they all generally agree on the basic facts of his life:

He was born into a life or riches, shielded from the ugliness of this world; and,

He was profoundly impacted by his final exposure to the true nature of this life.

In his life, he experienced the intensity of knowing comfort and deprivation – yet, found happiness in neither extreme. He realized that we are constantly being pulled in opposite directions – from pleasure, to pain; from praise, to blame. Our suffering arises from an inability to find the ‘middle way. As the Buddha instructed his disciples, ‘the wise person accepts all without approval or disapproval.’

But, in order to do this – we must learn to interface directly and honestly with our circumstances.

In her book Comfortable with Uncertainty, beloved Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön offers,

“To cultivate equanimity we practice catching ourselves when we feel attraction or aversion, before it hardens into grasping or negativity.”

And, in order to do this we must pay attention.

I used to feel so unsettled when I ‘caught’ myself drifting off with my thoughts. I was bothered by this sense that I didn’t have more control over my thought processes; my instinct was to…well, not think about them so much, at all.

But that doesn’t really serve us, now does it? It merely forces our understanding beneath yet another thickly-padded layer. And, it’s never any good to us there.

Rather, Pema Chödrön suggests that we might “train in staying with the soft spot and use our biases as stepping-stones for connecting with the confusion of others.” As well, “if we can contact the vulnerability and rawness of resentment or rage or whatever it is, a bigger perspective can emerge.”

My dears, it is through this connection that our journey into peace is born.