essay on inner peace

How to Find Inner Peace and Happiness (Incl. Mantras)

“The pursuit of inner peace is more important than the search for happiness or success .”

If you want to find inner peace and happiness, you have come to the right place. In this article, we explain the concept of peace (as well as inner peace), its relationship to happiness, and strategies to engage in which may result in an increase of one’s inner peace and happiness. Additionally, some practical mantras and useful quotes are noted as well.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Happiness & Subjective Wellbeing Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients identify sources of authentic happiness and strategies to boost wellbeing.

This Article Contains:

What is peace and happiness in life, peace vs. happiness: is one more important, how to find inner peace and happiness, 3 mantras to cultivate inner peace and happiness, guided meditations to help foster inner peace and happiness, 10 quotes on inner peace and happiness, a take-home message.

Peace is a word, which has multiple meanings. It is a word with several dimensions used in varying contexts. For instance, Anderson (2014) posited that peace can be used in macro as well as micro contexts.

Global peace (e.g., peace treaties between countries; the harmonious relationship between societies) is an example of macro context usage.

On the other hand, personal peace (e.g., interpersonal peace and inner peace) is an example of micro-context usages. In this article, we focus on the micro  context of peace. More specifically, inner peace in particular.

The dominant meaning of “peace” in Western civilization is the absence of violence (Anderson, 2004). However, the concept of associating inner peace within an individual is rooted in non-Western languages, cultures, and religions (Anderson, 2004). Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, and Sanskrit have several words for peace.

In Sanskrit, words for peace also include Shanti and Chaina , which refers to an individual’s spiritual or inner peace and mental calmness (Anderson, 2004). Apart from a linguistic inquiry into peace, in some religions (e.g., Buddhism, Jainism, etc.), peace is used to underscore inner dimension (i.e., the person) more than the outer dimension (i.e., the environment) (Barua, 2014).

In general, peace of mind or inner peace refers to a deliberate state of either psychological or spiritual calmness despite the potential presence of stressors. It is a homeostatic psychological state, which results in the optimal functioning of the mind.

It has to be noted that given the complexity of the word – peace or inner peace, there is no general consensus with regards to its precise definition. Therefore, for the sake of clarity with regards to this article, we prescribe to the inner peace definition proposed by Ward (2010), Barua (2014) and Gogava, Poghosyan, and Aslanov (2018), which has also been employed in several works (e.g., Day, Casey, Ward, Howells, & Vess, 2013).

“Inner peace refers to a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of stress”

(Barua, 2014, p. 24).

Inner peace refers to

“a state of calm, serenity and tranquility of mind that arise due to having no sufferings or mental disturbances such as worry, anxiety, greed, desire, hatred, ill-will, delusion and/or other defilements”

(Gogava et al., 2018, p. 4).

“Inner peace refers to emotional self-regulation and the ability to achieve a state of dynamic emotional equilibrium and competence”

(Ward, 2010, p. 48).

Like peace, the word happiness is complex and subjective (for various definitions on happiness, see Kim-Prieto, Diener, Tamir, Scollon, & Diener, 2005 and Delle Fave et al., 2016). In fact, some scholars have even questioned the usefulness of happiness definition, equating it as a qualia concept (Wierzbicka, 2009).

For the sake of this article, we prescribe to the most popular definition that has been used by researchers from various fields (e.g., psychology and economists) (Delle Fave et al., 2016).

Happiness is typically associated with the concepts of life satisfaction and subjective wellbeing , which are a total score of cognitive and affective components of one’s mental state. Therefore, the following definition – happiness – refers to “to people’s evaluations of their lives – evaluations that are both affective and cognitive” (Diener, 2000, p. 34).

Peace and happiness are associated concepts (Cohrs, Christie, White, & Das, 2013). For instance, at the macro level, peaceful countries report a higher level of happiness in general. Likewise, a perusal of the definitions related to peace and happiness above makes their association quite clear. Some commonalities between these concepts include (Cohrs et al., 2013):

• Peace and happiness concepts are related to positive psychology, which includes peace psychology as well.
• Peace and happiness have been described as a positive human experience.
• Peace is associated with terms such as serenity, harmony, happiness, and well-being.

That is, does peace lead to happiness? Or, conversely, does happiness lead to peace?

In other words, the causality is not clear. Perhaps, the best way to describe their relationship for the time being, lest empirical studies prove it otherwise is – there is a symbiotic relationship between these two concepts. To elucidate, both inner peace and happiness are associated with positive emotions (e.g., Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener 2005).

Therefore, experiencing positive emotions can lead to increment in one’s inner peace as well as happiness levels.

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There are several ways of enhancing one’s inner peace and happiness. Below, we list three simple ways to achieve inner peace and happiness goals. Please be advised that the following ways are by no means an exhaustive list.

Several experts and philosophical treatise have alluded to human’s interaction with nature in increasing one’s inner peace. For instance, Robert Puff, a contributor to Psychology Today noted two types of human-nature interactions that can lead to increment in one’s inner peace and happiness levels.

• Nature in the short-term: Taking short walks outside on an everyday basis while abstaining from using one’s electronic devices.
• Nature in the long-term: Taking nature retreats for a few days. These retreats give us an opportunity to avoid day-to-day stress (e.g., work commute, workplace pressure, etc.) and focus on our bodies and minds. Retreats come in several forms and shapes such as visiting national parks, religious and non-religious retreat centers, among others.

The above proposition has been corroborated by several research studies (for an overview, see Capaldi, Dopko, & Zelenski, 2014). For instance, in their meta-analytic study, Capaldi et al. found that the human-nature relationship is connected such that being connected to nature can potentially lead to happiness.

2. Meditation

The health benefits of meditation have been well documented (e.g., Holzel et al., 2011). Examples of benefits include decrement in anxiety (Hofman, Sawyer, Witt, & Oh, 2010), reduction in cortisol levels (Carlson et al., 2007) and depression (Hofmann et al., 2010), among others.

In particular mindfulness meditation has been proposed to be a great way to enhance one’s wellbeing. Mindfulness refers to “ nonjudgmental attention to experiences in the present moment” (Holzel et al., 2011, p. 538), which can be cultivated by meditation practices such as sitting meditation, walking meditation, or mindful movements.

Meditation enhances an individual’s attention regulation (i.e., decrease in being distracted), emotion regulation (e.g., accepting one’s emotional state), and change in one’s self-perception (i.e., detachment from identification with a static sense of self) (Holzel et al., 2011) that leads to experiencing more positive emotions associated with happiness and inner peace.

In short, dedicating some time every day to practice mindfulness meditation is a definite route to increased inner peace and happiness. Here is further information related to meditation and practice .

3. Gratefulness

Being grateful for all that you have in life is one way to achieve inner peace and happiness.

Some scholars have even noted that happiness and gratefulness are one and the same. For example, the schematic hypothesis maintains that grateful individuals are more likely to notice positivity in life, and this influences their perception towards life events (Wood, Froh, & Geraghty, 2010).

It has been found that grateful people are well aware of life-challenges but choose not to focus on it. Instead, they underscore on the interconnectedness of life and are less propelled to materialistic goals than the general population (Easterbrook, 2003).

How to practice gratitude or being grateful? One approach to boost an individual’s gratefulness is the deliberate practice of counting one’s blessings and another means is to keep gratitude journals (Lai & O’Carroll, 2012).

In Sanskrit, the word “mantra” translates to mind tools or instruments. Considered to be sacred and to have a powerful impact on reprogramming our subconscious mind. When repeated frequently, it purifies one’s mind and soul.

Typically, mantras are in Sanskrit, an ancient language, considered by several linguistic scholars as a language that reverberates with a microcosm of our bodies and the macrocosm of the universe based on the science of sound.

Below we list 3 powerful mantras, which can be practiced every day that will enhance one’s inner peace and happiness.

Mantra 1: Om Sarvesham Svastir Bhavatu (i.e., universal peace prayer)

Meaning: May there be happiness in all, May there be peace in all, May there be completeness in all, May there be a success in all.

Mantra 2: Om Namah Shivaya (i.e., I bow to Shiva), which when practiced in the form of meditation results in calmness and self-confidence.

Mantra 3: Om or Aum (i.e., the sound of the universe and the sound of creation), which when chanted during meditation leads individuals to self-realization, freedom, and enlightenment.

Happiness is all in your mind – Gen Kelsang Nyema

There are several guided meditations to help an individual foster inner peace and happiness. Below we list four such guided meditations, which are either via audio CD, MP3 music, and Amazon videos.

Mindfulness Meditations: Finding Peace & Perspective in the Present Moment

This guided mindful meditation is by Traci Stein, a Columbia trained psychologist and hypnotherapist. This guided meditation is psychologically informed, which has documented evidence to show that it improved sleep, greater self-acceptance, and achieving a healthier weight.

This guided meditation is an amalgam of the best of classic contemplative meditation practice, state-of-the-art guided imagery and potent hypnotic suggestion. Formats: CD and MP3.

Guided Meditation for Deep Relaxation

This guided meditation is by Claudia Prana, a certified professional coach and hypnosis practitioner. This guided meditation is good for anyone, be it a beginner or an advanced meditation practitioner.

Guided Meditation is touted to help an individual to successfully achieve deep states of relaxation, stress relief and to help to fall asleep. Format: Video (available for free for Amazon Prime members).

Finding Tranquility – Guided Mindfulness Meditations for Stressful Times

This guided meditation titled “ Finding Tranquility ” encompasses several tracks, which include mindful meditation introduction, integrating mindfulness in everyday life, and four guided meditations for different purposes.

Available as MP3, audio CD, and live streaming via Amazon Music.

Guided Meditations: Fill What is Empty; Empty What is Full

This guided meditation encompasses several tracks. Several different types of meditations such as peace meditation, emotional healing meditation, and gratitude meditation.

17 Exercises To Increase Happiness and Wellbeing

Add these 17 Happiness & Subjective Well-Being Exercises [PDF] to your toolkit and help others experience greater purpose, meaning, and positive emotions.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

If you aim for inner peace and happiness, you might find the following useful. Also, quotes are easy to share one’s knowledge with others, with regards to complex topics and ideas.

I hope that you have a better grasp of inner peace and happiness. The route to inner peace and happiness is not difficult. Instead, it comes from simple lifestyle changes and persistence. From meditating a few minutes a day to taking a walk in nature, to maintaining a gratitude journal .

What are your thoughts on inner peace and happiness? Do you have any recommendations to find inner peace and happiness? Please let us know in the comments section below.

Thanks for taking the time to read our post!

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Happiness Exercises for free .

• Anderson, R. (2004). A definition of peace. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 10 (2), 101-116.
• Barua, B. T. (2014). World peace and the goals of Buddhists . Accessed at: scholar.google.com.
• Capaldi, C. A., Dopko, R. L., & Zelenski, J. M. (2014). The relationship between nature connectedness and happiness: A meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 5 , 976.
• Carlson, L. E., Speca, M., Faris, P., & Patel, K. D. (2007). One year pre–post intervention follow-up of psychological, immune, endocrine and blood pressure outcomes of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in breast and prostate cancer outpatients. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 21 (8), 1038-1049.
• Casey, S., Day, A., Vess, J., & Ward, T. (2012). Foundations of offender rehabilitation . NY: Routledge.
• Cohrs, J. C., Christie, D. J., White, M. P., & Das, C. (2013). Contributions of positive psychology to peace: Toward global well-being and resilience. American Psychologist, 68 (7), 590.
• Delle Fave, A., Brdar, I., Wissing, M. P., Araujo, U., Castro Solano, A., Freire, T., … & Nakamura, J. (2016). Lay definitions of happiness across nations: The primacy of inner harmony and relational connectedness. Frontiers in Psychology, 7 , 30.
• Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist, 55 (1), 34.
• Easterbrook, G. (2003). The progress paradox . Books on Tape.
• Gogava, I., Poghosyan, L., & Aslanov, B. Manual for educators . Accessed at: scholar.google.com.
• Hofmann, S. G., Sawyer, A. T., Witt, A. A., & Oh, D. (2010). The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78 (2), 169.
• Hölzel, B. K., Lazar, S. W., Gard, T., Schuman-Olivier, Z., Vago, D. R., & Ott, U. (2011). How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6 (6), 537-559.
• Kim-Prieto, C., Diener, E., Tamir, M., Scollon, C., & Diener, M. (2005). Integrating the diverse definitions of happiness: A time-sequential framework of subjective well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6 (3), 261-300.
• Lai, S. T., & O’Carroll, R. E. (2017). ‘The Three Good Things’-the effects of gratitude practice on wellbeing: a randomized controlled trial. Health Psychology Update, 26 , 10-18.
• Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131 (6), 803.
• Ward, T. (2010). The good lives model of offender rehabilitation: Basic assumptions, etiological commitments, and practice implications. Offender supervision: New directions in theory, research and practice , 41-64.
• Wierzbicka, A. (2004). ‘Happiness’ in cross-linguistic & cross-cultural perspective. Daedalus , 133(2), 34-43.
• Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J., & Geraghty, A. W. (2010). Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical Psychology Review, 30 (7), 890-905.

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Hightest people + precious thoughts! I found this site really wonderful. I ‘m totally inspired & impressed by your great work. Have good luck forever.

If you can’t find peace within, you will never find it. True that.

I agree with you to a large extent that we mostly do not pay attention to all these things and basically this is also the reason for our sorrow. Thank you…

When you mentioned mantras you could have given credits to the source.

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15 Ways to Achieve Inner Peace

We currently live in a society where the noise of our thoughts and our anxieties tend to consume us daily. In such a fast-paced world, inner peace can be a struggle to achieve. We’re continually awaiting the next thing in our lives, and that can be one of the aspects that disrupt our inner calm. In this article, we’ll share how to find inner peace using fifteen proven ways.

What is inner peace?

Inner peace is the state of calm you feel within yourself. The world around you could be stress-inducing and chaotic, but if you feel calm, you might be experiencing inner peace. It’s an achievable state of mind that has more to do with your mind than what’s happening in your daily life.

How to achieve inner peace

When it comes to achieving inner peace, the first step is coming with a good attitude. If you’re cynical, or even too skeptical, it will block you from reaching this calm state of mind.

You need to bring an open mind before you can have inner peace. With that, here’s 15 ways to get there.

1. Meditation

To start, we have meditation. We’re always thinking about everything, whether it comes in the form of our future, our work tasks, or what we’ll be eating for dinner. We’re never not thinking about things. This is why meditation is one of the best things we can do for ourselves to achieve some sense of peace in our lives. Meditation gives you a break you need from the noise of your thoughts.

To start your meditation practice, check out our app Declutter The Mind . If you’re new, check out our meditation courses . Once you know how to practice meditation daily , you can begin to find some inner peace.

Consider trying out this guided meditation for inner peace below.

https://declutterthemind.com/wp-content/uploads/inner-peace-10.mp3

2. Social media detox

One of the causes that disrupt inner peace is social media. Social media is the most accessible platform where a comparison is present. It’s a competition of the highlights in your life. However, what you fail to realize is that nobody ever posts the moments that are mundane and normal. If you’re always on social media seeing highlight reels, this can give you anxiety that you may not be living your best life. As you see your friends and followers posting their travels, their relationship, their successes, you’re stuck there comparing your own life to theirs. If you’re not careful enough, social media can disrupt your inner peace.

This is where the concept of FOMO or ‘Fear of Missing Out’ comes from. Social media can cause you to fear not living your best life, and comparing yourself to your friends’ stories and posts will disrupt your inner peace. You don’t necessarily have to do a complete social media detox for a week or a month. However, every once in awhile, it’s best to take a break from your social media platforms. Doing this helps you gain control of reality and peace of mind . Social media can be a facade, and you may fail to differentiate what’s real and what’s not.

3. Practice self-love

In general, the world becomes more peaceful if you love yourself. One of the aspects that disrupt our inner peace is the constant war we have within ourselves. By practicing self-love, you’d be integrating inner peace within your life. You can actively practice this by doing things that make you happy and lift your spirit. If your passion includes writing and reading books, then you can do these activities in your free time.

You can also practice self-love by taking care of yourself and your body. Working out is one of the most common practices you can do. Not only does it release endorphins in your body, but it also makes you feel good about yourself , which leads to inner peace. Doing something you’re passionate about is ultimately the best way to gain inner peace. One of the main reasons for inner peace is conflict and lack of passion. If you invest in yourself and take care of yourself properly, then you have more room for inner peace in your life. 

You can find an inner calm, when you’re kind to those around you. Have you tried doing acts of kindness or good deeds for other people lately? You can find peace from doing nice things for people. When you put out good into the world, you get good back into yours. Your well being improves from being kind. If you’re going through a chaotic time, consider doing kind acts on a daily basis. You’ll quickly find that you find inner peace because your mind is so focused on being kind it doesn’t notice the drama anymore. Spend time with people who are less fortunate than you because they’ll likely need your help. You’ll have more peace when you help others as it helps you too.

5. Steer clear from negativity

This is the most basic yet can be the hardest thing to do to gain inner peace in your life. Of course, nobody with a calm mind would want negativity. However, sometimes it’s in our nature to dwell on negativity rather than positivity. Choosing to dwell on negativity in your life, whether it’s in the form of your thoughts or your habits, will disrupt your peace. Negativity is the fastest way to ruin the inner peace you currently have. It’s the easiest thing to dwell on negativity.

For instance, when something happens the opposite of how you expect it to be, the most natural thing would be to live on the negativity of the situation rather than looking for the bright side of things. When we focus on even something as simple as our negative thoughts , we’re giving that control to our peace. Instead of looking for the flaws and hopelessness of the situation and of things, choosing to be more positive is the best way to regain your sense of inner peace back. Learn how to stop complaining and steer clear of negativity.

6. Live in the present 

You can find peace by being in the present moment. Most people live in the past with past events circling their mind non-stop or panicking about what will go wrong in the future. You can do a meditation practice to help you focus on the present instead of a different time frame. Everyday life doesn’t need to be complicated. When things around you are stressful, focus on the present with hyper focus.

https://declutterthemind.com/wp-content/uploads/short-daily-mindfulness-session-15-min.mp3

7. Avoid self-pity

In a way, this is connected to what was mentioned above in negativity. As humans, we have this immense tendency to go in a self-pity routine when things aren’t going our way. If we didn’t get that job or we go through a breakup, we integrate feelings of worthlessness , guilt, and regret within ourselves, which is why we lose our peace entirely. However, this isn’t supposed to be the case. It may be a normal tendency, but it isn’t exactly a healthy habit. Self-pitying yourself is one of the fastest ways to not only dwell on your emotions even more, but it gives you feelings of depression and anxiety.

Life is generally hard, and self-pity isn’t going to change the fact that life is painful sometimes. The only thing self-pity does is that it typically makes you feel worse than you initially did and takes the blame for other people. To gain back your peace, take awareness and accountability of the situation rather than self-pitying yourself. Rather than telling yourself, “I’m such a worthless person,” take responsibility and tell yourself, “I may have messed up, but I can do better next time.” By practicing this habit, you’re taking back your control, building more confidence , and you’re deciding to do something about your life. We fail to realize that our life, including our peace, is in our control, and we can’t have peace if we don’t do something about our lives first.

9. Laugh a lot

You can’t expect peace from a place wherein you’re taking your life too seriously. Life can be challenging enough, and ultimately, the best thing you can do for yourself is finding the beauty in your life. It’s okay to laugh, even at the silliest of things. Laughing has been proven to be the best medicine for struggle, after all. Contact your friends and arrange a meetup. Watch a funny movie on Netflix. Have a wine night with your friends. Basically, just find humor in even the most mundane things. Inner peace is often gained from a place you never expect to, and sometimes, that’s from a place of humor and laughter. 

9. Communicate respectfully

You can find inner peace when you regularly communicate respectfully towards others. When you tend to speak assertively but positively, there’s little room for misinterpretation. Your mental health is worth preserving, so remain calm in heated discussions. Your past mistakes of miscommunication can be improved for future situations. Don’t allow people to walk all over you by being a pushover; you can still stand up for yourself. However, cut out hurtful and offensive language from your life. No one wants the drama caused by saying the wrong thing.

10. Distract yourself

I know that it can be unhealthy to use distractions to forget your emotions. However, in some instances, distractions can actually be right for you and help you get your feelings in check. If you’re overwhelmed by anxiety or your own thoughts, it’s reasonable to run to video games, working out, or Netflix to help you regain a sense of control. Our emotions can control us if we’re not careful, and it’s not a pretty sight. By using distractions, it can help you think straight and get your mind in order again. You’re not using your distractions as an escape for feeling things, but it’s an outlet to process your emotions better.

Furthermore, by processing your thoughts and your emotions correctly, this helps you regain your peace. Unlike the contrary, distractions such as anxiety relief games also help you focus and think straight compared to using your emotions to make individual decisions. As you’re overwhelmed, if you attempt to even do anything while you’re high on emotions, it could be disastrous. 

11. Practice self-care 

When you prioritize self-care, you improve your mental health and your well being. You can find inner calm when you do activities, such as spend time with loved ones who uplift you, go in float tanks, speak kindly to yourself, and practice self compassion. Inner tranquility comes when you practice acceptance of who you are. You deserve to enjoy life and have a peaceful mind. You’re a resilient person, all you need to do is treat yourself better. Manage difficult emotions by practicing meditation, rephrasing negative thoughts into positive ones, and practising self compassion. Finding peace starts with self care. 

12. Express yourself through art

Finding peace can be a challenge, though you can find inner peace through art. Whether you’re a prolific painter or a smooth saxophone player, you can improve your mental health with art. Art of all kinds improves your well being. In the modern world, people spend so much time mindlessly consuming art, such as music, social media posts, and more. 

Instead, mindfully be the creator of art. Pay attention to little details. Get into a flow state where you don’t notice time passing by and enjoy the process of being an art creator. Those in a flow state often don’t notice their anxieties or pain because they channel it into their art and it transforms into something beautiful.

13. Don’t pressure yourself

Feeling burned out and drained is a real thing you can feel if there’s a lack of balance in your life. As an individual, you’re continually striving to gain that work-life balance for yourself, and it’s very much possible. However, you can’t always perfect it. Some days, you put too much of your energy into your work, and other days, you feel unmotivated and unfulfilled. In attempting to balance everything, you should also take it easy on yourself. Especially if you’re a perfectionist and you have a tendency to control things, you may tend to pressure yourself in getting all aspects of your life together, and this is why you probably lost your sense of peace.

If you ultimately want inner peace, you should realize that you’re human, and you’re just as flawed as everyone else. You don’t have to put all ounce of energy in your work if it means being harsh on yourself if you see yourself fail. It also doesn’t mean that your worth is somehow less if you choose to take a break from your work. Decide the healthy balance between certain aspects of your life, and deal with your frustration if you don’t get it perfect. 

14. Access nature

You can instantly improve your mental health and find inner peace in nature. In daily life, go for a walk in the woods or by the water to access nature. You’ll improve your overall well being doing activities like gardening, hiking, running, mountain climbing, or even biking. Getting fresh air and letting the sun shine on your face can be a beneficial experience. A walking meditation can allow you to stay present as you experience the splendid beauty of nature around you. You’ll have positive thoughts and less stress if you focus on watching animals scurry by and simply marvel at how wonderful nature and life can be. Spending time outdoors is always a quick and easy way to achieve inner peace. 

15. Accept things as they are

Your past mistakes aren’t a reflection of you but of a past you, who didn’t know any better. If you need to find inner peace within yourself, forgiveness is a good starting point. In the modern world, people aren’t very forgiving. Many people shame people on social media for having bad days, making mistakes, and being a “bad person.” Yet, they don’t realize in their own actions to shame people, that they themselves are being hurtful and bad. A victim mentality won’t serve you. You’ll need to rise above and accept that people will make mistakes in life– everyone will. You need to be a resilient person who can overcome the chaos in the world around you. All you can control are your own actions, everything else you’ll need to learn to accept. 

Find your inner peace

In conclusion, these are just some ways to help you achieve inner peace. Generally, creating inner peace may be challenging, especially if it doesn’t come naturally to you. In a world where everyone is preoccupied with everything, we no longer have time for ourselves. However, inner peace is still possible. If we choose to have awareness and change certain aspects of our unhealthy habits and lifestyle, we have more room for peace in our lives.

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“I think often people look for circumstances to help achieve a sense of inner peace,” says Ashley Davis Bush , psychotherapist and author of The Little Book of Inner Peace: Simple Practices for Less Angst, More Calm. “ In fact, this calm, compassionate, deep awareness is actually within each person. It’s as if we have a deep reservoir of peacefulness and serenity inside us. What we have to learn to do is tap into it.”

With the help of what Bush calls “micro-practices,” you can get better at accessing your inner calm—even if it's been in hiding for awhile.

Peace of mind doesn’t require peace and quiet.

Have you ever been scuba diving, or even just watched a good deep-sea documentary? The ocean’s tide brings the drama when it crashes against the shore, but venture a few meters down and you’ll find a tranquil world of creatures moving at their own pace, wholly unfazed by the action up above.

“The problem is most of us live sort of on the surface of the waves, where there's a lot of turbulence and wildness,” says Davis. “But again, this deep, calm, awareness is actually within each person.”

Davis maintains that you don't need to shut out all the noise to find inner peace. “There's this assumption that if you're in a quiet place, it will be more conducive to accessing this spot within. But, in fact, there are people who have panic attacks while they’re on a massage table. You could be on a New York city subway, surrounded by people and noise, and close your eyes to go into this space where your calmness resides.”

Breathe in, breathe out.

Your breath is always with you, and both yoga and meditation practices harness the power of breath control to help shift your state of mind. Davis likes to recommend practicing the 4-7-8 breath, which is based on a time-tested yoga technique, because you can do it anywhere at any time.

Close your mouth and inhale through your nose as you count to four. Hold onto that breath as you count to seven, and then exhale through your mouth for the count of eight.

“The long exhale helps stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system , which is basically initiating a relaxation response in your body,” Davis says. “Make sure to breathe really low, to fill your belly with air.”

Feel the truth that you’re safe and loved.

“Remind yourself that you’re breathing. And hopefully, you’re physically protected,” says Julie Potiker, mindful self-compassion teacher and author of Life Falls Apart, But You Don't Have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos .

“Think about the people you care about, and the people who care about you,” Potiker suggests, saying that focusing on that can lower your panic response. “Let the truth of that warm your heart.”

Visualize your happy place.

This is another micro-practice that becomes easier the more you do it, and the stronger your visualization, the more effective it is. It's okay if it takes you a while to conjure up what that go-to happy place is.

“You might want to picture the ocean, or your bedroom under your covers , a lake view, playing with your pet, being with someone you love , or maybe a favorite vacation,” Davis suggests. “Then, try to really get all the details in your mind’s eye—the smells, the sounds, the textures, the touch.” Accessing these vivid memories will cue your body to start feeling like you’re actually there, which will relax you, she says.

Read the story you’re telling yourself.

If you find yourself spiraling over a perceived disappointment, frustration, or panic-inducing thought, try stepping back to assess whether what your brain is telling you is true. Examining the source of your turmoil can make it feel smaller in size.

“I tell my students that what you resist persists and they need to feel it to heal it,” Potiker says. She often recommends the RAIN technique, an acronym first coined by meditation teacher Michele McDonald .

Recognize what’s happening. “Label the emotion, because simply naming it calms down your over-arousal,” says Potiker.

Allow your situation to be there. “You’re not resisting it, or trying to numb it and run away from it,” she says. “You're allowing it to be there long enough to work with it.”

Investigate . Potiker says to ask yourself, What most wants my attention? What am I believing? Where am I experiencing these feelings in my body—can I put my hands on where I’m feeling it, and soften the area? All of this inquiry is done with love, not judgment.

Nourish. This is alternately defined as natural loving awareness. You’ve observed yourself, and it’s time to treat yourself with loving kindness. “Ask yourself, What do I need to hear right now?” Potiker says. “Just talking to yourself like you would a dear friend is extremely helpful and healing. It staves off the feeling of isolation.”

Or ACT your way to deeper self-compassion.

There’s no one road to self-compassion, so here’s another way to think of it. Davis suggests trying a three-step method she calls ACT, based on the work of Kristen Neff , a prominent researcher in the field of self-compassion.

“'A' is for acknowledge, as in you acknowledge your suffering or your struggle: This really sucks,” Davis says. “'C' is for connect, connecting to all common humanity to remember that you're not alone in this. Other people get frustrated, feel angry or impatient. The 'T' is to talk kindly to yourself.”

When it comes to positive self-talk, Davis echoes Potiker’s recommendation to address yourself as you would a friend, because using “I” sentences may make you feel more isolated. “Research shows that when you talk to yourself in the third person, you actually activate the care circuit in your brain so that you feel more cared for,” she continues. “You’re accessing your higher self so that you can talk yourself off the ledge, and you feel more supported. So I would say, Ashley, you're going to be okay. This is a really hard moment, but don’t forget, Ashley, you’re not alone in this. ”

Make a “joy list” for when you need it later.

While a compassionate inventory of how you’re feeling is a powerful mindfulness exercise, Potiker says asking yourself, What do I need to do right now? can remind you to lean on actions that tend to give you peace. Since many people find it challenging to remember which activities bring them joy when they’re feeling mired in chaos, Potiker recommends looking to a “joy list” that you’ve compiled ahead of time.

“Free associate what brings you joy, and then pick something on the list to do when you’re feeling lousy,” she says. While you’re doing that thing, such as flower arranging or baking, savor it. “Take it in for a few moments, because taking in the good rewires your brain for happiness and resilience,” Potiker says, citing the work of psychologist Rick Hanson , PhD.

If you look at a beautiful sunset and say, “That’s a beautiful sunset—what’s for dinner?,” Potiker says you haven’t given your brain a chance to truly form a positive connection. Instead, try to fully give yourself over to the moment, noticing the rich colors of the sky, because that's productive work in its own way.

“Just letting you fill you up for that moment of awe is enough to rewire your brain for happiness and resilience,” she says. You can do this multiple times a day, Potiker adds, building up a joy reserve by just savoring those first sips of morning coffee, or the sound of a child giggling.

Cultivate gratitude for what’s happening (and not happening).

The psychological benefits of gratitude have been championed repeatedly in the field of happiness research, and according to Davis, practicing gratitude is another way to quickly access that state of inner peace. She suggests two simple ways to get into the habit: keeping a gratitude journal , and smiling as soon as you sit up in bed in the morning. “When you smile, it signals to your brain that things are good and that you’re happy.”

If you find yourself struggling to think of what you're grateful for in the heat of a chaotic or frustrating moment, Davis suggests you start by naming what you're glad isn't happening—and boom, now you've got something to be thankful for. To go back to her earlier subway example, in a crowded commute you might think, I’m glad I’m not being mugged right now, or I’m glad it’s actually moving and we’re not stuck in the dark; I'm glad it's air-conditioned; I'm glad I have a seat; I'm glad I have a physically healthy body. One small positive thought often sparks another.

Ask yourself two questions daily.

Your gratitude journal entries don’t need to be lengthy reflections, like some burdensome daily homework assignment. Instead, Potiker says use these two simple prompts to list an item or two for each: “What did enjoy today?” and “What am I grateful for today?” Maybe you did something that's on your joy list, for example.

Serve others to help yourself, too.

“Everybody knows that when you help other people, you feel better,” Potiker says. Those in the field of positive psychology believe that the good feelings that come from truly meaningful acts cultivate something they've deemed eudemonic well-being .

Over decades, research has suggested that in the long term, the eudemonic happiness that people feel from doing something like volunteering or making someone else feel good is more rewarding, and longer-lasting, than the more commonly pursued hedonic well-being , which prioritizes seeking pleasure and minimizing pain. Thus, building up a reserve of eudemonic happiness through acts of service could potentially up your general inner-peace baseline.

Maintain good self-care hygiene.

Eating right, getting plenty of sleep , exercising, meditating, and practicing what Potiker calls “mindfulness daily life activities” can all shore up your mental-peace defenses for when all hell breaks loose (in your world, or in your head). “Even while you’re just brushing your teeth, you can focus on feeling the toothbrush, tasting the toothpaste, and hearing the sounds, so you’re not worrying about your to-do list or what just happened in the news,” she says. “That’s a mindfulness in daily life activity.”

It’s all about developing “the pause,” so that when you feel yourself reacting to a situation, you’re better prepared to respond in a calmer way.

Practice acceptance.

In the larger pursuit of learning to access your inner peace, Davis says that accepting the existence of things that are out of your control is the long-term goal, difficult as it may be. “Acceptance is an overall way of engaging with life,” she explains. “So it’s less about a quick practice, and more about a life orientation.

“When we resist our circumstances, we create a lot of suffering, which of course is the opposite of inner peace,” she continues. “And the second you start going with the flow and putting yourself in alignment with what is, you immediately start to have a sense of flowing with rather than flowing against.”

It’s a challenging process, and one your brain may resist on impulse at first. That’s why it’s called “practice”—you may not nail it the first, 15th, or 50th time, and that’s normal.

“In terms of a practice, I might say to someone, ‘Right when you're in a situation like you're in a long grocery line, you can't believe it, you're late for something, you're feeling really stressed? Just stop, drop into your heart space, and say, This is what I've got. This is where I am. I'm just going to flow with this. And I'm going to look for an opportunity now to just practice patience, and practice self-compassion. This is really hard. I wish I could be faster. I wish I wasn't in this line, but I am. It's okay, and I'm okay. ’”

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Samantha Vincenty is the former senior staff writer at Oprah Daily. 

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7 Ways to Experience Inner Peace

Finding balance between digital consumption, mindset, and quiet time is key..

Posted June 3, 2021 | Reviewed by Davia Sills

• Having an inner peace plan—and working on it every day—is a good way to ensure you reach your goal.
• Two goals to work towards include conserving your emotional energy and reducing stress.
• Giving yourself a mental health day, being mindful of your quality of life, and being still are a few ways to improve your inner peace.

Has modern technology and your ability to access infinite amounts of information and entertainment brought less stress or more stress into your life?

Sure, we can buy everything we want online—clothes, computers, and cars—and yes, it’s convenient. But has it made our lives more peaceful?

Emotional energy

Most of us would agree that emotional energy has become a precious commodity in our lives. When we feel emotionally depleted, then anxiety and stress are the natural by-products. Left unchecked, stress can lead to feelings of being out of control.

As a result, stress can prompt us to seek temporary relief in unhealthy habits that create more stress in the long run. Turning to alcohol, comfort food, or overspending might provide temporary relief and distraction, but these things greatly complicate our lives.

Controlling your stress

Not everything that causes us stress can be eliminated—nor should it. Low-level stress stimulates the brain to boost productivity and concentration . It can also be a big motivator to make changes, solve problems, or accomplish goals .

In addition, many sources of stress are simply beyond our control. It’s become so commonplace for people to feel stressed and overloaded that we tend to forget there is an alternative way to live.

It’s time to slow down and consider ways to bring more peace to your heart and soul. Start with these seven ideas:

1. Beware of peace pickpockets.

You encounter all kinds of people and situations that try to steal your serenity. Know what they are and take measures to fend them off.

2. Take a mental health day, or morning, or moment.

Whatever time you can allow, give yourself the space to refresh your mind and spirit.

3. Rethink your “should do” and “ought to do” lists.

If the voice in your head is guilting you into doing things that don’t bring you joy, regard these as prime candidates to delete.

4. Kick the approval habit.

It’s natural to want to be liked by others—and it’s healthy to accept that it’s not going to happen all the time.

5. Be still.

If your pace is wearing you out, set aside a half-day or a full day to sit on the sofa to think, journal, read, and nap.

6. Let the music move you.

Few things are as cathartic and cleansing as your best-loved music. Use your favorite tunes to calm you down, pump you up, or stir your emotions.

7. Give yourself a quality-of-life checkup.

It’s wise to periodically assess whether you’re satisfied with the quality of your life. If you don’t feel fulfilled, ponder what changes are in order.

Inner peace is a worthwhile goal. In today's saturated world, having an inner peace plan—and working on it every day—is a good way to ensure you attain that goal.

Gregory L. Jantz, Ph.D. , founded The Center for Counseling and Health Resources, and is a member of the White House roundtable on opioid abuse.

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Essay on Peace

500 words essay peace.

Peace is the path we take for bringing growth and prosperity to society. If we do not have peace and harmony, achieving political strength, economic stability and cultural growth will be impossible. Moreover, before we transmit the notion of peace to others, it is vital for us to possess peace within. It is not a certain individual’s responsibility to maintain peace but everyone’s duty. Thus, an essay on peace will throw some light on the same topic.

Importance of Peace

History has been proof of the thousands of war which have taken place in all periods at different levels between nations. Thus, we learned that peace played an important role in ending these wars or even preventing some of them.

In fact, if you take a look at all religious scriptures and ceremonies, you will realize that all of them teach peace. They mostly advocate eliminating war and maintaining harmony. In other words, all of them hold out a sacred commitment to peace.

It is after the thousands of destructive wars that humans realized the importance of peace. Earth needs peace in order to survive. This applies to every angle including wars, pollution , natural disasters and more.

When peace and harmony are maintained, things will continue to run smoothly without any delay. Moreover, it can be a saviour for many who do not wish to engage in any disrupting activities or more.

In other words, while war destroys and disrupts, peace builds and strengthens as well as restores. Moreover, peace is personal which helps us achieve security and tranquillity and avoid anxiety and chaos to make our lives better.

How to Maintain Peace

There are many ways in which we can maintain peace at different levels. To begin with humankind, it is essential to maintain equality, security and justice to maintain the political order of any nation.

Further, we must promote the advancement of technology and science which will ultimately benefit all of humankind and maintain the welfare of people. In addition, introducing a global economic system will help eliminate divergence, mistrust and regional imbalance.

It is also essential to encourage ethics that promote ecological prosperity and incorporate solutions to resolve the environmental crisis. This will in turn share success and fulfil the responsibility of individuals to end historical prejudices.

Similarly, we must also adopt a mental and spiritual ideology that embodies a helpful attitude to spread harmony. We must also recognize diversity and integration for expressing emotion to enhance our friendship with everyone from different cultures.

Finally, it must be everyone’s noble mission to promote peace by expressing its contribution to the long-lasting well-being factor of everyone’s lives. Thus, we must all try our level best to maintain peace and harmony.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of the Essay on Peace

To sum it up, peace is essential to control the evils which damage our society. It is obvious that we will keep facing crises on many levels but we can manage them better with the help of peace. Moreover, peace is vital for humankind to survive and strive for a better future.

FAQ of Essay on Peace

Question 1: What is the importance of peace?

Answer 1: Peace is the way that helps us prevent inequity and violence. It is no less than a golden ticket to enter a new and bright future for mankind. Moreover, everyone plays an essential role in this so that everybody can get a more equal and peaceful world.

Question 2: What exactly is peace?

Answer 2: Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in which there is no hostility and violence. In social terms, we use it commonly to refer to a lack of conflict, such as war. Thus, it is freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups.

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Find your inner peace: techniques and benefits

Inner peace has become a fascinating topic that has been covered worldwide by spiritual leaders, doctors, therapists and psychologists. We love to romanticize inner peace as the answer to everything in life, yet do very little to acquire it, because in order to achieve this state, something very scary is required of us and that is change.

What is inner peace

Inner peace is the ability to withstand life’s shortcomings by training the mind to enter into a deliberate spiritual and psychological state of calm. It is commonly linked with happiness, contentment and bliss, but these are temporary states; embarking on the path of inner peace helps us navigate through the turbulent waters of uncertainty, suffering and sadness.

Benefits of inner peace

Inner peace allows us to confront life with an open heart and mind, helps us keep track of what is important to us and eliminate negative influence. The pursuit of inner peace is a universal goal, but it seems like most of us lose sight of its numerous benefits.

Focus on our goals

Inner peace calms our mind and allows us to see our path much clearer, helping us focus and keep track of our goals. Having clear goals is like having a compass; you know where you want to go, you aim for it and commit to the road, trusting that all obstacles are worthy challenges rather than intimidating threats.

Avoid bad habits

Bad habits are the result of negative pattern behaviors, which stem from our inability to confront our problems and obstacles with an open heart and mind. Inner peace gifts us with the optimal mechanisms to deal with our stress in healthy ways, allowing us to grow and feel more content as a result.

The road to happiness

Inner peace is the path towards happiness. We tend to use these concepts interchangeably, but they are different. Having inner peace is what allows us to enjoy and appreciate the present, regardless of whether it’s good or bad.

Reduce stress

The definition of stress is pressure from an external stimulus. It should come as no surprise that most chronic diseases [and illnesses] are rooted in unmanaged stress. When we embark on the path of inner peace, these external circumstances or situations don’t affect us, improving our overall physical and mental health.

Keys to finding inner peace

Finding inner peace is deceptively simple. We tend to get stuck in our negative mindsets and habits because of our fear of change, but as we all know, change is the only constant factor in our lives and can be very powerful.

In the balance lies inner peace

Discovering the balance in what you say, think, eat and do is the challenging yet possible mission that will bring us inner peace in our daily lives.

Simplify and defeat

Evaluating which activities we do or don’t engage our time in simplifies our lives greatly. We can’t do everything, we can’t always win and we certainly can’t please everyone, so choosing what matters and is important to us will help us free ourselves of unnecessary stress and unhappiness

Listen to your inner self

Aligning your core values and beliefs with your actions is a great way to establish a compass on how you invest your time and energy with people and activities. It is very simple: if something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. Stay away from the things that drain your energy and just go along with what you stand for and believe in.

Take away the criticism of your life

Criticizing others is a waste of time and energy and reveals a lot more about our unhappiness and dissatisfaction with our lives, but the worst type of criticism we can engage in is in our own. We tend to be our own worst enemies; we constantly criticize and punish ourselves for our human nature and that is one of the most self-destructive behaviors. Be kind to yourself, realize that mistakes are just opportunities to learn and grow, and that nobody is perfect. Once we stop being so self-critical and start loving ourselves is when we can do the same for others.

The importance of meditating and reflecting

Meditation is based on the idea that you can cultivate a more positive and calm state of mind through a series of techniques that improve our emotional positivity, clarity and concentration. Meditating allows us to understand our mind habits and patterns better. Reflecting on these helps us in replacing negative patterns by cultivating new, positive ways of being present.

One good turn deserves another

Without a doubt, inner peace simply makes you a better person overall and, when you enjoy peace within yourself, you automatically feel compelled to give back and help others feel good too. Inner peace enables you to share your happiness and positive mindset with the people that surround you, especially your loved ones.

The power of forgiveness

Hate, regret and grudges towards other people and yourself are very useless and negative feelings that contribute to making you feel more stressed and unhappy. Forgiveness is the greatest gift you can give, mainly because it will help you get rid of unnecessary stress and anger from your life.

The AIRE Experience: interior and exterior relaxation

AIRE is the ultimate relaxation experience that will gift you with a taste of what inner peace feels like. Inspired by the ancient baths that were popular after Ottoman, Roman and Greek traditions, AIRE offers thermal baths with various water temperatures that will wash away your stress  With numerous worldwide locations including New York, Chicago, Paris, Seville, Barcelona, or London, AIRE Ancient Baths specializes in luxurious thermal baths and also provides aromatherapy and other forms of hydrotherapy, such as balneotherapy.

If you enjoyed this article, you should read Benefits of meditation .

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1 Inner and Outer Peace

What We Mean When We Talk About Inner Peace

Peter gould.

In PAX 120B, we don’t hold up “Inner Peace” as some exalted state toward which we launch ourselves through a practice of mindful meditation. You’ll find several essays in this book that definitely lead you in a different direction.

The “Inner Peace” in our course works collaboratively with the Outer Peace process. Our premise is simple. We say:

If you, the student, intend to work in a field of conflict—to transform or resolve it;

If you’d like to put your energy into peacemaking, peacebuilding, peacekeeping;

If you want to be a mediator;

If you want to be a negotiator, an arbitrator, a justice or a judge;

If you want to assist an injured community in the difficult process of truth and reconciliation;

If you want to work with groups or non-profits organizing around issues of economic inequality, climate justice, immigration rights, domestic abuse, mass incarceration;

If you want to confront racism and privilege, or gender violence;

If you want to apply restorative practices to repair harm to victims and re-integrate offenders into their community;

If you want to dedicate your life to environmental stewardship;

If you want to take part in a non-violent activity of protest;

If you want to do public service or run for political office;

If you want clarity about the many layers of your own identity– some of which you may want to question;

Then we think you will want to develop some kind of dedicated mindfulness practice, a habit of time and space for yourself, so that you can bring your absolute best self to any one of these situations, and so that you can model calm, compassion, active listening, non-violent speech, deliberation, accurate vocabulary, and appropriate body language.

By grounding yourself in an Inner Peace practice of your own, you will bring to the table an ever-improving positive ethics of communication. You will inspire confidence in others.

What We Mean When We Talk About Outer Peace

John ungerleider.

In PAX 120B, “Outer Peace” is not the lack of conflict, but a way of dealing with the inevitable conflicts in life—between individuals and groups—without violence. This calls for respect and increasing equity between members of historically unequal identity groups.

The sensitivity, insight, and patience needed to take risks, to get to know someone who is both truly different as well as deeply similar to each of us, require inner as well as outer skills from a peacebuilder.

We need to build capacities for an active life of “Inner Peace:” cultivating an Inner Activism: shifting ways that we may be potentially violent, towards accessing abilities that can build the dimensions of Outer Peace.

We must understand how our cultures of violence seep into us collectively and individually—often unconsciously, against our better judgment or against our will. We can gain this awareness, together in dialogue and by personal reflection.

We can transform ourselves from intolerant, potential perpetrators of violence, into collaborators in liberating communication.

We can liberate ourselves increasingly from the gender-socialized stereotypes that house intolerance and oppression, of each other and of our human potential. We can overcome the alienation that comes from this and can lead to domestic violence and sexual abuse.

We can examine our emotions, so they become conscious to us, better enabling us to prevent unknown, unexpected aggressions from appearing. They may suddenly come up from attitudes, beliefs, and childhood abuses, up to the surface to be expressed in current relationships.

We can find a way to act with the integrity of who we are and who we want to be in building, making, and keeping peace between the colleagues and communities in our daily lives.

These skills for Outer Peace practice, from dialogue to mediation to negotiation to trust-building and team-building to conflict mapping and intervention, can be strengthened by self-reflection and a clear and honest analysis of our own inherited social identities.

The Inner Peace Outer Peace Reader Copyright © by Peter Gould & John Ungerleider is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Kenneth Kraft is Associate Professor of Religion Studies at Lehigh University. He is the author of Eloquent Zen: Daito and Early Japanese Zen and the editor of Zen: Tradition and Transition

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The Wanderer

An Essay on Inner Peace

            Once there was a legend about a village where everyone carried a 200-pound load of rocks on their back wherever they went. As soon as they got up in the morning, they would put this bag of stones on their backs and go about their business. Even little children, as soon as they could walk, carried a little bag of stones on their backs.

            One day a stranger came to their village and was amazed at what he saw. He stopped a man and asked, “Why is it everyone carries a big bag of rocks?” A man replied, “Because we have always done it. Our fathers and grandfathers always did.”

            “But why?”

            “I don’t know, but we’ve always done it.”

            So the stranger said, “Why don’t you put down your bag of rocks?” The man took off the bag and put it on the ground. Suddenly, a huge smile lit up his face and he called out to his friends, “Why don’t we all take off our bags of stone, because we don’t know why we need to carry them!”

            So, one by one, they put down their bags. Soon there were smiles and sighs of relief and joy. Then there was dancing and singing in the streets. The village declared a holiday and thanked the stranger for helping them to see a different way to live.

            Aren’t we all like that – carrying on our backs a load of worry, guilt, anxiety, stress and fear? Could we consider putting down that heavy load of anger, resentment, envy, self-pity, grief and sorrow? We could ask God for forgiveness and learn to forgive ourselves for all those things for which we think we need to be forgiven.

            Feel the relief of setting down this heavy burden from the past. Feel the freedom and the joy that comes from releasing all the pain of the past. We can take responsibility for creating those situations in our lives and begin to develop good habits, attitudes of more caring, more compassion, more helpfulness, more loving, more reaching our potential, more healthy choices, more uplifting activities, and more patience with ourselves and others.

            Yes, you can live a life filled with beauty, love and inner peace and joy by giving them to yourself and others. Thank God for our lives and the wonders of nature, family and friends.

            Editor’s Note: Hope Bradley Finley passed away on January 13 at age 95. The Mattapoisett resident was thrilled to have The Wanderer publish her poems and essays, something we will continue to do this winter.

The Poet’s Corner

By Hope Bradley Finley

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Wisdom Dojo

Essay: Stoicism, Discipline & Inner Peace

We are continuing our exploration of a philosophical guide to self-development with the therapeutics of the stoics. This essay is part of our project to examine the components of neo-platonism as a theory of human development and draw parallels with the hero meta-mythology and Jungian psychology. Stoic Philosophy started in 300 BC with Zeno of Citium and continued for around 500 years until the fall of Rome. Stoicism has had numerous revivals since, including Neo-stoicism in the Renaissance and modern Stoicism in the 21st century. 

Stoic philosophy provides the ethics for Neo-Platonism and solutions to the meaning crisis. Stoicism is so good at solving the meaning crisis because its philosophy evolved during two previous crises of meaning, the collapses of the ancient Greek and Roman Empires. Tim Ferris, the author of the 4-hour work week, described Stoicism as: 

"An ideal operating system for thriving in high-stress environments."

This is a big part of Stoicism's success in the confusing and uncertain modern digital world. In short, Stoicism is about peace of mind, or 'Tranquility' as William Irvine writes in 'A Guide To The Good Life', and (spoiler alert) it really works. 

How Stoicism Gives Inner Peace. 

Stoicism aims at becoming like Socrates. Verveake argued in his recent talk on Neoplatonism that becoming like Socrates, the ideal sage, involves practising three kinds of discipline. I will attempt to flesh out these three kinds of disciplines with Stoic practices and exercises you can use in this essay. 

1. Discipling your ascent to truth. 

" For as Socrates said, "we ought not to live a life without examination," so we ought not to accept an appearance without examination, but we should say, "Wait, let me see what you are and whence you come"; like the watch at night, "Show me the pass." "Have you the signal from nature which the appearance that may be accepted ought to have? " Epictetus, Discourses. 

Vervaeke argues that this discipline is disciplining what you say is true or false. If you remember, Socrates is famous for saying:

"I know that I know nothing', implying the source of his wisdom is knowledge of his own ignorance. Socrates however does not wallow in his ignorance but rather pursues truth as a way of life, eventually dying for the practice saying: 'the unexamined life is not worth living', which is a claim of a kind of knowledge. 

How does this knowledge contribute to inner peace? Socrates gave this quote while condemned to death when most people might tend to be a bit stressed. But Socrates valued the truth more than his own life, as he knew a life where he could not pursue the truth was not worth living. Socrates willingly consents to death rather than accept what he knows to be a lower good, rejecting his friend's proposal to run away because of his commitment to seeking the truth. 

The Stoics recommend a particular spiritual attitude, which Pierre Hadot describes as

"attention (prosoche)…It is a continuous vigilance and presence of mind, self-consciousness which never sleeps, and a constant tension of mind…"

This attention, like Socrates, is to be conscious of one's errors and self-correct to limit our failures. Correcting habits like jumping to conclusions, falling into unconsciousness or taking mental shortcuts requires vigilant observation of one's cognitive processes and self-conscious dialogue within. Hadot writes, 

"For the Stoics, the person who is 'awake' is always perfectly conscious of not only what he does, but who he is."

Stoicism recommends a philosophical pause to consider what is true or false? And this is what it means to discipline your ascent to truth, to be conscious of what you are identifying yourself with and caring whether what you identify with is true or false, often in opposition to things like social approval, popularity, the status quo etc., as Socrates found out, or internally to one's egocentrism and illusions.

2. Discipling your desire. 

"To what purpose, then, am I presently using my soul? Ask yourself this question at every moment, and examine yourself as follows: what is presently to be found in that part of me which is called the ruling centre? And whose soul do I have at present? That of a child? That of an adolescent? That of a woman, of a tyrant, of a domestic animal, of a wild beast?" Marcus Aurelius, Meditations. 

You will start to see a pattern running throughout these kinds of discipline: agency - becoming self-directed, self-cultivating, not floating through life and being made by the environment but actively shaping your life and character yourself. Vervaeke argues that Socrates knew what to care about and how to transform himself, so he cared about the right things, that this was part of his wisdom. In other words, he was a master of values. He knew what was valuable and worth desiring and what was not valuable and not worth desiring, and how to let go of those bad desires and gain the desirable desires (which seems nearly impossible).

This discipline of desire is a theme running through all Stoic philosophy, which generally warns against pursuing lower passions of the flesh and material gain and wasting one's life and character away. Desires are driven by affect, they are emotional, and we become emotionally attached to them. The Stoics had what is called a 'Cognitive theory of emotions', that our emotional reactions come from value judgments that we make, i.e. we judge someone has wronged us, and so we become angry. As Epictetus says, we “are disturbed not by things, but the views which they take on them". The stoics recommend becoming conscious of our judgments so we can curtail powerful emotional reactions that bias our thinking and to separate our human opinions from mind-independent facts as much as possible.

Emotions are an evolutionary toolkit for operating in complex environments. They are human universals, even the facial expressions associated with specific emotions develop across cultures (although some cultures suppress these more than others), and emotions only come in two kinds: positive and negative. Emotions track if we are on course to a valued goal we care about or not. Positive emotion is dopaminergically mediated, and moderates approach behaviour which tells us when we are getting closer to a valued goal. Negative emotion is mediated by multiple circuits and moderates avoidance behaviour, indicating when we are off track toward our valued goal. This is the basic cable package - that's valuable, go towards it; that's not valuable/threatening, stay away . Why am I telling you all this? Because to discipline your desires, you need to be able to control your emotions.

Two essential truths come from these facts about emotion:

No goals equals no positive emotion. 

The wrong goal equals endless negative emotion. 

So what are goals? Yep, you guessed it, desires. Humans are cybernetic organisms, meaning we are goal-directed in our perceptions and actions. Tons of people these days, myself included, misinterpret Eastern spiritual traditions that you shouldn't have goals or desires (unfortunately not wanting any desires is a desire) so we become deeply miserable for the reasons mentioned above - no goals equals no positive emotion .

What Stoicism encourages is agency! Knowing your purpose, and consciously choosing to pursue the highest goals of wisdom, courage, temperance and justice. One Stoic tool for disciplining desire is the Stoic fork or dichotomy of control, which defines two categories of experience: what is under our direct control and what is not . Stoicism argues we should prioritise what is under our direct control i.e. our thoughts, actions, character, beliefs, and judgements, and accept or at least, not react emotionally to, things outside of our control, i.e. opinions of others, health, wealth, status and the vicissitudes of fate. This is a powerful way of taking advantage of the emotional systems' goal-directed nature to limit negative emotions by not setting bad or impossible goals but desiring what we simply cannot ensure will happen. 

Focusing on what is outside of your control, is a surefire way to trigger the negative emotion systems and keep you in a negative feedback cycle because you’ve chosen a goal you simply can’t achieve i.e. you desire world peace and every time a bomb goes off somewhere you get an anxiety attack. A goal is a desire and a statement of value, which is how humans navigate the complex world; we pursue what is valuable and ignore the rest. Stoicism recommends building a conscious layer on top of that basic functioning and increasing agency by consciously goal-setting, and developing equanimity for what is outside our control. Hence, disciplining our desires into the right desires for the right things at the right time and that this is emotionally optimal, promoting peace of mind and emotional regulation. 

A key feature of the fundamental stoic attitude to desire is gratitude, desiring what you have; gratitude keeps one oriented toward the present rather than the nostalgia of memory and the unrequited desires of the future. The stoics recommend a practice of negative visualisation , where you picture the worst possible outcome in the future, the death of loved ones, failure of a  business, abject misery etc., and this is to prepare one for the worst results, but also so you appreciate what you have now in the present. As Epictetus writes " He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has ". Again this is a subtle shift in attitude to appreciating what you have and ignoring what you don’t have because what we don’t have is limitless.

3. Discipling your action.

" With every accident, ask yourself what abilities you have for making a proper use of it. If you see an attractive person, you will find that self-restraint is the ability you have against your desire. If you are in pain, you will find fortitude. If you hear unpleasant language, you will find patience. And thus habituated, the appearances of things will not hurry you away along with them ." Epictetus, The Stoic Handbook (Enchiridion). 

Veraveke argues that discipling action is a result of disciplining desire. The right action will follow if you desire the right things at the right time for the right reason. We have already touched on in the series that inner conflict generates divided attention. Attention is goal-directed, so inner conflict is a conflict of goals, values, and desires.

The Stoic attitude of mindfulness (prosoche) helps us direct our attention to generate greater inner harmony and flow. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Hungarian-American psychologist, argues in his book 'flow' that goals channel our psychic energy. Because goals exist in a hierarchy, the hierarchy of those goals is the organisation of the psyche. The normal state of mind is information disorder . Desires float in and float out, thoughts assail us, the monkey-mind chatters away, and nothing is ordered naturally. Therefore we have to consciously organise attention, our hierarchy of value prioritisation, which is organising the mind and allows us to focus and enter into flow states. Csikszentmihalyi argues that the goals we choose (or do not) determine the quality of our life and the self we have. 

The hero mythologies provide dramatic maps of worthwhile and unworthwhile goals and shows us dramatic examples of what happens when we pursue certain classes of goals and others - giving insight into what a good goal might be. Peterson argues that the hero stands at the border of order and chaos, which is true of flow-states. A flow state occurs at the edge of one's competence in a bounded game, where you know the rules and can get instant feedback. Csikszentmihalyi uses the example of skiing down a mountain; I'm not thinking about what I will have for lunch because if I get distracted, I may die. My attention is wholly unified in the present moment because my skills are optimally engaged. If it is too easy, I will get bored; if it is too difficult, I will experience anxiety - both disengage flow. 

It’s my opinion that Stoicism aims to master self-consciousness to reduce anxiety, and increase flow in life. Stoicism gamifies life through a focus on discipline and attention in the face of adversity and recommends the practice of the constant vigilance of one’s states and judgements to optimise for greater flow and inner peace. The Stoics often talk about coming into the flow of nature flowing, coming into harmony with one's own nature that harmonises you with the universe at large. As Seneca writes " For those who follow nature, everything is easy and straightforward, whereas for those who fight against her life is just like rowing against the stream ". 

The Socratic call to 'Know Thyself', as Veraveke argues, means 'to know the principles guiding your action', which indicates that's what the self is to an extent - the principles guiding your action across all domains, the core-values that make you you - so this is a call to understand your nature so you can optionally position yourself in life. I would argue that Stoic ethics aims at a character who gets into essentially a moral or wise flow-state; one who is capable of enjoying challenges and weathering adversity with an unshakeable attitude, mastering agency and self-consciousness, not by running away, but by becoming self-directed and self-cultivating, concerned about truth, capable of caring well and transforming oneself to care better, like Socrates. This ongoing process never finishes as the challenges keep coming until death, which is why Stoicism is a way of life and not just an abstract philosophy. As Epictetus says,

"It's much easier for a mariner to wreck his ship than it is for him to keep it sailing safely; all he has to do is head a little more upwind and disaster is instantaneous. In fact, he does not have to do anything: a momentary loss of attention will produce the same result. It's much the same in our case. If you doze off, all your progress up to that point will be negated. To keep a sharp eye on your impressions, and never fall asleep ."

Conclusion. 

" Rarely is a person seen to be in a bad way because he has failed to attend to what is happening in someone else's soul, but those who fail to pay careful attention to the motions of their own souls are bound to be in a wretched state ." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations. 

In this essay, I have attempted to convey the fundamental stoic attitude and how this is rooted in a compelling theory of human nature based on goals and emotions, and why this attitude is therapeutic and ultimately aims at peace of mind. So much of this boils down to a warrior-like attention to the truth and one's self-correction into greater identification with that truth - that's the game, and the whole process is embodied in the Stoic practice of internalising the sage. This practice involves imagining a sage, like Socrates, and internalising their perspective, building their voice in your mind and creating a dialogue that shapes your actions, desires and overall development. This is a way of improving and bootstrapping your own conscience for greater agency in complex and difficult environments.

In the next episode, we will be looking at Plotinus and his synthesis of Platonism, Aristotelian science and Stoic ethics into Neoplatonism and how this ancient philosophy provides us with a path of spiritual development and metaphysical understanding. Until next time.

Essay: Plotinus, Neo-Platonism & Beyond Narcissism (Part 7)

Listen now (28 mins) | (*Audio and written essay differ as had to make changes.) In this essay, I will show how Plotinus’ philosophical system (Neoplatonism) provides the normative order for a meaningful worldview, based on John Vervaeke’s argument in Awakening From The Meaning Crisis. Firstly, we will introduce Plotinus and his ideas. Then we will show how he utilises Aristo…

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Magazine | Reviews

Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays on Buddhism and Nonviolence / Zen Awakening and Society

Edited by Kenneth Kraft / By Christopher Ives

Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays on Buddhism and Nonviolence Edited by Kenneth Kraft State University of New York Press: Albany, 1992. 148 pp. $12.95 (paperback).

Zen Awakening and Society Christopher Ives University of Hawaii Press: Honolulu, 1992. 200 pp. $14.95 (paperback) and $25.00 (library binding).

The question of how  to extend Buddhist practice—in terms of carrying it outside the community of practitioners and into the structures and decisions of the larger society—is not a new one. The books edited by Kenneth Kraft and authored by Christopher Ives respectively, however, dig into this problem with a seriousness, depth, and concreteness not seen before. Both Kraft and Ives express concern about the danger that American Buddhists will strive to cultivate “inner peace” but let “world peace” become a cause that is expected to take care of itself. That is, both of these books insist on a Buddhism of engagement with the social and political problems of our world.

Kraft’s volume shows a fine mix of materials and perspectives among its eight contributors. Running throughout is a deep appreciation of the general norms and principles found in the Buddhist tradition but also a candid admission that those prin­ciples are not always easily transla­ted into an exact knowledge of how to act in specific situations. As Luis O. Gomez notes,

ideals such as “respect for life” or “fulfilling the aspirations of all living beings” do not provide an unambiguous guideline for behavior … After all, the best way to make a tiger happy may be to feed it a lamb. Buddhist ethical thought, at least in its early stages, did not investigate this kind of problem.

Most of the writers here, however, chose to work not so much with theories as with what Donald K. Swearer calls “exemplars” of nonviolence. King Asoka, the present Dalai Lama, and Thich Nhat Hanh, understandably, are selected by many of these writers as fitting that category especially well. Robert A. F. Thurman’s exploration of linkages between monastic ideals and modern Tibet’s experience with nonviolence pre­sents an especially cogent “exem­plar,” and Gene Sharp, simply by quantitatively showing how often nonviolence has already worked well, deflates the criticism that it is only an unrealizable ideal.

Although Kraft’s book intends to help define a Buddhist social ethic, it turns out to be stronger in its provision of such “exem­plars” of nonviolence than in the spelling out of what could be called a Buddhist ethical theory. Is this a failing? Or is it a special kind of success—that is, because even something setting out to be “Buddhist theory” gets more true to the tradition when, sooner or later, there is a choice for exemplars rather than for theories? This becomes an interesting question.

Christopher Ives’  Zen Awakening and Society  is a book showing both concern and tough-mindedness. Like Kraft’s, Ives’ book is clearly written to stimulate North Ameri­can Buddhists to practice more energetically and effectively within the social ambit. Ives’ study is a close look at the resources avail­able within Japanese Zen and a bold scrutiny of many of its fail­ings. Scholarship on the history of Buddhism, sometimes too easily put down within communities of practitioners, here becomes a valua­ble tool for internal watch-dogging.

Japanese Zen during the first half of our century, Ives shows, moni­tored itself badly. As a result it used—and was used by—the brutal forces of fascism and militarism. Many monks put a patina of good intentions on Japan’s wars against its neighbors, referring to them as the physical expression of a deeply “spiritual” struggle going on in the world. Ives’ study does not flinch from these facts. But in order not to stop with a recollection of that sorry epoch, it also considers Japanese Buddhists who after 1945 sought to chart a new course. Ives focuses attention on three individuals.

Shin’ichi Hisamatsu (1889-1980), in the modern world an exemplar of the scholar-practitioner (“Zen practice without study is blind; study without practice is power­less”), threw down a challenge to the Japanese monastic institution (“Zen within a ghostly cave”) for being on the one hand inattentive to societal needs and on the other co-opted too easily by the rally-­the-troops rhetoric of the modern nation-state. Ives lays out the basic themes of Hisamatsu’s philosophy, especially his passion for a non-exclusive vision of mankind and the tools he used to critique the modern nation-state as itself being a form of egoism writ large.

Masao Abe took the insights and energies of Hisamatsu, his mentor, and has translated them into decades of widely influential teach­ing in North America and Europe. Abe has been the principal agent in the formation of ongoing exchan­ges between Buddhists and Christians and Buddhists and Jews in the West. His rich knowledge of Western religious thought also enabled him to frame many of the key questions of such interchanges. Ives notes the importance of Abe’s stress upon the need for “ active  compassion,” although at the same time Ives suggests that Abe skimps on the importance of “justice.”

Hakugen Ichikawa (1902-1986), a figure introduced here by Ives for the first time, is prized by Ives not for theoretical profundity but for the fact that he writes “about ethical issues in greater historical detail.” And that detail involves a concrete critique—from within—­of the actual record, especially in the area of social ethics, of Zen in modern Japan. Ives brings forward twelve key points in Ichikawa’s analysis, many of which, he suggests, would repay any atten­tion given them by Buddhist practitioners in the West as well.

These books are both excellent and important. There is also, I think, a noteworthy level of urgency in them. They imply that, for a variety of reasons, any Buddhism that is “Western” or “American” cannot afford to assume it will have millenia or even centuries to come to clarity about ethical or social issues. Ives sees a danger of Western Buddhists hoping for a “trickle-down ethic,” one that will automatically come along in time if only practitioners get their own individual, personal lives straightened out. Kraft’s book takes in more of the variety of Asian contexts and situations faced by Buddhists from different sub-­traditions, but a similar theme comes through: concern for society and its concrete problems is not something that mayor can be shelved for now.

Although there is considerable agreement within these two books, there is also diversity, even disagree­ment. If I were to choose one issue on which there could profitably be a much deeper debate it would be the problem of relation of the sangha to the state. No one could reasonably fault Robert Thurman for ignoring the need for Buddhists to be active and concrete in the social and political world. However, in his essay, “Tibet and the Monastic Army of Peace,” in the Kraft volume, he maintains the follow­ing: “The Tibetan ideal was the unity of dharma and state, dharma and society, dharma and life. This might at first trouble us because of the American principle of the separation of church and state.”

I confess to being one of the troubled here. And, if I read Ives rightly, the reason for worry need not spring only from the “Ameri­can” principle of separation (al­though I think it important) but also from some fairly sorry episodes in the history of Asia when it was assumed that the Dharma and the state had effective­ly fused. The case of what happen­ed in modern Japan is especially egregious, but the disease of religious “triumphalism”—with all the harms it can bring to others and reactions it can unleash against religion itself—is not one against which Buddhists anywhere can show they have been once and for all immunized. Especially in view of the trials foisted upon contem­porary Tibet, Thurman is surely right to insist that “whether or not a society accepts monasticism is a revealing litmus of that society.” But there is, I suggest, a difference between a society that  accepts  monasticism and one in which state and sangha have become one. The secular state, today under attack from so many, is one I find myself preferring.

Although not the only recent works urging forward the thinking of Western Buddhists about ethics and society, the books by Ives and Kraft are especially probing and rich. Kraft articulates things precisely when he writes that many today wish to explore in Buddhism “a creative tension between withdrawal and involvement, an underlying synonymity between work on oneself and work on behalf of others.”

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