Part 2 of 30 Days of Peace…

Love is a name, also an attribute, of the Divine; therefore, its nature is infinite. If you have one child you love them. If you have two, you don’t love the first one less. If you have twenty, you still love more. It’s no different with all our humanity.

“Love all, exclude none.”

Swami Rama

We don’t have to stretch, this is our True Nature. No newborn is prejudiced. No infant holds judgements.  No child is racist.

How do we return to this intrinsic state?

In  previous post I mention the pervasive nature of the Center of Consciousness.

“Yoga Meditation is the art and science of systematically observing, accepting, understanding, and training each of the levels of Our Being, such that we may coordinate and integrate those aspects of Ourselves and dwell in the direct experience of the Center of Consciousness.“

Swami Jnaneshvara

Another of the infinite attributes of the Center of Consciousness is peace. When we reconnect with the substratum of peace, which manifests as everyone and everything, we become a beacon of peace for the “outside” world.

A beautiful illustration of this is the hymn “Let there be Peace on Earth” by Jill and Sy Miller:

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me;

Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.

Peace is reclaimed from going inside. Then, this peace is established “outside”.

To honor the need for World Peace, I’m personally increasing my meditation sittings to four times a day for 30 days.  During this time I am also committing to a daily post.  I calling it an ashram fast.  At my teacher’s monastery there are four sittings per day.  Meditations don’t require an hour of quiet contemplation; 3 minutes is extremely beneficial–think about drinking more water or getting more exercise. For many years I’ve been reluctant; but, now I realize that I have a responsibility to steep in the peace and carry it all the time. The experts say it takes 28 days to create a new habit.  I am ready to be a Peace Maker.  This small action isn’t meant to be self-serving, it’s meant to be Self-awakening.

If you’re interested below I have links to the basic meditation process and how to time your practices daily.  Lastly, there is a link to an in-depth online course on the art and science of Yoga Meditation.

• Beginning Meditation
• Meditation Cheat Sheet
• 12 minute guided practice (10 minutes of meditation)