Perhaps you’ve noticed – there is suffering in the world we live in. As compassionate, loving people of the planet, we can easily empathize and sometimes even feel the pain and suffering of other beings. Sometimes, it may make us feel sadness, sometimes we grieve, sometimes we become angry, bitter or even hateful. But we cannot create a world of peace from a place of hatred. When we hate in the name of love, I’m afraid we’ve missed something very important.
Here are 4 ways to peacefully navigate through a world of suffering to create a life and world of peace. May peace and love be our compass, and may all beings be happy and free.
1. Start with yourself.
Perhaps, the greatest thing we can do for well-being, empowerment and peace among all beings is to do the inner work so that we may be at peace with ourselves and, actively participate in creating the peace we wish to see in the world. Be kind, be gentle, be compassionate with yourself first.
By filling our own cup with unwavering self-love and radical inner peace, we have more to give, we are better able to serve others, and we become a bright light in the world that emanates love and peace everywhere we go so that more people can be impacted by the peace we share, and one day, the whole world may live in peace.
2. Make peace your path.
Make peace, love, and compassion your path. Transform peace from being something you do into who you are. Doing acts of peace is powerful, but being peace will change the world.
To be peaceful, or a peace activist, you don’t have to stand outside of building chanting what is wrong with the world, you don’t have to aggressively comment on social media what you believe to be wrong or unethical, and you don’t have to donate heaps of money to humanitarian organizations.
Try practicing what I like to call micro activism in your daily life; small acts of compassion that create massive waves of peace in our world. As best as you can, try to eat, shop, exist compassionately with as little negative impact to other beings and this planet as possible. By you living a peaceful life, there is more peace in the world.
3. Choose love.
Please—stop hating in the name of love. It is easy to become angry and bitter when we see the injustice and suffering in the world, and from this place of anger, we may want to scream hatred and aggression in the name of love. Our intentions our good, but the method is not always compassionate, peaceful, or effective. To fight in the name of love is to forget what love really is. Don’t allow the suffering of the world to stain your heart of it’s true essence—unconditional love.
Ask yourself in every moment; in every interaction, in how you shop, in what you eat— how can I choose love? How may I serve in the most compassionate way? What is the most loving thing I can do here? How can I share peace? Choose the path of least harm— and when you can, always choose love
4. Do what you can to alleviate others suffering, but don’t make yourself suffer in the process.
When you cross paths with someone you can serve, do what you can. It is our highest duty to do what we can to alleviate the suffering of other beings— but that doesn’t mean we must carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. You don’t need to go searching for suffering.
We have infinite resources to offer each other; from time and money, to a loving hug or words of compassion. If you cross paths with a hungry cat or thirsty dog, do what you can to nourish them. If you can share money or food with someone less fortunate, do so. If you notice a shelter could use a volunteer, show up. If you feel called to offer words of compassion or a hug to someone in emotional pain, do it. If you see suffering, do what you can to help, to serve, for the greater good of humanity.
But that doesn’t mean you need to go looking for suffering. In a world where every catastrophe on the planet, large or small, shows up on our newsfeeds on several devices in an instant, we need to give ourselves a break from the suffering of the world. It’s important to know what is happening in our world, but our constant connection to world events can take a toll on our state of being, and move us into a state of fear and anger.
Take time away from the news, social media etc every so often to recharge your heart with inner peace and love— we can offer more to the world from that state of Being.
BONUS YOGA TECHNIQUES FOR PEACE
1. Chant the mantras:
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
(Low-Kah Sum-A-Sta Sook-ee-no Buh-Vun-Too)
May all beings be happy and free of suffering and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute to that happiness freedom for all.
Om Shanti Om
(Aum, Shun-tee, Aum)
May there be universal peace.
2. Meditate
Silence and stillness allows us to settle into the experience of peace that exists within us all, and we can live and act from this place of peace.
3. Practice Ahimsa
Ahimsa in yoga is the first of the Yamas, the moral code written in the ancient texts of yoga. Ahimsa teaches us to live a life of non-violence, non-aggression, love and peace with one another. Do no harm.
May we up the ante on the shanti— start by creating peace in your own life, make peace your path, alleviate the suffering of other beings that cross your path as best you can, and always choose love. Ps. Shanti means peace in Sanskrit, which makes this a funny, cute peace rhyme because the world needs more smiles, too.
But for real, may all beings be happy, and free of suffering.
How do you live peace? How do you choose love? I’d love to hear in the comments below! x
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” – Buddha.