Inner peace, peaceful world, no peace without practice

Sometimes I open the door, downstairs, take two steps inside and then stop. The door closes, slowly and the sounds of the world outside fade away. Nearly always is takes me the whole stairs up to let go of the wild thoughts and emotions of something that hit me at home.  I like the ritual of building up, because I experience it as a passing rite between one world and the other.

I also like to go downstairs, after the bell invitation, to close the door. Now the hectic outside world cannot come in. Cannot disturb us.

At the end of the evening I close the door, after a fine evening, nourished, insights, magic breathing and touching. Mostly I have, at that threshold, two insights. The world outside is more calm and peaceful to me when I get in. I feel full of energy to stay as calm, mindfull and home to myself as I am at that moment. Often I have the insight that my image of the outside world is really created by my inner more or less mindfulness.

So now I have the longing to bring my inner peace tot the outside world. Not only the chapel is my field of practice, but every moment of my life. Inspired by Thay, who decided to step out of his monastic island of peace and meditation and stepped into the war zone to help people finding peace in them selves even when the war was right next door.

Breath in, breathe out,

I breath in and feel the fresh breath  go inside me

I breath out and feel the warmer breath going uit

In: fresh out: warm

Breath in, breath out

I breathe in and make my body calm and peaceful

I breathe out and make my body calm and peaceful

In: calm, out, peaceful

Breath in, breathe out

I breathe in and notice the working of my emotions in me

I breathe out and bring my emotions to rest

In: working out: rest

Breath in, breathe out

I breathe in and look peaceful tot the lotus I am

I breathe out and look peaceful to the mud in which I am rooted

In: lotus out mud

Breath in breath out

I breathe in and feel the tender touch of the sun light

I breathe out and open the lotus in me to contribute tot his world.

In touch out open.

Guided meditation, August 17th 2015

Joost Vriens