As the world at large watches another crisis unfolding before our eyes, it's natural for us to feel despair. Thoughts and scenes of families and children in war zones cuts at our hearts and baffles our minds as we struggle to grasp the reality of what this must be like for those living in the midst of these battles.
In attempt to do something to help, we stand in solidarity, make contributions of needed items and open our doors to harbour the vulnerable (government policy permitting). Within the whole experience there is a multitude of perceptions, moral view points and potential for judgement, blame and condemnation. Though within it all, the reality of the strife for those caught in the middle is apparent, real and heart breaking to behold.
If we work with the principle of nature being our greatest teacher, what then can nature teach us about peace? Where else can we go with this, in order to help cultivate a more peaceful world?
As I walked across the fields towards the woods yesterday, with each step I allowed myself to step into the present moment. To mindfully place myself in the here and now, open to whatever was to come into my thoughts and experiences. To unhook my thinking, to let go of agenda, to release worry, to forget to do lists and to just be... present.... in that moment... listening to and engaging with the more than human world around me.
As I entered into this different state of being, I was reminded that this too is the way of nature. This wasn't just some meditational practice that I was drawing out of my tool kit. This was me, realigning with nature's rhythm, reconnecting with my own true nature. Nature just is... there is no agenda, no goal, no intention for domination - nature is a pulsing, biodiverse ecosystem that is constantly trying to balance itself and come back to homeostasis, a state of inner harmony within itself. And amid the seemingly disordered wilderness, a vibrant, intelligent, loving and peaceful order is apparent, singing to us through sacred geometry, fractal patterns, and the cycles of life and seasons, to name just a few.
There are birds darting, foxes hunting, squirrels leaping, insects crawling and trees slowly slowly growing. There are battles and traumas between and within species and yet there is also peace. At the core there is peace.
Within this vibrant ecosystem, it feels to me that peace is not the absence of conflict or disturbance, but an innate state at the core of nature. It is the centre of a pine cone, the trunk of a tree, the centre of a flower and it's in you and me.
In the words of Elizabeth Gilbert author of Eat, Pray, Love ~ "We don't realise that somewhere within us all there does exist a supreme self, who is eternally at peace".
So whilst we stand in opposition to war and support the vulnerable in any way possible, let us also reconnect to that peace within ourselves. If we come back to a place of peace within ourselves we effect the world from the inside/out. We will not find peace by controlling those around us, by trying to create order in the wilderness of our own inner ecosystems ~ nature shows us that this is inherently disordered in it's wilderness ~ to attempt to control it will only move us further away from peace within. The peace is always there, at the core of our being... the more we connect with it and bring it into consciousness, the more peaceful the world will become.
How do you connect with the peace within? What does nature show you about peace and conflict? Let's explore and share as we birth a more peaceful world.