On Turbulence and Peace

The Self cannot be pierced by weapons or burned by fire;
water cannot wet it, nor can the wind dry it.
It is everlasting and it is infinite,
standing on the motionless foundations of eternity.
The Self is unmanifested, beyond all thought, beyond all change.
(Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita)

Have you ever contemplated why you can't experience love, joy and peace on a permanent basis? Sure, you have your fair share of it, but unfortunately there is also chaos, stress and loneliness. It is because we experience life on the surface. Beneath it lies our everlasting Self; completely calm, loving and peaceful, untouched by the turbulence of life. A spiritual path is all about finding that divine connection to your inner Core.

Compare your life to an ocean and imagine your Self at the bottom of it. On the surface, your life fluctuates dramatically in tune with your external environment. Sometimes there is sunshine and no wind at all, sometimes it is raining and stormy and on occasions hurricanes are passing by. It is hard to imagine at those moments that there is complete calmness at the bottom at the ocean. Spiritual path travelers get glimpses of this peace, while still being caught in the turmoil of life on other occasions. Walking the Tao gives you this chance to dive to the depth of the ocean and experience this eternal peace and love no matter what.

The Tao shows you the connections of everything there is. Very much as all parents know that their children are extensions of themselves, it dawns on the spiritual path traveler that we are all one. Love abounds in this world and anger becomes pretty meaningless. As you experience anger and violence in others, you observe it in yourself. As you see sacrifice, you understand its meaning. Hurricanes can be tolerated and withstood if you understand that they set the stage for beautiful sunshine afterwards. Let the Tao show you how to connect with that eternal calmness, love and peace inside of you. It is like watching the movement of the water a few meters below the surface and while seeing the turbulence above, being connected at the same time with the eternal peace below. Externally, you are moving with the flow of the unfolding situation, while internally you are unmoved just like in the center of the ocean. Peace and love is always yours to have when you reach that stage. Let the Tao show you this divine connection.

By Christian and Su Zhen