A mentor and friend of mine, Paul Chek, used to say in his lectures, “How do you know who’s a pioneer?”, and his answer would be “By the arrows sticking out of his back.” At this point in my life I have a similar question, “How do you know if someone has found Peace?”, and my answer is “By the arrows all over his body.”
One does not find Peace but rather unveils it from deep within. Many talk about wanting “peace of mind” or more peace in their lives but yet are unwilling to take an actual step towards it. To unveil true Peace is to expose all that you thought you were and the lifetime of accumulating “junk” consisting of material attachments and enslavement to the physical senses. Quite simply, it is exposing your relentless bullshit that distracts you from the Peace that you are. With the practice of deep meditation, one can experience Peace and this is a step in experiencing the Soul. As one goes deeper into meditation, that Peace becomes more expansive and one feels connected with all of existence. This is an experience of God (or whatever other word resonates with you such as Spirit, Creator, Tao, Source, etc). This is True Peace that allows one to be calm within despite one’s outer circumstances. It is like a wave that experiences the oneness and expansiveness of the ocean. It is always there.
Since every step of our evolution is to be transcended, unveiling the Peace within is just a taste and being the Peace is total embodiment. When one unveils the Peace within them, they will be challenged by others who are also seeking it but are unable to detach themselves from their unserving patterns (ie. bullshit, belief systems, etc.). This is evident in the long history of saintly martyrdom in Christianity. What people do not understand they fear and what they fear they resist and fight against. January 20 is the feast day for the Christian saint, St. Sebastian, who is the Catholic patron saint for athletes. St. Sebastian was a Roman warrior who was a Christian and denounced the Roman gods. He was initially martyred by the Roman emperor by being tied to a tree and had arrows shot all over his body. Paintings of St. Sebastian typically depict a young, muscular man with arrows piercing through him (pictured above). Even with all the arrows, St. Sebastian did not die. The emperor ended up having him clubbed to death and he was also famous for being the twice-martyred saint. Because of these miraculous feats, many people converted to Christianity at the time. This story displays how when one unveils the True Peace from within, it not only can repel the “arrows”, or external attacks from other’s ignorance, but can also transmute them into transcendence. Where although what began as an attack, transformed into a planting of a seed that triggers the fruit of Peace within the “attacker”.
The first step is allowing Peace to reveal itself to you. This can be achieved through the stillness and silence of deep meditation. It is a practice and can take some time. Please understand that once you experience it, it does not end there. You will be challenged by others, or rather, blatantly attacked, as a test to see how stable your foundation of Peace is. Remember, it is not a battle but more of an evolutionary opportunity. Ask yourself this, “Can you handle True Peace in your life right now?” And if the answer is “no”, what steps can you take to remove the veil? And what benefit are you getting from your addiction to non-Peace?
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