“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”
Jesus
What makes Jesus‘ words particularly poignant is that he speaks them on the eve of his crucifixion. How can he talk about peace in the face of such suffering? By extension, how can he promise his disciples and us peace in a world mired in literal, political, and spiritual war? How could he have had the audacity to make such a provocative statement?
For most of us, what is axiomatic, that is, ultimately real, is what we can see with our eyes and touch with our hands. So if our loved ones are healthy, if there is food on the table, and if we are free from persecution, we tend to be at peace. However, this is situational peace. Situations will inevitably degrade because everything changes, and all that lives will eventually die. Situational peace is always fragile, short lived, and the cause of debilitating anxiety.
What was ultimately real for Jesus was not the world of the five senses but the world of the eternal Spirit, God’s Spirit. All the joy, beauty, and love we enjoy on the earth plane have their source in Spirit, and Spirit is changeless and deathless. Even though the manner in which we experience these treasures can and will change, they are changeless because they are grounded in Spirit. While Jesus was not unsympathetic to the travails inherent in a transient world, his soul’s attention was absolutely fixed on what is enduring and everlasting. Thus, he operated from a peace that transcends the world, and he invites us to live from this very same transcendental peace.
What is axiomatic for you and for me? Indeed, we must be actively engaged in the ever-changing world, working for its betterment in every way. But like Jesus, our deepest gaze must be on Spirit. Whatever is lost in this life can be found in Spirit; whatever is broken is made whole in Spirit; and whatever dies is alive in Spirit. At our deepest level, we are inseparable from Spirit. Never allow the world’s drama to pull you away from what is ultimately real. May the following quotes from the Bhagavad Gita and Yogananda fill your meditation and prayer with the peace that Jesus promised:
“Unattracted to the sensory world, the yogi experiences the ever new joy inherent in the Self. Engaged in divine union of the soul with Spirit, he attains bliss indestructible.”
“The yogi learns to control his chitta (primordial feeling), overcoming all likes and dislikes relative to external objects. Detaching his attention from the outer world into his true inner Self, he perceives the ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever new joy of the soul. When the Self is fully established in union with Spirit, his ever-new joy becomes immutable.”
