A once-large and bustling rural Quaker meeting began to decline as the area’s young people moved to the cities. The membership grew older and fewer, until one Sunday morning, when a visitor came and found the meeting-house open but empty.
The visitor walked up the long aisle, sat down in the front row, and settled into silence. Soon she heard the door open behind her, and footsteps echoed their way up the aisle. Then there was a tap on her shoulder. “Excuse me, Friend,” said a quavering voice, “but thee is sitting in my seat.”
From: Quakers Are Funny, by Chuck Fager.
How do we access peace? When we dwell in the realm of peace. In this very moment as you read this, come along with me …
Take a deep breath in…. and exhale…
Take another deep breath in… and exhale…
Connect with the silence and stillness within you
Feel the aliveness and inner body energy within your hands, your body
Return to the realm of peace that is always here for you
Stop reading for a moment, close your eyes and experience this peace
In this space we are abiding in presence, in consciousness, in love, in the Holy Spirit, in God. We return to the eternal abundance that is always there. We return to the Ultimate healer, doctor, therapist, financial advisor, and career counselor. We access the wisdom that knows the way.
by Brendon Lumgair
To practice accessing the peace within, you can watch Brendon’s free 10-minute meditation on YouTube.Click here to go to this meditation.
Direct the focus of your attention into the Now. Just become intensely conscious of the present moment. This is a deeply satisfying thing to do. In this way, you draw consciousness away from mind activity and create a gap of no-mind in which you are highly alert and aware but not thinking. This is the essence of meditation.
In your everyday life, you can practice this by taking any routine activity that normally is only a means to an end and giving it your fullest attention, so that it becomes an end in itself. For example, every time you walk up and down the stairs in your house or place of work, pay close attention to every step, every movement, even your breathing. Be totally present.
Or when you wash your hands, pay attention to all the sense perceptions associated with the activity: the sound and feel of the water, the movement of your hands, the scent of the soap, and so on. Or when you get into your car, after you close the door, pause for a few seconds and observe the flow of your breath. Become aware of a silent but powerful sense of presence. There is one certain criterion by which you can measure your success in this practice: the degree of peace that you feel within.
by Eckhart Tolle. See: What is Meditation
May I be aware of my thoughts — that they may be as words written on water which vanish even as they are written.
If I cannot quiet my mind, let my thoughts be of the Eternal Bliss, free of sorrow, free of doubt.
Let the veil which is the mind be lifted that I may
be the True Self.
Deep inside of each one of us is light that is utterly peaceful and quiet.
It is the you in me and the me in you.
It is unaffected and undisturbed by the outer world.
It is unchanged by birth and death.
It is not limited by time and space.
Teachers can teach you about the world, but only you can come to know the inner you.
This inner light is always pure, ever present, and free of sorrow.
Learn to rest in the Self. . .
Come to know the bliss. . .
Visistha ~ www.peterspearls.com.au/presence.htm#presence