Within each of us, in our hearts and in our minds, there lives a special kind of Light. In truth, it is everywhere. There are thoughts suspended in this silently illuminated space. But instead of seeing the beautiful Stillness that reveals the movement of these passing thoughts (and feelings), we grab on to each and every single one that passes through it. Why do we do this? We are now in reach of a great truth:

It is not the real you, not the real "I" in us that latches on to these thoughts, but it is a thief of Peace! This is our divided nature. It cannot live without that old familiar sense of self it gets each time it examines and evaluates whatever images it can sink its mental "teeth" into. In a word, this thieving nature that steals our peace is part and parcel with our blindness to the fact that real peace doesn't come in parts. Said slightly differently, the Stillness we long for can never be found in any temporary sense of self that comes from being identified with the movement of one of these suspended parts. Again, this understanding is not a complex affair, so let's look at another example.

One reason why negative states sneak in so easily to steal our peace is that we have been conditioned to believe in their right to punish us. Here's proof of this dark unseen conspiracy: We can be seated at a nice quiet table in a restaurant, have enough money to buy a fine meal for ourselves, have on nice clean clothes, be seated by ourselves or with friends, and for all of our fortune we will get upset because the waiter didn't bring our toast buttered on the right side! As silly as this may sound, its true: Negative states such as these, born of nothing other than conflict-filled comparative thinking, steal into us to squander our peace one hundred times a day.

We do not have to yield ourselves to such meaningless states, nor live the life of the sorry self that revels in them. But emancipation will take a special effort on our part.

Following is a list for special self-study to help get you started up the path of spiritual freedom. After a careful review of these three peace-stealing conditions, take time to make a list of your own. Keep it simple. Use casual observations of yourself and others around you to be a spiritual detective.

1. Thinking about what others are thinking about us: Can we see that the only reason we are concerned with what others may be thinking about us is for an imagined fear that they may have some power to take away what we are clinging to for our equally imagined peace. Let go! No one has the power to take peace away from you. It isn't theirs to give!

2. Building a "case" against anyone for any reason: No one can steal our peace, so finding fault with another for how we feel is like falling asleep under the sun and then blaming it for the burn we get! The only way we lose our peace is when we mistakenly identify with some negative thought that wants to draw us into its petty little life. Let go of being little. Drop whatever you have been tricked into resenting and watch peace return to take its place.

3. Reliving past moments to measure their meaning to you: Have you ever noticed how most of the time we cannot have a conversation with someone without walking away and "measuring" our own performance? Even walking through a supermarket we wonder whether people are looking at us or not, and then we act accordingly! Step out of these mental movies. Let go because you know that it's impossible to be self-conscious and to also be at peace.

Of course there are many other ways in which our peace is stolen, such as when we endlessly compare ourselves to others, or get caught up in the excited anticipation of something to come, be it hoped for or against. Let this be clear to us: We will never find peace in any form of comparison or anticipation. Such honesty must be our aim each moment - to make it clearer and clearer to ourselves just "who and what" it is within us giving life to these thieves of peace. So go ahead and create your own list of "known or suspected thieves of my peace." This exercise will help you exorcise all the inner thieves that intend to steal your contentment.

© Guy Finley
Life Channels Contributing Author
All Rights Reserved

Close Window To Return To Finley Article Archive