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Guiding Insight
Survival of the human family comes down to three things:
peace, people, and the welfare of our shared planet. Peace comes first.
Unless we have peace, we can’t protect and preserve the other two.
Peace of mind conditions peace in the world. In today's contentious and fast-paced living, peace of mind is an elusive goal. Deadlines, commitments, negative news, social media conspiracies, and distractions fill our days and leave us anxious and stressed. Sāntimāggā is a contemplative practice that can help us find tranquility and serenity amidst so much chaos. Sāntimāggā is a practice, a chosen way of being and going about in the world.
Being present and mindful are essential to the practice. Being present powers mindfulness, mindfulness powers insight, and insight powers peace of mind. In practice, presence is being with and knowing what we're doing wherever we are, doing whatever we're doing as we're doing it. Mindfulness is being with and knowing what we think and how we feel while doing whatever we do as we're doing it. Being present and mindful fosters insight, helping us to recognize whether we're about to react to an experience out of unwholesome habit (which conditions unwholesome stress and an unpeaceful mind) or respond from a place of practical wisdom (which conditions calm and peace of mind). We can tap into our inner resources, wholesome intentions, and practical wisdom when we're present and mindful. We can train to be present and mindful with meditation, introspection, and contemplation. Regular practice of these techniques increases practical wisdom and reduces the afflictive influences of negative stressors on our physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Introspection is a form of contemplative investigation into our feelings, thoughts, beliefs, understandings, and accompanying stories. Learning about mental activity and emotional experiences and how we react or respond to them helps us understand ourselves. The consistent practice of introspection helps in four ways:
It helps us locate and become proficient at being mindful of what’s in our awareness—the space between incoming stimulus and our response.
Learning to recognize and interrupt the flow of unpeaceful feelings and thoughts stops their progression and minimizes the potential for catastrophizing. As a skill, it's essential to learn to pause to interrupt the negative flow to prevent it from cascading into an unpeaceful mind and situationally inappropriate reactions—the things we notice during introspection, whether wholesome or unwholesome, become objects for investigation and contemplation. Introspection helps us understand how our mind works with our beliefs and understandings and how they influence emotional and physical well-being and behavior.
It supports the skill of mindfulness, which is the ability to be mentally present wherever we are, doing whatever we’re doing as we’re doing it.
It facilitates proficiency with the skills of pausing and letting go.
Self-compassion is another essential practice for finding peace of mind. This means treating ourselves with kindness, understanding, and acceptance. When we practice self-compassion, we become more aware of and open to our feelings and needs. By showing ourselves the same compassion and care we would offer a friend, we experience greater peace of mind and contentment.
Finding peace of mind is not an event; it's a practice. By being present and incorporating mindfulness, meditation, introspection, and self-compassion into our way of being, we cultivate a sense of calmness, tranquility, and gratitude. We learn to live in harmony with the Four Conditions. With practice, we let go of the unwholesome beliefs and understandings that cause an unpeaceful mind and integrate the Four Insights into our way of being.
Enlightenment practices and deity religions serve the needs of populations interested in post-life liberation from karmic suffering or transgressions against divine law. Unfortunately, many of their followers knowingly act against their tradition's better teachings, irrationally justify discrimination, and willfully condone unpeacefulness in all its forms. They're often as intolerant, unpeaceful, violent, and warring as non-followers. While it's not a pacifist practice, Sāntimāggā serves the needs of a population interested in present-day peace for everyone, everywhere—a population intending to encourage the development of peace of mind first for themselves and then for others.
The Twenty-first century isn't off to a good start. Totalitarian forces are ascending; we have multiple wars, and democracies are under assault in every land. A sense of global interdependence and responsibility for each of us to contribute to the common good are minority views. The prosperity gap between the haves and the have-nots increases with each passing year. We continue to fall short of urgent environmental actions to ensure a happy, healthy, and comfortable future. Greed-based, market-driven consumption is exhausting our planet's resources, destroying its life support systems, and contributing to chronic stress in all living beings. Opposing and unyielding political, economic, and religious beliefs threaten global peace and our very survival.
To address these conditions with the best in ourselves doesn't require another ideology, dogma, or doctrine. Instead, we can use the knowledge given to us by the social sciences, encourage expressions of our inborn compassion, and apply the good manners that we know contribute to civility and peacefulness. Sāntimāggā is such a practice, a chosen lifelong endeavor of intentions centered on acknowledging the Four Conditions and integrating the Four Insights into one's way of being. Sāntimāggā is the practice of being peaceful within ourselves and with others wherever we are, doing whatever we’re doing as we’re doing it.
With consistent practice, Sāntimāggā promotes calmness and self-control, enhances serenity and happiness, and minimizes afflictive physical, mental, and emotional stress.
Peace of mind conditions peace in the world. This world needs your peace of mind. Please practice.
May you always be happy. May you always be well. May you always be comfortable and at peace.