Chapter 17 - Peace Is Facing Sorrow
from Cultivating Inner Peace by Paul R. Fleischman, M.D.
If a reader were using this book as a practical guide to cultivating inner peace, he or she might now be thinking: I know that mere situational adjustments won’t essentially improve my life, which gains its trajectory only from my own actions and feelings. I want to sail toward peace, easy in the currents of myself, harmoniously related to people and circumstances, and to achieve this I have to consciously steer with peace as my polestar. When life storms and batters me, my goal is to return to course, and the will to do so creates the dynamic resilience I need. I’ll limit myself to sail light and trim. I’ll absorb the wise directions of those who’ve already negotiated these straits, soaked in the soothing sounds of peace, and my own words will add to this score. I’ll befriend all I meet on wing and wave, an unwalled, welcoming life.
But you might feel confused to find, having taken these steps, that you are oppressed by a cloud of sorrow. Yet this would be a good sign, because impersonal and surprising grief is the harbinger beyond the known world of yourself to the horizonless peace you seek, as the story of the Buddha will show.
Dr. Paul Fleischman
Massachusetts, USA
2020
33 minutes
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Copyright, 2020 Paul R. Fleischman
There is more information about vipassana meditation at Dhamma.org, and books and audio resources available for purchase in the Pariyatti bookstore.
Scott and Helen Nearing (from Cultivating Inner Peace)
Peace Is Dynamic (from Cultivating Inner Peace)
Peace Is a Personal Encounter: Juan and Kathleen Mascaró (from Cultivating Inner Peace)
The Quest for Inner Peace (from Cultivating Inner Peace)
Deeper Aspects of Sīla
Science, Objectivity and Vipassana by Peter Kerr, Ph.D.
Practical Spirituality - The Art and Science of Vipassana by Lemay Henderson, M.D.
Spiritual Emotions from Insights from an Ancient Tradition
S.N. Goenka and Vipassana
Dr. Paul Fleischman at Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University
Sayagyi U Ba Khin: a talk by Patrick Given-Wilson
Saya Thetgyi: a talk by Patrick Given-Wilson
Ven. Ledi Sayadaw: a talk by Patrick Given-Wilson
Our Best and Most Lasting Gift: The Universal Features of Meditation (University of Colorado, Boulder)
Our Best and Most Lasting Gift: The Universal Features of Meditation (University of Washington, Seattle)
Ven. Webu Sayadaw: a talk by Patrick Given-Wilson
"Come and See!" from Realizing Change
"One Truth - Vipassana, Science and Spirituality" from Realizing Change
"Managing Oneself - Vipassana, Work & Social Action" from "Realizing Change"
"Healing Mind - Health and Vipassana" from Realizing Change
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