Inner Space, Inner Peace

It's my birthday week so I wanted to pick a thought of the week that was a reflection of one of my deepest intentions...finding a peaceful heart. The inspiration has partially stemmed from my Dad, Wayne, who passed away in 1982 but not before leaving an indelible imprint on the person I am today. He was a metallurgical engineer and researcher in aerospace back in the day when it was an emerging field of exploration in the late 50's and early 60's. He worked at a think-tank and, from a young age, I had the opportunity to see moon rock and liquid nitrogen. When Dad would talk to me about outer space, I would sit in a stupor trying to comprehend the vastness of it all. Here we are, on this little dot of a planet in the Universe and what's "out there" is mind-blowing. It was the new frontier and, to this day, continues to be. It's a place of apparent silence, radiant light, and endless opportunities to search into the unknown. It's a place where infinity has true meaning.

I then started to think about inner space...that dwelling within each of us that, like outer space, has unlimited potential for exploration. At one time, our body was thought about in limited terms of skin, muscles, cells, bones, etc, and today, we are able to SEE strands of DNA. For the longest time, we had no awareness of what was lying beneath the skin, a frontier awaiting exploration. Sitting within this inner landscape beyond the physical is thought to be the "Hridaya", the cave of the heart-that untouchable, unchanging, and steadfast center of who we are. As Eckhart Tolle said, "At the deepest level of Being, we are one with all that is."

One of my wishes for the world is peace. Yep, that hippie sounding affirmation of wanting peace throughout the world. I doubt we'll see peace in the world in my own life as we've been at war for a couple of thousand years, but that simply deepens the desire to be part of the peacemaking footprint. If I wish peace for others, I know that I must first have peace within my own being. Hence, the need to explore my own inner space. Meditation, slowing down, and living with intention, contemplation, and yoga are the doorways into inner space. Over the years, I have become "better" at finding the "Hridaya", the center of who I am. At times we can become lost and the consistency of our practice is what reminds us of that connection and helps us to find that place within.

As so often is said, we begin with the breath. We breathe into our own inner space, bringing in what we need and upon exhale we release that breath into the outer space. Our earthly outer space or atmosphere is one which all beings have been sharing since the beginning of time. I know that if I can offer through my breath, my own infusion of intention, a sense of peacefulness, then each out-breath is an opportunity to offer peacefulness to the whole. Just as a prayer is sent out each time the wind passes through Tibetan prayer flags, we can do the same with our own breath. So many opportunities to explore the infinite potential for living in presence with the intention of a peaceful world.

So my birthday wish is this: May all of us touch a natural sense of peacefulness, within and without. May all of us spend time exploring our own inner being and, in doing so, recognize how it is intertwined with everything else. And may all of us be inspired by those who have gone before us, exploring both inner and outer space.