[태그:] Inner Peace

Ho-gyun Cho · Korea Meditation Education Center

We make countless choices every day.

We choose what to eat, where to go, and what to do first.

Yet we often go through life without noticing the state of mind from which we view these things.

Familiar thoughts and judgments shaped by the past tend to respond automatically.

In the previous article, we looked at the premises hidden within fear. Rather than trying to eliminate all of them, we explored adding one more premise:

“First, I experience peace.”

Trying to find and remove each familiar premise can leave us unsure where to begin. At such times, we can try applying this one premise in everyday life.

If we have believed, “I can only be at peace once the problem is solved,” we now turn our attention to experiencing peace first, and look at the problem before us from there.

This does not mean forcing ourselves to feel peaceful or putting off action until the mind is completely at ease.

We leave open the possibility of experiencing peace even now, with fear present, and look at what is needed from there.

Not following thoughts does not mean eliminating or suppressing them. It means noticing the thoughts that arise without immediately taking them as facts or reacting as they tell us to.

This time, we will explore how to use this new premise in specific situations in everyday life.

1. When You Worry About the Future

“How will I manage in the future?”
“What if this goes wrong?”

The mind imagines a future that has not yet happened and feels afraid.

At that moment, pause and ask yourself:

“What am I assuming to be true right now?”

Notice whether you are treating something that has not yet happened as though it has already ended in failure.

Then distinguish between what has actually happened and what the mind has predicted.

“The outcome is not yet known” is a fact you can verify now.
“It will definitely go wrong” is a prediction that has arisen in the mind.

There is no need to force that prediction away.

“I notice a worried thought that things might go wrong.”

After noticing this, try adding one premise:

“First, I experience peace.”

The belief that you must know everything about the future before you can feel at ease may still be there. But you do not have to leave your mind entirely in the hands of that belief.

“If I experience peace first, what will I look at and what will I do now?”

If something needs checking, check it. If something needs preparing, prepare one thing at a time. If there is nothing you can do about it now, let the mind rest from trying to resolve the entire future at once.

If there is a real danger, action is needed to protect yourself. The intention to experience peace first can also help you consider that action calmly.

2. When You Feel You Should Be Doing More

“What am I doing with my life these days?”
“Is it all right to be like this?”
“Shouldn’t I hurry up and do something?”

Look at the state of mind behind these questions.

Could there be a thought that resting means falling behind, or a belief that you must achieve something to be a person of worth?

At such times, pause and notice:

“I am thinking that I am only good enough if I am doing something.”

Do not fight the thought or try to persuade yourself that it is untrue. Simply see that this belief is at work right now.

Then try adding one premise:

“First, I experience peace.”

Instead of allowing yourself peace only after all the work is done, first look at the mind with which you are doing this work now.

“If I set aside the need to prove my worth for a moment, what needs doing now, from a peaceful state of mind?”

If there are things to do, begin with one of them. If it is time to rest, rest for a while.

You do not have to wait for the sense of urgency to disappear completely before you begin. You can notice hurried thoughts without having to match their pace entirely.

3. When Someone’s Words or Actions Trouble You

When someone behaves differently from what you expected, you may feel anxious or afraid.

“Are they dismissing me?”
“What if our relationship gets worse?”

Pause and look:

“Am I seeing this person’s actions, or my interpretation of those actions?”

For example, suppose someone has not replied to your message.

“They have not replied yet” is a fact you can verify.
“I am not important to them” may be an interpretation you have added to that fact.

“I am thinking that I already know what is in their mind.”

Notice that premise, and try leaving what you do not yet know as unknown.

This does not mean always interpreting the other person favorably. It means not deciding that your interpretation is the only possible truth.

Here, too, try adding one premise:

“First, I experience peace.”

Before assuming that the other person must change for you to be at peace, turn your attention to the mind with which you are looking at them now.

“If I experience peace first, with what state of mind will I look at this person now?”

When needed, you can ask calmly, express yourself honestly, or keep an appropriate distance.

Attending to peace of mind does not mean enduring everything or accommodating the other person without question.

4. When You Make a Mistake or Fail

“As I thought, I’m just not capable.”
“What if I fail again?”

Past experiences try to define who you are now and determine even a future that has not yet arrived.

At that moment, ask:

“Does one experience really tell the whole story of who I am?”

A mistake is an event that happened. “I am a failure,” however, is a judgment added to that event.

“I made a mistake” and “I am incapable” do not mean the same thing.

When a thought that defines you arises, notice it again:

“I am judging my whole self by one experience.”

Before trying to eliminate all such judgments, try adding one premise:

“First, I experience peace.”

You do not have to succeed again before you can look at yourself with ease.

“If I look at myself as I am now with a peaceful mind, what can I learn and what can I put right?”

You can learn what is needed and put things right without defining yourself by that judgment.

Experiences come and go, but the “I” that is aware of those experiences does not come and go.

Rather than continuing a story of self-blame, look at one thing you can put right now.

Three Reflections for Daily Life

When fearful thoughts keep coming, slowly consider these three things.

First, notice what thoughts and premises are at work right now.

“There is a thought that I will fail.”
“I am worrying that I might be disliked.”
“I am believing that this problem must be solved before I can be at peace.”

Rather than spending a long time analyzing why you think this way, look at which thoughts you are accepting as facts right now.

Second, try adding one premise:

“First, I experience peace.”

It is all right if familiar premises remain. You do not have to eliminate them all before you can use this premise.

Starting now, choose where your attention goes first.

Third, look at what action is needed now from this premise.

“If I experience peace first, what will I look at and how will I act now?”

If thoughts keep coming, take a moment to feel the soles of your feet touching the floor, or the breath naturally moving in and out.

Then look at what is known to be true now and what you have predicted or interpreted. If you do not know, it is all right to leave it unknown.

If there are things to do, do them one at a time. If there is nothing to do right away, it is fine to remain as you are.

This process is not a test of whether you can eliminate fear. The presence of fear does not mean you have failed.

If you notice that you are following a thought, you can begin again right there.

We Do Not Try to Manufacture Peace

“Fear must disappear before I can be at peace.”

If we hold on to this thought, we come to believe that we cannot be at peace now, while fear remains.

So we notice not only fear, but also the thought that fear must disappear.

Even the words “I must not follow fearful thoughts” need not become a standard with which we pressure ourselves.

The same applies to the premise we have added: “First, I experience peace.”

We do not use it as a demand to become peaceful immediately. We use it as a direction for the mind to return to when familiar thoughts carry us along.

Fearful thoughts may arise. We may find ourselves following them before we realize it. Each time, we notice again what is happening now.

Then we return to the question from the previous article:

“What is it that is aware of this fear?”

Fear only passes through that awareness; it cannot harm it.

“First, I experience peace.”

This premise is not intended to force peace into existence. It turns the mind toward looking at ourselves and our present situation from the peace that is already here.

We do not have to eliminate every premise before we can begin.

Today, let us begin by adding this one premise.

Ho-gyun Cho · Korea Meditation Education Center

We are influenced by the past.

Past experiences become memories. Memories become beliefs. And those beliefs become assumptions through which we see the world.

We may think we are seeing things as they are, yet often we see them through what we already believe.

Before we have even asked whether a belief is true, we accept it as though it were a fact.

Fear about the future often follows the same pattern.

We worry about something that has not yet happened. But when we look at the roots of that worry, we often find past experiences, memories, and the beliefs and assumptions that have grown from them.

“What if I fail again?”
“What if people do not accept me?”
“What if I run into difficulties in life?”

None of these things has happened yet, but the mind experiences them as though they were already real.

The future seems to frighten us. Yet perhaps what we fear is a future we have imagined from memories of the past.

We Do Not Try to Get Rid of Fear

When fear arises, we often try to make it go away.

We replace it with positive thoughts or try to convince ourselves that there is nothing to fear.

But even the wish to get rid of fear can contain an assumption:

“This fear must disappear before I can be at peace.”

As long as we believe this, we postpone peace until some future moment when fear is gone.

The thought that fear must disappear first can itself stand in the way of experiencing peace now.

Could there be another way?

Rather than trying to find and remove every familiar assumption, we can add one more:

“First, I experience peace.”

We may be used to assuming that problems must be resolved and fear must disappear before peace is possible. Now we begin with peace and look at the situation from there.

This premise is not a claim about what peace is. It is a premise for how we look and how we act.

This is not a demand to produce a peaceful feeling immediately. It means taking the possibility of experiencing peace, even while fear is present, as our starting point.

From there, we ask:

“If I begin by experiencing peace, how might I see this situation?”

Our old assumptions do not all have to disappear. Fear may still be here. Even so, we can begin practicing how to see and act from this new premise, right now.

What Am I Taking to Be True Right Now?

When fear arises, we pause for a moment.

Then we ask ourselves:

“How am I looking at myself right now?”
“What am I assuming to be true?”
“Am I treating something that has not happened as though it were already decided?”

Rather than rushing to find an answer, we notice the thoughts moving through the mind.

“I believe I will fall behind if I rest.”
“I am thinking that I will fail again.”

Noticing this may open a little space in the stream of thought that has been carrying us along.

This does not mean turning away from reality.

We can still do what needs to be done and address the problems before us. If there is an actual danger, we also need to take action to protect ourselves.

Before accepting every story that fear tells us as fact, we distinguish between what has actually happened and the interpretation we have added.

We do not have to wait until we feel completely calm before acting. Even with fear present, we can do what is needed, one step at a time.

Going One Step Deeper

At first, we notice the assumptions that give rise to fear.

Then we practice not automatically following the thoughts that arise from those assumptions.

As observing the mind deepens, another question begins to emerge:

“Who am I, the one who feels this fear?”
“What is it that is aware of this fear?”

Fear appears and disappears.

Thoughts change. Feelings change.

Yet we are aware of all these changes.

Are these changing thoughts and feelings really all that we are?

There is no need to hurry toward an answer.

Without trying to force thoughts to stop, we take a moment to notice the thoughts and feelings arising now.

This inquiry goes beyond changing ourselves by finding better thoughts. We turn our attention from the conditioned thoughts and feelings we have taken to be “me” toward the awareness that knows them.

Looking deeply into fear, we may discover an assumption: “I am a small being, separate and alone.”

We do not strive to create peace anew.

Even in a moment of fear, peace is still present in the depths of the heart. The peace we are speaking of is not something we manufacture through effort and practice. It is the very space in which fear comes and goes, what we already are.

If this peace is not felt right now, that does not mean we are doing something wrong. We do not need to hold on to the thought that we must feel peaceful, either.

“First, I experience peace.”

We can begin by adding this one premise. It is where the practice starts. As the practice deepens, it can lead us to explore whether the peace we have been seeking is already what we are.

In the next article, we will explore how to practice not following fearful thoughts in specific situations in everyday life.