In the midst of our increasingly busy lives, where we are bombarded with information and daily scared out of our wits by world events and the media, it is more important than ever to find and maintain a sense of inner peace.

The first step toward finding peace must be meditation. We cannot have peace without until we find peace within. And meditation furnishes the key to unlock the door of inner peace.

If you practice yoga, do a few postures slowly and gently to release tensions in the body. You can also lie down and rest for a few moments to shift your energies if you have been very busy. But don't lie down for too long. If you start feeling sleepy, that is the time to get up.

Superconsciousness is found at the midpoint between intense activity and sleepiness. To meditate successfully, we must be calmly active, and actively calm.

Sit upright. Inhale and tense the body, then throw the breath out and relax. Again, inhale and tense, and throw the breath out and relax.

Now, when the breath comes in, watch its flow in the nostrils. And watch it flow out. Feel a deep sense of calmness flow over you as you continue to watch the breath.

You have nothing to do and nowhere to go. Stay centered within, in the present moment.

After you have been watching the breath for a while, try to include in your focus an awareness of a point midway between the two eyebrows. This is the Christ center in the body. The more you are able to live with your awareness fixed at this point, the more peaceful you will be.

Practice watching your breath for at least ten or fifteen minutes, then throw the breath out and forget it.

In the latter half of your meditation, enjoy the feeling of peace and calmness within.

Peace is not just a mental idea, but an experience that encompasses our hearts and our very being. So, offer up your heart's energies to Spirit within, at the point between the two eyebrows. Mentally say, "I am Thine, receive me." And feel the divine response in your heart.

Meditate for as long as you feel peace dynamically within. Set a minimum time for meditation that you never waver from. After that minimum time, when you start to feel restless, end your meditation with an affirmation of peace.

Over time, try to gradually increase the time you spend in daily meditation.

A technique for carrying inner peace into outer activity is to go for a quiet walk immediately after meditation. Feel peace in your every movement. Think of peace as being behind every sound you hear, and everyone you see.

One way to maintain peace within is to create a mini-nation of peace around you. Try to harmonize yourself with those you see every day: your family, friends, and co-workers. Smile at people. Be friendly. If you want more friends in your life, then be a friend. Care about others and you will never lack for good company.

Try to surround yourself, as much as possible, with like-minded, peaceful, harmonious people. Especially when we have just begun to grow our tree of peace, we need to protect this sapling with a hedge of good company. Later, when this tree has grown into a mighty oak, it can provide shade even for the most restless individuals.

Think good and positive thoughts about yourself, other people, and the world. Limit your time spent reading the newspapers and watching the news to the minimum necessary to gather the basic essentials.

There are so many restless pulls in the world that it is not enough to just feel peaceful in meditation and hope that that peace will carry into the day. We have to dynamically act as instruments of peace.

Many people have wanted to spread the idea and experience of peace in the world, but the way they did so - with angry tirades, shouted slogans, etc. - militated against the very thing they were trying to accomplish. If you yourself are truly peaceful, you will do more to bring peace on earth than thousands marching in the streets.

As Christ said, be a peacemaker. Let your every movement be centered in calmness. Channel the light you feel within into everything you do or say. Shed peace. Surround yourself with a tangible aura of peace that everyone can feel.

Finally, send peace out like a radiant light to touch everyone in the world. This is a good practice to end your meditations. We should always pray for those places where there is the most tension, but we must not neglect those who are already in tune with the consciousness of peace. Strengthening those harmonious individuals and groups with our prayers will bring more light onto the planet. If we increase the light where there already is light, that brightness will spread and diminish the darkness.

Peace be with you.

Richard Salva is an ordained minister, and author of the critically acclaimed "Soul Journey from Lincoln to Lindbergh: Revealing the Mysteries of Karma and Rebirth." He has thirty years experience of intensive yoga practice and study, and has given hundreds of lectures on yoga philosophy, reincarnation, and history in the United States and in Europe. You can contact Richard through his website at Crystar Press.

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