What Matters/Peace of mind, Inner Peace

Peace of mind, Inner Peace

Contemplating the beauty of this lotus flower may calm your mind.

A quiet mind, and human wholeness, are available through controlling discursive thought and developing nondiscursive perception. Like learning to walk or to talk, using the mind well is a matter of patient repeated efforts.

Understanding what you can change and what you cannot change is the simple but often difficult path to inner peace.

Assignment 1:

• Study the emotional competency article on What You Can Change and What You Cannot.
• Reflect on the various frustrations in your life, and work to identify the causes of those frustrations.
• Examine the list of conditions that are causing you frustration. Determine what items on the list you can change and what items you cannot change.
• Accept the things you cannot change.
• Gather the courage you need to change the things you can change.
• Choose serenity.

Assignment 2:

• Choose a meditation technique you are comfortable with. This might be a practice suggested in the Wikiversity course on meditation, or some other technique you have studied.
• Practice meditation regularly.
• Complete the Wikiversity course A Quiet Mind.

Assignment 3:

• Select from these Resources for Developing the Self-Knowledge/Intuitive Aspect of Wisdom.
• Study the selected resource and practice the ideas and recommendations it provides.

Assignment 4:

• Search lawns in your area until you find a four-leaf clover.

Suggestions for further reading:

• Ricard, Matthieu (2007). Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill. Little, Brown and Company. pp. 304. ISBN 978-0316167253. 
• Sapolsky, Robert M. (1998). Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers. W. H. Freeman. pp. 560. ISBN 978-0716732105. 
• Nhat Hanh, Thich; Arnold Kotler (1992). Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life. Bantam. pp. 160. ISBN 978-0553351392. 
• Kabat-Zinn, Jon (2006). Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness. Hyperion. pp. 656. ISBN 978-0786886548. 
• Kraybill, Donald B.; Steven M. Nolt, David L. Weaver-Zercher (2010). Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy. Jossey-Bass. pp. 288. ISBN 978-0470344040.