At the end of every day, every individual, through their responses to demands, is either a net contributor to the stress in the atmosphere or a net contributor to harmony in the atmosphere.
Every day we are faced with a number of demands. These are changes of expectations. A simple example might be: waiting in line for 5 minutes to buy a loaf of bread when you expected to buy it straight away. In this situation, there are 2 possible outcomes - we can adapt to this change of expectation and enjoy the opportunity to be in the present moment or we can mal-adapt and have a stress reaction.
If we mal-adapt then stress chemistry (plasma cortisol and plasma lactate) will start flowing through the body and the emotions of anger and anxiety might accompany them. By the time we get to the front of the line and are greeted by the shop assistant, we are in a bad mood and may take this out on the assistant. We have now created stress in the atmosphere.
If, on the other hand, instead of having a stress reaction while we were waiting in line, we enjoyed the sun heating up our body and the other sensory delights that are always available in the present moment, then by the time we get to the front of the line and are greeted by the shop assistant, we are smilingly paying for our loaf of bread. We have now created harmony, happiness and peace in the atmosphere.
As Meditators, we are fortunate to be able to twice a day contact the state of Bliss and remove stress from our physiology. This equips us with the ability to have adaptive and interactive responses to demands rather than reactive stress reactions. And in this way we are making an individual contribution to world peace.
Each individual is an individual unit of world peace. The greatest contribution we can make towards world peace is to experience peace individually in our own lives. If you want a forest of green trees, you need to start planting individual green trees. A peaceful world is a world of peaceful individuals.
With love,
Limor
