Vachon Imagined

When life comes under the guidance of Presence—what many call God—violence loses its foundation, because violence requires struggle. Where there is no struggle to defend the self, there is no need to conquer another.

Violence was not handed to humanity as though it belonged to one person or another. It exists as one possibility within consciousness, just as compassion exists, just as forgiveness exists, just as love exists. Consciousness contains every potential movement of life. It is the human mind that turns toward one movement and gives it expression.

Where the mind goes, the body follows.

When the mind dwells in anger, the body begins to embody anger. When it is consumed by fear, the body prepares for battle. When it rests in gratitude, the body softens. When it abides in peace, the body follows peace.

In this way, the mind is not merely a place of thought. It is the doorway through which consciousness is expressed.

We are constantly preparing a place within ourselves for what we repeatedly welcome. If we continually make room for resentment, resentment becomes familiar. If we cultivate compassion, compassion becomes more available. The movements we repeatedly attend to begin shaping the life we live.

This is part of the extraordinary responsibility and privilege of being human. We participate with life itself through the direction of our attention.

Perhaps the greatest act of creation is not thinking more, but surrendering the mind to the wisdom that precedes thought. To surrender the mind to God is not to abandon intelligence; it is to release the illusion that the separate self knows best. It is to allow Presence to guide the mind instead of the mind attempting to govern Presence.

That surrender is the beginning of nonviolence.

Not merely nonviolence toward others, but nonviolence toward yourself.

For the wars we wage within become the wars we wage without.

And the peace we discover within becomes the peace we offer the world.