by the lazy Buddhist

I had the good fortune to welcome 2024 while attending Donal Creedon’s wonderful online retreat. The retreat theme was Peace and it was based on Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche’s reminder that the nature of mind is already peace. During the introductory talk, Donal spoke of the Quiet room that can be found in Krishanmurti Centres. The idea is not to go into the Quiet room to find silence but to bring silence into the room when you enter. For the retreat, Donal suggested that instead of coming to the retreat to find peace, we should bring peace to the retreat.


It was an extraordinary perspective to start a new year with. New Year usually comes with a sense of expectancy of what this new year will bring to my life. The good old New Year’s Resolutions that are all about what we want, a bit like a fairy godmother who is going to wave her magic wand and instantly, everything will be that much better. Lovely in theory but not quite how it pans out in reality!
Before entering the meditation room at the start of a session, I would take a moment to remind myself to bring peace with me into the space I was entering. This alternative, of sitting on my cushion and bringing peace to the chaos of my thoughts, reminding myself that despite the craziness of the Festive Season family dynamics and the horrors of war and natural or other disasters so many beings in the world are enduring, it is possible to meet all of life with peace inside ourselves.

This is where peace is, not out there in world events or with the politicians and policymakers of the world, but right here in the hearts and minds of every single one of us. The potential is already within us. It is what we can bring to the world.

Till next time,
Tania Potter