7 Ancient Secrets To Achieve 
Inner Peace That Lasts

What is the one person that everyone in the world searches for but seems to always come up short? It is actually peace of mind. This is especially true in this day and age where we live in a market driven by productivity and a changing economy that challenges us to find a way to earn a living. There seems to be no peace at all in the world and a cases of mental illness, such as depression, anxiety, and other stress-related illnesses are on the rise. The good news is that you can have peace amidst life’s storms. How do you bring about this inner peace that everyone searches for? This article will take a look at some of the methods to manufacture peace in your own life, and thereby impart it to others. 

7 Ancient Secrets

First off, the path to peace is rooted in ancient spiritual teachings because peace is a spiritual principle. You may say, “But I’m not a spiritual person”. Nothing could be further from the truth. Whether you acknowledge it or not, we are material beings living in a spiritual world. This is why even “nonspiritual” or nonreligious types can find peace in spiritual principles, sometimes without even realizing it.

To find inner peace, we will look at the seven steps to happiness, because happiness and peace go hand in hand. Depression is the opposite of happiness as it is rooted in negativity, which is human nature to dwell on until we are bold enough to change it. Happiness is something else people long and search for. True happiness can only be found by achieving inner peace.  

1)  Feel More Feelings:  First off we should focus more on feeling and not overthink so much. Life really is not that hard, it’s just that we tend to over-think and over-complicate everything. Even Albert Einstein said the secret to being a genius is learning how to simplify everything. This is why geniuses can achieve so much, often with minimal effort. Keep in mind that you don’t want to be ruled by your emotions because feelings change, but that is just another extreme. Balance is the key.  Living an unbalanced life leads to many stress related illnesses and even mental illnesses such as anger, anxiety and depression.

2)  Learn To Listen:  There is a Proverb that says “a wise man knows when to be quiet”. Sometimes when you can’t think of anything productive to say, the best thing to do is just be quiet. This is especially true given that speaking tends to incite conflict with those that like to argue their own beliefs with those that disagree with them. With people like these, you will never achieve any peace by stating your opinion. The best thing to do is just sit back and listen to them, because sometimes all you can really do with anyone who is hurting is just take the time to listen.

3)  Open Your Mind:  Compassion is a spiritual and religious virtue. It is human nature for those that practice religions to judge those they see as outside of their faith. However, in learning to accept other people’s differences and appreciate their own uniqueness, we tend to become more compassionate to those with different views than our own. This compassion is also known as tolerance, or the ability to accept those who don’t always agree with us. It produces more peace than trying to argue with people and control them by manipulating them and trying to change their way of thinking.

4)  Take Action:  Don’t just be a passive observer who sits on the sidelines in life. Remember the wise words of Ghandi, “be the change you want to see in the world”. It is widely known that one man can make a difference, so if you don’t like what you see, then set an example and do what is on your heart. You may be surprised to find out just how many people will follow your lead. Sometimes the real leaders in life are the ones who are not afraid to step out in faith and do what’s right.

5)  Let Go:  It is also human nature to complain about what we don’t have in our life. The best way to achieve true inner peace, and overcome depression and anxiety, is to be grateful for what we already have. By realizing that we are already rich in the present, we will be at peace with the pursuit of our goals and enjoy the journey more.   This also relates to the spiritual principle of mindfulness, which is living in the present, and can quell anxiety because that is rooted in fear of the future. Likewise, depression is rooted in not letting go of past trauma, so learn to forgive and let go.  Move on with your life.

6)  Laughter:  Another Proverbs teaches that “laughter is the best medicine”. If you can find the humor in anything, this has a way of raising endorphins, or happy chemicals, in our brains. This lifts our spirits up so that we are not depressed or anxious. We will also smile more which is good because frowning causes wrinkles.

7)  Fear less and love more:  The more peace we have, the less depressed we will be, and the less anxiety we will have, and the more compassionate toward others we will be. This will move us to want to love and serve others more, which is our true purpose in life. Victor Frankl’s last line in the book “Man’s Search for Meaning” talked about how we find our happiness in helping others to find theirs.  I also love passage in the New Testament, I Corinthians 13, says “faith, hope, and love and the greatest of these is love”. Older translations say “charity” because charity isn’t true charity unless it is motivated by love.

While achieving peace is a spiritual principle, once we achieve it, it becomes a domino effect that leads to the other fruits of the spirit: love, joy, patience, kindness, self-control. By achieving peace, we will have more energy to love and serve those around us and live in a state of higher consciousness. This will cause others to want to follow us and raise their level of consciousness as well. Since mental illness cases are rooted in anger, fear, and stress, they are often found to be in a lower state of consciousness. When we become more peaceful and loving, we find our true purpose in life; this is the best way to over depression because it is hard to be depressed once we have achieved this. 

- Erwin Bishop