One might ask whether the opposite polarity of suffering is not peace, but something much more highly positive, such as joy or bliss. For purposes of shifting someone’s energetic state away from suffering, the answer is no. Suffering is characterized by someone’s peace being disturbed. The opposite of someone’s peace being disturbed is that they are at peace, or experiencing inner peace.
Shifting from Suffering to Peace
Here are steps a person can take to shift from a state of suffering to a state of peace:
- Recognize we can choose our state of being
- Release judgments
- Practice self-love & compassion
Step 1 – Recognize we can choose our state of being
We each have the power to consciously choose our state of being, which is our inner condition or energetic state. Even if external forces or events have led us to get upset and suffer, we can purposefully choose to get back in balance to a state of inner peace.
Step 2 – Release judgments
When we are suffering, our peace is disturbed and we are most likely in judgment. The judgment can be of ourselves, of others, or of situations. Our task is to identify what the judgments are and see those judgments as reflections of things we judge about ourselves.
Any judgments and limiting beliefs can be reframed to more accurate interpretations of reality. Then we can let those judgments go.
Step 3 – Practice self-love & compassion
Healing is the application of loving to the parts inside that hurt. We must be loving and compassionate with ourselves in order to shift to a peaceful state. This demonstration of self-love counteracts any negative emotions which initially led to the person’s suffering.
Some examples of self-love and compassion are: creating and saying affirmations, looking in the mirror and saying, “I love you,” to yourself, buying yourself a treat or doing something you enjoy.
As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery… we have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, fear and suspicion, while love and compassion and a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness. Dalai Lama