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Silence, Breath, and Steps: Three Keys to Create, Preserve, and Taste Peace
True love is to live simply and in peace with oneself, and then with others. To create, restore, and savor peace, we practice at Plum Village:
- Noble silence, to better taste peace,
- Mindful breathing: breathing in, knowing that you are breathing in; breathing out, smiling,
- Walking meditation: each step in mindfulness, connected to the breath.
Peace within oneself becomes an instrument for peace around oneself: when anger or irritation arises, we return to our breathing or to our steps in order to safeguard peace in body and mind. In a group, each person can ask three questions: “How do we create peace? How do we safeguard peace? How do we savor it?”
Although interdependence may seem to limit freedom, mindfulness allows us to access it:
• Each daily act (brushing our teeth, washing the dishes, drinking tea) becomes an opportunity to be present to ourselves,
• Mindfulness (smṛti) generates concentration (samādhi) and insight (prajñā),
• We return to our “kingdom” of the five skandhas to recognize, embrace, and transform suffering.
The Sangha supports this path: its energy of mindfulness helps us to float to where we are ready to heal and to restore peace, harmony, and joy.
