We are in a time of great transition. The climate crisis, the pandemic, war, injustice, racism: they’re all pressing on us to live in a different way. And if you live with a peaceful heart, the point is not to let your heart get hardened. Don’t turn your gaze away. But see another possibility—see with the great heart of compassion.

My teacher Ajahn Chah said, “We human beings are constantly in combat, at war to escape the fact of being so limited by so many circumstances we cannot control. But instead of escaping, we continue to create suffering, waging war with evil, waging war with good, waging war with what is too small, waging war with what is too big, waging war with what is too short or too long, or right or wrong, courageously carrying on the battle. It’s time to stop the war. ”

The sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson said, “The real problem of humanity is the following: we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technology.”

The first response is tend the wounds, feed the hungry, and stand up for peace in whatever way you can. But there is also an inner response needed. We know where war starts—it starts in the human heart. We must make the heart a zone of peace. Set your compass to your highest intention. Something in us knows there is another way.

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This talk was originally livestreamed by Spirit Rock on 3/28/22.