Practicing inner peace, just like anything else, involves deliberate effort. There is a Tibetan word "shenpa," which describes that sticky, very seductive feeling we often get right before we react to a criticism or anything (anyone) we don't like. Shenpa is said to be the root source of aggression and craving, that momentous feeling we get just prior to reacting which feels much like trying to hold in a sneeze. We have to say or do whatever it is. We have to scratch the itch. At the very center of our inner peace practice is "shenpa awareness." It is in that moment that we need to sit with this seductive urge to react and look inward instead to whatever insecurity is going on inside us. Practicing patience being comfortable with the uncomfortable will increase our ability to "push the pause button" and to listen rather than react. And, peace on the inside leads to peace on the outside . . .
