We search for peace through experiencing love, through acquiring wealth, through hunting for power, or even through certifications, but few dive into the soul and bring wisdom from the journey; most people crave experiences beyond their fears, anxieties, and loneliness. Continually searching for meaning that will make our experience bearable and purposeful; we crave a source that connects us to divinity, and recognizing our desire to live a better life. Through crystals, alters, and prayers we seek for an energy to speak to us; most people do not know peace, or most people believe they’ve never had it, and once you’ve acknowledged your distance from tranquility we attribute so many things to our separation. Our mind conjures several reasons we’ve been unable to discover peace: we aren’t deserving of peace, our parents didn’t set an example, we eat to much sugar, our past contains to much darkness, or, even, we masturbate to much; however, I’ve discovered living internally is the only path toward the concept of peace. We must live moment to moment. Our progress cannot be measured monetarily or through certifications, but through our faith in diving into our internal life.

During an interview with Bill Moyers, Joseph Campbell, in a book that became an aid for those searching for peace “The Power of Myth”, says, “One thing that comes out in myths is that at the bottom of the abyss comes the voice of salvation. The black moment is the moment when the real message of transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light.” We require a guide in order to experience the transcendent nature of the universe; these guides do not have to be dead poets coming to our shoulders and guiding us through hell, but, I believe, are found in the overlooked beauty of life. A stranger, a child, gardens, and silence are the guides to self-discovery; the country has no structured rituals and myths guiding our souls. To recognize the necessity of evolution, and step into that responsibility requires a keen eye, and while some are blessed with the eyes of Heru; most of us must develop this eye daily. We have to meet our evolution; our meeting is taking on the responsibilities required from the current stage in life. Living in a capitalistic society, everything is for sell, including peace, the commodification and commercialization of tranquility has people attempting to purchase peace. Almost like the Catholic practice of selling indulgences; people are stocking their houses with crystals, candles, and cards believing the devices will lead them to freedom. The people selling the indulgences are pretending to have the fountain of truth, but as the Chinese Tao-Te Ching says, “He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know. Not-knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease.”

“The Christian story amounts to a refusal to affirm life. In the biblical tradition we have inherited, life is corrupt, and every natural impulse is sinful unless it has been circumcised or baptized. The serpent was the one who brought sin into the world. And the woman was the one who handed the apple to man. This identification of the woman with sin, of the serpent with sin, and thus of life with sin, is the twist the has been given to the whole story in the biblical myth and doctrine of the Fall.”, says Joseph Campbell speaking on our cultural tendency to emphasize the sinful, growing up kneeled beneath confessional booths confessing sins every Sunday. Today we are obsessed with the positive, the holy, and repressing, afraid to show, everything associated with darkness. Instead of embracing everything that makes us human we cling to the ideal, but we must confront our totality. We advertise a Christlike image, I believe, hoping we will believe ourselves, but showcasing humanity in its fullness, through embracing ourselves completely, allows us to travel inward and locate the beauty contained in the moments that seem the darkest. The metaphors, symbols, and myths our lives require deal with embracing the tension of opposites that trap us in temporality–love/hate, death/life.

At 17, I assumed 45 day meditations would bring me eternal peace; at 20, I believed love would bring me peace, and at 24 I’ve discovered peace is found moment to moment. We are obligated to constantly align ourselves with the divinity, and beauty, in each moment. “Myths are spiritual instruction”, says Joseph Campbell to Moyers; in our search for a mystical experience only those that have attempted to walk the lonely path can provide the wisdom necessary to point towards the beauty. Where peace settles, chaos rests within; where chaos conquers peace can always be found. Only through acknowledging our duality can we walk center ourselves continually and eternally.

A beautiful book that I will remain in my library for the wisdom and guidance it offers. The Power of Myth contains information in a world suffering from a lack of spiritual guidance; in our search for a mystical experience The Power of Myths aids us in the discovery.