Inward Read online

  given to myself

  i can only

  understand

  the world as much as

  i understand myself

  as she was swimming in the ocean of wisdom

  that dwells in her heart, she understood deeply

  that all was a part of her, that no one was

  separate from her. she whispered lightly with

  newfound peace, “i am everything.” that was

  when she realized that her greatest power is,

  and always was, her ability to love herself.

  wholeness

  is when lies

  no longer stand

  between you

  and yourself

  how to improve your life:

  1. make self-love a top priority

  2. learn a self-healing technique

  3. create space for daily healing

  4. know that everything changes

  5. be kind, loving, and honest to all

  i am not

  here to

  compete

  i am here

  to grow

  and be free

  every time we compete with others, we are already losing, because we are forgetting that life is not a race to be won but a journey we embark on to build our inner peace and wisdom. we create nonexistent competitions in our minds when we get carried away by the delusions of ego. the hierarchical conditioning of society combined with our attachment to “i,” “me,” and “my” creates a scenario in which only a few can succeed.

  having a world built on competition has created a situation in which humanity is overflowing with misery—we thought we had to win, to harm each other to survive, but the moment we submitted ourselves to this scenario, we took a step away from our individual and collective freedom.

  releasing these conditioned habits is difficult but essential, because happiness and internal security grow as we release the “i” of ego and the delusion of competition. the wisdom of love shows us that individual and collective life need to be reborn and reorganized in a way that supports the well-being of all, not the few. love teaches us that we are here not to compete but to support each other’s growth and happiness.

  unconditional love sees no one as an enemy

  my faith

  for a better future

  is in the people

  who are turning the idea

  of unconditional love

  into a way of life

  if you want to know

  how free you are,

  ask yourself,

  “how far does

  my love extend?”

  there is a path

  we can walk

  where we no longer

  allow anyone to harm us

  while also loving

  all beings unconditionally

  fear seeks control

  revenge prolongs pain

  animosity disrupts peace

  compassion ignites healing

  honesty releases burdens

  happiness is letting go

  loneliness

  will not

  go away

  if we remain

  far away

  from ourselves

  repeat daily:

  notice the stories you hold in your mind

  let go of the ones that cause tension

  sometimes people are simply meant to

  teach you how not to act in the future

  everyone is a teacher, but that does not mean everyone is correct.

  there have been times in our lives when we have been a good example for those around us, while at other times we have not been a good example. if we recognize our own imperfections, it helps us have compassion for all people and look upon all as equals.

  just because someone was wrong once, it doesn’t mean they are going to be wrong forever. similarly, just because we may perceive someone as wrong, it does not necessarily mean that we are right. in most cases we lack the perfect information required to form an objective and universal perspective.

  it is important to remember that we are all imperfect and that we all live through the limited perspective of ego.

  striving to learn as much as we can from one another without making harsh and permanent judgments is a sign of wisdom.

  part of

  being human

  is having

  opportunities

  to give and

  receive forgiveness

  i am not sure when i will

  be completely free and healed,

  but i do know i will feel it

  more clearly than anything else

  i have ever felt in my life

  she’s an explorer,

  unafraid to travel

  within her heart and mind,

  ready to discover new spaces

  to heal—releasing burdens

  and planting wisdom wherever

  her awareness takes her

  the strongest

  people

  i have met

  are the ones

  who do not

  harm themselves

  the idea that

  when you let go

  of what you want,

  it comes to you

  working toward our goal and simultaneously letting it go may seem paradoxical, but it is the fastest way to achieve what we want. letting go is not giving up; it is the graceful walk between continuing to put effort into making our preferred reality come true and not allowing our happiness to be controlled by something we do not have. if we remain attached, we tend to feel agitation or even misery. this creates tension in our being that blocks us from fulfilling our desires.

  sometimes we may still get what we want, even if we do not know how to let go; but in these cases, we may be less capable of keeping what we want, and it may even cause us more misery because we never addressed the root of our tension, which is our inability to appreciate what we already had to begin with.

  what do we get when we let go of the past and the future? inner peace. realizing peace within ourselves no matter our external circumstance is a high form of freedom that allows blessings, miracles, and success to flow into our lives. happiness and gratitude are attractive forces; their lack of wanting is what clears the road so that new things may come with greater ease.

  water teaches flexibility and power

  earth expresses firmness and balance

  air sings of intelligence and bravery

  fire speaks of action and growth

  the mind

  is a garden;

  what we decide

  to grow there will

  determine our prosperity

  bad vibes

  can’t hurt you

  when your balance

  and love are strong

  sometimes

  we go back and repeat

  an old mistake

  just so we can remember

  why we moved forward

  giving yourself

  the space and time

  to respond

  instead of reacting blindly

  is an important way

  to reclaim your power

  the body knows what it requires;

  listen to it—not the cravings of

  the mind but the needs of the body—

  let it guide you into well-being

  (intuitive healing)

  your friends

  who have the courage

  to expand their

  wisdom and self-awareness—

  they are speci
al;

  keep them close

  the forces

  of the universe

  support those

  who work at

  healing themselves

  peaceful minds

  have the power

  to create

  a peaceful world

  when the mind feels wild and cloudy,

  it may be that something from deep within

  has come to the surface, an old burden

  seeking release. breathe, relax, and let it go.

  (storms)

  sanity is the unwillingness to do harm

  i held my fear by the hand,

  honored its existence, and

  thanked it for teaching me

  that happiness exists beyond

  the boundaries it creates

  free

  people

  have no

  masters

  but themselves

  movements change the world, but just as it is important to be a part of and build movements to create a world where human rights are a reality for all—a world where systemic forms of social and economic oppression no longer exist—so it is equally important to build our own intimate internal movement that focuses on healing the greed, hatred, and fear within ourselves that cause so much chaos in our lives and are the actual underlying roots of the societal chaos we experience.

  every society is simply a composition of its individuals believing, consenting to, and perpetuating particular stories that come together to create the world we know. if the stories we choose to believe in change, if we begin to understand that when we harm another we are actually harming ourselves—not in a fictional sense but in a literal sense, similar to the way that water is good for the body and poison is bad—then we will quickly shift into a new world.

  pleasure cannot fill the heart

  hate cannot keep you safe

  anger cannot set you free

  only love can fill voids

  only love can create peace

  only love can liberate

  love

  is the most

  potent and versatile

  form of magic

  love

  is the strongest

  building material

  in the universe

  not just

  the love

  between people

  but the love

  that gives you

  the power

  to heal yourself

  and change the world

  they both know that they are not together to complete each other, that their happiness is their own to create. nevertheless, their ethereal bond serves a great purpose; it gives them the time and space to love each other well enough to release the tension of their unloved hearts. their love for one another is not the end but rather a means to an end. it is a humble tool of healing and nourishment that can strengthen their minds and make their spirits mighty, so that they may both travel as far within themselves as possible, so that they may both release all that limits the flow of their happiness, so that they may both swim freely in the waters of wisdom and universal understanding.

  (love is a key)

  “‘strength’? what do you mean by ‘strength’?”

  “what i mean is how firm is your inner peace, how honestly can you observe yourself without judgment, how limitless is your love for yourself and all beings, and how willing are you to change yourself for the better?”

  courage

 

  letting go

 

  self-love

  =

  a growing awareness

  as our ability to

  know and heal ourselves

  deepens, we will be better

  equipped to examine the

  world more carefully

  and heal it more

  effectively

  healing yourself with love

  is a long-term process

  healing the world with love

  is a long-term process

  i rebel by loving more

  whenever we are asked to limit our love, to be selective with our love, to reserve our love for some parts of ourselves and not others or to reserve our love for some people and not others, we do a disservice to ourselves by following along, because any love withheld becomes tension in our being.

  the normality of perpetual war, the rising tide of poverty, the varying forms of violence our economy requires to stay afloat, and the indifference that we are expected to feel toward it all are stifling and ever present. when we think of happiness, it is important to remember that, generally speaking, we fall together and we rise together. those of us alive today have never lived in a world where a large portion of humanity was not struggling to meet its material needs or fighting for the right to be treated as human beings—we humans have the uncanny ability, whether we are aware of it or not, to feel and be affected by the plight and struggle of others. energy sees no barriers.

  whenever we are asked to keep our eyes and hearts closed, and we do just that, because it is easier than accepting the responsibility of a world and humanity that need healing, because it is easier than understanding that to heal the world will require a heroic effort on our part to heal our own inner world, we are dimming the light of our own future. it is in the challenge of allowing our love to flow actively and limitlessly that we come to find greater degrees of our own personal liberation and global liberation for all beings.

  the dalai lama once stated, “compassion is the radicalism of our time.” this is true. today we rebel by loving more. when we can see and treat each other as family, we will know a global peace.

  do not forget

  to send your love

  into the earth

  into the water

  into the sky

  how will you help heal the world?

  by healing myself and supporting

  the healing of those around me.

  by allowing love to fill my very

  being and guide my every action.

  by understanding that if it causes

  harm, it must not be the right way.

  observe.

  accept.

  release.

  transform.

  because being calm in the midst

  of chaos is a sign of true power

  measure

  your success

  by the growth

  of your freedom

  the mind is a lot more vast than conscious thought can comprehend. the conscious part of the mind—the part where we feel and hear the movements of our emotions, memories, and thoughts—may seem large, but it is quite small in comparison to the subconscious. an iceberg’s small peak floats above water while the great majority of its mass sits silently and unseen underneath—the top is visible and prominent, but what is unseen is much bigger and has a massive effect on the part that is seen, largely dictating its movements. the mind works in a similar manner; the subconscious and the reactive patterns that have accumulated there over time, though they remain mostly unknown or forgotten, have a strong effect on our daily behavior.

  this is why there is a lot more to freedom than simply having unrestricted mobility or having our material needs met or the removal of all forms of external oppression. freedom is deeper than believing that we are free on the conscious level of the mind—the conscious may think this to be so, but if the subconscious is still burdened with patterns that cause us misery, delusion, and the pain that comes with unceasing reactions, then we are not yet wholly free. the greatest oppressor is the untrained mind.

  freedom grows when we begin the mental healing and training that teaches u
s how to let go and interact with the ocean of life in a way that no longer causes us misery; our freedom grows as we observe deep within ourselves and begin letting go of our attachments and burdens that clog up the subconscious mind. freedom is happening every moment when we are not craving something more.

  the mind is purified as we release the weight of the past and the yearnings for specific things in the future—especially if our happiness is dependent on obtaining these things. the mind is clear, powerful, and effectively decisive when we can truly observe the present moment without projecting our ego onto it. freedom is something we build within. freedom is a habit.

  find yourself

  free yourself

  goals:

  develop my calmness

  cultivate my wisdom

  expand my freedom

  help heal the world

  releasing,

  learning,

  expanding—

  i am happily a

  work in progress

  sending love to all beings

  may all beings continue reclaiming their power

  may all beings heal themselves and the world

  may all beings be happy and free

  about the author

  diego perez is the writer behind the pen name yung pueblo. the name yung pueblo means “young people.” it serves to remind him of his ecuadorian roots, his experiences in activism, and that the collective of humanity is in the midst of important growth. his favorite word, “liberation,” took on a deeper meaning once he started meditating vipassana, as taught by s.n. goenka. through writing and speaking, he aims to support the healing of the individual, realizing that when we release our personal burdens, we contribute to a global peace.

  Inward copyright © 2018 by Diego Perez Lacera. Cover by Anders Villomann. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews.