Peace as an Emotion

[Adam]

I'm just wondering what everyone thinks that peace is. I realize that any emotion is purely subjective; I can't feel the same peace that anyone else feels, simply because I'm not experiencing life in their body...

But, I would like to know how people define peace, personally.

I'm not talking about political peace, because that is rarely peaceful... B)

Here's my definition:

Peace is the emotion that you feel when you love your environment, and just like a person can have unconditional love, they can also have unconditional peace.

[Michael Chui]

I've never been comfortable about the word "peace", since it tends to be one of those vague terms that slip around and to the side of neat definition. But, like love, I might try framing it in terms of its opposite at first.

Peace seems to be the opposite of conflict. Conflict, which produces tension, which produces stress, would be something that perturbs peace, spreads ripples across its placidity, and dispels it.

Furthermore, as you say, peace is subjective. By this same token, conflict is also necessarily subjective, assuming that the placement of opposites remains valid. So it isn't enough to say that it's a lack of conflict, but it has to be said that the conflict isn't necessarily real, but perceived.

This makes me wonder if some portion of peace has to do with clarity, clarity being the heightened ability to reconcile perception with reality. After all, you would be more peaceful if you saw things better and more accurately. But that doesn't quite work for me... perhaps because they're simply close together, but not one and the same.

A different word to bring in is harmony, which in one sense means "Everything in its place," and in another sense is the same as "equilibrium or balance". I like this better because it preserves the notion that conflict has no place (though that's not necessarily true), and adds to it the connotation of aesthetic pleasure, or beauty.

So I would say that peace is the condition resulting from the perception of harmony. One person is at peace if they perceive harmony wherever they look; two people (or actors) are in a peaceful relationship if they perceive no stress between them.

I think that's good enough for me today.

[Liara Covert]

I thought I'd begin by researching the dictionary definition of peace:

1. The absence of war or other hostilities.
2. An agreement or a treaty to end hostilities.
3. Freedom from quarrels and disagreement; harmonious relations: roommates living in peace with each other.
4. Public security and order: was arrested for disturbing the peace.
5. Inner contentment; serenity: peace of mind

My own understanding would focus on #5. The other four points offered by the dictionary dwell on (or aim to manipulate) sources of negative energy.

To invite you to grasp my subjective understanding of #5 leads me to orient you toward The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I believe in inviting positive energy, opportunities, people and circumstances into my life via positive thinking. Such initiatives shape my hopeful feelings and inner serenity.

[AdamantineLady]

Originally Posted by Adam

I'm just wondering what everyone thinks that peace is. I realize that any emotion is purely subjective; I can't feel the same peace that anyone else feels, simply because I'm not experiencing life in their body...

But, I would like to know how people define peace, personally.

I'm not talking about political peace, because that is rarely peaceful... B)

Here's my definition:

Peace is the emotion that you feel when you love your environment, and just like a person can have unconditional love, they can also have unconditional peace.

Peace is the experience of your own completeness. Its vibration is picked up by the senses that create your emotional experience. Your own 'destination' reminds you that you are already there, regardless of how far along the way you seem to be in your experience at present. What a loving, gentle reminder of your transcendant reality.

[The Coronet]

Peace is to be constantly ok with the Present no matter what it throws you :-)

[Mitalp]

Peace is a quiet mind and nothing more.