Peace...

Peace is perfected activity; that is perfect which is complete in all its
aspects, balanced in each direction and under complete control of the will.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

It is useless to discuss the peace of the world. What is necessary just now is
to create peace in ourselves that we, ourselves, become examples of love,
harmony and peace. That is the only way of saving the world and ourselves.

Peace is independently felt within oneself. It is not dependent upon the outer
sensation. It is something that belongs to one, something that is one's own
self. ... Peace is not a knowledge, peace is not a power, peace is not a
happiness, but peace is all these. And besides, peace is productive of
happiness. Peace inspires one with knowledge of the seen and unseen, and in
peace is to be found the divine Presence. It is not the excited one who conquers
in this continual battle of life. It is the peaceful one who tolerates all, who
forgives all, who understands all, who assimilates all things. The one who lacks
peace, with all his possessions, the property of this earth or quality of mind,
is poor even with both. He has not got that wealth which may be called divine
and without which man's life is useless. For true life is in peace, a life which
will not be robbed by death.

The secret of mysticism, the mystery of philosophy, all is to be attained after
the attainment of peace. You cannot refuse to recognize the divine in a person
who is a person of peace. It is not the talkative, it is not the argumentative
one, who proves to be wise. He may have intellect, worldly wisdom, and yet may
not have pure intelligence, which is real wisdom. True wisdom is to be found in
the peaceful, for peacefulness is the sign of wisdom. It is the peaceful one who
is observant. It is peace that gives him the power to observe keenly. It is the
peaceful one, therefore, who can conceive, for peace helps him to conceive. It
is the peaceful who can contemplate; one who has no peace cannot contemplate
properly. Therefore, all things pertaining to spiritual progress in life depend
upon peace.

And now the question is what makes one lack peace? The answer is, love of
sensation. A person who is always seeking to experience life in movement, in
activity, in whatever form, wants more and more of that experience. In the end
he becomes dependent upon the life which is outside, and so he loses in the end
his peace, the peace which is his real self. ... the first thing is to seek the
kingdom of God within ourselves, in which there is our peace. As soon as we have
found that, we have found our support, we have found our self. And in spite of
all the activity and movement on the surface, we shall be able to keep that
peace undisturbed if only we hold it fast by becoming conscious of it.