Abiding peace cannot be cultivated in large crowds, in busy workspaces, or in the comfort of familiar relationships.

Abiding peace is cultivated, particularly in the early stages, in solitude. Away from large crowds, away from business, and away from people.

This, so the major distractors of the outside world, can no longer pull your attention away from your inner world.

Solitude is the training wheel that helps you get in touch with yourself.

In solitude, we hear our own heart, we follow our own counsel, and we learn to become the author — you could say master — of our lives.

However, we cannot live in solitude forever. That is only one half of the equation.

Eventually, you must rejoin the outside world. If your solitude has served its purpose, you will find that there is no difference between inner and outer—the two collapse and merge into one.

You find peace in both worlds because you have become peaceful, that is—you have realized that you are peace itself.

Now, nothing can affect us.