Transcendence is not a thing––it’s not a noun, not a concrete object that can be attained. It’s an energy flow, one that contributes to Inner Peace. Meditation is one way to practice this. Meditation just means that we train our attention and awareness to become mentally clear and emotionally calm.

I’ve been reading the Zen teacher Dainin Katagiri*, and he has a nice way of describing this calming practice in meditation. He refers to thoughts, feelings and events as clouds. They can be wispy trails. They can be bright and fluffy. They can be thick, dark blankets carrying lightning and wind. They can be beautifully halo-ed by the golden sun, or painted pink and orange at dusk. We can imagine shapes in them, both mundane everyday objects and fantastical monsters. Clouds come in many forms. Clouds cross the sky and move on. They come and go, just like thoughts, feelings and events.

We do best when we don’t grasp at thoughts, feelings and events, when we don’t take them on. Then we can step back, settling into the vast openness of the sky, and and let the clouds pass through.

This is how to practice Inner Peace––just let the clouds pass through. Be the sky.

*You Have To Say Something: Manifesting Zen Insight, Shambala (2000).