War on European ground and heartbreaking reports of people suffering has filled the press for some weeks. Even if I have decided only to watch the news once a day in order to stay informed, I have found myself worrying about the future as well as suffering with the people experiencing the war.
When I’m not peaceful inside, I’m radiating that. It’s not nice for me and it doesn’t benefit people around me. Sometimes we can’t directly influence what comes from the outside, but we can always influence what happens inside us.
Meditating and going for a walk in the forest or on the beach usually helps me to find inner peace and happiness.
The day I realized how much I was worrying about the situation in the world, I was sitting in my living room looking out of the window, when my attention was caught by the huge beech tree in the front garden. The tree is more than 100 years old. Right now it looks rather anonymous with its grey and brown colours, but within a few weeks it’ll come into leaf and turn into a brilliant light green colour. In summer the tree will produce loads of beech nuts which it will drop in fall together with its withered leaves. The beech tree does what a tree has to do, no matter what’s happening around it, unshakeable, and it has been doing that for more than a century… Hmm, I can certainly learn something from that big tree, I thought ;)
I went out to the tree in the garden. Getting closer I could see, that even if it had some scars, it looked healthy and strong. When I leaned against it, I felt the stability provided by the roots reaching deep into the ground, as well as the nourishment coming up the roots. When I relaxed, this nourishing energy slowly spread to me too, it made me relax and feel peaceful.
Two weeks have passed since my first visit to the beech tree. I’ve been visiting it almost every day. Each time it has helped me feeling nourished and peaceful. Sometimes it has surprised me ex. by providing a feeling of safety and being taken care of, or inner strength, or endurance. It is as if I’ve got a good new friend, who knows my needs, better than I do myself ;)
When I today placed my hands on the trunk of the tree, I felt a strong upcoming stream and my feet became really hot (despite fuggy weather and only 5 degrees Celsius!), I immediately calmed down and I just felt at peace. I was really surprised by this quick change. Writing this many hours later, I still feel my warm feet…

Let us each day take time to find peace inside, to feel the love in our heart, and to open to happiness (the way we do it might differ from person to person).
When we feel the love and the happiness, it radiates from us and we’ll see the effect of it in the world.

Much love
Anne-Birte

In terms of your perceptions creating karma, we are talking of the way you choose to see others. We are all creators, each a soul, each a consciousness manifesting our Universe around us. In this way, we are all absolute equals. We all have the same equipment in our consciousness, and although some have manifested their abilities more than others have, we all have the same potential. We each have the same computer, although some have chosen to accept better programming.

From this point of view, we can say that when you look at the achievements of Beings you consider remarkable or extraordinary, they are only showing you an aspect of your own capabilities. What one Being can do, any Being can do. We are all equal, and in terms of our evolution, are all moving toward the Violet Chakra, representing Unity. We are moving toward Unity.

Unity does not exist in a hierarchical structure, but rather implies absolute equality. For one consciousness to be fully inside another in order to experience the other as itself with a sense of Unity, the two must be absolutely equal. If you see someone as less than or greater than you, that is a misperception and must be corrected for the purposes of your evolution, and for the evolution of all.

If you others as greater than you, you must understand it as a misperception. They have simply made you aware of your own capabilities, and have given you the tools for your growth, tools with which you can go beyond your own self-imposed limits. You have the ability to do what they have done, perhaps even better if you wish.

If you see others as less than you, your perceptions must also be adjusted. One way to do this is to “walk a mile in their shoes.” The forces that move events in this direction seem to be coming from outside yourself, but they were set in motion by what you were doing in your own consciousness. This means of adjusting your perceptions is the third element of what we know as karma. We can see how its purpose is also understanding.

 From the book "Anything can be healed" Martin Brofman Published by Inner Traditions USA