Peace Pilgrim
(1908-1981)
The woman who called herself Peace Pilgrim gave up her former identity and began a pilgrimage in 1953, at the age of 45, making her life a “prayer for peace.” She walked more than 25,000 miles across the United States, walking until given shelter, and fasting until offered food. All the while she spoke with people about peace. She walked on many roads and through many small towns as well as large cities. Throughout, her message was always the same, that world peace could only be realized when enough people attain inner peace.
Free of possessions that could not fit in the pockets of her tunic, which was emblazoned with the words “Peace Pilgrim,” she vowed, “I shall remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace.” She spoke of peace among nations, among groups, between individuals, and most importantly, she spoke about inner peace, since that is where peace begins. In her 28-year pilgrimage, she taught a simple way of life and spoke words rich with truth and integrity. She taught:
“A pilgrimage is a gentle journey of prayer and example. My walking is first of all a prayer for peace. If you live your life as a prayer you intensify the prayer beyond all measure... This is the way of peace: overcome evil with good, falsehood with truths, and hatred with love.”
She taught the Four Preparations, Four Purifications, and Four Relinquishments which are:
Four Preparations:
1. Assume right attitudes towards life
2. Live good beliefs
3. Find your place in the life pattern
4. Simplify life to bring inner and outer well-being
into harmony.
Four Purifications:
1. Purification of the bodily Temple
2. Purification of the thoughts
3. Purification of the desires
4. Purification of motives
Four Relinquishments
1. Relinquishment of self-will
2. Relinquishment of the feeling of separateness
3. Relinquishment of attachments
4. Relinquishment of all negative feelings
When asked by a questioner, “How can I feel close to God?” she gave the answer, “God is love, and whenever you reach out in loving kindness, you are expressing God. God is truth, and whenever you seek truth, you are seeking God. God is beauty, and whenever you touch the beauty of a flower or a sunset, you are touching God. God is the intelligence that creates all and sustains all and binds all together and gives life to all. So you are within God and God is within you, you could not be where God is not. Permeating all is the law of God, physical law and spiritual law. Disobey it and you feel unhappiness, you feel separated from God. Obey it and you feel harmony, you feel close to God.”
Most of us wonder if world peace is possible. Even if, in your mind, a river of peace runs through your inner life, it still seems as though the world as a whole doesn’t have the knowledge to attain it. Many Nobel Prize winners promote that inner peace is the first step to peace for the rest of the earth. We have all seen a symbol of this idea in the world, whether a sign for green peace or a peace sign. Those who make a pilgrimage of their life are living a daily prayer for peace. Inner peace can grow in you and spread into the world, try creating art, or focus on your inner circle and let it spread.