No one can legislate peace, it’s been tried for centuries. But what each one of us can do, is to be committed to our own internal peace. That’s my aim these days.

When you feel pain or suffering your job is to inquire at what is happening to create the disturbance, and get real.

Buddhism refers to two “darts” of suffering. The first dart is the direct physical or emotional pain you experience, like when you put your hand on a hot stove, or your loved ones are threatened, or you watch a horrible tragedy. Pain, suffering, loss, and death are all part of this human experience. We inevitably feel the “first dart”. It’s natural and cannot be avoided.

However, there is a “second dart”, and lots of them. The second dart of suffering refers to the suffering that you impose on yourself. It’s often based around some perceived inadequacy you think you have, and it’s often accompanied by anger or resentment toward yourself or others. This always messes with the “peace in your heart” thing.

For example, if you put your hand on a hot stove, the immediate pain causes you to jerk back your hand. That is the first dart. But if you then berate yourself, “I’m an idiot! What is wrong with me!”, that causes additional suffering – piled on top.

You see, in the original action, there is no anger inherent in it, no criticism, no resentment. You accept that you burned yourself, and make a mental note to avoid making a similar mistake in the future.

But with the next dart, you threw in some extra suffering.

>What’s even worse is when second darts come when there are no first darts around! For instance, worrying about events that haven’t happened yet, or imagining that people are criticizing you, or that there is something wrong with you – these are the second darts of suffering you aim at yourself without any first darts being around at all!

The second darts can arise even as a response to positive circumstances such as receiving a compliment. A second dart could include immediately imagine that the person wants something from you, or they didn’t mean it, or you don’t deserve it – bam! Second darts of suffering coming straight at you, in a positive situation!

To create peace in the heart when you are suffering, you might choose to notice when your negative emotions arise because you are actually being directly hurt, either physically or emotionally. And if not, you might detect that the pain comes from the way you think about things, and this created more internal suffering as you get yourself all riled up.

This concept of darts reminds me of Byron Katie’s work, She has you ask four questions in the face of suffering and the second darts. 1. Is it true? 2. Can I absolutely know it’s true? 3. How do I react when I think that thought? (That’s the investigation into the second darts.) Then, 4. Who would I be without the thought? This last question strips the story away so you can return to peace, your truest nature. I love to sit with that 4th question. It helps me to recognize the truth of who I am – and who you are.

Be the master of the peace in your heart. It’s a worthy practice with a worthy goal. If each one of us has peace in the heart, there will be peace in the world.