About
Dearest Friend,
This book was born out of love & inspiration, which ‘Peace Pilgrim‘ instilled in us. Her message of peace is simple & encourages us to try to lead an authentic life where we are true to ourselves. We hope this tribute to ‘Peace’ will be as helpful for the young ‘Lil flower bud’ in you, as well as the beautiful blossoming lotus hidden in all of us!
If you find this message resonates with you, and wish to dive deeper, we highly recommend her book: “Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words“
Love, two friends from the Universe
This homemade pop-up book is created as a tribute to Peace Pilgrim. All the artworks here are originals created by us in oil and digital mediums. Being new to the art of pop-ups, we learned everything we know by following several tutorials by both Matthew Reinhart and Duncan Birmingham.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Let us tell you a story about an ordinary woman who dedicated her whole life to spreading the message of peace and went on to become an extraordinary person! Her devotion to peace was so great that she simply went by the name ‘Peace Pilgrim’. She lived a very ordinary life like all of us until she was almost 40 years old when she decided that she would reduce her life to the bare minimum and simply walk across the entire country of America coast to coast, talking about peace! If that was not extraordinary enough, she also decided that she would not eat until someone offered her food, nor take shelter with anyone until it was volunteered. She walked more than 25,000 miles and then stopped counting, but kept walking while spreading the message of peace!
You will find some pages have 2 sections named “For The Little Flower Bud” for the child in you, containing our notes, and another section named “For The Blossoming Lotus” for the adult in you, containing the message of Peace Pilgrim. Happy Reading!
Steps for Inner Peace
Preparation
For The Little Flower Bud
Almost every adventure in life begins with curious excitement, but can soon become confusing once the challenges begin. For example, when learning how to ride a bike, despite how awesome it looks, it can get frustrating and at times even scary, while trying to balance ourselves on it.
This can feel like being alone on a dinghy raft in rough waters, quite underprepared for what is to come. But the key is to never give up and bravely unfurl our sails and keep moving forward. Similarly, we’ve got to keep getting back on the bike and continue trying to learn to balance ourselves.
We have to PREPARE our minds with strong determination and aspiration to keep moving forward.
For The Blossoming Lotus
1. Assume the right attitudes toward life
Stop being an escapist or a surface-liver, as these attitudes can only cause inharmony in your life. Face life squarely and get down below the froth on its surface to discover its verities and realities. Solve the problems that life sets before you, and you will find that solving them contributes to your inner growth. Helping to solve collective problems also contributes to your growth, and these problems should never be avoided.
2. Live good beliefs
The laws governing human conduct apply as rigidly as the law of gravity. Obedience to these laws pushes us toward harmony; disobedience pushes us toward inharmony.
Since many of these laws are already common beliefs, you can begin by putting into practice all the good things you believe. No life can be in harmony unless belief and practice are in harmony.
3. Find your place in the Life Pattern
You have a part in the scheme of things. What that part is, you can know only from within yourself. You can seek it in receptive silence. You can begin to live in accordance with it by doing all the good things you are motivated toward and giving these things priority in your life over all the superficial things that customarily occupy human lives.
4. Simplify life to bring inner & outer well-being into harmony
Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens. Many lives are cluttered not only with unnecessary possessions but also with meaningless activities. Cluttered lives are out-of-harmony lives and require simplification. Wants and needs can become the same in human life and when this is accomplished, there will be a sense of harmony between inner and outer well-being. Such harmony is needful not only in the individual life but in the collective life too.
Purification
For The Little Flower Bud
And as we press onward into our adventure, the challenges will become familiar, but fully overcoming them can remain unclear. Taking our biking example, perhaps, we can often balance ourselves quite well, but fall badly at other times.
This stage of the journey can feel like floating on murky waters without much clarity on how to proceed. But just like a lotus blooms to share its beauty despite growing in muddy waters, we too can rise above the situation and radiate our beauty and strength through patience and perseverance.
If we stay sincere and PURE in our intentions, we will soon figure out the mistakes by careful observation.
For The Blossoming Lotus
1. Purification of the bodily temple
Are you free from all bad habits? In your diet, do you stress the vital foods – the fruits, whole grains, vegetables, and nuts? Do you get to bed early and get enough sleep? Do you get plenty of fresh air, sunshine, exercise, and contact with nature? If you can answer “Yes” to all of these questions. you have gone a long way toward the purification of the bodily temple.
2. Purification of the thoughts
It is not enough to do the right things and say the right things. You must also think the right things. Positive thoughts can be powerful influences for good. Negative thoughts can make you physically ill.
Be sure there is no unpeaceful situation between yourself and any other human being, for only when you have ceased to harbor unkind thoughts can you attain inner harmony.
3 . Purification of the desires
Since you are here to get yourself into harmony with the laws that govern human conduct and with your part in the scheme of things, your desires should be focused in this direction.
4. Purification of motives
Your motive should never be greed, self-seeking, or the wish for self-glorification. You shouldn’t even have the selfish motive of attaining inner peace for yourself. To be of service to your fellow humans must be your motive before your life can come into harmony.
Relinquishment
For The Little Flower Bud
And finally, we reach the successful end of the adventure where we can enjoy the great beauty & joy of all the challenges because we decided to RELINQUISH our fears and kept moving forward. This is like finding an underwater treasure that would have remained hidden if we had not made the resolve to dive deep into the sea of adventure! Perhaps one day, our biking adventure will take us up a mountain to see the most gorgeous sunrise!
Dearest One, we will come across many adventures in life, for life is nothing but a series of adventures. And at times, it can get rather overwhelming. But if we remember that each challenge is an opportunity to discover a new inner strength in ourselves and keep pressing onwards, we can be sure that despite all the ups and downs of life, we will be able to hold onto a sense of calm within us, which establishes a constant inner peace. This inner peace is what we will inevitably radiate to the people and environment around us. And remember, there would always be friends, family and even the universe itself that conspires to help a person who truly aspires to succeed!
Also, it greatly helps to take a step back and look at the big picture, to remind ourselves not to get caught up and swept away by the challenge in front of us at this moment in time. But to instead remember that this is just another stage of an adventure, and as all things do, “This too shall pass!”.
Now, let us go ahead and unfold this book to see the big picture and observe how we were never truly lost on this adventure either. And though it commenced with confusion, since we did not give up, it ended with beauty, joy and peace!
For The Blossoming Lotus
1. Relinquishment of self-will
You have, or it’s as though you have, two selves: the lower self that usually governs you selfishly, and the higher self, which stands ready to use you gloriously. You must subordinate the lower self by refraining from doing the not-good things you are motivated toward, not suppressing them but transforming them so that the higher self can take over your life.
2. Relinquishment of the feeling of separateness
All of us, all over the world, are cells in the body of humanity. You are not separate from your fellow humans, and you cannot find harmony for yourself alone. You can only find harmony when you realize the oneness of all and work for the good of all.
3. Relinquishment of attachments
Only when you have relinquished all attachments can you be really free. Material things are here for use, and anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you. You can only live in harmony with your fellow humans if you have no feeling that you possess them, and therefore do not try to run their lives.
4. Relinquishment of all negative feelings
Work on relinquishing negative feelings. If you live in the present moment, which is really the only moment you have to live, you will be less apt to worry. If you realize that those who do mean things are psychologically ill, your feelings of anger will turn to feelings of pity.
If you recognize that all of your inner hurts are caused by your own wrong actions or your own wrong reactions, or your own wrong inaction, then you will stop hurting yourself.
Acknowledgements
The fantasy landscapes created in this book found their inspiration from our various readings, which we would like to give credit. We will let you figure out the stories/quotes which inspired the corresponding visuals, words & themes!
Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words (Book )
– Peace Pilgrim’s teachings, which are presented under the section of “For The Blossoming Lotus”, were taken from this book.
Letters on Yoga IV – Sri Aurobindo (Book )
– “Aspiration is needed, but there can be a sunlit aspiration full of light and faith and confidence and joy.”
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (Book )
– But one must be up and doing in the beginning. After that, one need not work hard. The helmsman stands up and clutches the rudder firmly as long as the boat is passing through waves, storms, high wind, or around the curves of a river, but he relaxes after steering through them. As soon as the boat passes the curves and the helmsman feels a favourable wind, he sits comfortably and just touches the rudder. Next, he prepares to unfurl the sail and gets ready for a smoke.
(Advice to Householders Pg236)
– By merely floating on the surface of the water, can you reach the gems lying at the bottom of the sea? Taking the name of Kāli, dive deep down, O mind, Into the heart’s fathomless depths, Where many a precious gem lies hid. But never believe the bed of the ocean bare of gems; If in the first few dives you fail, with firm resolve and self-control, dive deep and make your way to Mother Kāli’s realm. Down in the ocean depths of heavenly Wisdom lie the wondrous pearls of Peace, O mind; And you yourself can gather them.
(Advice to Householders. Pg 253)
– One moment the ignorance disappears, and the next moment it covers our minds. If you throw a brick-bat into a pond covered with moss, you get a glimpse of the water. But a few moments later, the moss comes dancing back and covers the water.
(The festival at Panihati. Pg 446)
– “Once upon a time, a wood-cutter went into a forest to chop wood. There, suddenly, he met a brahmachāri. The holy man said to him, ‘My good man, go forward.’ On returning home, the wood-cutter asked himself, ‘Why did the brahmachāri tell me to go forward?’ Some time passed. One day, he remembered the brahmachāri’s words. He said to himself, ‘Today I shall go deeper into the forest.’ Going deep into the forest, he discovered innumerable sandalwood trees. He was very happy and returned with cartloads of sandalwood. He sold them in the market and became very rich. “A few days later, he again remembered the words of the holy man to go forward. He went deeper into the forest and discovered a silver mine near a river. This was even beyond his dreams. He dug out silver from the mine and sold it in the market. He got so much money that he didn’t even know how much he had.
“A few more days passed. One day he thought: ‘The brahmachāri didn’t ask me to stop at the silver-mine; he told me to go forward.’ This time, he went to the other side of the river and found a gold mine. Then he exclaimed: ‘Ah, just see! This is why he asked me to go forward.’
“Again, a few days afterwards, he went still deeper into the forest and found heaps of diamonds and other precious gems. He took these also and became as rich as the god of wealth himself. “Therefore, I say that, whatever you may do, you will find better and better things if only you go forward.
(Festival at Surendra’s house. Pg 725)
Other Resources
Friends of Peace Pilgrim Website