How to Experience Inner Peace

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Reflections

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Posted On August 29, 2024

A Christian’s Journey with TWIM Meditation

A few months ago, my spiritual mentor, Cam, suggested I attend a ten-day meditation retreat—a transformative experience that had brought him profound inner peace. The thought of being tucked away in the Ozark Mountains and spending over three hours or more daily in silent meditation intrigued and intimidated me.

My inner critic balked. “You’re nuts! Unplug for ten days? No phone, no Instagram, no news? You’ve meditated for an hour daily for thirty years, but three hours? C’mon, you can’t do that!”

The retreat is held at a Buddhist meditation center where monks teach Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM). This practice, rooted in Buddha’s teachings, isn’t about converting anyone but offering people from any tradition a path to overcoming mental suffering by training our minds to be happy.

When I mentioned the retreat to my wife, she asked, “Are you becoming a Buddhist monk?” I laughed, reassuring her that my goal was simply to quiet my mind and be more receptive to the invitations of the Holy Spirit.

It’s Okay to Be a Seeker

As a Catholic Christian, I’ve long admired Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk who believed in deepening faith through exploring other spiritual traditions.

Merton engaged with spiritual leaders like Thich Nhat Hanh, D.T. Suzuki, and the Dalai Lama, integrating their contemplative wisdom into his Christian journey.

Merton was a seeker of universal truth and integrated what he learned from others into his personal faith life and his writings while staying grounded in his Christian tradition.

The Second Vatican Council, in its document Nostra Aetate (Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions), also recognizes that non-Christian faith traditions have elements of universal truths that Christians can explore and learn from to enrich their relationship with God and their understanding of themselves.

Inspired by Merton and Vatican II, I attended the retreat. It changed my life. Over the ten days of meditation, I experienced a deepening connection with God, and indescribable joy. It was as if I had opened a Doorway of Inner Peace.

TWIM has become my daily meditation practice. This simple contemplative tool helps restore balance and opens the inner path to putting on the “Christ Mind” St. Paul encourages in 1 Corinthians 2:16: “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

I feel a strong God-nudge to practice TWIM, integrate it into the Christian tradition, and teach others how it can deepen their relationship with God.

Here are some thoughts on how TWIM and the Christian tradition complement each other.

TWIM and Putting on the Mind of Christ

The TWIM practice, as taught by Bhante Vimalaramsi, involves cultivating mindfulness, loving-kindness, and wisdom to develop a peaceful mind so we can let go of mental suffering.

This practice reflects the Christian idea of “putting on the Mind of Christ” in these ways:

Compassion and Loving-Kindness

In TWIM, practitioners focus on developing loving-kindness (mettā) towards themselves and others. This mirrors the Christian call to embody the love of Christ, who emphasized compassion, mercy, and loving one’s neighbor. By cultivating loving-kindness, TWIM helps us develop the selfless love that Jesus exemplified.

Letting Go of Attachments

TWIM emphasizes the importance of letting go of cravings and attachments which are the source of mental suffering.

In Christian spirituality, putting on the Mind of Christ involves letting go of selfish desires and attachments and living a life of humility, service, and following God’s life-giving invitations. TWIM encourages detachment from worldly concerns and focusing on inner growth and transformation as the goal of our lives.

Mindfulness and Prayer

Mindfulness in TWIM is regarded as simply watching how our mind moves from one thought to another. It invites us to steady the mind by staying present with the object of meditation, such as the felt sense of loving-kindness, and gently returning to it when distracted.

This practice is a form of Christian contemplative prayer in which the focus is on being present to God and returning to a state of inner stillness and communion with the Divine. TWIM helps practitioners attune their minds and hearts to this higher spiritual reality.

Transformation of the Mind

The goal of TWIM is to develop a tranquil and wise mind that sees things as they are, leading to inner freedom.

Similarly, the Christian idea of transforming the mind by putting on the Mind of Christ (Romans 12:2) calls us to steady our minds and align our thoughts with the teachings and example of Jesus.

Through the TWIM practice we experience on-going mental transformation as a path to spiritual maturity by awakening to deeper levels of consciousness.

Non-Judgmental Awareness

In TWIM, practitioners cultivate a non-judgmental awareness of thoughts and emotions, letting them arise and pass without clinging or aversion.

This practice reflects the Christian virtue of humility and non-judgment in which we’re encouraged to view ourselves and others with the compassionate and forgiving heart of Christ.

Putting the Mind of Christ into Practice with TWIM

Over the past few months, TWIM has become a practical tool in my spiritual journey. It has become my go-to meditation practice for an hour each day.

The 3-steps of TWIM put skin on the intellectual idea of “putting on the Mind of Christ” by offering a concrete method to quiet the mind and open the heart, letting us experience deeper spiritual awareness and divine love.

STAY TUNED:

In next week’s blog, I’ll outline the 3-simple steps of the TWIM practice so you can learn it and integrate it into your quiet time with God.

Meanwhile, here are two ways to experience TWIM’s loving-kindness practice:

A GUIDED MEDITATION FOR YOU:

Click the link below to enjoy a 12-minute guided TWIM meditation.

Guided Meditation Link

FREE TWIM WEBINAR:

Join me for a free Zoom webinar to explore and experience TWIM. You can attend live or watch the recorded replay. Click the link below to learn more and register.

FREE Webinar Link

—brian j plachta
brianplachta.com

PS–Get into the Divine Flow by picking up a copy of my latest book, Finding Flow–Spiritual Practices to Reclaim Inner Peace, Balance, and Wholeness.

Click here for a 3-minute video about Finding Flow

Get your copy of Finding Flow in paperback or digital format on Amazon:

Click Here to Get Your Finding Flow Book

Written by Brian J. Plachta

Following the Breadcrumbs God Leaves Along Our Path

What if God is speaking through ordinary moments more often than we realize?

A conversation that stays with us. A door that closes. A quiet nudge we can’t quite explain. An unexpected invitation that seems to come at just the right time.

The challenge is learning to notice these moments before we have any idea where they’re leading, and trusting the next step.

Over time, we may begin to see that God’s guidance doesn’t always come as an answer. Sometimes, it comes as a trail.

What to Do When God Seems Silent

Has silence ever made you feel like God is far away? When we feel this way, it’s easy to start looking for answers or waiting for a clear sign. But prayer can also be as simple as slowing down and noticing what’s already here. The breeze. The waves. Your breath. The quiet. God’s presence doesn’t always come through words. Sometimes we just need to be still enough to notice.

Let God Alone Define You

Ever have someone’s words get stuck in your head?
Maybe they criticized you, misunderstood you, or told a story about you that doesn’t feel true. And before long, you’re holding a courtroom in your mind—defending yourself, replaying the conversation, wondering if maybe they’re right.

There’s another way.

Bring it into the quiet with God.

Ask: Is there something here I need to learn? Is there something I need to own? And what was never mine to carry in the first place?

We can stay humble enough to receive the truth without letting someone else’s opinion become our identity.

Because in the end, God alone defines you.

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