The creative process, at every level of manifestation, is chaotic, messy and wild. As we see in the evolution of all life, including our own species, it can also be unbelievably violent, brutal and savage.

In the context of manifest reality, we can never attain perfect peace. We may strive for heaven on earth, absolute unity, peace, or a final end to all conflict – and maybe, if we truly desire it, we can even approach a highly evolved condition in which it is more stably realised. But in the relative dimension peace will never be a constant state.

The only way that we can experience perfect peace is in the eternal, timeless and formless realm of Nirvana or Nirvikalpa Samadhi – the sustained attainment of a higher state of consciousness beyond time and space. It is only this kind of enlightened interiority that can offer us the pristine and endlessly blissful experience of heaven, paradise, or the promised land.

If this is true, what’s the relationship between these two apparently paradoxical realities? How can we reconcile an inner experience of perfection with the forever imperfect, chaotic and often brutal nature of the manifest realm?

While it may sometimes be hard to see how far we have come on this extraordinary journey, the evidence of miraculous progress is all around us. But when everything seems to be in a state of collapse, how do we find the inspiration to continue to strive for the highest?

In this week’s talk with Andrew Cohen, we explore the nature of perfect inner peace and its relationship to manifest reality and the end of conflict. When we are faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, and perhaps the greatest challenges we have ever encountered as a species, what is it that can inspire and motivate us to continuously strive for the highest possibility? How can we evolve beyond mere survival, procreation and material gain, and discover higher interpretive frameworks for our existence and place in the universe?