The mind can live at peace with itself without causing any harm for you, any harm for anybody else. That’s your desire.

"So it’s important that you learn how to develop this sense of absorption in the breath, pleasurable, refreshing, feels really good just being here. That changes your sense of the range of possibilities. There is a pleasure that doesn’t depend on those things outside, it’s perfectly fine right here. It’s nourishing. And even though simple concentration is not going to totally solve the problem of the way the mind causes itself suffering, it really changes the balance of power. You’ve got more allies in this revolution you are trying to create in the mind. Where the mind can live at peace with itself without causing any harm for you, any harm for anybody else. That’s your desire.

As for the peace in the world, as the Buddha said, the world never has enough. It’s insatiable. It’s a slave to craving. But you don’t have to be a slave to craving. You can free yourself by finding new allies in the fight. This is your path to freedom. It seems simple just watching the breath. It is not easy, but as you work with it and really approach it as developing a skill that may take time, it may take effort, but it’s really worth all the time and all the effort. Because it does create that possibility that living without causing suffering, living without causing harm, living with true peace, at the very least with peace inside — that’s a genuine possibility. And because it’s possible, it’s worth all the time and effort that goes into finding it, developing it, changing this balance of power in the mind."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Balance of Power"

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