But when we talk about peace and how to get there, what we're really talking about is the search for truth.

Try to see the advantage of getting to something by truth rather than by practice.

Let's say I'm trying to quit smoking.

There are techniques I can try, but they're always painful and difficult.

Very often, they'll come a moment when I see something a certain way,

like I see myself a certain way, or I get diagnosed with lung cancer,

and I understand that I'm going to die, or I see a friend get in trouble with similar bad habits.

When I see something strong enough, when I understand it,

then the habit can often disappear by itself, the bad habit can dissolve.

That's an extreme example.

Much more simply, I see some facet of myself that I don't like.

I see some facet of somebody else that I then can't unsee,

and I can no longer be friends with them.

Understanding and seeing changes organically in a way that your practice and technique cannot.

When you're practicing how to do something,

there's always a gap between you and the thing.

There's always a repetition that you have to keep doing.

There's always a struggle. There's always conflict.

If we want peace, then one of the things we have to give up on is self-conflict.

We even have to give up on self-improvement,

because self-improvement is just a dressed up form of self-conflict.

We have to instead use our natural curiosity for everything

...