In this reflection, Ven. Samitha lingers with a single stanza from the Sinhala poem The Hill Myna Messenger. By slowing down with just a few lines, he invites us into the gentle work of contemplative reading. Poetry, he reminds us, is not something to be solved for meaning, but a doorway—each verse casting light, allowing the world to be seen anew.

When you next descend the stairs at Peace House, take a moment to pause before the print by Michael Mazur (1935–2009).

Let your eyes rest on it. Breathe. Simply look.

Then close your eyes.

Not just fleeting pleasure or comfort—but deep, stable, liberating happiness. Again and again, in his own words, he pointed to sukha—true happiness—as the natural fruit of a mind trained in kindness, clarity, and letting go. He even spoke of paramaṁ sukhaṁ—the highest happiness.

We don’t have to just tolerate our failures, nor do we need someone holy to forgive us. We need our failures because they redeem our struggle. They are the only thing that can.

For me, the power of the robe today is in its capacity to orient me toward tomorrow.

What is available here is the opportunity to discover that things can be otherwise. The capacity to be otherwise is freedom.

Ascending the stairs to Peace House’s meditation hall, you might notice a large black and white photograph. Look closely. It’s James Baldwin. Its 1963 and he’s speaking to some teenagers in front of Jo-Jo's Chicken House in New Orleans.

We can’t all live as nuns or monks. But we can develop habits of heart embodied in the monastic life that hold enduring wisdom. We can both recognize and follow the monastic impulse that exists within each of us, calling us to slow down and return to the center, even if it’s just for a short while. 

Buddhist teachings tell us the place to start is by slowing down. “Bring your mind to noble silence” said the Buddha. “Unify your mind in noble silence. Concentrate your mind in noble silence.” The Buddha points not simply to physical silence but to what that silence produces: a deep inner stillness from which clarity can emerge.

Peace House is, first and foremost, a monastic residence. Within its walls, ordained Theravadan Buddhist monks study and practice, preserving the Buddha’s teachings, offering spiritual guidance, and radiating mettā (loving-kindness) to sentient beings everywhere.