Finding Peace Through Service

Looking around we can see, in a sense, two types of people—those who have found peace and those who haven’t.   Human beings instinctually seek peace; some look for it through seclusion, some through work, others through drugs, and even others through spending time in nature.

But what unites the people who have found peace and contentment in the long run?  I don’t mean to write about people who can find it for a couple of hours or a weekend, or even for a longer trip or vacation.  I have long-term peace in mind—a peace that lasts for a lifetime or for a retirement in one’s old age.  And I want to answer the question: what is the price of this peace?  What do we have to do to find, to earn, and to keep this peace that lasts for years or even decades?

This question gets back to the theme of the 12th house that I’ve been writing about.  The 12th house represents the end of cycles and the completion of missions or lessons.  And, I would say, that long-term peace awaits all of us in the 12th house provided that we pay the price for this peace.  If we don’t pay the price then restlessness, dissatisfaction, and even sorrow can be waiting for us there.

The 4th house of the mother, home, and emotions also comes into play as this is the principle house of emotions.  However, what I’m thinking of relates much more to the 12th house.  The 4th house can give us a personality of happiness and contentment but even people with great fourth houses—people born with happy and content personalities—can still fail to find fulfillment in life.  It seems to me that even people born with peace can fail (and often fail) to find the contentment and fulfillment that last for a lifetime.

So what then is the secret of long-term peace?  In astrology the 12th house is seclusion, meditation, sleep, monasteries, and ashrams.  So can one find long-term peace and completion of life-cycles simply through building a cabin on top of a mountain and spending most of the year there?  Could it be found through spending 14 hours a day resting in bed?  Or through training oneself to meditate for eight hours every day?  Getting proper rest and practicing regular mediation do indeed help but I believe that more is needed.

The 6th house of service is opposite the 12th house and seeks to harmonize with it.  In short, seclusion (or meditation) and service (or purposeful work) naturally seek to balance each other.

So, what are the signs of those who have found long-term peace and rest in the 12th house?  I don’t believe that the ranks of these are filled primarily with people who have devoted themselves to meditation or to spiritual practices (although I believe that there are many of those here).  I do believe, however, that those who live for others and who “love thy neighbor as thyself” often attain this glorious state.

I think that honest mechanics and good-hearted doctors and healers are found here.  I think that more than anything there are loving mothers and fathers here, siblings devoted to their brothers and sisters, friends who sacrifice everything for those they love.

People who have developed talents and skills and used these to offer a useful service to humanity for a whole lifetime have paid the price for peace.  This is, I think, the balance of the 6th house and the 12th house—a balance of seeking peace in seclusion and meditation with the deep fulfillment of having spent one’s best years in service—as a parent or as a skilled laborer, or as anyone who lives to help others.