Spiritual Resources for Inner Peace and World Peace

All I Ever Really Needed to Know About Life,
I Learned from a Rubber Band

By Lisa Hepner

Check out www.lessonsfromarubberband.com
for more info...

Lisa Hepner, the creator of Peaceful Earth and its content, has studied spirituality for over 15 years.

In 2001, Lisa left a lucrative career in Medicine to pursue her passion for writing and creating. She just quit her job with no "back up" plan.

Through all the up's and down's, five years later, she is still writing, creating and living her passion.

The products and tools she has created (and continues to create) come from her own success in applying peaceful principles to her life experience. She has transformed a "stressful" relationship with her mother into a loving, supportive relationship. She has used her faith and belief to support her while pursuing her passion and she has proved the power of releasing by manifesting her husband into her life after many unsuccessful relationships.

To find out more about Lisa Hepner read this interview below by Barbara Rose of Inspire Magazine:

Barbara
What is the essence of the work that you are doing?

Lisa
My passion involves creating products and resources that remind people of their true essence AND of their interconnectedness with others. Once people live from this essence and honor their connection with others they will naturally experience peace and harmony in their lives, their relationships and ultimately the world. Part of my opportunity is also aimed at re-defining “peace.” Currently “peace” is seen as the “opposite of war” which conjures a sense of duality (for or against, good or evil, right or wrong). Yet, peace, ultimately is a way of being—a way of living life from the inside out—harmoniously, joyously and abundantly. Peace is a way of being that is not dependent on outer circumstances.

Barbara
How do you feel this is making a difference for humanity?

Lisa
I believe that if we as individuals “remembered” our connection with our Creator and lived from that place of connection; we would never experience fear, failure, lack or stress. If we truly lived from the inside-out we would experience inner peace, harmony, abundance and love no matter what was going on in our life situation.

If we acknowledged our oneness with others and truly lived from the premise that we are all one, there would be no war, judgment, hatred or violence. When each of us gets to that realization of oneness than we would understand that if I hurt you, I hurt myself, or if I help you, I help myself. Love would be the driving force in all of our interactions.

I have a chapter in my forthcoming book titled “Love is my religion” and I hope one day that we can drop all the various labels and identifications and that LOVE will truly be the predominant guiding force in our interactions with others.

Barbara
I understand you are the recipient of the 2006 Religious Science International Peace Award. Congratulations! What is that award all about?

Lisa
Several years ago I was trained as a New Thought Practitioner. The training drew from many different religions including Religious Science. Religious Science is most known for what is called “Scientific Prayer” or “Mind Treatment.” Another way of expressing this concept is “Affirmative Prayer.” Religious Science has the premise, as do many other traditions, that we all have Divine Intelligence within us--that we are always connected with our Creator, but that it is our mind that often thinks of ourselves as separate. This (our mind, ego) causes most of the turmoil in our lives and our world. Of course, I’m only summarizing one aspect of my take on Religious Science which is based on the works of Ernest Holmes who wrote The Science of Mind.

Because of the focus on our oneness and connectedness Religious Science churches and organizations decided to come out with a Peace Award for the year 2006. A minister, Mike Gerdes, whom I met early on in my writing and speaking career and who has supported and followed my work, nominated me for this award and the board voted. I just found out that I will be presented with the Peace Award at the Asilomar Conference in July 2006.

It’s interesting to note that several years ago while I was actively involved in a certain community and actively involved in my peace activities that they had a “Peace Award” and I didn’t receive this award. At that time, it really hit hard. I felt very upset that I didn’t get the award and that I wasn’t acknowledged for the work I was doing. I got into this mind game of “I do more for peace than that person, why wasn’t I acknowledged?” I, of course, realized this was all “ego”. It was me wanting outside acknowledgment for the work I was doing in order to feel validated.

So, recently when the minister called me to tell me I had been “nominated” for the Religious Science Peace award but to not get my hopes up, I had no problem because I had no attachment to the award. I already KNEW that what I was doing was making a difference whether I received an award for it or not--whether I received acknowledgment or not. I was inner driven and inner focused. I didn’t NEED that acknowledgment because I was “settled” in what I was doing and I was doing it from a place of passion that didn’t need any outer acknowledgment or recognition. In this way, I can see that I’ve grown over the last four years to be more inner focused than outer directed. And yes, I am grateful that I did receive the award and I do believe that it will open up some speaking opportunities that I may have not had before, but the outer validation isn’t what fuels me now, it’s the passion for the work itself.

Barbara
What book have you written, and are you planning to write another one?

Lisa
After the events of September 11th, 2001 I wrote and compiled a book titled Peaceful Earth: Spiritual Perspectives on Inner Peace and World Peace. I released a revised edition in 2003. The book contains viewpoints from many prominent spiritual teachers (Neale Donald Walsch, Dan Millman, Marianne Williamson and more…) on the lessons that can be learned from the tragic events of the past. This book was mainly a compilation of material from spiritual teachers and included a little bit of my personal insights.

I am currently working on a second book which will share the personal insights that I have gained over the last five years exploring the concepts of inner peace and world peace. I have grown and learned a lot over the years. I am dedicated to finding ways to explain the concepts of peace in an easy to understand way and I have come up with a concept for my next book titled All I ever really needed to know about Peace, I learned from a Rubberband. The book reveals how a simple everyday tool can teach us profound life lessons and serve as a reminder of those lessons. I think it can also be a powerful vehicle to explain inner peace and peaceful relationships to our youth.

Barbara
If you had one message to bring to people to help them uplift their lives, what would that message be?

Lisa
Live your life from the Inside Out. There is Divine Intelligence, Creativity, Abundance and Perfection within you. You are Peace. For answers to any question or solutions to any situation, all you need to “do” is to go inside and listen to that “Knower.” You have all that you need inside you already.

Barbara
Are you planning any public speaking events based on the messages you’ve written about?

Lisa
I’ve been doing a lot of writing lately and plan to shift gears for a speaking tour to coordinate with my book release in 2006. If people want to stay in touch and find out about the book release and upcoming speaking tours they are invited to subscribe to our online magazine and updates at www.peacefulearth.com

Babara
If you could be remembered for just one thing, what would that be?

Lisa
Thank you for this question. As I first thought about it I was inclined to write that I would like to be remembered for the difference I made in the world. Or for the impact my writing or speaking had on others or for the resolution that resulted from some portion of the world that I touched. But as I started going deeper there was something inside of me that said, “Those things are based on specific outcomes or actions and not about love.” I realize that ultimately I would like to be remembered as someone who loves deeply at every moment and experiences love and joy in all my interactions.

But if I look at how I want to be remembered and how I’ve been showing up (even over the last few days), I fall short. Yes, I’ve been experiencing love on a daily basis with my fiancé but have I been experiencing love with the colleague at a meeting? The teller at the bank? Did I bring joy to the meeting? Did I bring joy to the stranger next to me?

Eckhart Tolle reminds us to ask, “Is there joy in this moment?” Since I have claimed to the Universe that I want to be remembered as someone who loves deeply and experiences joy and love in all my interactions, I will begin to ask myself this question, “Am I experiencing love and joy in this moment?” and then I will allow that question to be my guidepost. My next question would be “How can I bring love and joy into this moment and into my interactions with others?”