You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but

J. Donald Walters, also known as Swami Kriyananda, a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda and a teacher of spiritual living, once declared with piercing truth: “You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them courageously. You will find peace not in denial, but in victory.” These words strike at the heart of the human condition, for all men and women, in every age, have faced the temptation to flee from hardship. Yet Walters reminds us that peace cannot be gained by running away; it is won only by the soul that dares to stand, to struggle, and to triumph over the trials set before it.

The origin of this wisdom is both spiritual and practical. Walters lived a life immersed in the teachings of meditation and divine discipline, but he also understood the battles of daily living. He saw that people often seek false peace by numbing themselves, by hiding from challenges, or by denying their pain. Yet such peace is an illusion, fragile as smoke. True and lasting peace comes only when the heart meets its trials courageously, when fear is faced, when wounds are acknowledged, and when the victory of perseverance is won.

This principle has been proven through history’s great struggles. Consider Winston Churchill during the dark days of World War II. Britain, battered by bombs and threatened with invasion, could have sought escape through compromise with tyranny. Yet Churchill, with the fire of courage, refused denial and refused surrender. His defiance—his will to confront the storm rather than flee it—brought his people strength, and in the end, peace was secured not by avoidance but by victory. Here, history itself gives testimony to Walters’s wisdom: that peace without courage is a mirage, but peace won by courage is eternal.

There is also a quieter, more personal realm in which this truth applies. How many souls, wounded by sorrow, seek to bury their grief beneath distraction? How many, when faced with guilt or failure, try to escape through denial? Yet the wound only festers, and the burden grows heavier with time. Only when the grief is faced, only when forgiveness is sought, only when truth is embraced with open eyes, does the spirit begin to heal. Peace is not avoidance, but the fruit of honest confrontation.

The ancient Stoics knew this well. Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome, spoke often of the necessity to accept hardship and meet it with discipline. To wish away trials is to live in weakness; to meet them with fortitude is to become strong. Walters’s teaching is but a modern echo of this eternal voice: the soul that flees will always be pursued, but the soul that turns and faces its pursuer will find freedom.

The lesson, therefore, is clear: do not seek peace in escape, for that path leads only to shadow and regret. Seek peace in courage, for only there will you find the victory that brings rest to the soul. This is not to say that struggle is easy, but that it is necessary. The sword of courage cuts through illusion, and the shield of endurance guards the heart until the storm has passed. When at last victory is won—whether great or small—the peace that follows is deep, unshakable, and real.

Practically, this means that each of us must choose daily to confront what we fear. Instead of postponing hard decisions, face them. Instead of burying pain, name it and work through it. Instead of denying conflict, step into it with a spirit of truth and love. In so doing, you will find that even the hardest burdens grow lighter, for the act of confrontation is itself the beginning of liberation.

Thus Walters’s words endure as a lamp to guide us: “You will find peace not in denial, but in victory.” Let them remind us that peace is not the coward’s prize, but the warrior’s crown. Let us confront our problems not with despair, but with courage, for in each confrontation lies the seed of triumph. And when victory is won, peace will come—not fleeting and false, but deep, eternal, and strong as the soul that has faced the storm.