Everyone seeks peace and harmony, because this is what we lack in our lives. From time to time we all experience agitation, irritation, and disharmony. And when we suffer from these miseries, we don't keep them to ourselves we often distribute them to others as well. Unhappiness fills the atmosphere around someone who is miserable, and those who come in contact with such a person also become affected. This is not a way to live.
We have to live at peace with ourselves and at peace with others. After all, human beings are social beings, having to live in society and deal with each other. But how are we to live peacefully? How are we to remain harmonious within, and maintain peace and harmony around us, so that others can also live peacefully and harmoniously?
In order to be relieved of our misery, we have to know the basic reason for it, the cause of the suffering. If we investigate the problem, it becomes clear that whenever we start generating any negativity or impurity in the mind, we are bound to become unhappy. Negativity in the mind, a mental impurity, cannot coexist with peace and harmony.
Now how do we start generating negativity? Again, by investigating by meditation it becomes clear. We become unhappy when we find someone behaving in a way that we don't like, or when we find something happening which we don't like. Unwanted things happen and we create tension within. Wanted things do not happen, some obstacle comes in the way, and again we create tension within, we start tying knots within. And throughout life, unwanted things keep on happening, wanted things may or may not happen, and this process of reaction, of tying knots makes the entire mental and physical structure so tense, so full of negativity, that life becomes miserable.
How can we actually stay calm & peaceful without reacting to situations in a non-productive way? Sometimes if something unwanted happens and you start to react by generating anger, fear or any negativity, then as soon as possible, you should divert your attention to something else. For example, get up take a glass of water, start drinking—your anger won't multiply; on the other hand, it'll begin to subside. Or start counting: one, two, three, four…. Or start repeating a word, or a phrase, or some mantra, or the name of a god. The mind is diverted, and to some extent you'll be free of the negativity, free of the anger.
This works, I used to do that sometimes and recommended it in my training programs as well. However, I realize now that it is a temporary solution & by doing so I was actually multiplying the anger, negativity, hatred & with it a lot of impurities. On the surface there is a layer of peace and harmony, but in the depths of the mind there is a sleeping volcano which sooner or later may erupt in a violent explosion. That’s what happened to me last year. Diverting the attention is only running away from the problem. Escape is no solution; you have to face the problem. I ran too long & too far from everybody. The meditation helped me to observe every negativity & impurity in the mind. As soon as I started to observe a mental impurity, it began to lose its strength and slowly passed away.
I realized that life i.e. the human body is made of billions of sub atomic particles which are changing every second as we breathe in & out. The matter & space is changing constantly & permanently. Nothing is here to stay. Everything is Arising & Passing. All the sensory organs like the eye, ear, nose, tongue & skin play an important role in our happiness or unhappiness. Along with these sensory organs there is one more sense the MIND which has an even bigger impact on the way we live our lives.
The meditation helped me to understand & experience the Law of Impermanence. Meditation starts with observation of breath and then gradually moving to observe the gross & subtle sensations in the body. Now when sensations occur we either begin to like or dislike the sensations. We start to crave for the sensations which bring pleasure and begin to avert the ones that bring displeasure. The meditation helped me in realizing and experiencing the truth that all these sensations are arising and passing every moment. Nothing is permanent. When the mind stops reacting to these sensations and begins to just observe then I got a feeling that I am beginning to be able to control my mind.
I read in the Bhagwad-Gita Krishna says, when one gets control of his sensory organs they become his friend & when the sensory organs take control they become the enemy. That was a fact for me only in theory until I experienced this truth.
The three reasons for human misery are Craving, Aversion & Ignorance.
Deeper the Craving
Deeper is the Aversion,
Deeper the Aversion
Deeper is the Suffering.
On the 5th day of meditation something strange happened @ 6:30 pm during my meditation, I began to cry like never before. It was a very very different kind of feeling. I felt guilty, sinful & joyous. I felt like I was anew. I never had such feelings at the same time in the past. I spoke with my Guruji about this incident and he said the misery is evaporating from the body in the form of sensations. On the 5th morning of my meditation I was thinking what is a FACT for quite sometime and as I kept asking myself what it meant 4 words came to my mind in a flash of 4-5 seconds. They were…Fair, Accurate, Correct & True. I couldn’t believe my thought process and the depth of the mind. Then I realized the mind is really something nobody can define in one word. The mind is beautiful, deep, vast, dangerous, gross, subtle, painful, miserable, joyous….It can be described in more ways than one could think.
Pure mind is always full of love. Selfless love for all others, full of compassion for the failings and sufferings of others, full of joy at their success and happiness, full of calmness in the face of any situation.
I read something very interesting about a month ago, it says—There are 2 things one must always forget & 2 things one must always never forget–
Two things to be forgotten are...
- When you do something good to someone &
- When someone does something bad to you.
Two things one must never forget are…
- Always remember that you are going to die &
- Always remember God
Since over a year I have been looking for peace & happiness, never got a bit of it.
I kept asking questions, looked at people to see if they were happy, observed nature, traveled from one place to another; but could not find peace or happiness. Infact, things started to deteriorate for me. I lost a lot of weight and became a very lonely & a quiet person. Somehow I never got into doing the wrong things that one would do in a situation I was in. I always believed that there is path to eternal peace and happiness because not only did I read and hear about it but I also felt that it existed. I began to read books on spirituality, good being, and religious scriptures. It gave me immense pleasure, peace & a sense of being loved & loving others. However, all this understanding of what I read was at a surface and an intellectual level.
I am fortunate enough to have come across Vipassana which literally means—seeing things the way they are and not the way you would like them to be. This is a meditation technique discovered by Gautama Buddha in ancient India about 2500 years ago.
I feel I am blessed to have come across such a wonderful thing in my life. This helped in seeing the nature within me. I discovered that external things have nothing to do with my misery or joy, everything is internal. See thyself, through thyself. This is the experiential level.
I am still discovering to be to be silent, peaceful, still. Learn to be a no-mind. Nothing can be done before that and everything becomes easier after that. One may come across good health, illness, old age, anger, hatred– everything. Love needs to grow and for that one needs to take in everything that comes his way. When you choose a person, you commit yourself to the person’s totality. Ignorance lasts as long as one has ego. There can be no liberation so long as the ego remains.
Speak or act with an impure mind and trouble will follow you. It is so true. The art of living lies in having a pure mind. This is my biggest lesson.
We may pray a thousand times in our lifetime, but no god is coming to get you out of your misery. Chanting & prayers will certainly help subside your misery to a great extent but not fully until you have discovered and experienced the roots of misery and unhappiness yourself.
May all experience this ultimate truth. May all people be free from misery. May they enjoy real peace, harmony & happiness.
Let truth triumph
May all beings be Happy!
With lots of love,
Dhiraj
Make best use of this human life.
March 9, 2010
Arambol Beach, Goa
March 9, 2010
Arambol Beach, Goa
