Burst Fifty-One :
The Way To Peace
Travel light, in your mind zone, if you want peace in life. Do not load yourself with heavy and rigid opinions about people. No doubt various events of life leave behind pleasant and unpleasant memories, which tend to cause images to be formed in your mind. Stay alert and prevent such image formations. Adopt a broad vision and let go of any emotional residue like hurt or pleasure that people might have generated in you. “If your mind keeps from judging and you are not led by the senses, your heart will find peace,” said Lao Tzu, the great writer of Tao Te Ching. Being impulsive in matters of sense pleasure is certainly another major cause of misery in life. Many people think they are good people and, if at all they enjoy certain pleasures, it is all with their own honest earnings and therefore there should be nothing wrong. They do not realize how such an indulgent way of living affects their mind also and, often without their knowledge, they would have taken wrong decisions. They would have postponed the performance of their duty and would have remained insensitive to the true needs of their friends, colleagues or relatives.
How simple and interesting – there is an error each to avoid on the planes of the senses and the mind. On the first plane, do not get enslaved. On the second, keep sending all your judgments to the recycle bin.
The senses are five, as you know. They are the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue and the skin. All audio-visual programs hold sway on our eyes and ears. On many nights, we find it hard to stay on for even half an hour more for the sake of study or meditation (prayer). Then, if we play a DVD movie, we can keep watching for two hours or more. This shows how much sense gratification means to us. Many of us have, similarly, a terrible weakness of the palate. The tongue, just about two inches long, is such a powerful sense organ that we keep munching something or the other again and again. It is generally more because of an inner unrest than out of hunger or thirst. Extend this to the other senses (sense organs) and you will find the truth of Lao Tzu’s words.
In the context of eating or over-eating, Eknath Easwaran, the noted author, gives a simple advice, “Stop one bite before your stomach is full.” That is his nice way of what the Geeta (6:17) called moderation in food, sleep etc. Shri Ramana Maharshi added speech as one more area where moderation helps a seeker tremendously in her sadhana. To put it simply, we conserve vital energy when we avoid excess in things like food, sleep and speech.
Coming to the matter of keeping away from judgments, it is obvious that in a lot of cases we need not have opinions or judgments at all. In cases where we are expected to have an opinion, we may go for a little liberal and generous stand. Then our mind remains lighter. We must know that, just as we would not like people to have rigid views of us, it is good for us to not put people in rigid frames. Let us leave room for change. Who knows, the other man might have totally changed since we met him the last time.
The ground of judgment is the fertile soil for so much of prejudice, ill will and other forms of negative energy. Negative tendencies harm the person harboring them. They may not do much to others towards whom they might be directed. If we may take an analogy, think of the hilly areas where, when we say something, it echoes several times. If we say a good word, the hills might echo the good word four times. If we utter an abusive word, that also comes back to us four times. So is the case with malicious thoughts. When we think of somebody as bad, this thought can keep hurting us. What is more, this thought can sometimes quietly make us exactly like the person who is bad in our opinion.
Lastly we need not go to the Himalayas and live like ascetics in order to find peace. Living where we are, a little care about the use of our sense organs and a little precaution in judging others would go a long way in ensuring much peace of mind to us.
Swami Chidananda
Varanasi
Monday, June 04, 2007