Tuesday, April 11, 2017

The secret to peace of mind

We all want peace of mind, but don't know how to get it. But first let's see what's causing restlessness to the mind. There are two things that rob us of our peace. The constant desire to get something that we don't possess and the constant fear of losing the things that we already possess.

I'm sure most of us do impulse buying the moment we see something new out attractive on a shopping site or a store. And if we can't afford it, we start saving for it and always keep thinking about it. This causes restlessness and we lose the peace of mind. We also have the constant fear and tension of losing our jobs, relationships and other pricey possessions. This builds stress and then there's no scope for peace.

Our Vedanta philosophy prescribed four tools in the path to attain Moksha. These are called Sadhana Chatushtayam. And the first two are "Nityanitya Vastu Vivekam - the wisdom to differentiate between the permanent and the temporary and always seek the permanent" and "Ihaamutrardha Phala Bhoga Viragam - renunciation of the desire towards both the earthly and the heavenly outcomes of your deeds."

Our Gurudev Sri Babuji Maharaj used to say, "always remember that every breath could be your last breath." I used to wonder, "wouldn't that cause more tension and constant fear?" But to the contrary I recently found that this is the secret key to peace of mind. 

We came to know about 5-6 months back that we are moving back from USA to our Ashram. Suddenly we lost interest in buying anything that's not absolutely needed in our remaining stay in USA. Even if we went to a shop or a mall, we mostly return without buying anything. The same things that once used to attract us now evoke a mere indifference. We now buy only things that are essential for our temporary stay here. Isn't that the first tool of sadhana mentioned above? 

And the fear and tension about losing the job or not satisfying the bosses evaporated into thin air. There is this sense of fulfillment that nothing needs to protected against now. I was still doing my work to the full potential but now there is nothing to fear. There is nothing I can get by doing more work and nothing I can lose by not satisfying others. Isn't that the second tool of sadhana?

This lack of desire and protection from fear is what lead to ultimate peace of mind. Even though these few months were daunting both physically and mentally, the peace of mind we are experiencing is priceless. We all know that our stay in this world is temporary and we all need to die one day. But we keep forgetting that fact and constantly indulge in desires and fear losing our possessions. Just imagine - if knowledge of the departure from a foreign country back to your native place can lead to such a peace of mind then what ultimate bliss we can achieve by knowing our departure from this land to the abode of our creator. If we practice to remember the ultimate truth of our lives, we stop desiring and only work for what is absolutely necessary. And since we know that we can't take anything with us, the fear of losing things also vanishes. But this is possible only when we are assured that we are going back to the lotus feat of our creator and not going to have another birth in a different form. And only a true and able Guru (Samartha Sadguru) can give that assurance.

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