What is, 'Peace of Mind'? Is it within or without you?
Please reflect on this story. As the backdrop of the story goes...
Once there was a very famous actor who was accused of a murder and was going through a Trial. The prosecutor pursued several counts against him and he is facing "Death Sentence".
That day was the judgement day...all the media gathered around. Hundreds of thousands of actor's fans were slowly gathering and the situation was getting tensed up.
Assume that I am one of the fans who is first in line to get into the court hall. After a long waiting, I was allowed to go in. When I stepped in, I observed that there was no one else in the hall and it was very very quite and peaceful. In less than 10 mins the hall was full. Needless to say that the hall got very very noisy.To converse, people had to shout at the top of their voices and everything turned chaotic in no time.
The supreme court judge finally walked in...so everyone stood up. In a matter of minutes the hall re-transformed slowly and steadily back to the condition when I first stepped in which is peaceful and calm. Of course, the judge finally had to say, "order...order". The story stops here...don't worry about the judgement :-))
This incident relates to the 'STATE OF MY MIND AND THOUGHTS', how?
The Court Hall is my mind. The worried, anxious and distressed people causing chaos in the hall are my thoughts that aroused due to conflict at work or argument at home or worry about something and any compulsive mental behavior. The Judge is MY THOUGHT TOO!. But it is the strongest of all other thoughts and hence the other thoughts listen, respect and follow what the strongest thought says.
Let's do a walk-thru of my mind and thoughts in relation to the court scene. My mind is always at a peaceful state...like I first entered the hall. I then created commotion by giving birth to variety of thoughts...stress, disappointment, anxiety, jealousy, distress, depression and so on.....just like the actor's fans pouring into the hall. I myself transformed my peaceful state to chaotic state. Now, who can bring back my peace, is it the 'judge' in me or someone or something else? Remember, the court hall has always been peaceful. The disturbance evolved and then devolved, but the peace in the hall remained as is with no change...as it has been there always. So, my mind is always at PEACE unless I bombard it with thoughts. When bombardment of thoughts stop, peace is evident.You get the point?
But, we all try to go out and seek peace and solace in discourses, meditation, mantra japas, kriyas and what not...We just need to know that there is a "judge" within us who could easily bring everything back to peace. "Only you can do it...no one else can". Isn't it? Hence my natural state is peace, I unnecessarily create commotion and conflicts. I will have to find the judge (the conscious I) in me who can stop my mind from thinking the thoughts.
How silly it is to ask you, "how can I stop writing this blog". You may say, "just stop writing it...simple as that". Seeking peace elsewhere is just as silly. Just try to stop thinking the thoughts. Have a tiny pause between the thoughts at first. Focus on expanding the duration of those pauses. This practice shall go on until the duration of pause exceeds the duration of thoughts. Once the pause between the thoughts is abundantly apart...the mind has been mastered.
"MANA EVA MANUSHYANAM KARANAM BANDHA MOKSHAYOHO"
--Mind is the cause of bondage....at the same time mind is a great instrument for liberation or moksha.
We're in control of our minds. It's up to us to choose, bondage or liberation.
Hari Om
Please reflect on this story. As the backdrop of the story goes...
Once there was a very famous actor who was accused of a murder and was going through a Trial. The prosecutor pursued several counts against him and he is facing "Death Sentence".
That day was the judgement day...all the media gathered around. Hundreds of thousands of actor's fans were slowly gathering and the situation was getting tensed up.
Assume that I am one of the fans who is first in line to get into the court hall. After a long waiting, I was allowed to go in. When I stepped in, I observed that there was no one else in the hall and it was very very quite and peaceful. In less than 10 mins the hall was full. Needless to say that the hall got very very noisy.To converse, people had to shout at the top of their voices and everything turned chaotic in no time.
The supreme court judge finally walked in...so everyone stood up. In a matter of minutes the hall re-transformed slowly and steadily back to the condition when I first stepped in which is peaceful and calm. Of course, the judge finally had to say, "order...order". The story stops here...don't worry about the judgement :-))
This incident relates to the 'STATE OF MY MIND AND THOUGHTS', how?
The Court Hall is my mind. The worried, anxious and distressed people causing chaos in the hall are my thoughts that aroused due to conflict at work or argument at home or worry about something and any compulsive mental behavior. The Judge is MY THOUGHT TOO!. But it is the strongest of all other thoughts and hence the other thoughts listen, respect and follow what the strongest thought says.
Let's do a walk-thru of my mind and thoughts in relation to the court scene. My mind is always at a peaceful state...like I first entered the hall. I then created commotion by giving birth to variety of thoughts...stress, disappointment, anxiety, jealousy, distress, depression and so on.....just like the actor's fans pouring into the hall. I myself transformed my peaceful state to chaotic state. Now, who can bring back my peace, is it the 'judge' in me or someone or something else? Remember, the court hall has always been peaceful. The disturbance evolved and then devolved, but the peace in the hall remained as is with no change...as it has been there always. So, my mind is always at PEACE unless I bombard it with thoughts. When bombardment of thoughts stop, peace is evident.You get the point?
But, we all try to go out and seek peace and solace in discourses, meditation, mantra japas, kriyas and what not...We just need to know that there is a "judge" within us who could easily bring everything back to peace. "Only you can do it...no one else can". Isn't it? Hence my natural state is peace, I unnecessarily create commotion and conflicts. I will have to find the judge (the conscious I) in me who can stop my mind from thinking the thoughts.
How silly it is to ask you, "how can I stop writing this blog". You may say, "just stop writing it...simple as that". Seeking peace elsewhere is just as silly. Just try to stop thinking the thoughts. Have a tiny pause between the thoughts at first. Focus on expanding the duration of those pauses. This practice shall go on until the duration of pause exceeds the duration of thoughts. Once the pause between the thoughts is abundantly apart...the mind has been mastered.
"MANA EVA MANUSHYANAM KARANAM BANDHA MOKSHAYOHO"
--Mind is the cause of bondage....at the same time mind is a great instrument for liberation or moksha.
We're in control of our minds. It's up to us to choose, bondage or liberation.
Hari Om
Sridhar
ReplyDeleteA very nice example. And timely as well. In deed, this is exactly the scene when I wake up. It is peaceful to begin with. As thoughts start entering, I experience all feelings, fear, anger, jealous, etc. I am beginning to learn to calm down.