Seeking Peace and Harmony

In today's world, everyone is looking for peace and harmony. The worries and sorrows of life often torment us, and we tend to dump these sufferings on others, especially those living with us, such as our spouses and children. This sadness infects the surrounding air, affecting those around us, and making them feel sad and miserable just like us. I believe this is not a wise way to live.

The search for peace and harmony is an important personal journey where each of us must face our own challenges and afflictions. To live peacefully, we need to develop acceptance and a deep understanding of the nature of suffering and happiness. When we realize that happiness does not depend on external circumstances but on how we react to them, we begin to control our emotions and thoughts. The practice of meditation and mindfulness can help us observe and release our afflictions, thereby creating a mental space for peace and harmony to flourish.

We must understand that we should live in peace with ourselves and with others. Humans are social creatures, forming societies and communicating with each other. To escape suffering, we must know the fundamental cause and origin of suffering. Upon investigating, it becomes clear that whenever there are afflictions and impurities in our mind, we become unhappy. Afflictions in the mind, an evil mental impurity, cannot coexist with peace and harmony. It's like an evil thought driving away good thoughts, and the same applies to suffering, sadness, and happiness. It's all up to our minds.

One way to solve this problem is to arrange life so that nothing unexpected happens and everything goes according to our wishes. But this is impossible. No one can achieve all their wishes without anything going wrong. Things will continue to happen contrary to our desires. Therefore, the questions are: How do we stop reacting blindly to dissatisfaction? How do we stop creating stress and maintain peace and harmony?

In India, as in other countries, the saints of the past studied the problem of human suffering to find a solution. When something unpleasant happens and we react with anger, fear, or other impurities, we can immediately focus on something else. For example, standing up and getting a glass of water to drink can help subside anger. Or we can start counting one, two, three, four, or repeat a sentence, mantra, or the name of a deity that we worship. This helps change our mind's direction, making us less troubled and calming our anger.

This solution is useful and always effective at a cognitive level. However, by shifting our attention, we push the afflictions deep into the unconscious, and they multiply. On the surface, there seems to be peace and harmony, but deep down there is a dormant volcano that may erupt violently at any time.

We must look straight at the problem. Whenever trouble arises in your mind, just observe it and face it. As soon as we start observing and finding the cause of our afflictions, their intensity will immediately decrease and gradually disappear.

This solution is very effective because it avoids extremes: neither repression nor indulgence. Burying the affliction deep in the unconscious will not eliminate it, and letting it fester through unwholesome actions or words will only create more trouble. By practicing this method, I am sure we will eliminate our afflictions and cultivate true peace and harmony