The path lies within........

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If eternal Bliss is destination, the path lies within. You need to surrender to your inner self to  conquer the world

You cannot seek an acquaintance with the world when your inner self is a stranger to you.

"There is a saying in Tibetan that says “At the door of the miserable rich man sleeps a contented beggar.” The point of this saying is not that poverty is a virtue, but that happiness does not come from wealth, but from setting limits to one’s desires, and living within those limits with satisfaction."   His Holiness Dalai Lama


Peace of mind is something everyone aspires for, and yet nobody seems to know when, where, and how to get it. Over a period of time, term “peace of mind” has undergone a transformation from a qualitative entity to a quantitative entity. People now a days speak in terms of “some peace of mind” to describe their aspiration or achievement. It can no longer be equated with the total tranquility of mind and the body. Peace of mind or lack of it can be the result of conquest over or conflict with self.


“In the final analysis, the hope of every person is simply peace of mind.”

Dalai Lama

Now this seemingly complicated entity can be related to simple activities like retention and release, self-protection or surrender. Or may be getting a bit out of touch with yourself? You are the problem and the solution. The destination is yourself, and the path lies within you.

Then how to go about it? What is retention and what is release? What is an Armour and what is a surrender?

Frankly speaking, I am also an explorer, not a conqueror, still traversing, still finding my way out of the maze, knowing fully well that destination is not the culmination of the journey, but the beginning of the next. It is an oasis all right, but chasing it is so fulfilling experience, that you never give up.

There is continuous stream of healing, love & good will flowing through us continuously. All we have to do is join it willingly & whole-heartedly, and make it a part of us.

How to go about it?

Release and heal what hurts mentally, physically, emotionally, & spiritually. Said easily than done, I know it. But then there is a way to it. We can always try.
It is important to build a relationship with your inner self. You have to discover yourself, and align with the spiritual source. Every one has inner guidance factor. We just need to get in touch with it.

Vulnerability is strength not a weakness as it gives us access to true strength. But it hardly happens. Right from our childhood, we build Armour of self righteousness, which comes in the way of retention and acquisition of good values and release of the ones not so relevant for us.

Awareness of this is a big step forward towards freedom and ignorance of it is the cause of all our adulthood sufferings.

It is absolutely necessary to break free of the shackles of childhood learning, which portrays vulnerability as a weakness. It is just the opposite. It is surrender to love, which gives all the strength in the universe, "The true strength". We need to be open to feel love. Vulnerability is openness. The greatest challenge in this life has always been to let down the walls of self-protection and release the energy that created them.

And may be when we implement this difficult but certainly not impossible practice. We can feel peace of mind once again as a qualitative experience rather than quantitative entity.

I would like to conclude with a Marathi shlok from great saint poet from Chatrapati Shivaji era Samarth Ramdas’s “Manache Shlok”.” The prescription for eternal peace.”


मना सज्जना भक्ती पंथेची जावे
 तरी श्री हरी पाविजे तो स्वभावे
जनी निन्धीयते सर्व सोडूनी द्यावे
जनी वन्द्यते सर्व भावे करावे
(समर्थ रामदास )

(Oh Holy mind, you should proceed in the direction of devotion. Then you can visualize the god in your nature & seek his divine blessings. The Act, which attracts criticism from people, should not be pursued. The act which gets reverence from people and is liked by all should be pursued.)

I would like to conclude with the following sloka from Vishnu Sahasranaman


na krodho na  mAtsaryam na lobho nAsubhA matih |
bhavanti kRta puNyANAm bhaktAnAm purushottame || (13)

" Neither anger nor jealousy, neither greed nor evil thoughts haunt
the minds of those people who are devotees of purushottama (The
Supreme Being) and who have acquired merit by virtuous deeds " .

Best wishes,





Shyam

I wrote this article in 2011. But the image is new. Today (14-01-2016) I Designed this image after a lot of thought and effort. I have created depth with the help of layers. You can also view the 3D effect in this image.

I have tried to visualise the Human thought process with waves of good and bad hitting against the Kaala Chakra. This is just an effort to emphasize that both thought process and Kaala Chakra are dynamic and cannot be stopped or reversed....

There is the soul in between, as a flash of light, barely recognizable. "Barely recognisable is the actual position of the soul in the human body. It took me a lot of effort to make the souls barely recognizable.

Hope you like the image and enjoy reading the article.

Here is an interesting question and my attempt to answer it,I invite my friends to join the and improve upon my answer, and also raise other pertinent  questions.

Bhupinder Singh Salva • The message is great, however, how to one understand the self to remove life's conflicts & achieve peace of mind? Is it through passive observation of thoughts, emotions, actions, etc. or is it achieved by stop comparing with the success of others? 

Please keep us posted with your enlighten thoughts.

 Thanks           

Shyamsunder Panchavati • Thank you very much for your comments. Farhat Raza sir, and Bhupinder sir. How to understand the inner self to remove life's conflicts & achieve peace of mind ?? . Very few have been able to find the answer to this question. Those who have understood it completely and implemented are great seers and saints we follow today. 

But those that have done to a major extent, have also been great successes in life. 

Now to answer Bhupinder ji's question. Passive observation of thoughts and actions of others should be followed by an astute judgment of their suitability to our situation, nature. All good actions may not be all that good for everyone. 

Dr.A P J Abdul Kalam for whom I had the good fortune of working, feels that in a day, the individual should devote at least two hours for himself, and do things that do not bind him to anything earthly or heavenly. 

My feeling is that an individual always works for a cause that benefits others (others includes kin, family members, physical, satiations and infatuations.). At least two hours in a day a man should live for himself, contemplate. Meditate, and do things that do not give results physically, mentally, or spiritually, should not expect any satisfaction and well being out of it. 

He should just shut himself from the outer world and slowly he will start hearing from inside. His actions during that time may sometimes border on or be close to lunacy. But that imparts considerable amount of sanity to his rest of the day’s activity. 

Best wishes, 

Shyam