Finding Inner Peace

There was one gentleman in Washington who said, "I want to work for world peace".  He had a plank with him and walking around and there was no body behind him.  So someone came and asked him, "Do you think you can really change the world or influence the world?"  

You know what he said? "Whether I will be able to change the world or not is immaterial. I do not want the world to change me. So that’s why I am saying I work for world peace." That high level of thinking, I want my mind to be protected. My mission is to change the world; if not, at least let the world not change me; at least let me stand my ground. I appreciate this attitude.

You know Mahatma Gandhi liked this song of Rabindranath Tagore, which says Ekla Chalo, even if nobody comes, walk alone.  We have been walking alone and fortunately many are walking with us we have huge number of volunteers and well wishes and right intended people have joined this most essential work.  I would not say great work. It is essential work and it has to happen.  Bringing peace to the individual and through the individual, bring peace to the society.

Two things are important.  First find the inner peace.  If you are not peaceful there is no point in you trying to bring it to somebody else. First let’s find our inner peace by enriching our spirituality and by enriching our values.

"Clarity in mind, purity in heart and sincerity in action" is the motto of Art of Living.

It is very important that we find inner peace, for that you need to do meditation.  Do every day 15 to 20 minutes meditation.  We all must do.  It is a must. It is for mental hygiene.  Like dental hygiene, however busy you are you never miss to brush your teeth. Similarly we should make it a point in our daily routine we sit and relax and soak into the inner peace so that we can radiate that inner peace to the world outside.  So wherever we go and whatever we do, we find success for sure.

The art of dealing with terrorism, spiritually

The act which is only destructive and inflicts suffering on both oneself and others is terrorism.In such an act human values are lost in the process of achieving a goal. Some of the factors that lead to terrorism are frustration and desperation in achieving a goal, impulsive action, shortsightedness and confused emotions.

Terrorism can also stem from having a non-verifiable concept of heaven and merit, and a childish concept of God where God favors some and is angry with others, undermining the Divine’s omniscience and omnipotence.

Terrorism induces a psychosis of fear in everyone, and it increases poverty, suffering, and loss of life with no apparent gain. Instead of life-supporting solutions, the terrorist chooses destruction as an answer.

If you criticize without giving a solution, know that it comes from the seed of terrorism. Although there are certain qualities you can appreciate in a terrorist such as fearlessness, commitment to a goal and sacrifice, you must learn from them things that you should never do – valuing ideas and concepts more than life, having a narrow perspective of life and dishonoring life’s diversity.

The remedy for terrorism is to:

• Inculcate a broader perspective of life.
• Value life more than race, religion and nationality. Provide education in human values – friendliness, compassion, cooperation, etc.
• Teach methods to release stress and tension.
• Cultivate confidence in achieving noble aims by peaceful and nonviolent means.
• Weed out destructive tendencies with spiritual upliftment.