If you want peace, turn to the center!
Mind and meditation
Remaining in the center is the safest way!
The center is the safest place and when one move in either direction away from the center, he is sure to suffer agitations. Shri Ramana Maharishi of Tiruvannamalai in South India referred the center as the ‘self’ or Atma within each being. When the individual confines himself to the self, he will be at peace! How one move away from the center? It is the force of desires or resolutions which displace the individual, away from the self. Everyone in this world desires for peace! Outwardly, he may hanker for riches and comforts but inwardly he wants absolute peace! All the quests in the world are only for obtaining everlasting peace. Man madly searches this elusive peace through earning wealth and acquiring properties, marrying, begetting children, professional achievements and many other ventures. Sadly, none of the above grant him peace everlasting! Yes, there is a temporary exhilaration every time he achieves some milestone in life. But, it is elusive peace and not real. As the child playing with toys get disillusioned with each set of new toys, we also get disillusioned with various quests and achievements.
Academic achievements, professional excellence and all such things will give a temporary elation. It won’t last forever! In politics, many people fight elections. A few get elected for the Parliament or Assembly. After that a few of them make it to the cabinet. But only one among them will become Prime Minister or President as the case may be! Well after becoming Prime Minister, what next is the question? With supreme power comes the manifold responsibility too. Hence, after the victory celebrations, everyone get into the job of managing the affairs of vast Nation! Then the leaders find that position, however exalted may be, will bring the responsibilities. None can while away the time after becoming Prime Minister or Cabinet Minister! It is a sort of headgear infested with prickly thorns! No leader in the world enjoys the immunity from responsibilities. Of course, the gubernatorial posts may be posts which have not much responsibility! Hence those leaders, who missed the cabinet van, are accommodated as Governor! But as per the constitution of India, independent states are ruled by the Chief Ministers and his or her cabinet colleagues. Governor has to give accent to those bills passed in the Legislative Assemblies. These posts are ceremonial posts and gain prominence only when they head the Union territories or where there is no elected government in place! Thus there are frequent tussles between Chief Ministers of Union territories and the Lieutenant Governors.
Shri Ramana quote!
We have wasted our precious time in ephemeral quests!
Now we have seen that neither wealth nor position is capable of granting one everlasting joy or peace! For instance, a mountaineer tries to ascend the highest peak “Everest”. After great struggles, he succeeds in reaching the summit! Then what? He would like to take one or two selfies after planting the National flag there! No doubt, this is a monumental achievement as for as the person concerned. After few minutes, his aim will be to descend to base camp! The summit is not a permanent dwelling. It is only for record purpose, people climb the highest peak! His stay there is for a few minutes only. Due to frequent changes of weather system, one would like to descend back quickly.
This is the case with all worldly achievements. Hence, instead of focusing on temporary achievements, one should focus on the inner self by concentrating on spiritual path instead of material things. We all have spent quiet a lot of time in the mortal body, not only in this birth but in many previous births in human vesture. All through our sojourn on earth, we have aimed for sensual gratification only. Very rarely, our attention drifted to the spirit within, whenever we are confronted with insurmountable problems! As we are habituated to sense gratification in many of our previous births, the inherent tendency continue through all future births. Hence slowly we must divert our attention on the Supreme Being who is seated as the self in all beings! Many evil propensities cover the spirit within, hiding it from our view all through our life. From the center only, everything expanded. In order to escape from this expanding circle of existence, one must turn in towards the center! Eternal Joy belongs only to the Self within! If we want to remain in eternal joy, freedom and piece, we must remain fixed in the conscious of self! The entire world is in constant flux. The earth rotates around its axis and possesses gravitational force! Similarly, human beings revolve around wealth and properties. So long as there is revolution around ephemeral things, we won’t get peace or joy! If possession of wealth ensures happiness, all the rich people on earth will remain happy. But, this is not the case. In fact, rich people are more concerned than the poor people.
Wealth is no solution to peace!
Since wealth attracts jealousy from those who does not possess it, the rich man is affected in many ways. The close relations will always plot to secure a share from the estate of rich. Thieves, tax authorities and other eventualities in business will make the rich restless. Many people invest in stocks. They will be always anxious when the stock market is bumpy. Sometimes, the entire investment is lost due to crash in the stock market. It is not easy to predict the volatile world situations which affect the stock markets directly. It is mere speculation. Hence the stock holders spend sleepless nights when there is loss of values! Nowadays, even the richest persons suffer great losses in business and they become bankrupt due to unforeseen circumstances. We have seen how many major banks in US crashed bringing the economy down in many countries. Fortunately few countries like India and China survived such catastrophe. Hence neither money nor bank balances will save us. They are only temporary crutches which may break at any time!
Hence, we must develop a detached mental attitude from the beginning knowing fully well, the impermanence of material wealth and human relationships, which depend upon each other!