Inner peace is the most valuable thing that we can cultivate. Nobody
can give us inner peace, at the same time it is only our own thoughts
that can rob us of our inner peace. To experience inner peace we don’t
have to retreat to a Himalayan cave; we can experience inner peace right
now, exactly where we are. The most important criteria is to value the
importance of inner peace. If we really value inner peace, we will work
hard to make it a reality.
These are some suggestions for bringing more peace into your mind.
1. Choose carefully where we spend time.
If you are a news addict and spend an hour reading newspapers
everyday, our mind will be agitated by the relentless negativity we see
in the world. It is true, that we can try to detach from this
negativity. But, in practise ,we will make our progress easier if we
don’t spend several hours ruminating over the problems of the world. If
you have a spare 15 minutes, don’t just automatically switch on the TV
or surf the internet. Take the opportunity to be still or at least do
something positive. The problem is the mind feels insecure unless it
has something to occupy it. However, when we really can attain a clear
mind we discover it creates a genuine sense of happiness and inner
peace.
2. Control of Thoughts.
It is our thoughts that determine our state of mind. If we constantly
cherish negative and destructive thoughts, inner peace will always
remain a far cry. At all costs, we need to avoid pursuing trains of
negative thoughts. This requires practise. – We cannot attain mastery of
our thoughts over night. But, at the same time we always have to
remember that we are able to decide which thoughts to follow and which
to reject. Never feel you are a helpless victim to your thoughts.
“If you have inner peace, nobody can force you to be a slave to the outer reality.” - Sri Chinmoy [2]
3. Simplify Your Life
Modern life, places great demands on our time. We can feel that we
never have enough time to fulfill all our tasks. However, we should seek
to minimise these outer demands. Take time to simplify your life; there
are many things that we can do without, quite often we add unnecessary
responsibilities to our schedule. Do the most significant tasks, one at
a time, and enjoy doing them. To experience inner peace, it is
essential to avoid cluttering our life with unnecessary activities and
worries.
Every day we spend 8 hours a day to earn money, can we not find time
to spend 15 minutes to cultivate inner peace? No matter how much money
we earn, it cannot bring us inner peace, but, if we spend 15 minutes on
meditation and relaxation techniques inner peace can become a
possibility. Meditation does not just mean sitting still for 30 minutes;
in meditation we seek to experience a state of consciousness which is
flooded with inner peace. To experience this inner peace we cannot allow
any thought to enter into our mind. True inner peace occurs when we
can transcend the world of thoughts.
“You cannot buy peace; you must know how to manufacture it within, in the stillness of your daily practises in meditation.” - Paramahansa Yogananda [2]
5. Be immune to Flattery and Criticism
If we depend on the opinions and praise of other people, we can never
have inner peace. Criticism and flattery are two sides of the same
coin. They are both the judgements of others. However, we should not
allow ourselves to be affected by either. When we do, we feed the ego.
We should learn to have confidence in ourselves. This does not mean we
will love ourselves in an egotistical way, it means we value our real
self and have belief in the good qualities that are part of everyone.
6. Be Active selflessly
Inner peace does not mean that we have to live a life of a hermit.
Inner peace, can be felt amidst dynamic activity. But, this action
should be done with selfless motives. When we serve others we forget our
sense of self, and it is when we forget our limited self that we can
have inner peace.
7. Avoid Criticising Others
If we want inner peace, we should feel that our inner peace depends
on the well being of others. If we are indifferent to the feelings of
others, then it is impossible to have inner peace for ourselves. What we
give out comes back. If you offer a peaceful attitude to others this is
what we will see return.
