Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Om! Peace is the realm of infinite Bliss - Swami Sivananda



Peace is the realm of infinite Bliss

 PRAYER FOR WORLD-PEACE

When you sit for meditation in the morning hours, send out currents of your love and peace to all living beings. Say with feeling:

Sarvesham swasti bhavatu - May auspiciousness be unto all;
Sarvesham santir bhavatu - May peace be unto all;
Sarvesham purnam bhavatu - May fullness be unto all;
Sarvesham mangalam bhavhtu - May prosperity be unto all;
Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu - May happiness be unto the whole world.



WHAT IS PEACE?

Peace is a state of quiet. It is freedom from disturbance, anxiety, agitation, riot or violence. It is harmony, silence, calm, repose, rest. Specifically, it is the absence or cessation of war.

Peace is the very nature of the soul or
Atman. All the modifications (Vrittis) of the mind are dissolved in the soul. There is no thought (Sankalpa) in the soul.

The peace of God fills your heart. Realise this stupendous peace of God that passeth all understanding through meditation and devotion.

Peace is a divine attribute. It is a quality of the soul. It cannot remain with greedy persons. It fills the pure heart.

Speak, move, act in peace. Peace is the happy, natural state of man. It is his birthright. War is his disgrace.

SPIRITUAL NATURE OF PEACE

Peace is absolute serenity and tranquillity, wherein all the mental modifications, thoughts, imaginations, whims, fancies, moods, impulses, emotions, instincts, etc., cease entirely and the individual soul rests in his own nature, in his won pristine glory, in an unruffled state. It is not, of course the temporary conditions of mental quietude which worldly people speak of, in common parlance when they retire for a short time to a solitary bungalow in a forest for a little rest, when they are tired after a long journey.

Peace is the fourth condition of superconsciousness. Peace is the realm of infinite bliss, eternal life and eternal sunshine where cares, worries, anxieties and fears which torment the soul here, dare not enter; where all distinctions of caste, creed and colour disappear in the warm embrace of Divine Love and when desires and cravings find their full satiety. Peace is Eternal Life in the Pure Spirit, Pure Consciousness of Highest Self.

NATURE OF INNER PEACE

Real deeper peace is independent of external conditions. Real abiding peace is stupendous stillness of the Immortal Soul within. If you can rest in this ocean of peace, all the usual noises of the world can hardly affect you. If you enter the silence or the wonderful calm of divine peace by stilling the bubbling mind and restraining the thoughts and withdrawing the outgoing senses, all disturbing noises will die away.

Motor-cars may roll on the streets, boys may shout at the pitch of their voices, railway trains may run in front of your house, several mills may be working in your neighbourhood and yet all these noises will not disturb you even a bit.

HOW TO FIND PEACE?

If you wish to enter into the Great Peace of God, all the worldly desires must die, all the senses should be brought under your perfect control, and the mind should be stilled.

He who does not practise any meditation cannot possess peace of mind. How can there be happiness for the unpeaceful?

You can have peace of God without the help of money and outwardly favourable circumstances. You may have sorrows, and yet you may enjoy the inward harmony and peace, if you rest in God by withdrawing the senses, by stilling the mind and eradicating the impurities of the mind.

You find it very difficult to free yourself from the clutches of sensual objects; but, if you remain as a Sakshi or silent witness, you will not be affected by them. Therefore, cultivate the Sakshi Bhava and remain as a witness of the Vrittis or waves of the mind. You will enjoy the Peace of the Eternal.

Develop universal love. This will help you to live peacefully with all men and all creatures. Love and peace are inseparable. Where there is love, there is peace and wherever there is peace, there is love.

REALMS OF INNER STILLNESS

Look within the chambers of your heart. When you are established in the highest Self within, you will not be shaken by heavy sorrow, loss or failure and inharmonious or disagreeable vibrations.

You will tide over all difficulties and crisis in life easily and will come out with triumph in all life's experiences.

Mysterious is this peace; marvellous is this peace; realise this peace.

You will find this peace in the quietude of your inner being, through deep meditation. Have four sittings in winter and two in summer. Be regular in your practice. Regularity is of paramount importance. You can grow in peace and spirituality only if you are regular in your practice of meditation.

Attain that peace that passeth understanding by silencing the bubbling thoughts and eradicating all desires, cravings, or sense-hankerings.

Reach the kingdom of inner stillness or domain of infinite peace through spiritual meditation.

If you can still your mind, you can still tempests or cyclones or the surging sea. Rest in the ocean of peace. Root yourself in the Self within. Now you will be able to neutralise the dark forces of hatred, jealousy, disharmony, rupture and distraction within you and around you.

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the victory over your lower self, triumph over your senses and mind, desires and cravings.
 If you have no peace within yourself, it is fruitless to seek it in external objects and outward sources.

Peace comes from prayer, Japa, Kirtan, meditation, good and sublime thoughts and understanding.

Develop cosmic love, kindness, forgiveness. Understand the views of others. Selflessness, desirelessness, non- attachment, freedom from I-ness, mine-ness and cravings, devotion to God or Atman, self-restraint, control of the mind and the senses, bring happiness and peace of mind.

World peace comes from goodwill, sympathy, tolerance and right understanding between nations, as well as from striving after a common good and common welfare.

Cultivate peace first in the garden of your heart by removing the weeds of lust, hatred, greed, selfishness and jealousy. Then only you can contribute peace to the world; then only those who come in contact with you, will be benefited by your vibrations of peace and harmony.

PEACE OF MIND THROUGH DESIRELESSNESS

Desire is the greatest enemy of peace. Desire causes distractions of various sorts. Therefore give up all desires.

Peace can be found only within. You cannot certainly find it in external objects. Look within. Sit silently in a room from half an hour to one hour. Close your eyes. Relax the muscles and nerves. Concentrate on a point between the two eyebrows. Withdraw the senses and the mind from the external objects. Forget the body and the world.

Meditate regularly in the early morning hours. Enter into the great calm or the secret place of the Most High.

To achieve that state of lasting happiness and absolute peace, we must first know how to calm the mind, to concentrate and go beyond the mind. By turning the mind's concentration inward, upon the self, we can deepen that experience of perfect concentration. This is the state of Meditation.
    ~ Swami Sivananda
PEACE OF MIND BY EGOLESSNESS

Eternal spiritual life cannot be attained without the renunciation of the petty sensual life. The secret of renunciation is the renunciation of egoism and desires.

Some think renouncing the family and the material world alone is the real renunciation. But it is actually not so. One should not neglect his own Svadharma and responsibility in the name of renunciation.
What is wanted is the renunciation of the tiny ego, lust, anger, greed, petty-mindedness, name and fame and such other negative qualities that stand in the way of one's perfection, self-evolution.

To want nothing is indeed the most efficacious way to attain the highest Good. But if you crave for a thing, you will not get it. Renounce the craving for the object, the object will follow you by itself.

Renounce the evil modifications (Vrittis) of the mind through regular introspection and by cultivating their opposite Sattvic qualities. You will attain Godhead. Renunciation alone can make you fearless and happy.
It is the bestower of eternal peace and immortality

MORE ESSAYS of Swami sivananda ABOUT PEACE 

Supreme Peace Is Your Goal (Saturday 1 January 2011)   
How I Abide in Peace Now! (Tuesday 28 December 2010) 
How to Find Peace of Mind (Monday 10 January 2011)
Achievement of Peace (Tuesday 28 December 2010)

 
    Peace  love  harmony