Skip to main content

ENEMIES OF PEACE

Bhagvat-gita 2.71
vihaya kaman yah sarvan, pumans carati nihsprhah
nirmamo nirahankarah, sa santim adhigacchati

"A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego - he alone can attain real peace."

This is one of those verses of Gita that is very deep and profound. In fact, every verse of Gita is a storehouse of wisdom. In this verse Lord Krishna mentions three enemies of peace. These are three mentalities that destroy peace.


'Want' mentality
"Wants" is one of the primary reasons for our peace to be destroyed. If our mind is considered to be like pond, desires can be compared to be stones which when thrown into the pond of our mind, agitate it. The problem with desire is there seems to be no end to them. One is fulfilled another arises. In fact the mind has countless unfulfilled desires stored in it. How many can we be fulfilled and till how long? Fulfilling desire is not a solution to peace but it is the very obstacle to it. We need to find a more wholesome solution but for that we need to understand a little more about the workings of desires.

When a desire arises in our mind, the mind becomes agitated, restless. This is the primary reason we try to fulfill our desires, because we feel we will be satisfied, peaceful only if we fulfill them. This is the common error all of us make. But in actuality it is not the fulfillment of desire that makes us peaceful but the fact that as soon as we acquire the object of our desire, we give ourselves permission to release that desire. So, it is not the fulfillment of desire that makes us peaceful but the release of it. This is the shortcut to peace. We just need to surrender desire as it arises, we will be saved from all the unwanted anxiety and struggle it takes to fulfill them.

'Mine' mentality
This is another factor which affects our peace of mind - the 'Mine' mentality. It is a great illusion to think we are proprietors, owners of anything. Nothing of this world belongs to us. We come to this world empty handed and leave the same way, but in between we hold onto things of this world as if it belongs to us and thereby destroy our own peace of mind and those of others. We should always remember that we are only caretakers on behalf of God.

'I' mentality
The 'I' mentality or ego is also one of the crucial factors that affects our overall sense of peace and well-being. It is said that - everyone wants the first seat of the theater, middle seat of the bus, last seat of the classroom and everyone wants to be the center of attraction. As long as we have big egos and think we are very important, there will be great anxiety and stress to protect that image. But as soon as we realise that we are small we are immediately liberated from unnecessary anxiety. The joy of feeling small is much greater than the joy of feeling big.

The mantra for peace is - 'I am satisfied, I am small and nothing belongs to me.' The mantra for anxiety is - 'I still have a lot to enjoy, I am a very important person and I am a proprietor of so much.'

If we closely study the three enemies of peace that Lord Krishna is mentioning in this verse, we will realise that all three of them stem from us only, they are own flawed mindsets. In other words the biggest enemy for our peace is 'we ourselves', our own egos. So if we want peace, the only thing we need to do is 'get out of our own way' and let peace shine through us.

Peace is actually effortless, no struggle is needed to achieve it. In fact, it is our very nature, it never leaves us - not even for a moment. We generally take steps ahead to achieve it and never reach it because it is not ahead but just one step back. We can access it anytime, anywhere, in any situation. We just need to surrender our ego-mind and return to our conciousness - the abode of peace and joy.

The whole thing can be summed up by a small anecdote from the life of Lord Buddha. One man came to Buddha and told him - "I want peace." Lord Buddha coolly told him "Give up 'want', give up 'I' - all you left with is peace".

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

THE QUEST FOR SUCCESS

"In the end we only regret the chances we didn't take." A few weeks ago, I was doing a training program for our devotees at our ISKCON center in Siolim. My theme that day was to highlight the need for devotees to find their hidden potential. I was explaining, how important it is for every devotee to feel successful in life; how the growth of every organisation depends on the growth of the individuals within the organisation. I explained to them, how in the name of growth of the organisation, we can't overlook individual growth - both are interconnected. One devotee asked me a very intelligent question. He asked me, "What does success mean?" I told him, "Success, doesn't mean to become successful in the eyes of people. It doesn't mean name, fame or any other external things." I told him that, " Success means to feel that you have done your best, that you have lived up to your full potential. Others are not the judge of our succe...

STRIKE BEFORE THE LIGHTNING STRIKES

"Life is fragile - handle with prayer." A few days back in Goa, while raining it thundered so loud that it literally scared many people. I was inside our ashram staring at the sky through the window and imagining what would happen if the lightning entered in the room being attracted by the mobile next to me. I then brushed off this possibility as rare and continued my work. Just a few hours later, one of my friend came to meet me. In the course of our discussion, he told me that a few weeks ago, a young couple from Delhi came for a holiday in Goa. One evening, as they were walking along the Candolim beach, it rained and thundered heavily. The husband took off his mobile to take a selfie when the lightning struck them. The power of the lightning was such that, this person got completely burnt, with holes through and through his body. He died on the spot. His wife was also burnt badly. She was rushed to the hospital but she passed away on the next day. Our prayers to this cou...

Overcoming Pride By Gratitude

We, ISKCON devotees are made from head to toe only by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and the Vaishnava's. We are products of mercy . Nothing actually belongs to us. So, how can we be proud of borrowed plumes! Think about it. When people applaud us for our classes, if we think properly none of the points we speak is ours. We are just repeating what we have heard or read. And even if we get some new insights it's by the mercy of Krishna in our hearts.  We should always remember that whatever respect, facilities and honor we get is only by the mercy of Krishna and the Vaishnavas. It's only because we have some connection with great souls, we are given respect. All great devotees live their lives in alignment with this fact. When Lord Krishna left this world to depart to His eternal abode, Arjuna remembers all the incidents in his life where he achieved extraordinary success. But he doesn't take an iota of credit. He is fully convinced that it is on...