As the calendar flips to the new year, the most relevant and genuine wish you can have is for lasting peace for your family, friends and the world at large. A peace that people are seeking without knowing where to find it.
Does one have to retreat to the Himalayas and seclude oneself from social life to find peace? Not at all. Peace is not merely an absence of conflicts and violence. The essence of peace is within us, as part of our core nature. All that is needed to attain it is a change in our attitude and a little correction in our perception of life. The lack of inner peace is the root cause of disturbances in one’s life and society. Here are seven ways to find inner peace in a tumultuous world:
1. Cultivate a broader perspective of life- Inner strength, calmness and stability dawn when we start seeing life from a broader perspective. Developing a little understanding about life—the fascinating interplay of different layers of existence, factors that control the mind, what nourishes our soul, etc—gives us immense power to deal with events, situations and people peacefully.
One just needs to just wake up and look at the creation with a different eye. Its beauty, diversity and even its wild uproar and fury have some rhythm and purpose. Unpredictability and uncertainty is part of the universe and when we don’t allow space for uncertainty, our inner peace gets disturbed.
The body of work towards knowing life is what I call spirituality.
A spiritual outlook kindles hope, passion and willpower to build a better world.
2. Accepting the Challenge- Embrace the opposites of life and stand tall in the face of the storms that come and go. This wisdom is present in all of us to some degree, but not consciously nurtured. What we should really wish for is the inner strength to withstand the chaos and challenges that surrounds us and sail through them with a smile. A life devoid of challenges would be boring and make one dull and weak.
It’s the difficult times and situations that make us aware of our inner strength and help us to grow in life!
3. Place the Mind over Matter- An important step towards achieving inner peace is to train the mind. When the mind is quiet, our emotions become positive and lighter and our behaviour much more aligned with peace. Practices such as meditation, yoga and breathing techniques are powerful tools for expanding the capacity for inner calm and tranquillity. It is very important that we meditate for 15-20 minutes daily.
4. Tame the Culprit- The rising levels of stress in an increasingly uncertain world comes in the way of being at peace. Stress impacts the way we think, feel, and behave, leading to a negative self-perpetuating cycle. A stress-free mind is more peaceful, empathic and open.
One of the main reasons for stress is having too much to do with not enough time and energy. It’s almost impossible to reduce our workload or increase the time. But it is possible to greatly boost one’s energy levels with yoga, meditation and healthy eating habits. The amount of energy we get in meditation is much more than sleep. With regular practice of meditation, and attending to our breath, food and sleep, we can tap into the inner reservoirs of our energy and remain free from stress.
5. Serve And Be Useful-To experience inner peace, we must commit ourselves to be useful to those around us. Selfless service alone can bring contentment. When we show kindness, it brings to life our true nature which is love and peace. Let’s make a resolution to do more good to society, help the people who are in need and bring solace to those who are suffering.
6. Get The Order Right- One of the causes of conflicts we see in the world is lack of belongingness to the common identity we share. We are all first a part of one human family, then come other identities of gender, class, nationality and religion. When the order of our identities gets misplaced, misery and all other ills of life manifest.
When the mind is relaxed, it’s natural to feel a sense of belongingness to this planet and all its people. It makes it easier to trust the people around us and build a support system. There is a lot of goodness in the world and trusting it brings us strength and peace of mind. We need to broaden the vision of our people so that we can celebrate our differences and rejoice in our shared values.
7. Have a Heart- While technology has made life more productive, it has also led to the shrinking of the space for operating from the level of feelings. We use technology even to communicate with people who are perhaps just a curtain away! Life is a combination of head and heart. For real peace, a heart-to-heart connection with the world is necessary.
PEACE IS NOT NON-ACTION
Many mistake inner peace for a state of outer complacency. Neither is the state of peace opposed to dynamism or conversely agitation a sign of vigour. Dynamic action with a serene mind is the best formula for attaining all the good things that we aspire for in life.
Inner peace alone can lead to outer peace. This New Year, let us rekindle the peace in our hearts and extend it into the world around us.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a humanitarian leader, spiritual teacher and an ambassador of peace.