To be at peace is what we all hanker for. We can call it by different names -success, health, relationship, happiness, security, money, power, name, fame -but the one thing that we aim to be, by striving to achieve all of the above is peace. Peace with oneself. When we are at peace within, we are the happiest, irrespective of what happens on the outside.
The only thing that can give us lasting peace and happiness -not temporary or ephemeral peace, but one that forms the very substratum of our life, the bedrock of our existence – is Knowledge. Knowledge of our own True Self -Atma Vidya. This knowledge, will first come to us as a mind boggling theory but can soon be transform to our own lived experience with constant reflection, assimilation and practice. Tireless practice with faith and discipline is the price we have to pay, but that becomes such a joyful journey of Self unfoldment. This is the permanent cure for all our sorrows in this life. We may be pursuing different modalities – devotion, yoga, healing, manifestation, service…and we may be in different walks of life-with different backgrounds and walking different paths, but without this knowledge about our own Self, we are at best grasping the straws of happiness.
What is this knowledge? This knowledge is about knowing who we are. Not from a personality or a temperament perspective, but from a cosmic perspective. From a life perspective. Letting go of all the false identifications that we have so firmly taken on with respect to the body, mind and intellect, which are the product of our own past actions and which is creating future lives based on the life that we are leading right now. Because we are so strongly attached to our notion of who are are right now as an individual, we get attached to other humans and beings in our lives. We get attached to ideas and beliefs. We get attached to identities based on ideologies. We get attached to our work. But all these lead to sorrow sorrow and more sorrow and we are left with firefighting these sorrows one after another.
The collective consciousness is clearly shifting where the individual wants to get their lives in order through various healing, manifestation and self discovery modalities. Everything – starting from necessary inner work to address immediate concerns to have the perfect relationships, amazing bodies, successful business, brilliant career, unimaginable wealth – all these and more are being offered as solution to the all elusive peace and joy.
But what use are these if we don’t know who we are? The nature of the human life is such that the highs and lows, joy and sorrow, health and sickness, success and failure, keep happening one after another one after another one after another – like the waves that keep hitting the shores. Trying to fix everything, running mindlessly to fulfill every single hankering of the mind and senses, seeking constant validation from peers with regards to the life that we lead, chasing ephemeral joys in this ever changing world – it is like trying to empty the sea with a bucket. It may feel as if we are doing something so important -especially if the bucket is big -but actually we are on a fools errand.
Does this mean that we should not try and fix what is broken? Should we not be ambitious? Should we not desire for the best in all aspects of our lives? By all means, do. Sometimes we HAVE to address the pressing issues and it is important that we do so. But don’t get so caught up in these. These are but temporary fixes. The more we fix, the more we have to KEEP fixing. It is really never ending. The trick is to RAISE above all these. Because there will really be no end to the problems we need to fix, the goals we need to achieve and the things and experiences we crave for. We fulfill one, ten more will be there in the queue. Wave after wave, these will besiege us and ultimately drown us.
However, when we live our life from the center of absolute and personal knowing of who we are, then we will stop chasing quick fixes. It is all the more beneficial when healers of different modalities for the body and mind, coaches, mentors and guides also have this SELF knowledge. Then their guidance will offer not only a solution to the current requirement but also put things in perspective and help us arrange our lives in tune to bigger picture. Self knowledge is truly the permanent cure. The waves won’t bother us anymore. We will drop the bucket and get to stand on the shore and enjoy the waves that raise and fall. The sea of sorrow will come and kiss our feet.