Hari Om
Each 'Choose-day' we will investigate the process by which we can reassess our activity and interaction with the world of plurality and become more congruent within our personality.
Having looked at how the three main qualities of life, the calm, the restless and the slothful, can inform our interaction with the world over the past several weeks, we will now take a look at the world through the eyes of Swami Tejomayananda (Guru-ji). The title of this short series of posts is...
PEACE IN A RESTLESS WORLD.
Everyone of us is interested in knowing more about peace because everyone is seeking that peace in life. Let it be known - there is no magic solution. No one can give us peace; it is something that has to be discovered in our own hearts. Yet there are various aspects of this topic which we can explore here to aid your perspective on peace.
There are three main words in this topic; World, Restlessness and Peace. We have to understand each of these clearly before we proceed.
World.
When we speak of this world there are three aspects to consider. First is the phenomenal world, which is made of the forces of nature like the sun, moon, stars of the universe and the forests and creatures of our planet. Also included here are the five elements of nature; earth, fire, water, air and ether (space). These are the forces of nature that are active and incessantly functioning with unique laws.
The second is the social world, with its distinctive dynamics of family, community, nations, economics, politics, science, technology, arts, music, dance...
Third is the world of the individual. Although all communities and nations are governed by the same laws of the phenomenal world, we will find that every society, every nation, has its own distinct and unique character. This is obvious when we travel around the world. Societies have their own characteristics and an individual has his or her own psychology. Societies are made up of families and families are made up of a number of individuals, each on living in his or her own world, with different understanding and interpretations.
Restlessness.
How is the phenomenal world restless? Do the elements trouble us? Is there restlessness in them? It is true that sometimes nature seems to be restless; a huge fire may break out, or there may be floods. That restlessness in the outer world causes restlessness in us; but as far as fire, water, air, sun, moon or planets are concerned, they just function. They follow the laws of nature. We cannot blame them. We do not hate water or stop using it because it floods. Even if fire burns down a building, we don't hate fire. We may blame ourselves for being negligent in causing the fire, but we continue to use it. Such is the way of the phenomenal world.
In society, things happen that disturb us, either at the family level, the community level or the national level. The law and order situation is deteriorating and people feel insecure. we find the economic situation volatile and that creates anxiety within us. The technology industry can boom and then bust. Share markets shake us. Wars, civil unrest, threat of terrorism... all create turmoil in our societies. Socially speaking, restlessness is thus understood.
We can travel to any part of the globe and take a daily newspaper there only to discover that whilst the country, the language, the names and places all may be different, but the news really is not. Disharmony, murder, kidnapping, looting, cheating, scandals. They are everywhere. People everywhere complain of the breakdown in moral and ethical values and bemoan the state of the world. How strange is human nature though? On this side we decry the crime and violence which hits the news, yet we want to read a thriller or watch a suspense movie. Individually, we might readily watch or read about all sorts of erroneous behaviour, yet show disgust at the actual events in life. Is it not seen that the social restlessness all around us is made up of the individual restlessness? Life and 'art' juxtaposition. What we see in human behaviour is the resultant totality of what is in the collective heart.
This restlessness in individual minds can arise for many reasons; physical pain, financial problems, emotional or relationship strife and even, perhaps, spiritual problems.
Thus, as with world, we see the three aspects of restlessness. The phenomenal world is prone to the forces of nature, the social world suffers from disharmony and the individual is shattered by never-ending desires.
Next week we shall begin our consideration of peace.
Having looked at how the three main qualities of life, the calm, the restless and the slothful, can inform our interaction with the world over the past several weeks, we will now take a look at the world through the eyes of Swami Tejomayananda (Guru-ji). The title of this short series of posts is...
PEACE IN A RESTLESS WORLD.
Everyone of us is interested in knowing more about peace because everyone is seeking that peace in life. Let it be known - there is no magic solution. No one can give us peace; it is something that has to be discovered in our own hearts. Yet there are various aspects of this topic which we can explore here to aid your perspective on peace.
There are three main words in this topic; World, Restlessness and Peace. We have to understand each of these clearly before we proceed.
World.
When we speak of this world there are three aspects to consider. First is the phenomenal world, which is made of the forces of nature like the sun, moon, stars of the universe and the forests and creatures of our planet. Also included here are the five elements of nature; earth, fire, water, air and ether (space). These are the forces of nature that are active and incessantly functioning with unique laws.
Third is the world of the individual. Although all communities and nations are governed by the same laws of the phenomenal world, we will find that every society, every nation, has its own distinct and unique character. This is obvious when we travel around the world. Societies have their own characteristics and an individual has his or her own psychology. Societies are made up of families and families are made up of a number of individuals, each on living in his or her own world, with different understanding and interpretations.
Restlessness.
How is the phenomenal world restless? Do the elements trouble us? Is there restlessness in them? It is true that sometimes nature seems to be restless; a huge fire may break out, or there may be floods. That restlessness in the outer world causes restlessness in us; but as far as fire, water, air, sun, moon or planets are concerned, they just function. They follow the laws of nature. We cannot blame them. We do not hate water or stop using it because it floods. Even if fire burns down a building, we don't hate fire. We may blame ourselves for being negligent in causing the fire, but we continue to use it. Such is the way of the phenomenal world.
In society, things happen that disturb us, either at the family level, the community level or the national level. The law and order situation is deteriorating and people feel insecure. we find the economic situation volatile and that creates anxiety within us. The technology industry can boom and then bust. Share markets shake us. Wars, civil unrest, threat of terrorism... all create turmoil in our societies. Socially speaking, restlessness is thus understood.
We can travel to any part of the globe and take a daily newspaper there only to discover that whilst the country, the language, the names and places all may be different, but the news really is not. Disharmony, murder, kidnapping, looting, cheating, scandals. They are everywhere. People everywhere complain of the breakdown in moral and ethical values and bemoan the state of the world. How strange is human nature though? On this side we decry the crime and violence which hits the news, yet we want to read a thriller or watch a suspense movie. Individually, we might readily watch or read about all sorts of erroneous behaviour, yet show disgust at the actual events in life. Is it not seen that the social restlessness all around us is made up of the individual restlessness? Life and 'art' juxtaposition. What we see in human behaviour is the resultant totality of what is in the collective heart.
This restlessness in individual minds can arise for many reasons; physical pain, financial problems, emotional or relationship strife and even, perhaps, spiritual problems.
Thus, as with world, we see the three aspects of restlessness. The phenomenal world is prone to the forces of nature, the social world suffers from disharmony and the individual is shattered by never-ending desires.
Next week we shall begin our consideration of peace.