Peace and Restlessness

Why do I feel such profound peace at times?

Why does it not stay with me all the time?

I have my answers.

I experience indescribable peace when I come contact with the ultimate reality.

It doesn’t last forever because the mind still holds considerable impurities. And they come to the surface from time to time.

I am learning to address this issue in a two steps manner. 

When I feel peace has disappeared, I try and identify the impurity that has arisen in the mind.

Alongside the identification, I start creating a distance between the fault and myself.

That brings back the alignment with the ultimate reality and restores peace. 

With this practice, peace has managed to last for longer intervals than before. 

Mind is no longer able to cause as much mischief and misery as before. Where misery is concerned, misery to oneself and misery to others are both to be taken into consideration.

Any thought, good or bad, needs energy from the divine, to manifest. When an impure thought is recognized in its early stages and cut off from the energy source, it dies before getting a chance to manifest. Think of an intercepted missile. 

When a pure thought is recognized in its early stages, I remind myself that it must be carefully thought through before allowing it to manifest or shared. Benefit to mankind or creation must outweigh risks before lending it much energy.

Several times you see that the benefits are taken into consideration but disproportionately less thought goes into weighing the risks. Scientists and innovators are often guilty of this error. They develop a tunnel vision. A scientist with a spiritual sense is much superior and desirable than one without spiritual leanings. 

The same is true for spiritual seekers. They too run the risk of developing tunnel vision. A spiritual seeker with understanding and respect for science is preferable to one who disregards science. 

When you learn to play with ideas with a healthy amount of detachment( vairagya) and wise discernment ( Vivek), with this practice you will be cashing in on periods marked by restlessness (or putting it differently, noticeable by the absence of peace), and turning them into productive sessions of purity( clarification), reform, improvisation and innovation, whether in the spiritual realm or in the physical space. 

Ignorance about the truth of any matter is an impurity and brings restlessness. Restlessness is not a bad thing. It provides the incentive for searching for peace and truth. Search leads to new findings. Ignorance surrounding each individual person is different. A villager may not know how to book a flight. An urban dweller may not know how to plow a field.

At any given time, there tends to be a wide gap between the intellectual understanding of the innovators and the simple folks who either got no access to formal education or amongst those who got formal education but never learned to think out of the box. This gap between the geniuses and the average or sub-average population can never close in a short time. 

Yet it is very important to try and bridge the gap because otherwise it will lead to misery for the masses. 

The creation functions on the theory of survival of the fittest. Darwin’s concept of natural selection is synonymous with this theory. If modern science is gaining pace with record speed, it becomes imperative for the human race to play catch up with it in order to survive. Neither poverty nor wealth are commonly created overnight. They are consequences of respectively lacking or keeping pace with science and practical knowledge. 

As human civilization is entering into the age of artificial intelligence, scientists and spiritual leaders both ought to give serious thought to the impact on traditional means of livelihood for the greater majority around the globe. Are we going to march on in an intoxicated manner with the unstoppable force of the newest technology on the horizon and leave it to Mother Nature to do her job of “ natural selection” by wiping out the vulnerable by means of war, droughts and poverty? Or, for a change, match the unprecedented intellectual surcharge with the wisdom of simply learning from history and avoiding the same mistakes as generations before us? 

Only Time will tell! 

Not sure if the deafness of human intelligence to Nature’s wisdom is also a natural design to maintain the cycle of creation, growth, decay and destruction. The smartest people can also be the most stupid. Or sometimes realize their stupidity when it’s too late. 

In any case, for any human, to become worthy of graduating in Mother Nature’s college of Natural Selection, it is mandatory to put in personal effort to improve in all subjects. Basic sciences, modern science and technology, sociology/humanities/political sciences, and spiritual sciences. Those who do not consider spirituality as a science know nothing about it. Their opinion is only reflective of their ignorance in the matter. Those with the ability to have at least a basic understanding of each of these faculties is more likely to navigate through the challenges that are shoring up for the future. Those who will stubbornly choose to remain blind and deaf to one or more of these realities will risk being left behind or washed away in the tide. 

Coming back to where we started the topic: tossing between restlessness and peace, I have realized that one needs to take both of these seriously and become proactive in seeing the merit in the restlessness every minute of existence to be able to experience peace. Without peace there cannot be happiness and without restlessness there cannot be progress. One cannot get the full experience of being alive without having both, genuine happiness and continuous progress.