Peace within a Person
"Unless we have a stress-free mind and a violence-free society, we cannot achieve world peace. We have to create harmony within the individual, and harmony in society." – H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
The core essence of the book Earth Peace through Self Peace authored by Hamsa Yoga Guru, Yoginath Maharaj, is that as humans if all of us achieve peace within (self peace) – then the problem of world peace is solved. The whole world will be at peace for ever—perpetual peace. This is the only approach –peace positive approach that changes the very core of the system in which all of us exist. For Global Peace to happen we first need to find peace within. urudev and the AOL are instrumental in starting a unique program that does exactly that. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar states This vision of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has brought inner peace to millions and resolved conflicts within families, communities and between civilizations. Besides the impact it has had in different corners of the world, its importance makes it a clear road map for world peace. It brings a new dimension to peacemaking and peace-building by recognizing inner peace as the foundation for collective peace in society. Through his multi-faceted interventions, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has brought about a realization that there is strength in peace. “When we are peaceful, we radiate that peace to the people around us. If each one of us remains peaceful and radiates harmony, there will be collective harmony. Hence, the issue of peacemaking needs to be tackled not only collectively, but also individually,” explains His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Often attempts to bring peace in society are confined to the realms of politics and economics. The focus has been on establishing an outer atmosphere for peace rather than creating peace from within, thus making the means bigger than the end itself. This vision of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar envisages the process of peace in its totality by reaching out to individuals, families, communities, nations and humanity as a whole. “Unless every member of our global family is peaceful, our peace is incomplete,” says His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in his message on the occasion of the United Nations International Peace Day on September 21, 2008. All the initiatives taken up by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar have an underlying goal of achieving holistic peace. His approach places sustainable development and social upliftment alongside value education. This has created happy, healthy individuals who have attained a decent standard of living and received essential education and life skills so that their proclivity to fight is eliminated. By bringing a spiritual perspective founded on universal human values, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been able to take his message even to people who have never experienced peace in their lives. Through programs that rid people of stress and inspire them to see the bigger meaning of life, he has been successful in making violent aggressors calmer, happier, more loving and less prone to destructive emotions. “There is only one criminal in the world today – stress,” he once said
How to achieve peace within?
This is the concept Art of Living Course teaches attendees, along with the techniques to remain and radiate peace. These courses have been taught to millions in the world today and many more millions will learn these courses within the next decade. This is indeed a life changing course.
Introduction and Overview
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in his speech at the Scottish Parliament in 2005 stated the following about inner peace and the need for “TIME for REFLECTION”:
“Time for reflection we all need. I think every human being needs to sit back for a little while, if possible everyday and find that inner peace. When our mind is agitated or restless and we are too active, we are not tapping that source that is deep within us, which is intuitive which gives us the correct thoughts, which gives us the confidence. So few minutes of silence, few minutes of reflecting about the truths about our lives would be extremely beneficial for every one of us.
Now how do we do this, what are the ways and means to achieve that inner peace? This question haunts everybody- all the time. We need to find an answer about the basic questions that come into our minds. I would say observing that everything is changing in our world, in our lives, in our society would give us a clue that there is something that is not changing. The reference point by which we observe things are changing is the something that is not changing and that non-changing aspect of our consciousness gives us enormous strength, courage and creativity. And few minutes of experiencing that non-changing aspect deep within us all makes our body energized, mind focused, our intellect free from inhibitions, memory free from traumas and a joyful flavor to our expositions comes around. We are able to be in touch with the joy that one is seeking.
It is not enough that we are able to experience responsibility or peace within us. We need to bring it into our society, around us. This we can do only by educating people in human values, by bringing about human values. Today if you ask a child in a school or college how many friends you have, they’ll count on their fingers… three, four, five. And ask them the question- if you can’t be friendly with thirty- forty kids in your classroom how are going to be friendly with six billion people in the world? The basic values- human values of friendliness, compassion, understanding, harmony in diversity need to be brought up in schools, colleges and in every environment.
I would say our breath can play a vital role in cleansing the negative emotions a person has. We have experimented this, tried this in many prisons around the world. Hundred and twenty thousand prisoners around the world have done some breathing exercises and are able to get rid of the hatred, anger, that revengeful feeling that clogs them or blocks them. Inside every culprit I see a victim crying for help. It is the stress, lack of broad vision about life, lack of understanding, bad communication- all leads to violence in society. Love, being the very central force of human life gets covered by stress and distress. So the spiritual knowledge or what I would say as human values, education in human values would help an individual stand up to the demands of the day and it will help one to manage the problems one faces in their daily life.
I see man is on that crossroad today- on one side he becomes violent or frustrated and on the other side depressed or suicidal. And it is the knowledge about our spirit, which is all love, which is beauty, which is peace, which transcends the boundary of our concepts and imaginations and identities, that can bring freedom from this frustration and violence. So I would say a violence free society, disease free body, quiver free breath, inhibition free intellect, trauma free memory is a birth right of every individual. And as responsible citizens we need to bring that responsibility to our society, to our community wherever we are, to our people, to make people take responsibility for themselves and for the environment around “.
What are the Internal or Inner Conflicts that a modern man faces?
Inner conflict occurs when one is confronted with a problem that presents difficult choices. One must make a decision one way or another. Think about the events in your life and try to recall a time when you experienced an inner conflict.
· What was the problem?
· Which two difficult choices did you have to choose between?
· What decision did you make?
· What happened as a result of your decision?
Today everyone faces inner conflicts at different phases of their lives. Some, on a day to day basis. In these situations, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar states “"That which gives you long-term joy and short tem misery is the right action. But that which gets you some short-term joy but a long-term misery follows. That action is not the right action. It's intelligent to avoid long-term misery at the cost of short-term pain."
When we take the right path and lead a life with purpose we will learn to tackle all these inner conflicts with a higher judgment, especially when we surrender and live with gratitude. Always seeing the glass half full. If we worry and get tensed about our challenging situations we are not addressing them effectively. Again His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar states, "You have nothing to lose. All that you can lose is your tension and your worry, your little-mindedness, fear, and anxiety. And fear and anxiety, tension and worry in the small, little mind will keep the mind from being free, will keep the mind from experiencing its infinite potential, and will keep the mind from becoming more powerful on this planet."
"Conflict is the nature of the world; comfort is the nature of the self. Amidst the conflict seek comfort." Based on these comments at His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s speech at Scotland it is clear that “Celebrating Silence” with meditation and practicing the Sudarshan Kriya – a technique that combines meditation and breathing cycles with the chakras in an individual – that is taught as the core essence of Art of Living course is the answer to finding this comfort amongst the conflicts we face in our day to day lives – by practicing it on a day to day basis.
“Today’s Arjuna” – alignment of all energies and evolution to a more powerful being
There was a post on a blog that stated the following: “ Arjuna wanted to withdraw from the war to save the society and was prepared to sacrifice wealth of his family for the sake of the welfare of the society. But Krishna gave more importance to punish the evil forces as a witness for the future regarding the divine administration of the world. Today the case is reverse and modern Arjuna is looting the society through business, politics and corruption in the employment for the sake of luxuries of himself and his family. The welfare of the society is sacrificed for the luxuries of family”. Fortunately with the widespread adoption of the AOL coursesand other programs from His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar folks who are modern Arjuna – who are highly literate, professional and who generally are self-centered are opening for a higher cause and the true meaning of life when we start leading a life with purpose. We do not neglect our responsibilities towards our family and children – we fulfill them with ease and direct the entire family towards seva and a more productive existence.
What is Peace Within?
Alia Ahmad in his blog had this beautiful write-up on peace within.“ There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried their luck. The king looked at all the representations, but there were only two that fascinated him. Ultimately, he had to choose between them. The first depiction was of a calm and quiet lake. The lake was a perfect mirror of placid, pacific mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. It seemed a perfect picture of peace. The other image had mountains too, but these were rugged and bare. Above was an enraged sky, from which rain fell and in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a furious, foaming waterfall. Apparently, this was not at all, the required piece of art. But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush, growing in a crack in the rock. In that bush a mother bird had built her peewee nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest - in perfect peace! Any idea, which one turned out to be the award-winning illustration? The king chose the second one. Why? "Because," explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be cool, calm and collected in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."
I am reminded of the team of therapists who worked with my autistic son Arjun with dedication and love – while they were students at GMU studying psychology. Majority of them where American Christians, there was a girl named Sara (who practiced Islam) and we had a few Jews and Hindus as well. We as parents have so much gratitude for these folks for consistently working with dedication and enthusiasm. They adored Arjun and were thrilled each time he reached a milestone or achieved one objective. It was a human to human interaction and a team from so many backgrounds and religions that came together as ONE. The inner peace they had was the foundation for them to work and produce miracles as a team.
IAHV & AOL program for Peace within one’s self
The AOL courses are primarily geared towards addressing individual peace and family peace and how to live in peace with your self. It also expands into other areas such as how to face life with the right attitude, how not to be biased and to be non-judgmental, how to understand the fact the we belong to everyone, and more.
The core part of the course is Sudarshan Kriya which teaches deep meditation with cyclical breathing techniques.
Sudarshan Kriya (Sanskrit: su = right, darshan = vision, kriya means purifying action) is a rhythmical breathing process that is said to have been revealed to His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar during a spell of silent meditation that he had gone into for 10 days in 1982. The theory is that the kriya allows a healthy and pleasant mind to produce chemical messengers, which travel from the nervous system to the immune system, resulting in the overall betterment of both body and mind. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India has conducted a study on Sudarshana Kriya, which found tentative results that were suggestive of more efficient information processing and relaxation, but concluded that a larger number of subjects need to be studied to define these changes further." Sudarshana Kriya has been found effective for trauma relief under some circumstances.
This kriya, as done at the Art of Living workshops, involves regulating one's breath to the sounds of So-hum ('So' for inhale and 'hum' for exhale)coming from the tape recorder in His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar's voice. The entire kriya involves multiple rounds with each round having long, medium and short inhalation and exhalations with varying rhythms and intensities. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar has described the working of the Sudarshan Kriya thus:
"There is a rhythm in nature. Seasons come and go. In your own body also, there is a rhythm. Life has a particular rhythm. Similarly, your breath also goes in a pattern. Your emotions move in a particular rhythm, as well as your thoughts. All these rhythms arise from your being, which has its own rhythm. In Sudarshan Kriya, we get into the rhythm of our being and see how our being is permeating our emotions, our thoughts, our breath and our bodies. Soon, every cell of our body becomes alive and releases all the toxins and negative emotions it has stored from times past. Once again, we are able to smile from our hearts."
Sudarshan Kriya is accompanied by certain other breathing techniques like Ujjayi Pranayama and the Bhastrika Pranayama, which proponents claim help in quelling the turmoil of the mind. According to His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, through this kriya the mind experiences deep rest. He states that the process also involves the infusion of a maximum amount of oxygen to the cells, which helps in the release of neuropeptides that regularize abnormal brain wave patterns in patients suffering from neural disorders.
There are many published research studies on the benefits of Sudarshan Kriya that includes;
Naga Venkatesha Murthy, P.J., Gangadhar, B.N., Janakiramaiah, N., Subbakrishna, D.K. (1997). Normalization of P300 Amplitude following Treatment in Dysthymia. Biological Psychiatry, 42, 740-743.
Naga Venkatesha Murthy, P.J., Janakiramaiah, N., Gangadhar, B.N., Subbakrishna, D.K. (1998). P300 amplitude and antidepressant response to Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY). Journal of Affective Disorders. 50(1):45-8.
Janakiramaiah, N., Gangadhar, BN., Naga Venkatesha Murthy, P.J., Harish, M.G., Subbakrishna D.K.,Vedamurthachar A. (2000). Antidepressant efficacy of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) in melancholia: a randomized comparison with Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and Imipramine. Journal of Affective Disorders. 57(1-3):255-9.
Bhatia, M., Kumar, A., Kumar, N., Pandey, R.M., and Kochupillai, V. (2003). Electrophysiologic evaluation of Sudarshan Kriya: an EEG, BAER, and P300 study. Indian J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 47, 157-163.
Sharma, H., Sen, S., Singh, N.K. Bhardwaj, V. Kochupillai, N. Singh (2003). Sudarshan Kriya practitioners exhibit better antioxidant status and lower blood lactate levels. Biological Psychology 63:281-291.
Gerbarg, P.L., and Brown, R.P. (Oct. 2005). Yoga: A breath of relief for Hurricane Katrina refugees. Current Psychiatry 4, 55-67.
Kochupillai, V., Kumar, P., Singh, D., Aggarwal, D., Bhardwaj, N., Bhutani, M., DAS, S.N. (2005) Effect of rhythmic breathing (sudarshan kriya and pranayam) on immune functions and tobacco addiction. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1056:242-52.
Vedamurthachar, A., Janakiramaiah, N., Hegde, J.M., Shetty, T.K., Subbakrishna, D.K., Sureshbabu, S.V., Gangadhar, B.N. (2006) Antidepressant efficacy and hormonal effects of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) in alcohol dependent individuals. J Affect Disord. 94, 249-253.
Brazier, A., Mulkins, A., Verhoef, M. (2006) Evaluating a yogic breathing and meditation intervention for individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Am J Health Promot. 20, 192-195.
Sageman, S., and Brown, R. 2006. Free at Last, in DSM-IV-TR Case Book Volume 2, edited by R.L. Spitzer, M.B. First, J.B.W.Williams, M. Gibbon. American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
Kjellgren, A, Bood, SA, Axelsson, K, Norlander, T, Saatcioglu, F.(2007). Wellness through a comprehensive Yogic breathing program - A controlled pilot trial.
For those interested in many of the benefits associated with Kriya you can always research and review these published work. Dr. Pragati Mukhopadhyay has stated the following “Every era has witnessed enlightened saints and seers who have shared their knowledge of man’s true divine identity. In this period of Time, His Holiness His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar has made His presence felt throughout the world in all sects of life. Most people live their lives on the basis of their material identity and find difficult to find time to know the true identity. Through The Art of Living, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has brought spiritual knowledge to this era in a light and easy manner.”
The disciplined practice of Sudarshan Kriya, Pranayama, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Yoga and the reading through all the knowledge materials His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar gives us, we have everything given to us to attain peace within.
If prisoners, war veterans going through trauma, terrorists and victims have attained inner peace through His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s programs the typical folks like you and me who face far less challenges in life can definitely do so.
With this inner peace and the capability transition into meditative state easily one will elevate to level of existence that takes them to a life of meaning and purpose. We will automatically start contemplating on seva, service and leading a life with a higher purpose.
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Interview
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar addressed the Confederation of Indian Industry Meet at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore , India
“It is wonderful to hear that the students are taking a lot of initiative. When the institution moves with an idea to bridge wherever it feels to have some gap - among people, among ideologies, among sciences, among cultures; it needs to be welcomed. That’s what is needed today. Humanity as a whole is part of one divinity. When I say part, I don’t mean they are apart. Science and Spirituality or Humanity are not apart at all. It is all looking at the reality from various different angles. In the Upanishad it is said, “Avidhyayam mrutyum teerthava vidyayam mrutamashmeta”. It is two sides of the same coin. Avidhya, doesn’t mean ignorance, Avidhya means the knowledge of the relative, of THIS. The knowledge of THIS takes you away from death and knowledge of ME, of the self, gives you immortality. It’s like saying either one thing that darkness vanishes, or by saying the other thing that light comes in. It cannot happen one after the other, it is a simultaneous happening. Darkness comes when light goes ; and light comes when darkness goes. It is a simultaneous happening.
Same with Humanity and Science; The Science is there for human beings, and science is understood by humans, animals don’t understand the science. So in that sense Humanity cannot be the perceiver, the observer cannot be separated from the seen or the observed. Science is all about the observed, about the seen and Humanity is about the seer. And now let’s see what the seer consists of. The seer consists of all that is abstract - Love, Beauty, Peace, Joy, Intelligence. And the seen consists of all matter including our own physical body, physical existence. This understanding is because of ‘Vivek’, discrimination, the seen and the seer. Then seeing that the seen and the seer are all part of one whole. “What is this?”- is Science and “Who am I?” - is Spirituality or, if you want to call it as Humanity, its the same. (may be lighter and a softer word! ) Spirituality looks a little up in the air, Humanity looks a little down on the earth. But it matters the same. It means the same. But when we think they are separate even while trying to bridge them up also, you know, we will keep them separate. All that we need to know and notice is that there is a link or that they’re all the same. In our ancient scriptures they have “Padhartha Gyanadh Moksha” They didn’t insist you must believe in God. One of the Darshanas, Vysashika Darshanas said this – ‘ padhartha ….’ That is: even if you understand or know one tiny particle of this creation, you will be liberated. Because in that one tiny particle of creation the entire creation is reflected, is present there.
The more we know Science, the more we know that we know very little. It leads us to a place that I know very little about the creation. The mystery deepens. And the same happens when you try to ponder upon “Who am I?” The deeper you go, you find you are much vaster than what you thought you were. So this is the unending mystery in both sides, if you go within or out, the mystery of the ‘Self’ and the mystery of the creation. And it is a welcome idea to ponder more on this, bringing in the dialogue. This dialogue would help us to understand THIS and ME better. THIS meaning, which creates the world around us and ME is the depth that you are.
Here is the story about Ved Vyas. The creator created the world and Vedas then Ved Vyas was asked to categorize them, make them into proper curriculum for the people to study and he agreed. Because Vedas are infinite.( Veda means the knowledge and it is infinite)-there is no beginning to it and there is no end to it , he was asked to categorize them. Then he was shown, where was the Vedas. They showed a huge mountain-bigger than Himalays. Ved Vyas asked how much he could take? He went and took handfuls of .. just handful of that mountain. And from that one handful of mountain he created all the Vedas. He categorized them all. The Vedas were already present, it was not created. But he took just handful from that mountain and what did he make? He made the four Vedas - The Rig Veda, ten thousand verses-written by many thousands of Rishis; ‘Yajur Veda’, ‘Sam Veda’ and ‘Athurva Veda’. And then he made four Upavedas - the Ayurveda -science of life, all about medicines, herbalogy ; Dhanurveda, Sthapasyaveda - diagrams ; and Gandharva Veda –about music, phonetics (the origin of music ). From the four Vedas which are more like Pure Science or abstract, came four Upavedas which are more practical and applied science, for day to day life. And then the six Darshanas (even more applied science): Vaishaishika, Nyaya, Mimamsa, Sankhya, Yoga and Vedanta- these six applied sciences were derived from it. And then more humanities, more arts and science followed by the epics Ramayan and Mahabharat which have the cultural part or the heritage part .And then the Puranas. The word Purana indicates just the opposite what we think it means. In Hindi language also when we say purana we mean old. Purana in fact means “Puree Nava Ithi Purana”. That which is the new in the town is Purana. Pura means the town and nava means new. That which is new, the latest fashion is called purana. See, how over a time that has lost its whole meaning.
We need to be aware of our own selves, our body, our breath, our mind, how the mind works. In the gurukul as initiation,the first thing a student was given was to make him realize Who you are and to get confidence in oneself . They called it ‘Brahmopadesh’. Brahmopadesh means what? The greatest advice, initiation. And what was said- You are not what you think you are. You are bigger than this whole universe. ‘Thou are that’ - you are that.! -That was the first knowledge imparted to a student before he could understand and study more. So increasing the capacity of a student to study more, to instill the confidence in him. the teacher would look into the eyes of the student and say, “Look, who do you think you are? You are not just somebody. You are more than that somebody you think you are. You have infinite possibilities , Potentiality in you. Wake up”
Summary
Achieving this inner peace for all of mankind is His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s mission. This is the reason he is tirelessly travelling from country to country to city to city, to cover millions of individuals all over the world regardless of their religion, background, profession, race, color or ethnicity.
Our beloved His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is transforming lives of millions, my life is also transformed and I will see to it that my remaining life is put in use for some good cause. Jai guru dev”. So How do you know you have achieved inner peace? These are the 12 symptoms you’ll see in yourself:
Tendency to think and act spontaneously, rather than from fear.
An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
Loss of interest in judging other people.
Loss of interest in judging self.
Loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
Loss of interest in conflict.
Loss of ability to worry (a very serious symptom).
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and with nature.
Frequent attacks of smiling through the eyes and from the heart.
Increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
Increasing susceptibility to Love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.
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