Peace and love cannot be defined
abracad, · Categories: externally authored, spiritualityBy Lt Col R K Langar
Both peace and love cannot be defined. Both peace and love have to be experienced from inside. Man is essentially Atma or soul and not the body even though body is so important for our self evolution and should be looked after and not neglected. The Atma inside has inherent qualities of peace and love as Atma is Sat, Chit, Ananda or truth, knowledge and Bliss. Peace and Love are man’s own creations and we donot have to look for them in the outside world. We shall study peace and love in subsequent paragraphs.
Peace
That peace is our natural state, being a soul, is rarely understood. We think about peace or we want peace when we come under stress. Instead of considering peace as our natural state we feel that stress is natural. This is due to our wrong belief system. Therefore first and foremost we have to create a belief system that peace is our natural state which is ever available to us from our inside and we donot have to look for it elsewhere. Peace is one of the core values which a man must always be aware of. Some people feel that when we are silent, we are automatically peaceful. That may not hold good. We may keep silent but at the same time internally we may have plenty of disturbances. Such state is not a peaceful state. Peace is a complete relaxed state and once we have attained this state, we are not disturbed even if people tell us which we may have not like or which is not expected. When there is peace inside, we have positive focused thoughts. Peace comes from acceptance of as we are. When you are contented you are peaceful. Peace does not mean that we remain submissive. Peace is assertiveness and not passive. Peace gives us clarity of intellect or we may say that peace sharpens our intellect. Peace gives us stability and stability counters all disturbances which we may face in day to day life. Peace gives us maturity clear perspective, detached attitude and freedom of thought. Peace can be turned as national religion of India. In Brahma Kumaris organization when we meet each other, we say Om Shanti which essentially means I am a peaceful soul among other things. Peace is also the essence of Vedas. At the end of vedic prayer there is chanting of peace- Om Shanti! Shanti! Shanti!. Positively peace also means social justice.
Prerequisite for peace are purity of mind, love, honesty patience, cleanliness, simplicity acceptance of oneself and the others on the basis of knowledge that we all are equal. Virtues that we acquire and display in our conduct promote peace. Bhagavad Gita says that unless there is peace of mind, there cannot be any real happiness. Since peace is all internal we should be ever aware of it. The state of peacefulness inside can be strengthened by meditation and by not worrying about future or remembering our past. When you live and love the present, you shall ever be peaceful. Your peaceful state should be such that you influence others to become peaceful. Judge yourself to enhance your state of peacefulness. But if you judge others your peace is bound to be disturbed. Peace will automatically be there when your mind is filled with generosity and good will towards all. Love for all and hatred for none is a sure step to make us calm and peaceful.
Love
Love is the key which opens all the locks. Love is the only law of life. Dadi Janaki of Brahma Kumaris says that life without love is like living in jungle. Love is the most spoken and most heard word yet least understood. What love really conveys not many understand and display in their conducts. Love is also misused by many of us. Mostly people know love as it exists between a boy and a girl. This love is mostly based on the physical attraction between opposite sex. Such love is selfish love where you want to possess the object of love and it is directed towards one person. This love is all attachment. Love which clings to facial beauty and not to the virtues inside a person is more of a lust. Such love is conditional.
How do we understand what love really is. Love is a powerful positive energy. Such is the power of love that you dislike none. Love is the light that dissolves all walls between souls families and nations. Love can only be known by loving all. Love is a crowning emotion. We all love some objects or human beings for their quality, merit and beauty. Such love again is conditional. Real love is unconditional and universal where we love every one because others belong to one world family as we all belong to one God. One God one world family is the understanding that we all must have to acquire to love all unconditionally. All the love which we sent into the lives of others comes back manifold into our lives even when we expect no return of love. Universal love is to see oneness and sameness will all others. Loving and not expecting love in return is the secret of universal love. Loving and not expecting love in return is also the secret of you being loved by all. In whose eyes there is love, he sees every thing in the world as lovely. Love is like a river which when obstructed finds a new direction. Love is the only commodity whose increase is entirely in your own hands. Love more and more people, love more and more intensely. If some one does not behave properly with you, increase your love for him and you will find the change in his attitude towards you. That is why it is said that love is the best fuel for completing the journey of life. We can produce it 24 hours a day. Love increases your enthusiasm, kindness and joy.
To love all we must have plenty of love inside us. In other words you must love yourself at all levels of your personality. Love your own company and enjoy it to the core. To love ourselves we must develop moral values and virtues inside us to the extent that they overflow in our conduct. When this happens your love for yourself becomes unshakable on the basis of which you develop a loving attitude towards all. Love peace and virtues inside you fells you up with completeness, fullness adequacy which leave no emptiness or vacuum inside you. Then you donot need any one else to eliminate your loneliness. When you are not complete from inside you go to other people to fill the vacuum inside you which creates dependency and expectation from others. This in turn does not allow you to become stable from inside. To love all we must feel oneness with all. You are essentially soul or Atma so are the others as we all are children of one God. The more you love others, more your love becomes universal. Universal love is never possessive. Love all but donot have any attachment for any one.
Surest way to reach God is through love which is constant remembrance of God. You should not only Love God but also be attracted to Him. He who loves God knows God because God is Love when you love God truly and sincerely all our desires get merged in the love of God. When you offer all your actions to God or when you surrender yourself to God completely and follow God’s instructions then all your difficulties get settled. For example when you are climbing a mountain, with God’s love the mountain does not become small but the climb becomes easy. Purest form of love is Divine love, which occurs when you remember God at all times while doing your work. Then you do all your work in Divine consciousness. Divine love is the purest form of love and is limitless as the sky. Those who love God from the depth of their heart make no demand on God but express their, gratitude to God for all what God has given us. Love can also be defined as consideration, caring, sharing and giving to others.
Love teaches us to adjust and give unconditionally. Love for others reflects in your behavior, talk and actions towards them. First ladder of love is respect for others. Bhakti is defined as supreme love for God. Bhakti is love plus reverence for God. Love for others makes your relationship with them easy. All actions which you undertake should be greased with Love. Do your duty with love. Love and do as you like- nothing will come out except goodness. Love is a great medicine. Love is the basic emotion of human life which does not cause any disturbance and its power is irresistible.
Conclusion
Peace and love are natural conditions of Atma inside us and these cannot be induced from outside. Virtues inside us create peace and love within and without. Good manners are a byproduct of peace and love. Give gifts of peace and love to all whom you meet. Make yourself so good that people love you. To love others and be loved by others is akin to feeling sunshine from both sides.
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Filed in: externally authored, spirituality
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