How to create peace of mind in 2019 (the Buddhist way)
Admit it.
You are happy when there is peace in your mind & in the surrounding.
Isn't it?
If that's true, then what is it that disturbs your peace of mind and how to regain it back?
Imagine you are sitting in a lounge chair on a beach. You are staring at the sea and enjoying the romantic waves dancing. You are listening to music. It's so peaceful. You are happy.
In your mind there is a close interconnection between peace & happy, you will try your utmost to do anything just to be at peace.
Our mind dictates to us on how we live our lives. The mind can affect our mood, our energy, our productivity and everything else that we do. So having a peaceful mind means having a peaceful happy life.
And who doesn't want to live a Happy Life?
There are times when our peaceful mind gets disturbed for various reasons. Confused about how to fix it?
Buddhist monuments have been a great source for spreading messages for peace, their teachings can help you to get back your peaceful mind. In this article let's read more on this.
What is peace?
Peace of mind is a state when you are mentally and emotionally calm. These are the moments when there are no worries, fear or stress. This is the time when your mind is usually calm and you feel happy.
According to Wikipedia “Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility & violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or heterogeneous (relatively foreign or distinct) groups”
I believe to find peace at times you should cut off your connections with people or places that disturb you.
Why is peace necessary?
Everyone wants to be happy in life. Isn’t it? I am sure even you love being happy. So to be happy in life you need peace.
Human beings can do anything or can lose anything just to live a peaceful life. Peace is the only religion in the world. When you are staying in a peaceful environment all good things happen.
Today we are living in such a world where very few people are in peace. Majority of the people live in stress, stress due to work, personal problem & conflict between countries. Living a life where there is no peace of mind is very tough.
If wars continue, tons of people will die. Everyone will lose hope from this world & it will make this planet unworthy to live.
Stress due to personal or professional problem will make your life unhappy & it will lead to fight and depression. Without peace neither can we live a healthy life nor can we give a better life to our next generation.
According to Buddha, a peaceful mind can lead to peaceful speech & actions. If your mind is at peace, the world is a better place to stay. But the truth is, most of the people do not have a peaceful mind. There are very few people we can count on our fingers whose minds are truly at peace.
So to live a happy life, peace is the only thing that we need to have.
5 best ways about "how to be at peace"?
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Meditation
Meditation is the number 1 way if you need peace of mind to be happy. It is a technique by which you need to focus your mind on a particular object or activity.
It will help you in achieving mental peace. Meditation is a skill which needs practice. There are many ways in which you can practice meditation. Let’s check out what a Tibetan Buddhist monk Mattieu Richard said about meditation.
He says to meditation, first make yourself comfortable with eyes closed. Breathe in & out slowly focusing on your breathing. It is very natural for thoughts to flow into your mind.
Do not try to ignore it at once rather let them float by. If that’s distracting you, strongly focus on your breathing. Once you feel relaxed think of someone who brings love to you.
“We all have unconditional love for a child or someone dear. Such moments of love usually lasts 10, 15 seconds, one minute, then we’d do something else, we go about our work.
But suppose you take that as a beautiful strong warm feeling and instead of letting it disappear for 15 seconds you cultivate it for five, 10 minutes, by reviving it. Coming back if you are distracted, keeping the clarity, the vividity, the vividness of that.” - Mattieu Richard
It’s really hard to be at peace during tough times. But there are multiple ways by which you can create a peaceful mind, & meditation is one such way.
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Forgive people in life
In life you meet many people, few of them will love you and few of them will hate you. When someone hates us, it usually happens that even though we hate them & speak fowl about that person.
Such things affect us immensely and we continuously think about that person inviting unnecessary negative thoughts. Thus these negative thoughts disturb us mentally hence destroying our mental peace. So it’s better to forgive him
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You should communicate
If someone very dear to you fights with you or have said something bad about you, you must talk to the person. Instead of being angry try to communicate & let the person know that you felt bad.
Communication between you & the person can make things better. If you do not talk to him about the matter then the situation might worsen and it will destroy your peace.
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Be involved in some charity work. When you do some good for anyone you will get all the positive vibes and peace at mind.
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Sit under a tree or near a sea beach and look around and see how beautiful nature is. Enjoy the “ME” time along with the beautiful nature. This will make you feel at peace.
Role of Buddhist Monuments in World Peace
Now let’s see how in history Buddhism evolved & how it helped people to achieve peace.
Buddhist monuments play a very important role in spreading peace in the world. Siddhartha Gautama popularly known as the Buddha was born to a wealthy ruler.
He sacrificed all his wealth just to live a simple life of meditation. He became Buddha & his teachings were all about peace & love.
Facts about Buddha:
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Buddha was born in the gardens of Lumbini in Nepal. Since then it has become a pilgrimage place
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Buddha Jayanti is celebrated as the birthday, enlightenment and Mahaparinirvana (death of the Buddha)
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Buddha Jayanti is celebrated all over the world as a world peace day.
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“Buddha Born in Nepal” is a Nepali film which was directed by Gyanendra Deuja. The film was directed to give a message to the world that Buddha was born in Nepal.
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Every year the United Nations observes this day as a day of Vesak with various Buddhist communities and organizations.
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Buddha believed, with Karuna (kindness) & ahimsa(non-violence) peace can be achieved.
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Buddha’s teaching focuses on enlightenment. His four noble truths are referred to as the dharma aka dhamma.
Life is suffering ( & suffering equals to rebirth)
The cause of suffering is a desire
The cause of desire must be overcome
When you overcome desire, there is no more suffering
Adept practitioners understood that not everyone can understand dharma. But common people can improve their karma by doing charitable works & by helping others.
The Buddhist monks meditated on behalf of common people. The Buddhist monks/nuns instructed common people on how to meditate & advised which Buddhist deity should they focus.
People have money & comfort both but still, they are in stress & always in search of peace. Interestingly when you have a peaceful mind you find a better solution to any problem which in turn helps you to live a better life.
Principles that you should follow to live a peaceful life (according to Buddhism):
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Make yourself completely free from anger, ego & jealousy.
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Try to differentiate between pleasure & real happiness. People try to find pleasure from wealth & status which ultimately leads to an unhappy life.
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Running after unlimited desires will disturb your peace at mind.
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Buddha once said, “ impermanence is the reality that humans refused to accept”. Nothing lasts forever, but human beings tend to get attached to pleasures & fails to realize that nothing in this life is permanent.
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Do not have too much attachment towards your desires.
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Keep good moral habits
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Life is continuous learning, so keep learning about society & its changes. The better you understand the things there will be fewer problems & more success.
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Associate yourself with good people. They will always encourage you to do good things and flourish in life.
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Have the willingness to help each other. For this buddha suggested to study the teachings in Tripitaka (it is the sacred canon of Theravada Buddhism which is written in the Pali language) and then share it with others for their benefit.
Buddhist monuments all over the world showcase the teachings of Buddha & spread awareness about dhamma. They are built to pay respect to Lord Buddha & followers of lord buddha.
King Ashoka the emperor of India in the 3rd century believed in a battle to increase his power & territory. One day he became sad when realized the number of deaths that were caused due to the war.
He then came to know about Buddha & Buddhism. He became a true believer of the teachings of Buddha. He taught everyone about buddha’s teaching.
He taught about peace & love in his empire. He believed, Buddhism can bring an end to violence & sufferings.
Emperor Ashoka made Buddhism the official religion of the country. He had built many monuments of Buddha, one of it being the great stupa at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh, India.
Let’s see how different Buddhist monastery or Buddhist are helping in achieving peace in today’s world.
Buddhist monuments are designed in such a way that all people irrespective of any religion, can come and focus on attaining peace.
Tawang Monastery, Arunachal Pradesh, India is the largest monastery in India. The walls inside the monastery are decorated with paintings dedicated to Buddhism. This creates a peaceful ambiance.
If you ever go there, do not miss the morning prayers by the monks. It’s an ultimate dosage of peace one can experience.
Rumtek Monastery, Sikkim, India is one of the oldest monasteries. The ritual & echoes of the prayers in this monastery will take you to another land. Do visit Rumtek monastery during the annual group meditation, which usually takes place in the month of May/June.
Currently, approximately 5000 Buddhist monks stay at the Namdroling Monastery in Karnataka, India. The monks spread the lessons of the buddha to the next generation. The prayer hall will give you a sense of peace & relaxation.
A former Buddhist monk uses sand to spread the message of peace. Losang Samten is a Tibetan scholar and a former Buddhist monk.
He uses a variety of colorful sands for building circular images known as mandalas. Mandalas are filled with complex imagery which was deep meaning in Buddhism as well as in Hinduism.
When he was just 17 years of age he visited the Dalai Lama monastery in India, where he studied about sand mandalas.
“They are used to enhance spiritual practice through image and meditation, to overcome suffering. Mandalas represent enlightened qualities and methods which explain this path, making them very important for the spiritual journey,” Samten.
Borobudur Temple is situated in a village of Magelang in Central Java in Indonesia. It is the largest Buddhist monument in the world. The natural surroundings and appealing aesthetics makes it one of the most beautiful temples.
As you enter the temple you are taken through the spiritual journey.
This temple is a very important religious place for the Buddhists but it also attracts many tourists. As you enter the temple complex it will make you feel the presence of God.
Karumadi Kuttan is an old shrine in Kerala. This temple was built by the monks who came to Kerala to spread the message of love, peace & non-violence.
The monasteries serve three purposes. It is used as a place for the monks to stay, a center for religious work and as a center for learning teachings of the buddha.
Meditation is very much required to live a happy life. It will help you in eliminating negative thoughts, stress, anxiety & worries & in turn will give you inner peace & will make you feel happy.
For more inspiration on how meditation can help you, check out this post. Get to know how meditation kept the 12 Thai boys calm who were trapped in a cave for two weeks.
Research shows how mindfulness meditation (a kind of meditation practiced in Thai Buddhism) can reduce stress, depression & pain.
The teachings of the buddha will help you with practical ways to achieve inner peace & happiness.
Buddhist stupas which are also known as peace pagoda are designed in such a way that people come here from all over the world to enjoy peace. The structures of these pagodas are built for people to unite, meditate and achieve a peaceful mind.
When you have inner peace, then you automatically succeed in what you do. The more silent you are from inside, the more powerful your thoughts and actions become.” ~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
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