PEACE OF MIND
Everything depends on one’s way of thinking. We can achieve peace of mind by changing our way of thinking. Then sorrow can be transformed into happiness, and helplessness into courage.
Perhaps the biggest problem in present times is that today, maybe not a single person enjoys peace of mind. Almost every person, rich or poor, has become prey to mental tension. I once learned of a computer engineer who all of a sudden received a sum of 750 million dollars from America for an invention. But this huge amount of money led to enormous mental stress for him, so much so that in a period of just a year, he lost his sleep and began consuming sleeping pills. The condition of a vast section of people, both ‘big’ and ‘small,’ in the world today is something like this.
Generally, two sorts of solutions are offered for this problem of mental stress and tension. The first is the recommendation that one should try to earn as much money as possible so that one can obtain as many items of convenience, comfort, and luxury as possible. However, experience clearly shows the inadequacy of this approach. Many people accumulated a huge amount of material wealth during their lifetime but, despite this, remained devoid of satisfaction and tranquility till they finally departed from this world in that same state.
The fact is that by nature, man is a perfectionist, while the present world is, in every sense, imperfect. This situation creates a contradiction between man and the present world. It is as a result of this contradiction that despite obtaining all sorts of worldly ‘goods’ a person does not enjoy contentment. Everything in the world appears to him as lower than the yardstick that he has established. This is why even after obtaining all sorts of material ‘goods’ he is not content. Even when he is surrounded by material luxuries, he remains sunk in a sort of unconscious discontentment. This fact proves that to search for peace of mind in material ‘goods’ and worldly luxuries is useless and that it will never succeed.
A second suggestion that is often offered for the problem of mental stress and tension, is a sort of ‘meditation’ that seeks to stop a person’s process of thinking so that he is not capable of feeling stress consciously. However, this approach is synonymous with mental anesthesia. It seeks to benumb or blunt a person’s capacity for thinking and make him insensitive. Even if this sort of peace of mind is attained, it is definitely not something desirable because a process that suppresses the thinking faculty of a person is like putting him into a coma.
This method is against the system according to which human nature works. The greatest thing that Nature has given man is his mind. According to Nature’s plan, the presence of problems is not something bad for the mind. In fact, it is a blessing in disguise. For man’s intellectual development, Nature has established a method of shock treatment. This being the case, to put an end to the process of shock treatment is to shut the doors of a person’s intellectual development. In this way, this method is against the system of Nature. And, needless to say, something that is against the system of Nature is something that is worthy of being rejected.
The fact of the matter is that the solution to the problem of mental tension is not to put an end to mental tension, but, rather, to manage it. This means engaging in intellectual planning such as renders mental tension so ineffective that while a person may continue to face it, it does not disturb his peace of mind.
To understand this issue, consider an example. A young, 30-year-old, man was the manager of a multinational company. There, he earned a sizeable salary, plus perks. But because the company where he worked followed the hire-and-fire principle, he was constantly afflicted with mental tension. The fear of losing his job always troubled him, as a result of which he had no peace. One day, I said to him that I would give him a formula. If he abided by it, his peace of mind would not get disturbed. The formula was expressed in these words: ‘A person can take away your job. But no one has the power to take away your destiny.’
The man abided by this formula. After some days, we met again. He said that he had obtained peace of mind, that he now slept contentedly, and that he spent his daytime also with contentment.
Every person can defuse mental tension by managing it in a similar way. Despite facing challenges, they can lead a life characterised by peace of mind. The fact is that the human mind is a treasure trove of a vast number of abilities. There is just one cause for all mental tension—and that is, not being able to use one’s mental abilities in full. Likewise, the solution to all mental tension too is just one, and that is, to use one’s mental abilities suitably.
Consider the following example: There was once a trader in a big city. It so happened that he invested a huge sum of money and developed a certain product. When the product was ready, all of a sudden, the demand for it in the market disappeared. The man was compelled to store the items in a warehouse. The incident had such an impact on him that he fell ill. His blood pressure shot up. He lost his sleep at night. He became a victim of spasms and convulsions.
When I met the man, I explained to him that he was viewing the issue only in terms of the present. I suggested that he change this thinking of his and start thinking of the issue in terms of the future instead. He should place the issue in the wait-and-watch box, as it were. The man took my suggestion. Later, after two years or so, I received a letter in which he joyfully wrote that all the goods that he had produced had been sold off, and at a profit.
The fact of the matter is that everything depends on one’s way of thinking. Our minds become of a certain sort and begin to work in a certain way depending on the way we think. This being the case, if we change our way of thinking, sorrow can be transformed into happiness, despondency into trust, and helplessness into courage.
