SerenityofMind
Understandthesenewwordsorphrasesbeforeyoureadthisarticle.
1.serenity[si'ren?ti]n平靜，寧靜
2.uplifting[?p'lifti?]adj.令人振奮的
3.asset['?set]n.優點
4.compulsion[k?m'p?l??n]n.強制
5.incessant[in'ses?nt]adj.不停的
6.ingrained[,in'ɡreind]adj.根深蒂固的
7.expertise[,eksp?:'ti:z]n.專門知識
Weenjoyinnerpeaceandfeelhappyandsatisfiedwhenlifeflowssmoothlyandwehaveagoodjob,goodrelation-ships,goodhealth,andourfinancialsituationisgood.Whenthereisnothingtoworryabout,notensionandnohurry,weareatpeace.
Inday-to-daylifeitisnotalwayslikethis.Thereisalwayssomethingthatcausesworry,tensionandlackofease,anddoesnotletusfeelpeaceful.Inspiteofthis,wecanenjoypeaceregardlessofouroutercircumstances.Peaceofmindisaninnerstateandisindependentofouterconditions.Whywaitforneverforcircumstancestobe「right」?Whyrelyonoutsidecircumstancestobringuspeaceofmind?
Apersonmayberichorpoor.Onemaybehealthyorsick,free,orliveinclosedcell.Innerpeaceandcalmnessiswithinreachofeveryone.Onecanbeaslave,theotherfreeman,yetbothhavethepotentialtoenjoypeaceofmind.
Peaceofmindseemstobeinthisworldbutoutofthisworld.Itisexperiencedhereandnow,yetindependentofoutercircumstances.Innercalmnessandserenitycanbeexperiencedevenunderthemosttryingcircumstances.Ofcoursesometrainingisneededfirst.
ThoughtsandPeaceofMind
Thoughtsariseinusandwethinkthem.Wemaychoosetoignorethemandexperiencerealinnerfreedom,orwemaychoosetowaterthemwiththepowerofourattentionandmakethemgrow.
Whenyouhavetothink,chooseonlypositive,happyandupliftingthoughts.Thinkaboutandimagineonlywhatyoureallyandtrulydesireandthatwillcometopass.Alwaysrememberthatlifeisshapedaccordingtoyourthoughts.
Whenthemindissilentthereishappinessinsideandhappinessoutside.
Itisagreatassetandadvantagetobeabletosilencethemindwhenitsservicesarenotneeded.
Theattainmentofserenityofmind,whichisactuallyfreedomfromthecompulsionofincessantthinking,isopenforeveryone,providedthepropertrainingistaken.Justreadingthisarticleyouwillnotbringyoupeaceofmind.Whenyouunderstandthevalueofinnerpeace,andyouhaveatruedesiretosucceed,nothingcanstandinyourway.Thoughthisisaninnerpower,thewaytoitsattainmentisnotdifferentfromothertangiblegoals.Workandpersistencearenecessary.
Mostpeopleareenslavedbytheirthoughts.Itdoesnotoccurtomanthathecanbecomefreefromtheirgrasp.Fromthemomentwewakeupinthemorningtothemomentwefallasleepatnight,thischatterofthemindcontinuesincessantly.Thehabitofthinkingisverydeeplyingrainedinthehumanrace.Yet,thishabitcanbe
undone.
Tochangeorstopahabitwehavetoactconsciouslyintheoppositedirection.Whatevernewskillwedevelop,wehavetoworkatituntilitturnsintosecondnature,andbecomeseasytoperform.Thesameiswithmindcontrol.
Truecontrolofthemindisnotjusttheabilitytoconcentrateononethoughtanddisregardotherthoughts.Itistheabilitytocleansethemindcompletelyandmakeitsilent.AgreatIndiansagesaid:「Mindisonlyabundleofthoughts,stopthinkingandshowmethemind.」
Whenoneisreallyfreefromthoughtshebecomesfreefromthemindasbothareoneandthesamething.Onecomestoseeandunderstandtheillusivenessofthemind.Whenthecloudshidethesun,itisstillthere,beyondtheclouds.OurEssence,ourinnerSelf,isalwayshere.Weonlyneedtoremovethesheetsandcoversthatenvelopeitinordertoexperiencepeaceandcalmness.Thesesheetsandcoversareourthoughts,ideas,habitsandbeliefs.Idonotmeantotellyouthatyouhavetostopusingyourmind.Youneeditinordertocarryonyourlife.ImeanthatithastobeunderthecontroloftheSelf.Itshouldbeyourservanttoserveyoufight,andnotyourmaster.
AdviceforAttainingSerenityofMind
Youdon』thavetofeeluncomfortablewithwordssuchasSelf,InnerSelfEssence,UniversalConsciousnessetc.Theymaynowseemtoyoumeaningless「high」words,buttheyarenot.Theysymbolizesomethingveryreal,nothazyconcepts.Concentrationandmeditationmakethesewordsmeaningful.Advancingonthespiritualpathisnotsomethinghazy,imaginativeandunpracticalassomemayimagine.BypersonalexperienceyouwillcometoreallyknowwhatImean.
Everyonecanlearnanewlanguage,butnoteveryonecanreachthesamelevelofexpertise.Everyonecanengageinbodybuilding,paintingorwriting,buteachwillreachadifferentlevel.Itdependsontheinneraptitude,theearnestness,andthetimedevotedtothisactivity.Yet,everyonecanbenefitfromtheseactivities.Soitiswithtrainingtowardsfreedomfromthoughts.
Trytocalmyourmindwhenyoufeelagitated.Takeastepbackinyourmindandwatchit.Thishasthetendencytocalmandrelaxthemind.Developconcentrationpowerandmeditate.Alltheseactionscalmthemindandmakeitserene.
Followingthesuggestionsandusingthetechniquesmentionedabovewillstartyouonamarvelousjourney.Practice,readarticlesandbooksonthesubjectandpersevereinyourtraining.Onedayyoumaymeetsomeonewhomayteachyoupersonally,asthesayinggoes:「Whenthestudentisready,theteacherappears.」