Realize Yourself and Find Inner Peace
In this day and age, many people are ridden with negative emotions. Fortunately, when we know ourselves and keep calm, it turns out to be easier to tackle many problems in life, whether it is inner afflictions or outer turbulence. Two handy ways of meditation are provided here to help us recognize ourselves and achieve a serenity of mind.
Nowadays, it’s essential for us to keep a peaceful mind and realize ourselves.
We have many resentments toward one another, and many conflicts occur among us, such as conflicts between tribes and between neighbors, quarrels among family members, and even brawls among kids over minor things. The primary reason for this is that we do not truly know ourselves. If we were really able to calm our mind and realize ourselves, many problems would be readily solved.
There are two ways to recognize ourselves.
The first is to observe ourselves with wisdom. Where on earth is the so-called “I”? Is it in the upper, lower or middle part of the body? Is it a kind of spirit or substance? If it is spirit or mind, then what does it look like? On the surface, our body consists of substance and consciousness. In order to support the substantial part, we seek various kinds of living conditions. And to support consciousness, we aspire to some kind of belief or the so-called spiritual pursuit or spiritual beauty. All those are subject to the fulfillment of our mind. However, this is just a delusive manifestation. So, what truly is “I”? Mind? Body? If we constantly observe in this way, we will find out, “Wow, under close examination, actually the so-called ‘I’ never exists, and everything is emptiness.” Then we won’t experience so many afflictions and sufferings.
Another method is to let the mind calm down. When the mind calms down, we can recognize ourselves easily. That is to say, it’s difficult to realize ourselves when we are agitated by various thoughts, and the more we cling to them, the more we will suffer. As is often said in the Buddhist sutras, our mind behaves like a camel, the tighter you grasp the camel, the more likely it will run and jump. However, if you loose the reins and relax it, then it tends to settle down naturally. It is similar to our mind. Like muddy water, it will turn out to be clear when placed down naturally. Just leave your mind abiding naturally, then various kinds of inner afflictions, and outer dangers and turbulences, will automatically disappear. When the mind is purified, the external world will also be pure.
