Peace of Mind

By Abu Shazil
 

Once a Sufi Saint, friend of God,  was traveling alongwith his disciples from one town to another town. While they were travelling, they happened to pass by a small lake. They stopped therefor rest and the Sufi Saint told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Do get me some water for me from the nearby lake.”

The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that some ladies from the nearby town were washing clothes in the water and, right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very dirty. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy, dirty water to the Saint to drink!” So he came back and told the Saint, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”

After about some time, the Saint again asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had absolutely clear water in it. The mud had settled down and the water appeared fit for drinking. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to the Saint.

The Saint looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, “See what you did to make the water clean. You gave it time and let it be ... and the mud settled down on its own – and you got clear water... Your mind is also like that. When it is disturbed, just give it some time and let it be. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”

What the Saint emphasized here is that “It is effortless.” Having 'peace of mind' is not a strenuous job; it is an effortless process. When there is peace inside you, that peace pervade towords outside . It spreads around you and in the environment, such that people around start feeling it, enjoying it. The peace outside is actually reflection of peace within.

What Really Matters in Life?

A vacationing American businessman standing on the pier of a quaint coastal fishing village in southern Mexico watched as a small boat with just one young Mexican fisherman pulled into the dock. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. Enjoying the warmth of the early afternoon sun, the American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish.

"How long did it take you to catch them?" the American casually asked.

"Oh, a few hours," the Mexican fisherman replied.

"Why don't you stay out longer and catch more fish?" the American businessman then asked.

The Mexican warmly replied, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The businessman then became serious, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

Responding with a smile, the Mexican fisherman answered, "I sleep late, play with my children, watch ballgames, and take siesta with my wife. Sometimes in the evenings I take a stroll into the village to see my friends, play the guitar, sing a few songs..."

The American businessman impatiently interrupted, "Look, I have an MBA from Harvard, and I can help you to be more profitable. You can start by fishing several hours longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra money, you can buy a bigger boat. With the additional income that larger boat will bring, before long you can buy a second boat, then a third one, and so on, until you have an entire fleet of fishing boats."

Proud of his own sharp thinking, he excitedly elaborated a grand scheme which could bring even bigger profits, "Then, instead of selling your catch to a middleman you'll be able to sell your fish directly to the processor, or even open your own cannery. Eventually, you could control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this tiny coastal village and move to Mexico City, or possibly even Los Angeles or New York City, where you could even further expand your enterprise."

Having never thought of such things, the Mexican fisherman asked, "But how long will all this take?"

After a rapid mental calculation, the Harvard MBA pronounced, "Probably about 15-20 years, maybe less if you work really hard."

"And then what, señor?" asked the fisherman.

"Why, that's the best part!" answered the businessman with a laugh. "When the time is right, you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions."

"Millions? Really? What would I do with it all?" asked the young fisherman in disbelief.

The businessman boasted, "Then you could happily retire with all the money you've made. You could move to a quaint coastal fishing village where you could sleep late, play with your grandchildren, watch ballgames, and take siesta with your wife. You could stroll to the village in the evenings where you could play the guitar and sing with your friends all you want."

"You see thats what I am doing right now then why shell I wait for decades to do the same thing which I am dong now?" asked the fisherman

The businessman kept watching the fisherman with a blank face, turned around and walked away. .

The moral of the story is: Know what really matters in life, and you may find that it is already much closer than you think.

Creating a New Paradigm

"All the darkness of the world cannot put out the light of a single candle."

The Old Paradigm

Together, we are creating a new paradigm on Earth. Yet in order to give meaningful suggestions to further support this, we first need to speak candidly about the old paradigm. It appears that there are factions within the world's power elite which still desire to exert as much control as possible over the world. Their primary means for establishing control are through promoting fear, secrecy, and polarization, and through distracting people from their deeper purpose in life. When these factions gain greater power and control, our freedoms and liberties are increasingly taken away, sometimes without our even realizing it.

Fear is used as a powerful tool of control by these factions of the global elite. "The terrorists want to kill us all. Your job, home, and retirement are no longer secure. You are either for us or against us. We might be attacked at any time." All of these messages push us towards fear. And by encouraging us to focus blame on others such as terrorists and "evil" leaders, the global power brokers push us away from feeling in control of our lives and towards the role of powerless victims, so that we look to them for protection. The more we slip into fear and being victims, the easier it is for us to be manipulated.

Secrecy leads to control through preventing the exposure of hidden agendas, and through breeding distrust, suspicion, and paranoia in the world. In the name of "national security," we have been told ever more frequently that we should not know what is happening behind closed doors in government. Yet we are encouraged to keep vigilant watch over our neighbors, over those who question the government, and over those who look or act different from us, as they could secretly be terrorists in sheep's clothing. Rampant suspicion and secrecy cause us to lose touch with the common humanity we share with all around us.

Polarization leads to "us vs. them" ways of thinking. Divide and conquer is a tactic that has been used successfully by the power elite of the world for centuries. As long as people focus on blaming and attacking "the enemy," they are not likely to look for the deeper causes of their problems. Controlling factions of the power elite work to keep public and media attention focused on issues which divide us into two polarized camps, so that their greatest concerns of power and control go unnoticed. The power brokers then control both sides of the divided public by assuring that corporate ownership of the media and key candidates from all political parties support their deeper power and polarization agendas, which often involve war profiteering.

A final subtle, yet powerful method of gaining control is to distract people from their purpose in life. Consider that television, radio, and movies have been filled with ever more greed, violence, and empty sex. Our educational system has increasingly prioritized passing tests over developing intelligence and creativity. Excessive corporate control of the media has limited what news we receive, and often shaped our decisions and the way we think. Our attention has been subtly diverted from our deeper purpose in life to the more superficial attractions of sex, consumerism, and money.

When we succumb to fear, secrecy, and polarization, and when we lose touch with our sense of purpose in life, elements of the global elite are able to exert ever more control over our lives and world.

The New Paradigm

What can we do about all this? Ultimately, it is the collective fear, secrecy, polarization, and loss of purpose within all of us that has allowed leaders to take power who would subvert democracy, and who would take away our freedoms and liberties. By each one of us making a commitment to work on these issues both inside of ourselves and out in the world – and to inspire others to do the same – we are changing our collective direction and building a solid foundation for a new paradigm. Several actions can help us to take firm steps in that direction.

Develop purpose and intentions for your life. To live full, rich lives in today's complex world, it's vitally important to give your life clear direction by exploring what is deepest and most meaningful to you, and by developing life purpose and intentions based on this. Then choose to live your intentions and follow your purpose to the best of your ability every day. By choosing to live with clear direction and focus, life becomes deeper and more meaningful. This then weakens the seduction of consumerism and media hype which distract us from our purpose, and allows us to more effectively focus on creating a new paradigm.

Choose to transform fear into acceptance and love. When we notice ourselves feeling fear, we can trace the roots of that fear, so that we are able to identify our core challenges and deal more consciously with them. We can open to guidance from friends, teachers, and spiritual sources in helping us to move from fear to acceptance and understanding. We can also transform our fears through welcoming the ever-present love of our divine creator, and the love that lies always deep within our own hearts, and in the hearts of those around us. In doing this, we begin to recognize fear as an invitation to growth.

Become aware of when you are playing the role of victim, and choose instead to take personal responsibility for creating a new paradigm. In blaming others for our problems, we often avoid taking responsibility for how much we are involved in creating these problems through the choices we make. Whenever we catch ourselves playing the role of victim by blaming others (including the power elite) for everything that's wrong in our lives, we can choose to take a look inside ourselves, and to explore and take responsibility for our role in what's happening. By focusing less on blaming others, and more on improving ourselves, every one of us can make a difference both in our lives and in our world.

Avoid secrecy and encourage openness and transparency. An important way we can do this is to work together to inform friends and colleagues about the major cover-ups being hidden from the public. Then in our personal lives, when we notice ourselves keeping information from others, we can examine our motives for this secrecy. Are we withholding information out of our own self-interest, or because this is really what's best for all involved? And on a deeper level, where are we avoiding being honest with ourselves?

Move beyond polarization and the focus on "good vs. evil" and "us vs. them." Consider the possibility that all of us are doing what we believe to be right based upon our beliefs, circumstances, and upbringing. Each of us has a place in our heart that wants only to love and be loved. As we focus less on blaming and judging "them" and more on supporting the highest motive in all people – including members of the power elite – we increasingly come to see that we are all one human family, and that we can choose to transform our world by working together for the good of all.

And finally, come together in groups and communities to support each other in making these positive changes. In these groups and communities, we support each other in transforming fear into acceptance and love. We exchange information about all that is being hidden from us and explore ways to move beyond polarization. We also share our life purpose and intentions and encourage each other to live these as fully as we can. And we inspire each other to take responsibility for our lives and to be the best that we can be. When we gather in community to support each other in these intentions, we join in building a growing network of inspiration and empowerment around the planet.

These suggestions emphasize changing the collective consciousness of the world by transforming both our own personal lives and the world around us. Let us do all that we can to stop destructive behaviors of the global power elite. Yet let us not overly focus on changing the outside world without first having a solid internal foundation, lest we fall into blaming others, and into the polarizing "us vs. them" ways which only further divide us. By reminding ourselves that the most powerful change starts inside each one of us, we can develop more balance and strength to then work towards positive change out in the world.

As we change ourselves from the inside out, we send ripples of inspiration and healing out into the world. By joining together in groups and communities to support each other in this, those ripples become waves which are powerfully helping to create a new paradigm for all of us.

The Littlest Firefighter

The 26-year-old mother stared down at her son who was dying of terminal leukemia. Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent she wanted her son to grow up and fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible. The leukemia would see to that.

But she still wanted her son's dreams to come true. She took her son's hand and asked, "Bopsy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up? Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life?"

"Mommy, I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up." Mom smiled back and said, "Let's see if we can make your wish come true."

Later that day she went to her local fire department in Phoenix, Arizona, where she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix. She explained her son's final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her six-year-old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.

Fireman Bob said, "Look, we can do better than that. If you'll have your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make him an honorary fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! "And if you'll give us his sizes, we'll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat -- not a toy one -- with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots. They're all manufactured right here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast."

Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Bopsy, dressed him in his fire uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck. Bopsy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven.

There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Bopsy got to go out on all three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, the paramedic's van, and even the fire chief's car. He was also videotaped for the local news program.

Having his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply touched Bopsy that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible.

One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in the hospice concept that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital. Then she remembered the day Bopsy had spent as a fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Bopsy as he made his transition.

The chief replied, "We can do better than that. We'll be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favor? When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire? It's just the fire department coming to see one of its finest members one more time. And will you open the window to his room?"

About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital, extended its ladder up to Bopsy's third floor open window and five firefighters climbed up the ladder into Bopsy's room. With his mother's permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how much they loved him. With his dying breath, Bopsy looked up at the fire chief and said, "Chief, am I really a fireman now?" "Yes, Bopsy, you are a fireman now," the chief said. With those words, Bopsy smiled and closed his eyes one last time. He passed away later that evening.

An Advice of Old Baloch to His Son

I pray desert breeze would harmonize thee,
To desert tops not, Delhi Basra’s glee.

Like a moving gale, move any where,
This desert and dales would hail thee there.

In tug and pull’s race Envy is a grace,
Which puts Darius¹ crown on poor man’s face.

Get this hid skill from a paragon² lone,
It is said that glass can be turned to stone.

In each man’s hand lies the nation’s fate,
Each man is a star of nation’s great.

That diver was robbed of wealth of sea,
Who was afraid to leave the shore with glee.

If his freedom hangs on the faith’s bargain,
In such a bargain he stands not to gain.

The soul and body yet face a clash,
This culture has made her wild beasts rash.

Allah has faith in Momin’s might and will,
On Europe’s hardware Satan makes his skill.

On the fate of nations none cant foretell,
On the Momin’s shrewd look you can always dwell.

A selfless life learn from foremost in deen,
The kings may favour a man of poor means.

1.             Darius, 521, 486 B.C. King of Persia, called the Great.

2.             Used at paragon of virtues, a model of excellence.

Face Difficulties Positively

This parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule praying or whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together, told them what had happened, and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back, HE WOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP!

This he did, blow after blow. “Shake it off and step up…shake it off and step up…shake it off and step up!” He repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or how distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought panic and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!

It wasn’t long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well! What seemed like it would bury him actually helped him . . . all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.

THAT’S LIFE! If we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity.

Golden House

The little girl lived in a small, very simple, poor house on a hill and as she grew she would play in the small garden and as she grew she was able to see over the garden fence and across the valley to a wonderful house high on the hill – and this house had golden windows, so golden and shining that the little girl would dream of how magic it would be to grow up and live in a house with golden windows instead of an ordinary house like hers.

And although she loved her parents and her family, she yearned to live in such a golden house and dreamed all day about how wonderful and exciting it must feel to live there.

When she got to an age where she gained enough skill and sensibility to go outside her garden fence, she asked her mother is she could go for a bike ride outside the gate and down the lane. After pleading with her, her mother finally allowed her to go, insisting that she kept close to the house and didn’t wander too far. The day was beautiful and the little girl knew exactly where she was heading! Down the lane and across the valley, she rode her bike until she got to the gate of the golden house across on the other hill.

As she dismounted her bike and lent it against the gate post, she focused on the path that lead to the house and then on the house itself…and was so disappointed as she realized all the windows were plain and rather dirty, reflecting nothing other than the sad neglect of the house that stood derelict.

So sad she didn’t go any further and turned, heartbroken as she remounted her bike … As she glanced up she saw a sight to amaze her…there across the way on her side of the valley was a little house and its windows glistened golden …as the sun shone on her little home.

She realized that she had been living in her golden house and all the love and care she found there was what made her home the ‘golden house’. Everything she dreamed was right there in front of her nose!