Lord Krishna’s Teachings for Greater Peace
The prayer for peace is always the ultimate one and the Bhagavad Gita guides you on how to attain this feeling
Diwali is always a special time in India. One sees plenty of light, fireworks, get-togethers with friends and family, and most importantly, prayers or pujas are done to help one connect with the Higher Force and to extend our gratitude for all we’ve received thus far.
Every Hindu prayer ends with — “Om shanti shanti shanti.” This underlies the fact that no matter what we ask for or pay tribute to, ultimately, we seek peace or “shanti.”
Peace means different things to different people. But peace has touched everyone in some form or the other. The human soul has no choice but to gravitate toward peace because that is its essential state.
Everything in the universe survives and thrives on peace. War and conflict have served no one.
We see nature flourishing in peace — plants make no noise while they grow, and birds migrate peacefully in flocks from one country to another.
Countries at war, on the other hand, go back several years in progress… Time is wasted rebuilding what has been destroyed, human lives are lost, and the trauma that survivors experience cannot be erased for generations to come.
To create life one needs peace. To sustain life one needs peace.
But, to progress one needs more than peace — One needs love and compassion, a deep and spiritual sense of oneness with all of creation.
So, how does one get closer to feeling greater peace within and outside? How does one merge into this universe with compassion and love for all?
To seek these answers, I looked into my favourite text the Bhagavad Gita, and sought Lord Krishna’s teachings on peace and its pursuit — an essential goal in every seeker’s journey.
Here are a few verses excerpted from the Bhagavad Gita, and my interpretations of the same.
Do your duty to the best of your ability, O Arjuna, with your mind attached to the Lord, abandoning worry and selfish attachment to the results, and remaining calm in both success and failure. The selfless service is a yogic practice that brings peace and equanimity of mind. (2.48)
This is a pivotal verse in the Bhagavad Gita, and expounds on how peace is a natural consequence of selfless service.
Expectations of reward or results will undoubtedly lead to unrest in the mind. It will also hold the other or circumstances responsible for success or failure rather than making one look inward at your own actions or inactions.
Through this verse, Lord Krishna essentially holds us responsible for our peace, by telling us to actively renounce all ideas of success and failure, and simply focus on doing our best.
One attains peace, within whose mind all desires dissipate without creating any mental disturbance, as river waters enter the full ocean without creating any disturbance. One who desires material objects is never peaceful. (2.70)
One who abandons all desires, and becomes free from longing and the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘my’, attains peace. (2.71)
Yes, ownership or the lack of it has caused much conflict in the world. People or countries aspire to have more, and, as a result, many wars have been waged, and consequently hampered both peace and progress.
With increasing consumerism, we are also seeing societies spend more, and sometimes make superfluous expenses whose need may not have arisen had it not been for in-your-face advertising.
The media is constantly selling us rich and famous lifestyles that not only lead to unrealistic expectations from one’s self but also lead to feelings of FOMO, or the “Fear of Missing Out.”
Thus, a greater emphasis on what one “needs” rather than what one “wants,” is a good way to restore any imbalance one may feel.
The one who has faith in God, is sincere in yogic practices, and has control over the mind and senses gains this transcendental knowledge. Having gained this knowledge, one quickly attains supreme peace or liberation. (4.39)
Any regular practice that becomes a discipline can help one attain a peaceful state of mind. While the yogi focuses on his yogic practices, meditation, and gaining knowledge through scriptures, all of us in our daily lives can imbibe these practices in some way or the other.
A simple form of exercise every day, a hobby practiced regularly to enter the flow state, and constant learning by reading and imbibing from the greats, can help us grow each day, as well as instill in us a sense of calm and satisfaction.
The more we discipline ourselves, the more likely are we not to give in to superfluous indulgences generated by the senses. Instead, we will feel completely in control of our choices and actions.
Endowed with purified intellect, subduing the mind with firm resolve, turning away from sound and other objects of the senses, giving up likes and dislikes; living in solitude, eating lightly, controlling the mind, speech, and organs of action, ever absorbed in yoga of meditation, taking refuge in detachment; and after relinquishing egotism, violence, pride, lust, anger, and proprietorship; one becomes peaceful, free from the notion of “I, me, and my”, and fit for attaining oneness with the Supreme Being. (18.51–53)
This is perhaps the ultimate mantra for peace that encompasses all that one needs to do or not do, to attain a sense of lasting peace and oneness.
When you decide to focus on your goals and turn away from distractions, when you have control over what you say and do, and when you refrain from giving in to negative emotions, you essentially free yourself from the chains of fear and anxiety.
The “I” that once helped you become what you wanted can soon become a word of bondage. So, try to let go of the, “I, me, and mine”, and immerse yourself in something bigger…something more blissful.
Seek refuge in the Supreme Lord alone with loving devotion, O Arjuna. By His grace you shall attain supreme peace and the Eternal Abode. (18.62)
If nothing else works, surrender to a High Force, know that you are taken care of and that there will be light and peace…all you need to do is surrender.
Surrendering is not for the weak, surrendering is for the strong, who have faith in the larger workings of the universe, who know that a Supreme Force is watching over everyone…giving us moments of peace in the chaos, and rays of hope in the darkness!
To read more from the series, click on the links below.
- Lord Krishna’s Teachings for Better Health
- Lord Krishna’s Teachings for Better Decision-Making
- Lord Krishna’s Teachings for Better Relationships
- Lord Krishna’s Teachings for Better Control over the Mind
- Lord Krishna’s Teachings for Better Control Over the Senses
- Lord Krishna’s Teachings to Face Challenges Better
- Lord Krishna’s Teachings to Cope with Grief Better
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