When you are part of a social gathering and at some point find yourself alone, do you feel uncomfortable?   If so, you need put more inner peace in your tank.

I am by no means saying that you should be a wallflower at a social gathering. It is often a good idea to say hello to those whom you know and to befriend those whom you don’t.                       

What I am saying is that, when all desirable socializing is over, if you  find yourself alone and consequently uncomfortable,  it means you do not know how to access your rock-solid inner peace.

Inner peace is a state of being that is absolutely unshakeable, free from doubt and perfectly calm,  and most importantly, completely content. There is never an unsettled or uneasy moment.

You can access it while standing alone at a party. There is therefore no question of feeling restless if you are not engaging with others during the event.

The next time you feel restless or insecure when alone in a gathering, spend a moment asserting the "basic you" … your peaceful core, your "sense of being", your "is-ness".

Feel how you are complete in yourself, totally at peace and lacking nothing. Stand there or sit there and ‘just be.’ Revel in your steadfastness and use the moment for this quiet ‘spot-meditation’. Do this for as long as you  like.

After this silent assertion of the"basic you", sit or stand quietly by yourself, if that’s how things pan out. There should be no unsettled, insecure feeling on account of being alone and no compulsion to talk to other people. If you decide to talk to other people, it should be out of free choice. And of you decide to sit by yourself, be happy on the knowledge that there is nothing wrong with that either.

Inner peace is the key to transforming  many of life’s difficult moments to pleasurable ones, and this is but one example!

To your progress in attaining inner peace,

You no doubt have heard the advice, “Be yourself”. If so, I hope you have bought into it, because it will make you a happier person. Assuming that you have, your first question will naturally be, “Who is my real self?”

When you talk about your “real self” , you imply a very basic, fundamental, essential nature. You also automatically imply a “non-real self”, which is everything other than the “real self”.

Supposing you fancy yourself to be your professional position, say a computer programmer. Then one day you lose your job.

Have you lost your real self?

Supposing you feel that your real self is the “father of the President.” One fine day the President is exposed as a traitor who sold out the country and is shamefully removed from office.

Have you lost your real self?

What I’m driving at is that your  “real self” should not be an identity that changes. Now what identity could that be? Hmm….

It cannot be an opinion or image you have of yourself, because that could change at any time, for instance if your circumstances in life changed or in the extreme case, if you had total amnesia.

What does not change is your sense of awareness, your state of being. It is the “you” that has always been aware of everything going on around you, including all your thoughts. That “you” has been there ever since you were a child and is there even as you read this post… it is the “you” that is aware of the words you are reading.

When you finish reading, that “you” will still be there, ready to experience whatever comes next in your life, and whatever comes after that. Experiences present themselves in a continuous sequence, and “you” are constantly there to be aware of them, like a spectator of a passing parade. But just like the spectator of a parade, “you” are not moving, just watching.

Realizing that you are a still spectator to life takes some practice and changes in attitude. Here are the steps:

1. Locate the stillness: Sit quietly and undisturbed for 10 minutes. During that time, when you think something, try and find the answer to the question,  “To whom did that thought occur?” The answer has to be felt, not described, and the answer is the state of stillness.

2. Stay in the state of stillness: During your normal day, when you are going about your routine activities, if you ever feel upset or disturbed, notice that what is disturbing you are particular thoughts. Remind yourself that you are the spectator of those thoughts and try to watch them from the state of stillness you located earlier. Detach yourself from the thoughts. Do not try to drive them away (they cannot harm you),  just let them be free. They will pass in due course.  Over time, you will in this way learn to be a still spectator to your thoughts, which will make you unimaginably peaceful and calm.

As I have said many times before, nothing will happen unless you TAKE ACTION. And for true results, there is one more thing you need to do: KEEP TAKING ACTION!

To your success in becoming unshakably peaceful,

Here’s something that you may have suspected already:

If you are plugged into inner peace, people find you more likeable.

Why?

Because you do not have to impose your will on others for you to be happy. You don’t need them to say this or do that, or not say this and not do that, for you to be fulfilled. You are therefore a benign presence, and people feel relaxed and non-threatened around you.

Maybe you already know someone like that. You know that in his (or her) presence, you can say whatever you like and he will not be insulted, aggrieved or upset. He is always calm, cheerful and kind-hearted; he is also encouraging without any personal angle. Being with him is a rejuvenating, refreshing experience. You wish in private you could be like him.

The good news is… you can !!

Track down this inner peace thing. Read about it. Think about it. TAKE ACTION. Your efforts will not go unrewarded, since great inner peace entails thinking less about yourself;  the Universe takes over the mental space previously occupied by thoughts of yourself (you may not be able to understand that, but don’t worry about it), and It will guide you from within. It will guide you silently… you will just know what the next towards inner peace is at every step. It’s happening to me and from its very nature, I know it will happen to you too.

So get off your tail and work on your inner peace… NOW !!

To your growing sense of calm,

You can use anything you do to find happiness and inner peace. Your daily walk is an especially good choice, since generally speaking there will not be compelling demands for your attention (no phone calls, no boss, no doorbell… the list could go on).

As I and several others continue to shout out, you are the silent witness to your thoughts, and in that “witness-ship” is perfect inner peace, aka happiness.

Here’s what you do. As you walk, keep a tab of the thoughts you are thinking.

You might think, “OK, now I am going to try what Lucky prescribed. I hope it makes sense.”

Contemplate on how that itself was a thought, and that you were the being that was aware of it.

“I need to walk faster to get real exercise.”

Again, contemplate on how that was a thought, and that you were the being that was aware of it.

Practice thought-watching every time you exercise. If done enough times, it will become automatic and effortless. Then start doing it during other parts of the day, first during similar undisturbed moments, and then even when you are busy. Aim to watch your thoughts all the time… which means you will be deeply peaceful all the time!!

To your increasingly peaceful life,

Let me say at the beginning that you should reside in your inner peace not only at the beginning and end of the day but during all the intervening hours as well. I plan to write several posts on those intervening hours, one for each profession; this “Beginning and End of the Day” post will apply to all professions, so I have decided to write it first and refer to it in the profession-by-profession posts that will follow.

Inner Peace at the Beginning of the Day

Positioning yourself in your inner peace should start first thing in the morning.

• If you use a clock-radio, a good way to remember this is to tune your radio to an inspirational station.
• If you use an alarm without a radio, or if you do not use an alarm at all, be sure that you have an inspirational picture or object in plain view when you open your eyes. Change the picture every week.
• Then spend approximately 1 minute steadying yourself in your inner peace (earlier posts and my free course clearly instruct you on how to find it). Resolve that you will abide in that inner peace throughout the day, then proceed into your daily routine.

Inner Peace at the End of the Day

The day is over and you are in the process of lying down and going to sleep.

• Sit on your bed and feel thankful to the Universe that you experienced another day.
• Briefly dwell on the fact that at one time it will all be over. Try and imagine how your family, your favorite surroundings and your work will be taken from you at one point. Hope in your heart that you will be able to enjoy another day with all of them.
• Spend around a minute focusing your attention on your state of inner peace and not paying attention to your thoughts and your environment.
• Inhale and exhale three times, with exhalations taking twice as long as inhalations.
• Lie down, allow thoughts to flow freely without interfering in them and drift off to sleep.

Start practicing these actions now. They will help you become aware of the ‘big picture’ of existence, an oft-ignored reality!

To your peaceful life,

There are many excellent courses and retreats that help you experience inner peace. However, when the course or retreat is over, most often that newly-discovered tranquility, instead of continuing indefinitely, does not sustain.

The reason for this is that for you to experience inner peace, many of your core attitudes and beliefs have to change irreversibly. An example would be to stop believing that your mind is actually ‘you’ speaking and start believing that ‘you’ are separate from it.

Courses and retreats suspend those attitudes and beliefs temporarily. Sustained practice is required to make permanent changes.

The situation is exactly like learning how to volley at a tennis coaching camp: your coach will make you play a volley while you’re there, but it takes much practice over the long term to make perfect volleying part of your natural game. Immediate results are out of the question.

Also, as in the case of tennis, how fast you settle into inner peace depends on how much practice you put in per week. More time, more results.

There are two suggestions I have for facilitating extended practice:

1. Have a long-term arrangement with a coach or teacher
2. Join a like-minded group and interact with fellow members for peer-to-peer learning and continuing motivation

Practice, Persevere and be unshakably happy!

To your increasingly peaceful life,

Many of us are regularly struck by the need to achieve a particular long-term goal. It could, for instance, be the need to earn more money, the need to improve a relationship or the need to build a house.

Our minds then rapidly proceed to formulate a plan of action to fulfill that goal.

For an energetic, driven individual, this can be an exciting, energizing, creative process; for a desperate individual it can be nerve-racking and emotionally draining. Either way, it usually ends up becoming an obsession of sorts, the degree of obsession depending on how important the goal is to you. The obsession can have the grip of a bear-trap.

The obsession can start as soon as you open your eyes in the morning. Aggregated over the day, it can occupy several hours. The trouble is, the ‘bear-trap’ can often make you ignore other important tasks that you have to perform, resulting in your life being lopsidedly developed.

The solution is to remove the bear-trap but keep the goal (let me reiterate that setting goals is definitely a good thing).

You do this by watching the entire goal and subsequent ideation process as an observer. You also observe the plan of action taking place; you observe your mind taking decisions, then operate your body to perform whichever actions were decided.

Being an observer prevents you from being trapped. You likely will not understand this by reading what I just wrote; try my prescription once, and you will.

To your freedom from bear-traps!

Many of us are concerned that we cannot exert control over our thoughts. In addition, we can be severely distressed at the consequences of this lack of control… it can seem like being in a speeding car without a steering capability.

There is a time-honored solution for this very common scenario: Step out of the car.

You have to realize that there are two entities involved in the thought process. There is the thought, and there is that which observes the thought. The "that" is the "basic you", your fundamental identity.

To save your self much grief and stress, and to experience deep, lasting inner peace, it is important that you understand this two-entity concept and always position yourself as the observer of your thoughts. This is equivalent to stepping out of the car mentioned earlier.

Once you have stepped out of the car, no matter where the car goes and no matter what happens to the car, nothing happens to "you", since you are effectively observing the car from the sidelines.

The reason I am saying that is because a long time ago, I was "in the car". After much study, contemplation and practice I got out of it and am now its calm observer.

It is never too late to start. One of the simplest ways to realize that you are in actuality the observer of your thoughts is as follows:

• Sit comfortably in a place without any distractions

• Wonder, soon after a thought strikes you, who was aware of the thought

• Once you put your finger on that "who", try and stay there. (For this you will have to ignore your thought process to the extent that you are not pulled away from the “who" position. Most people are initially reluctant to do this for fear of the consequences, so I recommend trying it for gradually increasing periods of time.)

• Every day put in a bit of this practice. The aim is to always be an observer of your thoughts. Most importantly, be an observer of ‘first person’ thoughts, such as, "Now’s the time for practice," or "I wonder if this is going to work," or "Why am I so distracted?" or " This is really cool."

• As I said in this earlier post, if a thought suggests action, like, “I want to eat some pizza”, decide whether you want to obey it or not. If you decide not to obey, the thought will usually persist for a while. Just keep watching it until it dies down.

Once you are a constant observer of your thoughts, nothing can disturb you, since any disturbance is also part of the "car." Do it now and enjoy!!

To your peaceful life,

Many people think that the state of inner peace implies stopping your thoughts. This is not only incorrect, but dangerous to believe and work towards.

Inner peace entails letting the mind think without restraint and watching it as it does so.

It is a state where thoughts certainly flow, but you are in a way “outside” them.

Imagine standing shoulder-deep in the surf. The waves powerfully push you and pull you as they advance and retreat. It takes considerable strength and concentration for you to keep standing.

This is an analogy for a person who is not in the state of inner peace. The waves are analogous to thoughts.

A person in the state of inner peace is like a person standing on the shore at the edge of the surf. The waves continue to advance and retreat, and the person sees them very clearly. The big difference is that it takes very little effort for the person to keep standing.

For the person to be in this comfortable state, there was no need to stop the waves! There was only a need to step out of them.

There is no need for you to stop your thoughts to experience inner peace; just step out of them and instead, constantly observe them. Please try doing that… it is really, really worth it!

To the realization of your inner peace,

Yoga is without doubt a wonderful, invaluable and deeply beneficial discipline. It is taught all over the world, and the number of people practicing it is likely to run into the millions.

The goal of yoga is to lead one to Enlightenment; but what I am seeing is that this goal is often not given sufficient priority by those who teach it.

What the Literature Says about the Goal

That yoga is one of the paths to Enlightenment is described in the first part of the ultimate reference book on yoga, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, which is said to have been written in the second or third century CE.

The first part of the Sutra is called the Samadhi Pada, and the second sentence of this part succinctly describes the goal of yoga. It describes the goal with the word nirodah.

There are several translations (in my opinion, mis-translations) of this word; the translation that ties in perfectly with other ancient Indian philosophical texts that describe Enlightenment is, “realizing that you are the still and unmoving Consciousness that is aware of all your thoughts and sensory perceptions.”

What Frequently Happens in Yoga Schools

In my observation there are many yoga schools which do not have this goal in mind when they plan their curriculum. The emphasis is on perfecting the physical exercises of yoga, the asanas. Asanas no doubt do wonders for one’s flexibility, strength, posture, concentration and general health. But, as I have mentioned above, they are by no means all there is to yoga.

Integrating Yoga with Enlightenment

In my opinion, and based on my learning, the enhanced power of concentration that results from yoga should be harnessed for meditation aimed at attaining Enlightenment (which is also the state of inner peace).

One’s basic self, which I term the “basic you” in all my writings, is deeply peaceful and not dependent on external things or events. Constant identification with the “basic you” is the nature of Enlightenment (and the state of inner peace).

The “basic you” is the witness to all your thoughts and sense perceptions. To identify with it constantly, you should follow a two-step process: firstly, put your finger on the” basic you”; secondly, keep going back into it until you stop leaving it.

To put your finger on the “basic you”, some meditation is necessary: sit in a place where you will not be distracted, close your eyes, and watch what is going on in your mind. The moment a thought hits you, find the answer to the question, “To whom did did that thought to occur ?” That “whom” is the “basic you.”

Please be aware that when you identify with the “basic you”, you should allow your thoughts to come and go freely, neither pulling them in nor pushing them out, with you being nothing more than a motionless observer.

Once you learn how to do this, you should try to identify with the “basic you” even when your eyes are open and you are going about your daily routine. Over time this will make you reside in the “basic you” constantly.

The method I have described above requires keen use of your powers of alertness and concentration, and one of the ways to enhance these powers and therefore make your meditation more effective is to practice yoga.

Therefore if you are already into yoga, please use the mental benefits that accrue from it to meditate first with your eyes closed and then with your eyes open, thereby growing in inner peace and true Enlightenment.

If you are sincere in your effort to attain Enlightenment/inner peace, all doors will open for you… you will see it happen yourself!

To your success,