The secret of being Peaceful

In one my earlier posts, link below, I have discussed about the Chitta and Vruttis, that is the working of our mind and how our Chitta is always getting into different Vruttis and we are never able to see our real self. This also means that we are not able to be peaceful. The more our Chitta is at rest, not getting into different Vruttis, the more peaceful we are. To know more about Chitta and Vruttis please read my earlier blog from the below link.

https://vish5185.wordpress.com/2020/11/07/chitta-vrutti-nirodhaha/

So now the question arises that how to be peaceful. In the below sutra Patanjali tells us what to do.

मैत्री-करुणामुदितोपेक्षाणां सुख-दु:खपुण्यापुण्य-विषयाणां भावनातक्ष्चित्तप्रसादनम् ।।३३।।

Maitri karuna mudita upekshanam sukha dukha punya punyaa vishayanam bhavnataschitta prasadanam (Patanjali Yogasutra, Chapter 1, Sutra # 33)

Patanjali says that there are 4 types of people or 4 types of subjects which come to our Chitta. There are people who are happy and those who are unhappy and there are people who are doing good, meritorious deeds and those who are doing evil deeds. Everyone can be classified in these 4 categories. Now how to deal with them?

मैत्री – Maitri: Maitri means friendship. When we see people who are happy we should be friendly to them or rather we should make them ours by considering them as our friend. If we don’t do that, if we don’t include them as ours then that will give rise to jealousy. That will then throw our Chitta in that type of Vruttis and we won’t be able to remain peaceful. If someone is very close to us, our dear friend and if that person is very happy then that will also make us happy.

करुणा – Karuna: Karuna means compassion. Sri Sri Ravishankar says that if we become friendly to people who are unhappy then that will also make us unhappy. So the above principle of Maitri will have an adverse effect in this case. If we see people who are very unhappy or in misery then we should be compassionate to them. We should not pity them as that will make them feel more miserable. The person may be thinking why such thing happened to him and if we go and show pity and say the same thing that what happened to them is very bad then it will just make their feelings stronger and they will be more miserable. We should be compassionate with them but not be pitying them.

मुदिता – Mudita: Mudita means Happiness. People who are doing good, meritorious work, we should be happy for them. Obviously nobody is perfect so there will be shortcomings and we have a tendency to focus on the drawbacks and start criticizing them. This is very evident in todays world specially in politics. Nobody appreciates any good work of the leaders. Obviously not everything that any leader does is great but we don’t do fair criticisms or properly praise them. Most of the time is just total criticism, we are not ready to accept that any good work is done. So Sri Sri says that feel one with them, feel as though you are also doing that good work with them, that will make you happy and jealously will subside and that will also stop the tendency of finding faults in them.

उपेक्षा – Upeksha: Upeksha means indifference. Those who are doing evil deeds we should be indifferent to them. Swami Vivekanada says that when anyone does some evil to us we instantly react to that with evil. This shows that we are not able to hold our Chitta back. He says, “Every reaction in the form of hatred or evil is so much loss to the mind; and every evil thought or deed of hatred, or any thought of reaction, if it is controlled, will be laid in our favor. It it not that we lose by thus restraining ourselves; we are gaining infinitely more than we suspect. Each time we suppress hatred, or a feeling of anger, it is so much good energy stored up in our favor; that piece of energy will be converted into the higher powers”

Thus if you follow the above principles of reacting to these 4 types of people / situations with Maitri, Kruna, Mudita and Upeksha then your Chitta will not get into Vruttis and you will be more peaceful. Offcourse its easier said then done but that it is the end towards which you should strive. There is another very beautiful sutra that talks about it, that such control over the Vruttis can be achieved over a period of time by continuous practice (Sadhana/ yogic practices) and doing that practice with respect and honor.

Thus if you are able to follow this simple sutra given by Patanjali then your Vruttis will be in your control and your chitta will be at peace. That is you’ll be peaceful.