Improving Wellbeing Through Peace Of Mind
We, human beings, are basically a product of our body, mind and ego. Our well-being is also divided into the well-being of the body, mind and ego. Our gross physical body suffers physical pain. The mind suffers misery in the form of fear, worry, stress, anxiety and the ego suffers agony in the form of anger, hate, revenge and jealousy. This triple suffering of the body, mind and ego affects our overall well-being. When we go to a doctor, sometimes the doctor tells us that we are sick because of what we ate. But wise doctors know that we are sick, not because of what we ate but because of ‘what is eating us’.
What we need is 'peace of mind’. But we don’t have to ‘find' peace. Peace is within us. We just have to still the mind. What is the mind? How do we still the mind? Mind is just a bundle of thoughts. If we try to find the mind, where is the mind? We cannot find! Unlike the popular belief that the mind is the king, the mind is actually our enemy. It constantly bombards us with thoughts that create fear, worry, stress and anxiety. It is these thoughts that kill our peace and steal our bliss. We have to make the mind still, by observing it. Our mind is like a monkey, constantly jumping from one thought to another. We must tame the ‘Monkey Mind’. If we look at the word 'MONKEY', it has a tail, the EY. We have to cut the tail - EY, the Ever-Yelling and Ever-Yearning part of the monkey mind. When we tame the monkey mind and cut its tail, it becomes a 'Monk'. We, then, achieve peace of mind. Otherwise, the mind itself robs us of our peace.
Our mind constantly bombards us with thoughts. It produces up to fifty thoughts a minute, which results in over fifty thousand thoughts a day. This can actually kill us. We must be able to bring down the thoughts to forty, thirty, twenty and ultimately, to one thought per minute. This is called reducing MTR or the Mental Thought Rate. The moment we bring down our mental thought rate, we improve our well-being because our mind is peaceful. When there are no thoughts, there is no mind. Then, we live a life of eternal peace and everlasting bliss. When we still the mind, we kill the mind. Else, the mind will cause depression, which will result in mental illnesses. This reflects on our physical well-being too.
Our body is influenced by certain hormones. Haven’t we heard that anger can cause a heart attack? So can hate, revenge and jealousy, when the ego becomes anguished. Therefore, if we want to improve our well-being through peace of mind, we must first, still the mind. The state of the mind being still is called ‘thoughtlessness’. Thoughtlessness or mindfulness is called consciousness.
It is in consciousness that our intellect shines. Then, we are in total control of our thoughts through our intellect and the power of discrimination. The intellect discriminates thoughts and doesn't allow negative thoughts to enter our state of consciousness. This creates peace of mind and overall well-being of the body, mind and ego.
Try the method to still your mind. Watch it, catch it and latch it. Every time a thought appears, just observe it and the mind will become conscious. It will become still. Slowly, but steadily, you will gain, not just peace of mind, but a healthy and happy body too.
