Thank you to Aurobindo Mohanty for submitting the article on
YOGA FOR PEACE

Peace is disturbed at the physical level. Peace is disturbed at the mental level. The human species occupies a special position on the earth. This is due to the evolution of the human brain. In the whole practice of Yoga, we have maintained that mind(a subtle micro-structure with various micro-components too) is different from the brain which is part of the gross body. We have further maintained that the brain is the apparatus of the mind. According to our theory, every created entity— macro or micro, gross or subtle and living or non-living—has a mind. This is true irrespective of the possession or non-possession of a brain by an entity.

Physical agitation and violence do produce disturbance in the mind and thus disturb mental peace. Any simple ailment in any part of the body may seriously affect the mind. A physical event that is unfavourable to the normal functioning of the body may be a potent source of discomfort to cause restlessness in mind. But mental factors are different from physical ones in the genesis of peace-disturbance. One’s peace is disturbed when one does not get success in a competitive examination. One may be disappointed in love-affairs. The death of a kith and kin may be shocking to one. One may be terribly upset in hostilities. Anger may produce serious disturbance in the peace of the mind. In the disturbance of peace, mental factors generally play a more pernicious and a more profound role than physical factors.

Let us now confine our discussion to the prospects of the promotion of peace by yoga. To achieve the end, we do not have a single technique which can do the miracle. Most of the things are to be made use of for getting peace in life.

We have to get rid of the six ripus (foes), namely, desires and especially sensual desires (kama), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), delusion (moha), pride and arrogance (mada) and malice (matsarya). We have to observe the six yamas, namely, non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, celibacy or abstention from sexual excess and immoral sex-indulgence, and non-acceptance of unearned wealth and non-accumulation of wealth. We should accept the five niyamas. Our body, mind and words should be clean. In spite of our utmost efforts and honest and benign strivings, we may not get what we expect. We should be contented with whatever we get irrespective of our expectations. We should be prepared for any suffering if that becomes necessary for a good cause. We should study good scriptures and get god knowledge on Brahman. We should dedicate all our work to God and take refuge in Him. Complete surrender to God purges all worries from the mind and saturates the mind with peace.

Meditation renders the mind peaceful. It makes the mind calm and removes all types of agitations from it. If one sits in mediation at least twice a day
(in the morning and in the evening), one’s mental whirlwind will subside and mental disturbances will be calmed. Meditation stills the mind. Stilling the mind brings peace.

Meditation culminating in samadhi, the eighth and last limb of yoga, anchors the yogi’s wisdom in God. When it is done, the yogi becomes a sthitaprajna. He stays in Brahma (brahma sthiti). After attaining to this state of yoga, the yogi’s life is filled with peace.

Some persons and some societies in the modern are live in affluence, material affluence. But there is a vacuum of peace in their mind. The affluent modern man, with plenty of sensual gratification, commits suicide out of complete disgust in life. He has everything except peace. He is alienated from the Self. He identifies himself with matter. His body is all that he is. He is the body-machine. He wants sensual pleasure. He gets it and gets plenty of it. Still he is not satisfied. He is frustrated. He lives a meaningless life. He craves for peace. He does not get it. He shall get it if he lives a yogic life.

The Bhagavad-Gita has rightly given emphasis on peace in a number of places. The water of a river in spate has whirlpool here and there. With that type of agitation continued, the river-water can not be calmed. Whirlwind is caused by low pressure that creates partial vacuum Cyclone and tornados are caused by low pressure in the atmosphere over the sea. A tempestuous atmosphere with violent storm over the ruffled sea that is tumultuously agitated cannot be calmed unless the cause is removed. The Gita advices to uproot the cause of mental agitation and prescribes techniques to still the mind. In order to be united with Cosmic self, the Yogi has to become a prasantatma(with a serene and tranquil self). A peaceful mind becomes a prerequisite for advanced yogic attainments.

Let there be peace in the heaven; peace in space; peace in the earth; peace in the water; peace in the plant kingdom; peace for all goods; peace for the whole universe; peace for all.

World Peace