Pain is one of the less enjoyable facets of life. We all have dealt with it at some points in our lives, and it is very likely that most of us have not seen the last of it. It is usually a disturbing experience, the degree of mental discomfort being directly proportional to the degree of pain. However, the effect on your psyche will be minimal if you are familiar with the expansive peace inherent in you. This article explains the mechanics of the phenomenon.

To align with the boundless peace within you, you have to first locate it. Once that is done, you have to align yourself with it during every waking moment, until it becomes effortless. This is actually quite easy, since the state you will be in is your basic identity, the “basic you”. It is your true nature, long obscured by years of identification with your thoughts (i.e., your mind).

The fact is that your thoughts are not you. You are aware of them but are separate from them. You can see this for yourself if you look deeply into what is going on in your head. To do this, find a quiet place and budget 10 minutes of solitude on five or six occasions. On each occasion, close your eyes and pay attention to what is happening in your mind. Whenever you think something, try and answer the question, "Who was aware of that thought?"

You will ultimately realize that ‘you’ are aware of your thoughts and that you are a motionless witness to them. They come and go but you remain untouched, a constant witness who is still and at perfect rest. This is not some whimsical theory, either… it is thousands of years old, and is the attitude just describes is what all the great prophets and wise men have had over the millennia. It would be a good thing to join their ranks, say what?

Once you are constantly aligned with inner peace, pain is not such a nerve-racking experience. This is because you are a witness to it, and therefore not mistakenly thinking that it is happening to you. It also means that your mind will not be crammed with thoughts like, "God, this is so lousy" or "Why does this have to happen only to me?"

You quietly watch the pain, experiencing it but not being too disturbed by it. It will by no means be transformed into a pleasurable event… but you will not be agitated by it. You should of course follow your normal course of action for physical treatment of the pain (like taking a painkiller).

There was a great sage called Ramana Maharishi who was alive in the 1950s. He developed cancer on his elbow and had to be operated on. He refused to be anaesthetized during the surgery. When a concerned friend asked him, "O Learned One, did it not hurt terribly?" the sage replied, "The body had pain. Am I the body?"

Your body and mind are wondrous creations but they are not you. You are a peaceful witness to them. Realize this and make your life serene!

“What everyone wants from life is continuous and genuine happiness.”

— Baruch Spinoza

If you are intent on finding happiness, I would suggest that every now and then you go and sit in a park or a farm (or a similar place) where it is reasonably quiet save for the occasional call of birds or animals (as a matter of fact it is Sunday as I write this, and I’m in my backyard; it is very quiet except for the occasional parrot screeching from the tall trees forming a huge, protective umbrella over me).

Why I make this recommendation is because I would like you to notice the process you undergo when you are listening to, say, a bird call.

If you have been following along with my general advice for finding the peace within you, you will understand why I am asking you to perform this simple exercise. In case it is not obvious, the reason is that it is practice for watching your thoughts.

And why should you become skilled at watching your thoughts? Because once you have located the silent witness to your thoughts and have started residing in that motionless, peaceful place, watching a thought is like listening to a bird call. You are there, the thought arises, it stays there for a while and then goes away. A thought is a sort of "brain-generated bird call".

Let’s get back to the park scenario. You are sitting there and things are fairly quiet. Then the bird call arises; it continues for a while, then it stops. And you have been listening to it all the while. You were listening, it came, and it died down. And you were there after it was over. See how it’s practice for watching your thoughts?

If you want to get the hang of it right now, listen to this audio, in which you’ll hear the cry of a peacock several times, with quietude in between (click the right arrow to start it):

To tie this into what I have said before, what you have to do is:

1. Locate the peace beyond your mind by sitting in a quiet place and finding out who is aware of your thoughts. That is the basic, peaceful witness, the real you.
2. During the rest of the day identify with that peaceful witness and let your thoughts come and go, translating them into action whenever you feel the necessity and not out of any compulsion.

Let me again assure you that I am saying all this from first-hand experience. If I can do it, so can you.

Good luck, get to it!

To your peaceful, happy existence,

  Before I state, in very simple terms, the strategy for becoming happy, one needs to define "happiness".

There are probably as many definitions for the word as there are people on the planet. But there is one definition which with small variations, has been adopted by thousands, if not millions, of people over the course of civilization, and I will explain it now.

My Definition of Happiness

The state of happiness I am talking about:

is one of absolute peace: it is ever undisturbed

is one where you are aware of everything that is going on around you: interestingly, this state of peace does not mean you are in a trance or otherwise oblivious to the world around you

is one free of mental pain, stress and fear: it’s hard to believe that this is possible, but many people over millennia have proved that it is

is one where one feels only goodwill towards all things: one no longer has the need to hurt other people since one feels totally content and fulfilled. Please note that this does not imply that there is a lack of motivation or ambition

is one where one is not pushed around by one’s mind: one transcends disruptive inclinations of the mind… no longer is one helplessly pulled towards specific objects or events of the world

The Game Plan

1. Locate the peace in you that is beyond your mind: you are the being that is aware of your thoughts and sense impressions. To realize this, sit quietly every day for about 10 minutes and watch your mind. Then use this method: after you think something, find the answer to the question, "Who was aware of that thought?"

Gradually you will understand that you are a “sense of being", an "I-am-ness” that is beyond the mind, that has been there as long as you have been alive and that is still and motionless. It is your basic identity, the "basic you".

2. During your day-to-day life, assume this new-found identity (which is what you have been all along but not known it). This boils down to being a witness to your every thought, emotion and sense impression. You are absolutely still, motionless, aware of all that is going on around you but not affected by it. You watch your thoughts come and go; if your mind suggests a specific action like, "I had better put the cat out now", or something similar, you are not bound to perform it. If you do not want to perform it, you just keep watching the thought and after a while that thought goes away. If you want to perform it, you go ahead and perform it. You are the boss; your mind has no power over you.

If you are angry or stressed, you watch these emotions well up and subside, while you are motionless and unaffected as this happens.

You are peaceful, content and a source of equanimity to all those around you.

In Conclusion…

Please be aware that there is nothing new or original to the above definition of happiness or the method for realizing it. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, myriad people have successfully adopted both of them.

Just be sure that you add your name to that list of people

To your peace and happiness,

The last thing you want to be in your search for happiness is CONFUSED.

It’s easy to get confused. That’s because there are many happiness teachers, and although groups of them say similar things, it is unlikely that any two teachers will say exactly the same thing.

So let us say that you are following two teachers, believing that they are both talking about the same approach to happiness. Let’s call them teacher #1 and teacher #2. You trust them both equally and have opened your mind to them like you would open the bonnet of your car to two mechanics.

One day, while reading the teachings of teacher #1, you come across a statement that is mildly inconsistent with what teacher #2 is saying. You start wondering which teacher is right. If you cannot get in touch with both of the teachers in person, and are depending on their books, your state of doubt can make you feel unsettled, so unsettled that you put your pursuit of happiness on hold pending resolution of your doubt, whenever that is. This unsettled state is usually one in which you are slightly preoccupied, which means that you are not giving full attention to the things happening to you. This is sub-optimal living and a waste of your precious life’s moments.

So what’s the solution to this?

You have to designate one of the teachers as your primary teacher. You have to have more trust in, let’s say, teacher #1 than teacher #2. In practical terms this means that you’ll have to take a policy decision that as far as major principles go, you will always go by what teacher #1 says come hell or high water. As far as minor principles go (by "minor principles" I mean principles that do not have an impact on the major principles), you can make your own decisions, even based on other teachers if you like.

Rest assured that if you sincerely pursue happiness, the Universe will always set you on the right path should you by some chance stray onto a wrong one.

All this said, the important thing to do, as in all fields of endeavor, is to TAKE ACTION.

Now go forward and succeed!

To your happiness and peace,

One of the many great things about finding inner peace is that it has a profound effect on how often and how strongly you feel anger. It definitely should find a place in everyone’s anger management toolbox.

The mechanics of the relationship between anger and inner peace is worth understanding.

Inner peace is the state of being that exists beyond your mind. It’s the basic you that’s aware of all your thoughts and emotions. It’s been there ever since you were first conscious, which was at some point in your mother’s womb. It’s what has been aware of everything that’s happened to you since that moment. It has never changed… what’s changed has been your thoughts and your external environment… these have been in unceasing flux.

Because the basic you is aware of all thoughts and other sense impressions, it is separate from them. It’s like you’re on a sidewalk watching busy traffic. Does it matter to you what color the cars are? Do you get injured if they bump against one another? No. You are unaffected by what happens on the road.

In exactly the same way, the basic you is unaffected by thoughts, emotions and sense impressions. Unaffected by worries, anxieties, stress and thoughts as a whole. Unaffected by your senses of smell, touch, sight or hearing.

Notice how thoughts, sight and hearing were included in the list of inputs. The basic you is unaffected by what you think, see and hear.

So supposing you have found inner peace. Then someone talks to you angrily or insultingly. You’re seeing him, you’re hearing him and you’re thinking about what he’s saying. In other words, you’re getting sights, sounds and thoughts related to him.

But they don’t affect you. Especially the thoughts. Thoughts like, “How dare he talk to me like that and get away with it…” (these are the thoughts that usually make people explode in return). But now you just watch those thoughts come and go in front of you. You are their calm, peaceful witness.

Wait for your mind to come up with a rational solution to the situation. One like, “Maybe I should tell that angry guy that we had better talk later when we can discuss things peaceably…”  or “I’ll just smile and tell him I’ll call him after about an hour…” It’s easy to come up with good solutions when you are peaceful.

So, did you manage your anger? No you did not… because there wasn’t any in the first place!

To your cheerfulness and compassion,

As I and many others have often emphasized, there is a simple procedure that will required to reduce stress and anxiety significantly.  This procedure will also lead you to great inner peace if faithfully performed.

The procedure is to spend a mere 10 minutes a day watching your thoughts, with a view to realizing that you are a motionless, constant witness to them, bereft of agitation and anxiety. 

And how do you perform it? Let me repeat what I wrote some time ago:

Sit quietly somewhere, close your eyes and watch what’s going on in your head.

• As soon as you “think” something, try and locate the answer to the question, “Who was aware of that thought?” try and feel the answer, not voice it in words
• Perform this process  on a daily basis on several thoughts (10 minutes a day will do).
• Gradually you will realize you are separate from all your thoughts; you will in other words realize that they are objects and the basic you is an observer. Since emotions are nothing but thoughts, the basic you is separate from them as well. Since the basic you is separate from your emotions, it feels no sadness, happiness, frustration or any other emotions.
• Please be aware that at no point am I saying that you should suppress your thoughts. They are the product of your brain and should keep flowing, only you should watch them like you would watch birds flying by.

The more you perform this process, the more peace you will find in yourself.

But hey, what’s the big deal in being utterly peaceful for 10 minutes a day? Now we come to the point of this article…

What’s important is that you apply what you learn in those 10 minutes to the rest of your day.

The best time of day to apply it, of course, is during times of stress or anxiety. When you find you’re struck by them, “put your money where your realization is”… remind yourself that what’s stressing you out is your thoughts and that the basic you is their motionless witness; feel the basic you while the thoughts flow in its benign presence. Remind yourself that that flow of thoughts is just the result of your brain doing its thing.

Following this process will prevent you from transforming into an adrenaline-crazed monster. You also won’t do any of the damaging, insane things angry people tend to do.

If this sounds far-fetched to you, try it like I did. It’ll work for you like it worked for me.

To your peaceful, happy life,

First off, what do I mean by “Be Peaceful”? I mean a state of mind where there is no agitation, no stress, no anxiety… something analogous to the surface of a placid lake.

And by “No Matter What”, I mean even in  these example circumstances:

• Someone is yelling and insulting you
• You are confronted by an armed robber
• Someone very close to you dies
• Someone does something that goes against one of your important principles
• A natural disaster is in  progress

The first step is to realize that you are different from your thoughts. This may not happen immediately, but will definitely happen with continual practice. 10 minutes a day is all it takes.

The upshot of realizing you are separate from your thoughts is being able to quietly watch them.

So let’s consider the thoughts that will be running through your mind in one of the above circumstances.

Let’s take the first one (believe me, almost every person on the planet has been there!)… let’s say you and your partner are having a heated argument, and your partner is slamming you with f’s, b’s and s’s.

Instead of screaming back impetuously, separate yourself from your thoughts and watch them. You’ll probably see thoughts like, “Who does s/he think s/he is?!!” or “s/he’s not giving me the respect I’m due” or “I want to slap this  person hard”…

But just keep watching them. This  prevents you from getting angry and enables you to keep thinking with a clear head. You might want to say to your partner, “Listen, we should certainly talk about this but later,  I will myself bring it up.” Then smile and walk away politely.

Take note that the key principle here is to watch your thoughts during the event and make sure you don’t lose your cool. You may also want to think that your partner is just doing her/him thing by screaming, and that you can always buttonhole her/him later when s/he’s in a better frame of mind.

The takeaways:

1. Spend 10 minutes a day to realize that you are separate from your thoughts
2. Use this separation to keep a cool head during events that are typically stressful.

Good luck, message  me if you have questions!

Imagine you’re sitting on a meadow looking at the sky and a flock of birds flies slowly across your field of vision. 

You watch the birds enter your view, keep watching as they cross it and then exit it.

There’s you, and there’s the birds. No question about that, right? You certainly don’t feel that the birds are part of you. They’re objects and you’re watching them. That’s VERY clear.

You might not realize it, but your thought process is remarkably similar…

Your thoughts are passing by in front of you and you’re only watching them. They’re objects, just like the birds. They are not you. They are the products of your brain.

A thought like, “I’m depressed” or “I’m so happy” is just like one of those birds. So is “What a lousy life I’m leading” or “Life is so cool!”

They’re all like those birds, and you’re watching them.

But all these days you felt those thoughts were “you.”

So how do you experience that you are separate from your thoughts and just watching them? Easy. 

• Sit quietly somewhere, close your eyes and watch what’s going on in your head. As soon as you “think” something, try and locate the answer to the question, “Who was aware of that thought?” The answer is the basic “you”, and the result will be that you separate “yourself” from that thought.

• Perform this process  on a daily basis on several thoughts (10 minutes a day will do). Gradually you will realize you are separate from all your thoughts; you will in other words realize that they are objects and you are an observer. Since emotions are nothing but thoughts, you separate yourself from them too. Since the basic “you” is separate from your emotions, it feels no sadness, happiness, frustration or any other emotions.

Sound dull? Not really. On the other hand, bereft of thoughts/emotions of all kinds, you are actually at perfect peace.

Please be aware that at no point am I saying that you should suppress your thoughts. Your thoughts should certainly keep flowing, only you should watch them like you watched those birds fly over your field.

This is the secret to being peaceful at all times. Try it, it really works!

To your peaceful life,

Inside you there is a basic stillness. So what, you may ask.

Because if you constantly reside in that place, your life will be utterly peaceful . Saints, seers and prophets have prescribed this across time and continents. It is mankind’s time-tested method for maximizing one’s happiness.

* “To be still is to be conscious without thought. You are never more essentially, more deeply yourself than when you are still..”
– Eckhart Tolle

* “In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.”
– Deepak Chopra

*  “No thought, no action, no movement, total stillness: only thus can one manifest the true nature and law of things from within and unconsciously, and at last become one with heaven and earth.”
– Lao Tzu

*  “There is a way between voice and presence where information flows. In disciplined silence it opens. With wandering talk it closes.” 
– Rumi

*  “Now I know that even in the most troublesome of times, my reaction is to choose stillness . . . “ 
– Wayne Dyer

To be rooted in stillness you first have to locate it. As I have written many times before,  the method is simple. Whenever you receive a thought or a sense perception like a sight, a sound or a smell, try and determine who was basically aware of it.

You will find that the answer is a sense of being inside you. You will also find that since this sense of being perceives all movement, it is itself non-moving and absolutely still. That’s why it’s also called stillness.

The next step is for you is to spend increasing amounts of time as that stillness. Dwell in the stillness and stop paying attention to your thoughts and sense perceptions. From my personal experience I can tell you that this will be an unbelievably peaceful and restful experience.

** The outside world will be in motion and so will the inside world (i.e., your thoughts), but you will be unperturbed.

** There will be no difference between how you perceive your own body and that of a man across the street.

** Your thoughts too will be perceived objects; they will come and go like birds flying across the sky. They are the creation of the machine that’s called your brain. They are not “you.”

** You will be the blissful, peaceful observer.

Stop fretting over every event that occurs in your life. Stop being anxious. Find the stillness within you and always be there. It’s possible, and it’s possible NOW.

To your peaceful life,

Let’s say you are one of the many people who feel they are not happy enough and want to get happier. You know that you can achieve this goal by spending 10 minutes a day working on it. However, you never end up getting down to it. Here are some reasons why that happens and methods for ensuring you do put in those 10 minutes.

One reason for your not spending time every day is that your goal for becoming happier is not high up enough on your priority list. All your time is preempted by other goals, like completing a task that relates to your job or family or by recreational activities like sailing your boat or reading a book. Once you get absorbed in these things, time flies: before you know it the day has gone by and there isn’t even 10 minutes left for introspection.

The method around this is to give more priority to your pursuit of happiness. The way to achieve this is for you to be watching for the next time you are stressed or unhappy, and to remind yourself when you are in that state that if you just spent a few minutes everyday developing the right attitude, the stress or unhappiness that you are experiencing will stop occurring. Also remind yourself that many people have successfully transformed themselves from stressed or unhappy individuals to satisfied, happy persons as a result of spending those few daily minutes.

Of course, if you don’t have stressful or unhappy moments and are only mildly interested in probing the nature of happiness, then there really is no need for you to pursue this quest at all, and you should move on to other things.

A second reason for not getting your ‘happiness work’ done is that you do not schedule your day properly or at all. I can tell you from experience that scheduling your day will result in your getting many things done as well as leave you feeling very satisfied when the day is over.

Unfortunately, how many of us work is as follows:

1. We vaguely think of the various things we have to do during the day
2. We start doing the one whichever seems most appealing
3. We keep working on it obsessively until something pulls us away from the task to a new task (that something could be a person of authority or a strong mental suggestion)
4. We start working on the new task and continue until we are pulled away from it by some other person or thought
5. Our day is thus semi-random and our behavior resembles that of a leaf being blown about by the breeze, with our actions based purely on unplanned causes. At the end of the day we find that a whole lot of things remain undone, and we are dissatisfied with our own performance
6. Rinse and repeat every day.

Scheduling your day averts this situation. What I mean by ’scheduling your day’ is the following: 

• Draw up a list of what you want to do during the day including how much time you want to spend on each one of those activities
• Do not decide on the exact time of day at which to perform a certain activity unless that activity is inherently dependent on that particular time of day
• Decide if there are any tasks that simply must be started and finished on the day in question. Estimate how long those tasks will take and put them on your list with the associated durations. If they have to be done at a particular time of day, then put that down also
• Divide the rest of the day into time slots ranging from 20 minutes to 60 minutes
• Associate an activity with each time slot
• During that time slot, perform the associated activity nonstop; when you reach the end of the time slot, stop the activity and move onto the next one (this requires some discipline). Since these are activities which did not have to be finished on the concerned day, you can continue them on the subsequent day or days
• Print or write down your list on a piece of paper and carry it with you throughout the day. As soon as you finish an activity, whip the paper out, choose another activity and start it
• MAKE SURE THAT YOU SCHEDULE 10 MINUTES ON EACH DAY’S LIST FOR WORKING ON YOUR HAPPINESS!!

Choose whichever of the above methods are applicable to you and put them into practice ASAP. You will definitely see progress, and after a time, remarkable results. This is dynamite stuff… light the fuse now!

To your peaceful, prioritized days —