Keep calm and be happy

We often hear people say, “I’m going through a really bad time right now.” In reality, a period of time is neither bad nor good. The goodness or badness of a given period of time or place is something
Keep calm and be happy

We often hear people say, “I’m going through a really bad time right now.” In reality, a period of time is neither bad nor good. The goodness or badness of a given period of time or place is something God has placed in each of our hands. Our experience is a result of how we use this freedom.

If we plant seeds of love, this world will become a flower garden pervaded with fragrance and beauty. If we allow thorny bushes to grow wild, they will eventually cause us pain.

The United Nations has proclaimed an important principle: “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.” If we look at it this way, it is our mind that is the cause of both our happiness and our sorrow.


Due to advancements in medical science, we are living longer and longer. Today our problem is not how to live longer but how to live. With each passing year we need to reflect and ask ourselves if we are using our life to its maximum potential. We need to ask ourselves why we are living. No one can lead a life of contentment, happiness and fulfillment without asking themselves these questions.

We usually measure the growth rate of a country by its GDP—Gross Domestic Product. However, the world is starting to realise that the GDP doesn’t give us a complete picture. Economic growth is only one aspect of development.

We need to understand that when human beings are not experiencing peace and contentment, it means something, somewhere, is wrong. If we want to experience peace and contentment, money is not enough; we need spiritual culture and universal values. Otherwise, our efforts amount to no more than putting makeup on a corpse. 

In this fast-paced world, new phones and computers and other types of gadgets come out every day. These gadgets definitely serve their purpose. However, such technology should remain within our control. We should not become slave to the machines we’ve created.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what is happening to many of us with regards to our phones, computers and the Internet. Many countries have even started treatment facilities to wean people off this addiction. Maturity needs to grow hand in hand with information. Otherwise, more harm comes from it than good. So many people are living proof to this truth.

The fact is: people do obtain a type of happiness from these gadgets. However, this happiness comes with a big price tag. The truth is: trying to attain perfect happiness from the external world never works. 

Trying to attain supreme happiness from the world is like trying to row a boat on land. No matter how many ways we try to find happiness from the external world, we find it always eludes us. Chasing after a butterfly will only end in our exhaustion, but if we sit still we may soon find the butterfly flying to us. It may even land on us. Similarly, when our mind, which is the source of all desires, becomes peaceful, happiness will simply come to us.

Love that is only based on taking ultimately divides people. Because of this division, we fail to experience the sweetness of love. The love that a mother has for her child is utterly without division. This is the only kind of love that lasts. Spirituality is the path that closes the divide and heals relationships. 

There are primarily two kinds of love—a binding love and a liberating love. Binding love is like a flower that gives a deadly poison, whereas liberating love gives us the nectar of immortality. Binding love takes one in the exact opposite direction and lead one to hatred or animosity, which is like poison. But liberating love has the capacity to help us open our heart and taste the nectar of immortality, leading us to the fulfilment of the goal of life.

Human beings are always yearning for love. Our inherent desire, right from birth, is to be loved by someone. If we are loved, we feel happy and content. But what we often tend to forget is that the people who love us also expect love in return. Just as a stairway has many steps, love has many levels. Now many are standing at the bottommost step. Little by little, with alertness and faith, we should try to climb each step and gradually reach the highest level of love.

The writer is a world-renowned spiritual leader

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