No one has climbed a hill by just looking at it. No one can master the mind just by wishing it. The train of failure runs on the tract of laziness. If one is too lazy to master the mind, then that mind creates hell. One has to renounce laziness to create heaven. If one is a little alert, one will find how the mind is creating hell.
Mind is a self-talk mechanism. The quality of your life is the quality of your communication. If you communicate to yourself, “ I am unhappy, I am frustrated, I am miserable” then you find yourself unhappy, frustrated and miserable. We focus on what we communicate to others, but not on what we communicate to ourselves. More than the incident, the way we interpret an incident mentally decides our experience of it.
Our busy thoughts are looking out for peace and joy. In the state of deep sleep, one experiences peace and joy. Where did it come from? Joy is within us. The kingdom of heaven is within us. But out of ignorance, we are busy searching for peace and joy outside and not within. It is like a man searching for teeth in a crow. Our search can be efficient if we do not chase mirages. On and off, we should develop the art of looking within.
For example, when someone scolds you and you carry his scolding in your mind as sorrow, then you experience it as sorrow. If you hold his scolding not as sorrow but as understanding that the person is releasing his tension, then you will be more compassionate. Remember, each one is fighting a hard battle within.
The average mind is trying to fulfil unessential needs. Mahavira says that true discrimination is to see the distinction between what is essential and what is unessential. If you watch people breaking world records, it is so foolish. Who eats most worms in the quickest period of time? How many hundreds of needles can be put into oneself? What purpose do these serve? Many are lost in the unessential. We lack a vision of what is truly useful and what is not useful. To master the mind is really useful. A person went to the seventh heaven after his lifetime useful work. The heaven was unbelievably beautiful.
An angel told him that whatsoever he wished for would be filled and he had not to work for it. This was the only condition. So, whatever he wished for came in front of him instantly. For about a week it was just like magic. Later he felt bored, as there was no challenge. At once the angel recovered and asked, “What can I do for you?” I need some activities as a means to fulfil my desires. There is no fun if you fulfil my desired without that. The angel replied, “This is not possible in the seventh heaven.” Now, this man experienced hell in heaven.
Your relationship could be heaven but you experience hell as your mind has many rules that define happiness and sorrow. You have thus become prisoner of your definitions. Therefore, you cannot experience heaven as heaven and hell as hell.
With reference to happiness, think deeply on what I have said. More often, the concept of useful and not useful is a part of social conditioning. A terrorist feels being a terrorist is being useful to fulfil a cause. Let happiness and goodness be the basis of your life. Then being useful will be an extension of making others happy and good.
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The kingdom of heaven is within us.
But, out of ignorance we are busy searching for peace and joy outside and not within. It is like a man searching for teeth in a crow