CHAPTER 8
HOW CAN WE
BE IN PEACE?
Cut the Monkey's tail!
Peace is the foundation of happiness. Where there is no Peace, there can be no joy. The whole world wants Peace and we know that our own Mind robs us of our Peace. But what can we do about it? We worry, we fear, and we get angry. Although we don't like to, it just happens. We feel so helpless, so powerless. What is the way to Peace? How can we put the pieces together and find tranquillity? How can we avoid the ripples of stress that destroy this stillness of our Mind? There is but one way - to make the Monkey Mind into a Monk!
When will the Monkey become a Monk? If you look at the word Monkey, it already has 'Monk' inside it. It's just that it has a tail – 'EY', that makes the Monk into a Monkey. If you cut the Monkey's tail and remove 'EY', you will find a Monk. To a Monk, if you add the tail 'EY' – it will become a Monkey. It is our choice. Are we going to make the Monk into a Monkey or the Monkey into a Monk? If we want Peace, then we know the answer. We have to cut the Monkey's tail. How do we do it?
The 'EY' in a Monkey is the Ever Yearning of a Monk that makes it a Monkey. If the Mind is still, it is like a Monk. When the Mind is Ever Yearning, then it is not silent. It wants this and that. It creates desires and expectations and makes the silent Peaceful Mind repeatedly jump, transforming it into a Monkey.
Therefore, there is only one entity, the Mind. It is up to us whether we make it a silent, peaceful, blissful Monk or a desiring, craving, Ever Yearning Monkey. By default, we human beings who live in this world are attracted to all sense pleasures. The eyes see something and want it. The nose smells and desires. The ears hear and go in search of the enchantment. The tongue tastes and becomes addicted, just as the skin touches and wants that feeling again and again. Our five doors of sense perception open into the world with desires and expectations. These become strong cravings. We become so passionate that we are ready to give up our life to fulfil these aspirations. We even become obsessed and dream of these pleasures.
Gupta was a rich man. He had all the money in the world, but he was a prisoner of his senses. He was happy when as a young man he made some money to buy his first humble and simple car. His father could only afford a bicycle. Thereafter, Gupta worked hard and created first-generation wealth and success. Unfortunately, he began to sink into the world of material pleasures. From that little car, he went on to buy a full-sized Honda, but he didn't stop till he got himself a BMW and Mercedes. To Gupta, cars were not just a source of pleasure but a status symbol. He would show off his Ferrari and limousine, while he worked round the clock to make more money so he could expand his fleet of cars and flaunt his wealth. No doubt he was happy, far more excited than he was before. But what about Peace? He had lost his Peace in the noise of the roaring engines that deluded him, trading his tranquillity for success and achievement on the highway of life.
Shareen grew up as a simple girl in India. She was a vegetarian and was lucky to succeed in her software career. As a techie in the US, she was one of those who had migrated there and thus, could afford a far better lifestyle than she could have ever enjoyed in her humble home in India. But while she had more possessions, a better home, more money, she had no Peace of Mind. What robbed her Peace? Shareen was a foodie. In India, she practically looked underweight – she was so thin. But in the US, her tongue became her master as it made the supermarket her second home. Every day, she would first drive to the supermarket to pick up loads of food, snacks, drinks before she headed home. One couldn't recognize it was the same girl! Her tongue wanted a new restaurant every other day. There was not a place that she had not visited, from burger chains to pizza restaurants. Her craving for food took her to Mexican, Japanese, Lebanese, and every possible cuisine that her city offered. She brushed off her vegetarian diet as boring as she gorged on shrimps, crabs, and lobsters. She even discovered frog legs in an Indonesian restaurant. At the end of it, she lost only one thing – her Peace of Mind. Her Mind kept wanting and craving food and it did not stop there.
Sheela was crazy about gold and diamonds. She was a slave to her obsession for jewellery as she yearned for exotic ornaments. She would push her husband to earn more so that he could sign a cheque for her expensive hobby. Although she had all the glitter and glamour around her neck, she had no Peace of Mind. While she did enjoy the attention she received from her friends because of her expensive taste, she began to fear for her life as the glittering jewellery caught the eye of unscrupulous people, and more so, when she heard of how a friend had her wrist slit when thieves stole the diamond bracelet that her friend was wearing.
What do we see that is common in all these rich achievers? They have money, wealth, and all the pleasures that excite their senses. But do they have Peace? Because they do not have Peace, despite their possessions, they are not happy. Of what use is such pleasure if it robs our sleep? Of what use is money in the bank, if it creates stress? What is the point of all the glamour, if it leads to anxiety? What is the solution?
The way to Peace of Mind is to stop this yearning and craving. As long as the Mind has a tail – 'EY' that is Ever Yearning, it will never be in Peace. For the Mind to be in Peace, it needs contentment and fulfilment. The way to Peace is to cut the tail off the Monkey and make it a Monk. If we remove the Ever Yearning from the Mind, it will become a silent Monk. But this is a challenge. How can we cut the Monkey's tail? How can we stop it from yearning more and more?
We human beings are blessed with a Mind that is never satisfied. It constantly craves and doesn't stop when its desires are fulfilled. To a normal Mind, enough is not enough. The need becomes a greed, as the Mind wants more. It achieves one goal but yearns to fulfil another. It makes one dream come true, only to dream of another. There is no end to the yearning of the Mind. Each time it yearns, it may achieve a dream, a goal, but loses something invaluable. It loses its Peace! Peace of Mind has no price tag. The only way to buy Peace is to cut the