CHAPTER 12
HOW DO WE
REACH OUR
ULTIMATE GOAL –
ETERNAL PEACE?
Realization, Liberation, Unification
We all want to be happy. But we are not! We don't know the meaning of Happiness. We think it is success, pleasure, money, name, fame, power and we keep on craving and desiring all these tools that we believe will give us happiness. This very craving and seeking robs our Peace, our ultimate goal. Peace is the foundation of happiness.
But because we are hungry for happiness, we lose our Peace of Mind. Our Peace breaks into pieces, as ripples of stress, worry, and anxiety destroy the stillness within. How can we restore Peace – not just in this moment, but forever?
Is there a way to Eternal Peace and everlasting happiness? Yes, there is! When the Monkey Mind within becomes a peaceful Monk, we experience Divine Peace. This is our ultimate goal. But how do we reach there? How can we make the Monkey into a Monk? There is a way.
It starts with Purification. Unless we clear all the junk from the Monkey Mind, we cannot make it a Monk. The Mind, along with the memory, is constantly thinking thoughts of the past. It goes back, not just to yesterday, last week, last month, but even to years that have gone by. We carry memories of hurts, grudges, disappointments, and failures.
This junk destroys the Peace of the Monk. If we want tranquillity, we must purify the Mind. Just like when our gadgets hang, we go to the 'factory setting' and 'reset' our device deleting all old data so that the device starts functioning with its original speed, we must also delete all the garbage from our Mind. In fact, we must make this a constant process. Just like we shampoo our hair every day, we must shampoo our Mind so that we cleanse the memory of all the dirt. Unless we remove all negativity from the Mind, we cannot move towards our ultimate goal.
Purification leads us to the next step of Illumination. Unless we filter the waters of our Mind, the light of the sun will not penetrate to the bottom and brighten our inner being. The dirt will form layers of translucence and our opaque thoughts will continue to keep us in ignorance as it creates a veil that stops us from seeing the truth. It is only after purification that we will experience illumination. Just like when we switch on the light, and there are no objects that hinder our view creating shadows of darkness, we get pure illumination without being shadowed by myth and superstition.
It is only after Purification and Illumination that we experience a state of Unification - a state of becoming one with the Divine, after being Enlightened with the truth.
Unless the wave realizes its futility in splashing again and again, it will continue to lose its tranquillity that resides in the ocean within. We too are part of the Divine ocean, but we are constantly raising our Ego like waves in this ocean of Samsara, the world. Although we ultimately want Peace, we are made to believe that happiness is the goal. Therefore, like roaring waves, we make so much noise with our success, our wealth, that we inadvertently destroy the very Peace we are actually seeking. In the end, after all the splashing, the wave has to return to the ocean.
We come with nothing and when we go, we will take nothing with us. But because of our ignorance, we continue to crave till we reach our grave. We may carry all the gold and diamonds along the way, but in the end, everything will be left behind. Unfortunately, we don't realize that all through the journey of life, we did not enjoy true Peace and tranquillity, which is the real treasure that we should have been aspiring for. Unfortunately, because we do not evolve in our life journey from Purification to Illumination, there is no Unification with the Divine. We don't become one with the ocean as we continue to splash as waves, and the ME, the Mind and the Ego, carries its Karma into the next life because of our ignorance.
How then will we reach our ultimate goal of Divine Peace? Wisdom from ancient sages tells us that Divine Peace comes with the Realization of the truth. Unless there is realization, we will continue to suffer as the body, the Mind and the ego. When we overcome our ignorance, then we will be blessed with Self-Realization. This Realization of who we truly are will liberate us from the senses that crave from the Mind that wanders, and the ego that is agonized. Without Realization, there cannot be Liberation from this triple suffering. Therefore, the importance for us to go on a quest and discover the Monkey within. We must cut its tail, stop this Ever Yearning and become a Monk.
Becoming a Monk is the way to achieve the ultimate goal of Eternal Peace. A true Monk overcomes all ignorance and lives with the realization of the truth. He knows that this world is but a dream and that everything is an illusion. He lives with dispassion and detachment. He sharpens his intellect and keeps its razor-like discrimination over the head of the Monkey Mind so that it remains quiet. The Monk lives a disciplined life, as he controls not only the Monkey Mind but also the senses of the body and the cravings of the ego. The Monk is Conscious of his Realization and remains in that state of awareness. He becomes a witness to this drama called life and observes it as he remains in that state of Consciousness. Unlike other actors on the earth stage who scream and shout, the Monk remains silent realizing what life is all about. As a Monk lives his day to day life, he lives in Divine union as a true Yogi. Thus, he is liberated from Samsara, the world of attractions and distractions. All the noise of the world doesn't disturb the Peace of the Monk, as he dips within, into the receptacle of his own Consciousness and becomes indifferent to the outside world.
It is not easy to live like a Monk. It is not just getting knowledge, but intuitively realizing the secret of Peace.
Unless there is true Realization, the Monk will not experience Liberation. Thus, one may see many Monks who appear so from the outside, but a glimpse into their inside will show that there is no Peace, joy, and bliss. It is so easy to detect a fake Monk. The reminiscence of the Monkey appears in the lifestyle of the Monk. His behaviour and his character will reveal the presence of the Monkey within. The Monk may have great knowledge but may not have reached that state of Realization that liberates him from the Monkey. This is a blessing only experienced by a few. A true Monk passes the phase of Realization and evolves in the journey of Liberation, till there is final Unification at death.
It is not easy to reach the state of true Liberation and achieve that state of Eternal Peace, Everlasting joy that comes from Ultimate Unification. Each Monk, however realized he may be, is not fully liberated because he lives with the Monkey. No human being can destroy the ME, Mind and Ego, as long as they are alive. However, a true Monk transcends the Mind and let's go of the ego, as he enjoys true Peace and tranquillity.
A true Monk seeks only 3 things in the world – Peace, Peace, and Peace! Once he attains the state of Peace, he needs nothing else. The Peace emits the fragrance of joy and bliss. His challenge is not to let the Monkey come alive.
A true Monk lives like a Jivanmukta, one who is liberated while alive. He is free from the shackles of this world, from the desire and passion of us normal Monkeys, who live and die in this world circus. To most of us, we cannot be observers of the circus. We become Monkeys who swing in the trapeze of the circus, jumping from one rope to another, from one desire to another, until the show is over. Because we are so obsessed as Monkeys in the circus, we do not live as a Monk who observes and enjoys the circus called life. The circus being enacted on earth is such an amazing show, but only the true Monk has fun, watching it with Peace and bliss. The rest of us get so engrossed as Monkeys in the circus, that we forget to be the Monk; we forget to live with Peace. Only a Jivanmukta can be a real Monk, who watches the circus of life, as he lives each day with eternal Peace.
The Monk also lives as a Sthitpragya, one who has a steady intellect. The Monk is not carried away by his emotional reactions. His intellect ensures that he makes intellectual decisions as he lives moment by moment in tranquillity. The treasure of his intellect is constantly sharpened, despite the Monkey within trying to grab it and stop it. The true Monk continues to remain in that state of Sthitpragya. It is only such a Monk who attains the ultimate goal of Unification, who lives with the Realization of the truth as he disciplines his life, living dispassionately with detachment and discrimination, desiring nothing but Liberation and Unification. Having experienced Divine Peace and becoming Conscious of this true treasure, the Monk is not attracted to the fake pleasures of this world. He is a blessed Soul, who lives in Divine union, Conscious of who he truly is. The Monk not only knows he is a manifestation of the Divine, but lives his life in such a way that he becomes an instrument of the Divine. Having transcended his ego, he seeks nothing, except to do the Divine will. He knows he is nothing. Unlike most of the trinkets that think, 'I am a chain, I am a bracelet, I am a bangle, I am a ring,' the Monk knows that there is gold in everything. So, having realized that he is nothing, and having become nothing, he becomes one with the Divine. He then becomes everything!
The Monk experiences Divinity all around. He doesn't differentiate between Monkeys and donkeys in the circus of life. He just enjoys the show, knowing that all the actors will come and go. Nothing makes him lose his Peace, his tranquillity, his bliss and joy. He achieves the ultimate goal of Unification, as he continues to live with Liberation post Realization. Many have Realized the Truth, but they have not achieved Liberation.
Every Monk has a war with the Monkey within. This constant war between the Monkey and the Monk continues in every seeker who seeks Unification, and the ultimate goal of Divine Peace. Sometimes, the Monk wins, but often, the Monkey steals the show! Together, the ME – the Mind and the Ego, along with the craving senses, defeat the Monk, although there is Realization of the Truth. Alas, there is no Liberation, no Unification.
Our ultimate goal is Unification, and this happens only at that point when we experience the death of the physical body. Till then, the war between the Monk and Monkey continues. Every moment of life is a challenge for the Monk. A truly Realized Monk who has destroyed the Monkey completely, effortlessly wins the battle. He is the one who lives in a state of eternal Peace and everlasting joy until his body dies. The rest, Monks who have not transcended the Monkey, struggle through life with the goal of complete Liberation, which will ultimately help them attain Unification.
At death, one of the two things can happen: A true Monk who has Realized the truth and who lives as a Liberated Soul, unites with the Divine. However, the one