The art of living is not just living, but living fully, and the art of living fully cannot be left to chance.
We don’t find peace of mind by sitting in the lotus position twice daily in reflective silence. If it were that easy, we’d have achieved it by now. Ultimately, what we’re all seeking is peace of mind.
When we achieve it we can live in this world in a compassionate way, with healthy boundaries, using our mind and intellect to benefit ourselves and the world around us.
We don’t need to change the world, it’s not achievable anyway, and if we’re trying too, then we’re just avoiding our own suffering. We just need to change ourselves and the world around us changes. We find peace of mind by self-enquiry and self-investigation. That’s the tough part. Meditation is a simple tool that anyone can learn quickly and affordably.
But why do so many find meditation so difficult to take on as a daily practice?
Meditation is a vehicle to your mind. Looking at who we are and how we behave and function in this world that may not be productive for self and those around us. That takes courage. That’s a challenge. And unless we’re open to challenging ourselves to take full responsibility for our thoughts and actions, how can we move towards living a life of reflective silence?
Self-enquiry is meditation in itself. When we engage on that journey, then we get to sit twice daily, for 20 minutes at a time, and allow the new insight and awareness we’ve challenged ourselves to achieve, to be digested into our being.
Vedanta at Alethea
Living is an art. Here at Alethea, Vedanta is one of the philosophies we teach and practice. We weave it into our teachings and practice of mediation. Vedanta means the culmination of knowledge. Veda means knowledge, anta means the end.
Vedanta is using our knowledge to an end result, one that will bring around ease and rest from suffering. We are aware of the body, mind and intellect, but what is the real self? Who am I? What is my purpose? What and how do I need to overcome in my life to achieve peace of mind.
This is the question we all ask. Is the answer in the question itself? How do I achieve “peace of mind”? Is not every lack of understanding born from a lack of clarity in the mind? Is not every upset/worry/disease born in the mind?
Vedanta helps you discover the true nature of your inherent Being. Life is a stream of experiences. As long as experiences flow, there is life. When the flow ceases, so does life. An experience is, therefore, a unit of life constituted of two factors: subject and object.
The individual, you, is the subject, and the world, the object. When you contact the world, the subject meets the object, you gain experience. For example, when we sit on a chair we are the subject and the chair is the object. The chair has no other purpose but to allow you, the subject, to rest on the chair.
We view the chair in this objective way. Should the chair suddenly collapse under us we do not attack the chair. We do not scream at it and punish it for failing us. We do not refuse to ever sit on a chair again should it let us down in the same way.
If we did, it would clearly be seen that we had a distorted connection, attachment, and expectation with the chair. We take it as a given that we remain objective in our views on the chair. This flow of experiences is life. But what happens when our experiences in life are flowing with other humans? Can we stay objective in those circumstances?
If we experience disappointment/hurt/failure to have our needs met, can we remain objective? Or do we turn on the other and fight and punish them because our needs were not met at that moment? Is it not up to us to meet our own needs?
And if we really believe it is, is blaming others not as pointless as blaming a chair for its failure to support us? Is this the freedom that the mind requires? The freedom to choose peace of mind in every set of circumstances.
Of course, we’ll experience pain, but long term suffering is optional. Vedanta equips you with the knowledge to make the right choice of action. It also provides you with the technique of action that you can apply in your home, business, society, and personal relationships.
It is a practical guide to satisfy your material and spiritual needs towards attaining peace of mind. Vedanta trains you to think independently and helps you to probe the essence of life, directing you to study, reflect and realise the fundamental truth of life.
Self-enquiry in life needs to be liberal. People cannot be led by the opinion of others. We have within us the ability to access our own truth.
The root cause of suffering is that no human being looks within. We functionpredominantly on blind faith and mechanical ritual. This is spiritual suicide. The role of Vedanta is to free us from our own infatuations and educate us on eternities. Vedanta works beautifully alongside any meditation.
