Practical Steps to Inner Peace - 1.4. Sri Swami Chidananda.

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Wednesday, January 06, 2022. 06:00.AM.

Post-4.

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This great country has had two supreme ideals for which it has always lived  and worked. Unwritten history,  beyond known human historical times, proves it. Written history also will prove  it. The unwritten history is the  spiritual history of Mother India. And written history knows in how many periods great rulers of India have come  to realise that war  and violence only lead to  greater violence, and  greater hostility and enmity are no  solution to any human problem. On the contrary, they keep  the  problem intact and  worsen  it. More  than 2500 years ago, the  enlightened  world teacher Tathagata Buddha declared, ‘Not  by hatred is hatred overcome, but  by love hatred is overcome’. 


And the  realisation in a very terrible sanguinary form came to the great Emperor Ashoka who  was like  any other king, very  ambitious,  wanting to conquer and expand his territory. And it was during the  Kalinga war, when he  invaded the  Kalinga territory, and his powerful army annihilated the soldiers of  the opposing forces. But  the Kalinga people were a very  brave race of people, and they went on fighting. When the  soldiers were annihilated, the civilians started fighting. And when the civilian youths were also slaughtered, then Ashoka’s commander-in-chief was aghast when he saw coming towards his army old people with sticks and behind them women and children. The soldiers could not proceed, they stopped  fighting. Then he  tells  an emissary, “Ask them, what they have to do in this place? This is a battlefield. Why are they here? Tell them to  go away.” When the emissary went and asked the elders, “What are you doing? Why are you here?” The elders replied,  ”Tell your  emperor,  your army  has slaughtered all our  forces, all our youth, only we are left. Therefore  we  come to  confront your army because there  is no one else." When this information was  taken to Emperor Ashoka he started pondering, “Ah! I have slaughtered  the  flower. Our soldiers have not only fought with soldiers, but they have slaughtered  even the youth, and there  is no young man left, only old people, women and children.” Then the  shocking realisation come, and it is said that the Dhauli River ran red at that time. He  realised the  horror of what he was doing, and he said, “Never again will Ashoka cross his borders  to conquer other territories. If he  goes, he will go as  a friend  and bring harmony. Enough! I shall expand the  territory of my heart and  not the  territory of my dominion  and power.” 


Warrior Ashoka became Dharma Ashoka.  He took the Buddha Dharma  for himself. So we  have  a tradition of a  great Emperor whose empire covered the whole of India,  the great empire of Ashoka.  His edicts are found everywhere from far South until far North. So  here we have  the adoption of Shanti (Peace) as a political policy. And the  Jagadguru Sankaracharya of Dwarikapeeth in Gujarat said, “The name Bharatavarsha indicates that  this is a country that has great love  for Prakash, Jnana, light: light of wisdom, light of knowledge, light of highest Brahma Jnana. Jyotishaam api tajjyoti tamasah  parama ucchyate  (That, the light  of all lights, is said to be beyond darkness.) He said, ”Many people  say Bharatavarsha got the name from King Bharata. It is a land  where the people  are great lovers of light. ‘Bha’ means light and  ‘Ratah’ means those  who are  engrossed in light. Therefore, the land  where people have intense love for  wisdom  is Bharatavarsha.” The culture of such people is Bharatiya  Sanskriti. Our religion stems and originates from the mass of ancient wisdom, the Vedas. And the Vedas declare that attaining divine wisdom alone can liberate  the  human soul from this  wheel  of birth and death. All that the  Jivatma is  undergoing now, this Samsaric experience, is due to Ajnana, Avidya (ignorance).  And the only solution  is Vidya (knowledge). Darkness can go  only through light. Therefore  they insisted  upon this truth  that only the  experience  of that supreme  principle, which is Kevala Jnana Swarupa (knowledge absolute), can  liberate the human being from the  state  of bondage  and  Tapatraya (threefold afflictions). If we  ponder our culture, our Satya1.  PEACE IS EVER-PRESENT 13 Sanatana Vaidika Dharma, we see that we have essentially been a wisdom-based and a wisdomdestined race, so you are all peace  originating and peace  destined beings. If there is one Tattva which is held far above all other values, it is Peace.

To be continued ....


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