Who doesn’t want peace?
The whole world is concerned about peace. In the context of the individual, it means peace of mind. No one wants mental unrest or disquietude. Every one likes to lead a life of peace and tranquility.

How can this be possible?
There can be neither individual nor world peace without first refining your emotions, because it is there that unrest has its roots. One of the ways of refining the inner world is choosing someone adorable or Ishta. There is hardly any religion without a concept of the Ishta. Who should be your Ishta or adored one? Could it be the guru? No, the guru can show the right path, but cannot be Ishta. Could a teacher be Ishta? The teacher can show the way, can teach and impart knowledge, but being a human being he cannot be Ishta. Even a Tirthankar – Jain saint – cannot be an Ishta.

No physical being can be an Istha. Why? Because an Ishta is nirvikalp – admitting no alternative – and so is free from distinctions. A physical being will say, “Do this, don’t do that”. That will create a dilemma. Why follow someone who obstructs, hinders stops? The Ishta neither stops nor obstructs, but is simply an ideal. God or Deva and guru or teacher are recognized as two centers of faith. Deva is one who has become passionless; a seer. It is only the seer who can be an Ishta.

But one who shows the path is a different person. Vitaraga or the passionless do not show the path. So they are not regarded as arha or competent to guide. It is the guru who has been regarded as arha; he points out the path. The vitaraga, if asked whether something should be done, will answer: Do as you please. The guru, on the other hand, can stop you from doing something. The Ishta can only be one who has transcended the world of inner feelings. He is not only beyond the mind, but also beyond emotion, pure and free from love and hate. One who has become arhat or vitraga, becomes our Ishta. We can call him by any name, Atma, parmatma, whatever.

One of the principles of yoga is oneness with the Ishta. Those who want absolute peace and tranquility, should conceive of the Ishta at the center of peace, at the hypothalamus, and ‘instil’ the image of the Ishta there.In times of difficulty, they should concentrate on it and the suffering will disappear. If a person’s mind is devoid of the concept of absolute peace, peace will keep eluding him. Now happy, now offended – that is the way he lives. Our emotions change so often. If a person starts noting down in a book all the emotional changes he has undergone from dawn to dusk, recording when he felt at peace and when he was agitated, he will probably fill a whole book. We cannot help being affected by emotional changes from moment to moment.

If one feels insulted by any remark by someone, he will be on the offensive and have a strong desire to take revenge. Even in single day, moments of joy and sorrow, peace and unrest keep alternating. These momentary ups and downs keep repeating and recurring. Even a single disagreeable remark creates mental disturbance and fills the mind with the feeling of revenge.

A man with eight PhDs � he was proud of his achievement � met a monk. The monk asked him, "Why have you been so foolish in life?"The man said: "But I have eight PhDs!"

"I have understood you; it is foolish to spend the best part of life reading instead of enjoying the birds, stars and the moon", said the monk.

"You may have knowledge but not clarity; you may know a lot and yet understand nothing".

What does one have to understand about life?

You have many centres: Intellectual centre, an emotional centre and a body centre. In each centre, there is a mechanical and magnetic part. The mechanical part acts like a machine while the magnetic part acts with ore awareness.

You have to transform yourself. Your mecha-nical movements and thinking have to change. Your mechanical emotions like jea-lousy and hatred have to be overcome. You can do this by bringing in more awareness.

Then a complete being will emerge. When you increase awareness, even poison can turn into medicine; and with no awareness, medicine can become poison.

Why are we so mechanical?

A king dreamt that he was a beggar. His guru, in his dreams, told him the truth that he was a king and not a beggar. Now was he to argue with his guru or just wake up?

The question of "why"cannot be answered. When did time begin? You cannot answer such a question. Which came first, egg or hen? There is a logical fallacy in the very question. Realise that we are mechanical. Bring in more awareness and see the life-transformation.

Even inert objects have life. Treat any object with loving awareness and it will guide you mysteriously. Your intuition and purity have to increase to receive this message. When you bathe, lovingly talk to water.

In a relationship, is it not necessary to judge?

Keep yourself relaxed. Increase your awareness and love. Not to judge should not be a conclusion. Don't make it a demand or compulsion. Let there be a choice. There is a difference between "should' and "choice'.

"Should' creates stress; it limits you to only one option. Choose not to judge. It is not a demand but a wise choice.
The danger of judgment is that you stop seeing the object of judgment and you are more in your judgment.

In life, you have to make judgments, but don't be a victim of your judgments. Suppose a thief enters your house, you have to judge him but then, be open to the possibility that he could change.

Suppose you meet him after 10 years, see if he has changed or not. Do you still judge from the memory that he has been a thief? If you do not have this awareness, you will not see the change in a person even if he has changed.

What should one be really aware of?

Negative emotions poison. Like avoiding poisonous food, avoid negative emotions. Don't identify with them. Don't participate in them. Choose to create a new will, not be driven by negative emotions.

They deplete your energy. They keep you asleep. They are harmful and heavy. They make your life complicated. For example somebody's success should not be your failure. We define our failure by somebody's success.

We feel jealous seeing someone successful. Jealousy is a great poison.

Compete with your potential. Even if you compete with others, enjoy it. See beauty all around. Do not define your success and failure by someone's success and failure.