Is there too much “Noise” in your Life

IS THERE TOO MUCH “NOISE” IN YOUR LIFE...?

DO YOU WANT “INNER PEACE”...?

WORDS ON A BENCH IN MUSSOORIE

Meditative Musings of a Veteran

By

VIKRAM KARVE

I am feeling hassled. 

I close my eyes. 

I sit in silence.

I relax. 

And – I remember those insightful and profound words engraved on a bench in Mussoorie.

I read those words long back – but those meaningful words have remained etched in my mind forever.

Agar Aap Shanti Chahte Ho To Pehele Shaant Rehena Seekho 

अगर आप शांति चाहते हो तो पहेले शांत रहेना सीखो 

Long back – more than 21 years ago – in the 1990’s – I visited Mussoorie.

During one of my long walks – probably on Camel’s Back Road – or maybe near Lal Tibba in Landour – I saw some words inscribed on a bench.

Those words were a truism that has had a profound impact on me ever since.

I will never forget those interesting words written in Hindi on a bench in Mussoorie: 

अगर आप शांति चाहते हो तो पहेले शांत रहेना सीखो 

(Agar Aap Shanti Chahte Ho To Pehle Shaant Rehna Seekho) 

Roughly translated into English this means:

IF YOU DESIRE PEACE THEN FIRST LEARN TO REMAIN SILENT 

Of course the word  शांत  (shaant)  also means PEACEFUL 

Yes – SILENCE is the sine qua non for PEACEFULNESS.

Once your mind is calm and peaceful – you will experience a sense of inner peace.

If your inner peace is disturbed – you will be stressed out.

The root cause of stress is lack of inner peace.

The first step to stress management is to restore your inner peace – and you must not allow your inner peace to be disturbed.

But – why does your inner peace get disturbed...?

Your inner peace gets disturbed because there is too much “noise” in your life.

There is Physical Noise – Mental Noise – Information Overload Noise – Emotional Noise – Relationship Noise – all sorts of Noise.

There is “external noise” – and there is “internal noise”.

There is noise around you – and there is noise within you.

There is all sorts of noise and cacophony – noise bombards all your senses. 

Noise hassles you – noise disturbs your tranquility – and noise is the biggest impediment to attaining peacefulness. 

OUTER SILENCE – THE FIRST STEP TO INNER PEACE

The first step to inner peace is to get rid of all that noise around you and within you. 

The first step is to achieve outer silence by reducing outer noise from your life.

Yes – if you want peace you have to shut out the noise from your life.

Go to a quiet place where there is minimal external noise – switch off your noise-making gadgets like mobile cellphones etc – shut out the cacophony on TV – shut out all the emotional noise which hassles your peace of mind. 

Once you have reduced outer noise – you can now take care of your inner noise.

Sit silently in solitude – close your eyes – and see how your inner silence dissolves the noise within you – and you will experience inner peace – and you will be in harmony with yourself.

That is what I do every morning. 

I sit in silence in the spacious airy balcony of my ninth floor flat in Wakad.

I absorb the tranquil scenic view of the placid waters of the Mula River quietly flowing below, the peaceful verdant hills in the distance, the still atmosphere, the pure fresh air – and I feel a halo of soothing serenity permeate within me. 

Then – I close my eyes – and I let my silence dissolve the internal noise in my mind and body.

It is only then that I experience inner peace – and I realize that I am in harmony with myself.

Yes – if you want to be in harmony with yourself – you must have inner peace.

And – outer silence is the first step to inner peace. 

अगर आप शांति चाहते हो तो पहेले शांत रहेना सीखो 

If you want peace then first learn to remain silent 

Remember this simple piece of wisdom.

Try it. 

Experience the power of silence in calming your mind.

It works. 

You can take my word for it.

Remember the Mantra: 

“Outer Silence” is the first step to “Inner Peace”. 

Once you reduce “outer noise” and achieve “outer silence” – you can look inwards to reduce your “inner noise” and achieve “inner silence” – and you will realize “inner peace”.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 
1. If you share this post, please give due credit to the author Vikram Karve
2. Please DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please DO NOT Cut/Copy/Paste this post
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Disclaimer:

1. This is based on my personal experience. It may or may not work for you. So please do due diligence before trying out this technique.

2. All stories in this blog are a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the stories are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

Copyright © Vikram Karve (all rights reserved)

This is a Revised, Updated and Abridged Version of My Article Posted by me Vikram Karve in my Academic and Creative Writing Journal and various Blogs at urls: http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2011/09/words-on-bench-in-mussoorie.html  and http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2014/10/outer-silence-and-inner-peace-self-help.html  and  http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2015/08/stress-management-made-simple.html  etc