The Peace That Depends on Nothing

Sometimes joy arises for no reason at all; sometimes a residue of sorrow settles in despite everything going well: our moods often escape our control. This article explores why the accumulation of possessions, success, or even love never quite fills the inner void — and where the peace that depends on nothing can actually be found.

An open window overlooking the sea, a white curtain fluttering in the incoming air, a little bird perched on the windowsill. — An open window to inner peace

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The Peace That Depends on Nothing

Sometimes, the light of a spring evening lights up your heart

Sometimes, you have every reason in the world to be happy, and yet you aren't: there is within you a residue of sorrow that plunges you into suffering, whatever you do.

Sometimes, a wave of joy rises without your having done anything to bring it about. It comes, like a bubble, bursting to the surface, and surprises you with its suddenness and its gratuitousness.

Sometimes, the light of a spring evening lights up your heart as it reflects off the walls of houses, dispelling the dark veil that kept you in that grey mood.

Most of the time, when you still have the courage, you work for your own well-being and that of those close to you. You labour relentlessly, without counting the cost. It must be said: the return on these efforts rarely matches your expectations. So you despair of yourself, of your ability to move the mountains you are asked to move.

You must do more and more just to survive

The escalation of effort required becomes unbearable. You must do ever more just to survive, to house yourself, to feed yourself. So you keep your head down, vaguely hoping that "it will settle."

Wholly absorbed in surviving, you forget to live, simply to live. You need peace, but since this need feels less urgent than that of shelter and food, you keep postponing the search for it.

And yet, peace is the most beautiful state of soul one can know: this state is what you need, what you are looking for. The lack of this peace is the cause of your suffering, one that neither the accumulation of material goods nor the success of your undertakings can soothe. "Go to the inner Kingdom, and remain forever in perfect bliss." (Bhaktimārga, 101)

If you had a home of your own, you would be happy

Some hold on to the hope that something will fill this void, satisfy their thirst for fulfilment. When you lack love, you may tell yourself: "When someone loves me, I will be happy."

When you don't have a home of your own, you tell yourself that if you had one, you would be happy, and you work to make that dream real. Fulfilling one's dreams is the work of a lifetime, and as long as you have dreams and the hope of realising them, you keep standing.

But, in the end, frustration awaits, because true happiness, true fulfilment, does not come from possession. Not that living with a loved and loving person is vain, nor that owning a home is wrong, but happiness and satisfaction do not come from there.

This peace depends on nothing

This peace within you depends on nothing, even if, to become aware of it, you must not be starving, freezing, or lying on a pavement. This peace is within you, for it is the natural state of the soul. Here lies the challenge for the seeker: to maintain this awareness at all times by placing one's attention in the right place. There is a way. One hundred percent of those who found it were looking for it.

If you do not seek, you will not find. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7)

The Path invites you

Its practice offers you a way to discover your own centre, and the means to rest there whenever you wish. Afterwards, or at the same time, you can work toward buying a home, building a future for your children, or giving yourself a holiday by the sea. But all these pleasures, all these satisfactions, however enjoyable, cannot fulfil you on their own.

Everything has its place. Material goods can satisfy material desires and offer a certain comfort, even pleasure. Spiritual things exist to fill the void of the soul. Most of the time, those who suffer from this void do not identify the cause of their suffering, and this is the reason for their wandering.

No one is required to do the impossible, but when you don't know that material goods are incapable of filling this void, you believe yourself incapable, and you despair. To the frustration are added shame, incomprehension, and anger.

Anger without cause turns toward those close to you

When anger cannot identify its true enemy, it turns toward those close to you. Either way, this anger draws you into a spiral of failure: that of your relationship, your family, your friendships, and your social life.

This frustration and this anger, which find nowhere to settle, breed confusion and suffering. And yet, peace is there, deep within you, even in the worst moments of your life.

"Seek first the Kingdom and its righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33), said Jesus in his time, who knew this peace — a peace he never kept for himself alone, but always shared with those who came to him.

If you too wish to begin this search and ask your questions about The Path, a contact e-mail is available; we may then begin a correspondence.

If you have any questions, please write here:

madhyama.marga@gmail.com

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