Why does realization give lasting peace?

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We started our story with Maitreyi asking her husband Yajnyavalkya about the way one can get eternal peace.

Yajnyavalkya first explained how our individual identities are only transient. These identities are given by our body and Mind. Mistaking the body/Mind as we is the root cause of our problems. It is the body/Mind that masks the real We.

We are actually the all pervading soul or Brahma. So there is no we limited to a specific body, but a single We that encompasses all bodies.

“The real We or the Brahma is limitless. It is eternal and undecaying. It does not get trapped into any bondage. It is forever free. None can do any harm to it since there is no one else in reality. So it never woes. It is ever blissful.”

It is only the assumed identities imposed by the body that grieve. This assumed identity falls apart when one gets into deep meditation. And one attains the ultimate realization that he is the Brahma who is ever blissful. That is the way to lasting peace.

There ends the story of Yajnyavalkya and his scholarly wife Maitreyi. It explains why we suffer and a way out of this suffering. This way out is not in acquiring worldly riches, but in realizing our true identity. And the means to attain that realization is by disassociating ourselves from the clutches of body and mind through the process of meditation.

Ultimate realization may not be achievable for most of us. But we can do it in a limited way and easily see how assumed identities are creating our problems.

Whether it is a group of terrorists identifying themselves with some religious dogma, or some desperate trouble makers identifying themselves with some nationality, or it is our over association with narrow confines of our family, or even our own over-selfishness, a misplaced identity is always the root cause of problems.

The more we expand our identity and embrace the world around, happier we would be.

We don’t need to be great Brahmavadins to realize that!

Let me conclude with one of the well known Vedic mantras.

poorNamadah poorNamidam
poorNaath poorNamudachyathE
poorNasya poorNamaadaaya
poorNamEvaavashiSHyathE
Om shaanthih, shaanthih shaanthih

That Brahma is unbounded
This world which has emerged from that Brahma is also unbounded
Once you realize the unboundedness of this world, only the Brahma remains.
Let there be peace, peace and only peace.

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A story of Yajnyavalkya and Maitreyi from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, which is part of Yajur Veda. Upanishads are concluding parts of ancient Indian Vedic scriptures believed to be at least 5000 years old. The interpretation is by Dr.King (Copyright © 2019 Dr. King).