Calmness

Once the senses are controlled, one becomes calm. He does not always worry about making money in order to be able to buy things to gratify them. Because the mind and the senses are controlled by engagement, the self is not disturbed by the dictation of the senses. He hears them but tolerates them as a man may tolerate a nagging wife. The desires of the senses may come and go, but he is always calm because he knows that they are controlled against their will by devotional engagement. It is not possible to stop the flow of desires, but it is possible not to be disturbed by them. Lord Krishna says, "A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires-that enter like rivers into the ocean which is ever being filled but is always still-can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires. A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship, who is devoid of false ego-he alone can attain real peace." (Gita, 2.70-71)

A person in the Divine consciousness is also calm because he is established in Krishna who is the Ultimate Security. As stated before, he is not fearful of death because he knows his identity beyond the body. Rivers are turbulent when they are running to the sea, but their waters become calm when they enter the great ocean. When the individual consciousness is severed from its relationship with the Divine, it is restless and turbulent, but when it enters the great ocean of the Divine consciousness it becomes calm.

Continued in issue number 31.