The Peaceful Mind-Beginning of the Peaceful World

Meditation

The Peaceful Mind

Beginning of the Peaceful World

Clean the world, clean the mind

“Clean the world, clean the mind” (United Nations, August 6 –World Meditation Day)

This phrase is short and clear, but how many people will realize how important it is and apply it in their lives? The words “clean the world” in this phrase certainly include not only cleaning tangible things (removing pollutants, wastes, etc.) but also cleaning intangible things (eliminating hatred, greed, etc.). But how does it relate to cleaning the mind? If we consider that anger, greed, and delusion come from an impure mind, then the clean or pure mind does not contain anger, greed, or delusion. Usually anger is what makes us want to hit, hurt, sue, or even kill other people. Anger would make us want them to be hurt, to be unsatisfied, or to be vengeful. Suppose that someone blinded a person. If the one who lost his eye was very angry, he might take revenge on the person that blinded him by trying to blind his enemy. (Anger usually turns the other party into an enemy.) However, the victim will not get his eyes back by doing so.

">Greed is what makes us want to take things that we often do not need or that do not belong to us.

greed makes many people steal others

Greed makes many people steal others’ belongings, rob other people’s houses, kill family members for insurance, or sue other people for trivial mistakes.

Delusion makes us crazy and forces us to do things without thinking about what is right and wrong.

In the bigger picture, when anger, greed, and delusion are manifested in crowds, they can cause war, pollution, and disease.

In contrast, what will make people know how to forgive and forget? What will make them know how to be satisfied with what they have and can earn? How should they spend their money? How should we behave and how can we behave well? A pure mind will make people think good thoughts, speak kind words, be optimistic, and make good clear decisions. A pure mind will enable them to behave well based on their positions and duties in their communities. It is difficult for anyone to have a pure mind, but at least anyone can focus his mind to reduce or stop his bad thoughts. If everyone tried to clean his or her mind, then we could create a good, forgiving, sharing, and helping community. That is why improving the world starts from mind cleansing.

Once I heard, “all animals/humans on earth are happiest when we are understood.” It would be very difficult to always be understood. But at least, we can start by trying to understand ourselves first. Whenever our minds are (Crystal) clear, we can actually see who we are, what we need, and what we actually need to do and to possess.

If we think of everyone in this world as our friends without the separation of nation, religion, culture, and race, then all the resources actually belong to the earth and everyone. The people who possess the important resources, which are inaccessible to the other groups, need to know how to share.

respect for human rights

When greed gets into the minds of a certain group of people, sharing becomes unreasonable terms for them. When anger gets into the minds of the people who lose the benefits and interests, threatening, hurting, killing, and using inappropriate power become reasonable terms for them. And when delusion or ignorance gets into the minds of the people who do not receive the right information, uncontemplated support, resistance, or hate, can intentionally become their concerns.

When we talk about “clean” peaceful solutions, the solutions should be based on sharing, compassion, and pure wisdom. There should be no killing in terms of “respect for human rights”. There should be no one who has to killed and no one who has to kill others, if we really respect human rights. The right to life belongs to every human and no one should deserve to be killed, especially innocent people. A clean economic development also should not be based on greed. And pure support and encouragement should not be based on ignorance.