Inner Peace

A Modern Instruction Manual

‘JJ’ Jeremy Johanson

2500 years ago, an Indian Prince, Gautama Siddhartha, became a teacher of wisdom, based on his highly developed faculty of introspection. Today, the ‘exercise’ to develop this faculty is known as Insight Meditation. This method teaches you how to be aware of your own thoughts and to differentiate the realities of the world outside the shell of our bodies from the ‘unreal’ world that our mind creates within the brain. This ‘clarity’ of vision, combined with universal truths gained through seeing the world with wisdom, leads to a healthy and happy mind. As a documented technique, it has stood the test of time. But, as with any fitness training, you have to have patience and persistence.

In actuality, anyone can become ‘a Buddha’. This term simply refers to ‘one who knows’, and has no particular religious connotation. Ex-Prince Siddhartha, who became a Buddha, considered all human beings to be equal, and spent 45 years of his life teaching Universal Truths, known today as ‘Dhamma’. His basic premise was, “Refrain from what is bad, do good, and purify the heart.”

Based on fundamental principles of humanity, this includes 8 rules to live by and doing what is right; right view, right thought, right speech, right behaviour, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. Built upon this foundation, combined with clarity of mind, wisdom can be acquired. Most importantly, wisdom must be known to be true, for one’s own-self. Once obtained, wisdom teaches you to ‘know’ in your own heart what is right or wrong. It comes from within, naturally.

One of the greatest enemies to acquiring wisdom is ‘greed’, which causes quarrels, envy, stealing, cheating, abuse… even killing. A famous, wise Buddhist teacher, Phra Ajahn Chah, stated, “It seems that our culture is deteriorating, lost in greed, hatred and delusion. But the culture of the Buddha never changes… it has compassion and truth as its guide.”

Today, with the emphasis given to exercise for a beautiful body, fitness for a beautiful mind is the next step.

It creates Inner Peace that is equally, if not more, attractive!

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	Phra Ajahn Nyanadhammo “Buddhist teachings are actually about personal responsibility. Instead of changing others to fit how I view the world, changing myself so that I am more peaceful. One starts with those things that take one away from peace, and deals with greed, hatred and dilution. How can I become less angry, less violent, more harmless and less exploitive? In this way I become more kind and generous, less confused and deluded, developing wisdom in the world rather than taking away from it. The best way to start this is by developing awareness in oneself. Awareness is self-circumspection. A sense of reflecting; What am I doing? What are the consequences of that? Is it wholesome for myself, wholesome for others as well? And it has to be both. It has to be beneficial to oneself and beneficial to others. So one reflects on every action, word and thought that one does, leading to growth in virtue, kindness, compassion, skill and wisdom. Developing what is good, and abandoning what is unskilful. This is the foundation of Buddhist ethics, Buddhist virtue.”
	Dr. Somboon Duangsamosorn Director – Information Cultural Exchange Centre, The World Buddhist University “One has to be clear about what Buddha professed in Buddhism. In Buddhism, whatever we see or whatever we hear, we have to find out whether it is right or whether it is wrong, appropriate or not, benevolent or violent. Also, we abstain from doing evil actions. So what is evil, and what is not? This has to be judged through the knowledge of Buddhism. People are invited to study the process of learning according to the doctrine of Lord Buddha and they will eventually be enlightened. They will ‘Understand’. Step-by-step, first they will understand what is right and what is wrong. Then, what is true and what is not true, until they have attained the highest position, Nirvana.”
	Danai Chanchaochai CEO – MDK Consultants “The essence of Dhamma is the universal truth. It’s about the facts and realities of life. So people regardless of their religion can really study and apply Dhamma Teaching in their daily life. ‘Buddha’ is a state of the mind. Whenever we are awake, very conscious of the details of the moment, it is at this moment that we can say that we have the Buddha inside. This Buddha state can more simply be called a state of clarity, the state of being awake, the state of being very mindful and conscious, awake from the illusions, from all the external feelings, from all the attachments that we have. It has been written very recently that meditation, as practiced in Buddhism, is a science. So it’s not really religion. It’s beneficial for health, as well as personal productivity, because at the end of the day we equally have the same investment costs, we basically have the same 24 hours. So, we each have the challenge of maximizing these 24 hours to their fullest potential. This can be done by being very mindful of every single moment that we have.” ‘Craving, anger, hatred, discontent, depression…The Buddha’s teaching shows how to tackle them at the root cause. THE MIND’ (Dhamma Moments)
	John Foster American World Traveler (IT Professional) “I like the openness, the freshness, the non-judging, the “Don’t assume that you know the answer” of the mind that uses Buddhist principles, or the Buddha mind. You go through life in business judging and making a lot of moves that would be different if you spent some time cultivating a Buddha mind. Relationships would also improve at work and people would probably make decisions more altruistically. You spend so much time knowing your own knowledge, or thinking that you know the answer. When you go to a meeting, you come with ‘your’ answer, as opposed to being open and listening to what the problems really are. So I think that realizing that you don’t know the answer is a key part.”
	Sirithorn Rutnin Managing Director – Rutnin Eye Hospital “The Buddhist path is the path of developing the inner world, and knowing within yourself what is good and what is bad. Today there is more interest in the West these days in meditation Buddhism, and it is even becoming part of the required curriculum for lawyers. The Buddha said many things that were related to the way the world works. He taught things like the 10 virtues of the King and how people should live in society. If we observe our present king, HRH King Bhumibol is the leading embodiment of these 10 virtues, and the proof of how they work. As individuals, I find it extremely useful to follow the 4 Divine Abidings; Loving Kindness, Compassion, Gladness and Equanimity. These are useful, no matter what your job is. These four basic principles allow people to live together harmoniously, because they are the basis for understanding, forgiving and being considerate to one another.”
	Ajahn Kampol Thongboonnum Paralysed Ex-Competition Swimmer “In order to start achieving world peace, in the macro picture, you have to start from your own self first. We have to make sure that our own family is at peace, and understands each other. Then you can take this and expand it to the bigger picture, to the society level. Active meditation is universal. It is not restricted to any particular religion. So this is not about East or West. People should practice mindfulness, consciousness, allowing them to be more productive in the things that they do. This can actually improve your personal life, your productivity, and minimize mistakes that could happen. For those who are in the suffering state of mind, and need to get out of it, you must first of all have patience. Most of all, you have to accept reality and accept things for how they are. People should ask themselves; “Am I suffering? Do I have a problem? Do I want to get out of it or not?” I guarantee that anyone who has problems, once he or she practices meditation, their problem will be lessened and lessoned.”
	Alan Oliver Researcher, Institute of Research and Development – The World Buddhist University “Buddhists have not been very articulate about translating the teachings into public policy issues. For example, in a world conference, to tell people; “Let’s take some time off from the discussion to just let go of our positions. You need more space in this process, more openness.” People think they’re dealing with the situation that they’re going to solve. No. It’s never solved. It just changes into another situation. So the awareness of impermanence and world policy making, in world peace making, is really important, because it acknowledges that the situation’s always changing. A Buddhist who can articulate and can translate these things into public policy suggestions could be a very influential part of the world’s decision-making. I think the principles are just waiting there for that sort of translation. But it hasn’t been done. It’s not enough for Buddhists just to talk about peace and non-violence. You have to start looking at everyday practical situations, and start interjecting them. Buddhists are in a particularly good position to challenge hidden agendas, looking at reality beyond ego states, looking at the positions, and pointing out their flaws and inaccuracies.”