One of the important items that a majority of people do not seem to pay attention to is the place peacefulness has in our lives vis-à-vis the place of happiness. Peacefulness results from understanding, caring and maturing while happiness is usually tagged on to ego-satisfaction. The problem with ego-satisfaction is that it always leads to chasing something that is missing and is rarely linked to ‘count your blessings’ type disposition in life. Thus, unhappiness results, leading to defeatist attitudes and self-incrimination – in short, to a ‘peaceless’ state of mind.
In contrast, discovering how peacefulness comes along is an avenue available for all; it is not dependent on circumstances, success etc. We do not train our children to look in that direction. On the other hand, we train them to conform to the neurosis of the society and to fall into success-worship and the associated rat-race. Working for success is not a wrong thing but success-worship is a different matter. If we can help our children lead a peaceful life, success will come of its own accord and then it will be wholesome; will not lead to megalomania. But that is possible only if we ourselves understand the value of peacefulness as against the conventional approach of chasing ego-satisfaction. When we care for peacefulness, the joy of applying ourselves to various demands of life becomes more important than overemphasizing the reliance on results and the associated satisfaction. That joy is linked to the love with which we handle things and the self-awareness involved in it. It engenders empathy as a concomitant factor and so there would be no “stepping on others’ toes”, as it would happens while chasing ego-satisfaction. That leaves others to be peaceful too!
In the interest of helping our children grow into peaceful human beings, it is imperative that we guide them from childhood to differentiate between caring for peacefulness and chasing happiness that is tied to results. Though this is easier said than done, every inch of movement in that direction is a boon to the child as well as to the society. That way it is possible to bring about a caring humanity and a wonderful world of peace and harmony in which success too will have its rightful place.
