Om dyauh santih
antarikşaň śāntih
prthivi śāntih
apah santih
oşadhayah śāntih
vanaspatayah śāntih
viśve devah säntih
Brahma santih
sarvam śantih
śantireva śāntih
sā mã santiredhi
Om Santih Santih Santih
Om sky is peace.
The atmosphere is peace.
The earth is peace.
The waters are peace.
The plants are peace.
The trees are peace.
All gods are peace.
The creator is peace.
All things are peace.
Even peace is peace.
May that peace be revealed to me.
Om Peace. Peace. Peace.
As the world goes to war, the best thing we can do is to go to peace. For peace is the language of the awakened ones. In the above shanti mantra, you and I and all beings are peace. Everything in nature and all that is manifest is peace. The world has never been the trouble. It is the mind that can be virulent, greedy and bent on power. The trouble starts with the mind that thinks it knows best. There is trouble in the mind of the better God. To be peace, you need only look around you. There, the trees are at peace! The clouds are at peace! The trash bin, the laundry pile, the front door, the back of your hand, the phone beside you, the old family photo, the jet, the drone, the books on your shelf, they are all peace. What’s more, “even peace is peace”!
Now, it is not easy to perceive the whole world as made of peace. But the ancient ones recognized that when you strip away all bias and judgement, tranquil mind is revealed. Just as fire is hot and water is wet, awareness is peaceful. That the unadorned, unconditioned space of awareness is shanti is something you have to experience for yourself in moments of grace-filled silence. Awareness never gets bent out of shape. It is only the mind that gets contorted and distorted. Especially the mind that wages war. So here is your homework: be the peace where you are and I will be peace where I am. And if enough of us “wage peace” in this way, maybe, just maybe, the war making mind will see, at last, its own stupidity.
Photo: Christian Wiediger for Unsplash
