Mental Serenity through Athma Vichara – The Soul Search

Life on this planet is fraught with many difficulties.  Amidst all that turbulence, bringing about mental serenity is not easy.  People take recourse to religious and meditative approaches to overcome the difficulties and find peace. These things can surely help but cannot go very far.

The reason why religious practices can help only to a limited extent is that, even though the person is well meaning, his ego takes over at some point to use the religion to the ego's own end and so the causes for mental disturbance are sustained.  That is how a person gets very disturbed, even after many years of practicing the religion, when his or her religion is criticized.  If the ego is not involved, there can be no disturbance.  As long as the ego is in charge, there can be no stability to the mental serenity brought about by the practices.  Self-deception in the form of chasing a shadow becomes inevitable.

So, the question is: Can anything help at all towards bringing about inner serenity without overtly or covertly feeding the ego in the process?  This is an interesting challenge for those who understand the limitations of conventional  religious and meditative practices.  So, they move into an investigative process that can be called Athma Vichara or Soul Search.  Such an approach begins an inward journey of understanding how the mind brings about its own trap – the prison it builds around itself that keeps the ego intact.  Obviously, understanding the prison is necessary before a movement towards freedom can take place.  

 As of now, only a small percentage of human beings recognizes this matter of inner evolution as a precursor to stable mental peace.  Even though of a small minority, those human beings are already aiding the process of planetary transformation towards collective harmony and wholesome life on this planet.  If you feel drawn to this matter, you will also be able, in your own unique way, to bring about mental serenity for you and your family.  In the process, you will augment the planetary transformation.  You may contact me at gopal.tc@gmail.com for mutual discussions.  Please visit the site http://spirituality.yolasite.com for additional information.