Chanting mantras inspires the body to heal itself, the mind to become calm and the soul to grow strong. Chanting makes room for divine energies. Mantras are vibrations - they unlock hidden centres and help to dissolve the ego; they help us build invisible tools for shaping a better life. We start discovering resources within.

A young farmer, simple and ego-less, was rearing goats. One day a realised soul in ordinary attire visited him. The poor farmer welcomed him with respect without knowing that he was a great guru. Affectionately, he offered goat milk to the visitor. The guru left after some time. His blessings created a great spiritual armour around the farmer, unbeknownst to him.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace in Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Mantra Yoga: Transform Yourself With Mantra Yoga

Mahavira, a great prophet and teacher, systematised the Jain doctrines and embodied them in a comprehensive constitution of the faith. He built the edifice of Jainism by renovation, modification and extension. Most of all, he infused new life and vitality into Arhata tradition.

In his own time, he was referred to in Buddhist literature as "Niggantha Naatputte "and his teachings were described as "Nirgrantha Dharma ", a way of life that found its truth in the universe and not in a single scripture.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace in Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Mahavira: Non-Violent Search For Supreme Truth

Now more than ever, we require those qualities that Mahatma Gandhi so remarkably embodied - qualities which are crystallised in the philosophy of ahimsa or non-violence that he bequeathed to us: Optimism, activism, love for people, and a holistic, embracing vision.

"I remain an optimist," he said, "not because I give evidence that right is going to prosper, but because of my unflinching faith that right must prosper in the end."

For Gandhi, at the deepest level of the human spirit, non-violence is never defeated. Violence, in contrast, inevitably ends in defeat.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace in Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Ahimsa: Rooting for Ahimsa In Troubled Times

Western writers tend to describe silence in negative terms. We grow up with images of "the eerie silence of the night", "the disturbing silence of the graveyard", "the hollow sounds of loneliness".

In the East, silence is synonymous with bliss. Whether one is visiting an isolated temple on a hilltop, or at the samadhi of a saint, one gets a feeling of peace and harmony. Silence is of two types. The external silence that can be easily created in a sound-proof room. It is the other, the internal silence, which is difficult to achieve.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: The Circle of Positive Energy - Silence

It is a truism that we are creatures of habit. Very soon what may have initially been a challenge becomes a routine and predictable affair.

We seem, by and large, to prefer it that way. Every now and then, however, comes a challenge that requires a supreme effort of will to absorb and routinise it - a life-shattering experience is one such instance. You are left with the shards of your life and have the task of rearranging the pieces. Instinctively, you want to recreate the past - but, like Humpty Dumpty, you find that this is an impossible task.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Embarking on an Incredible Journey

I've nursed a deep desire since childhood to see truth, face-to-face. I knew that truth would remain elusive unless I learnt to recognise the true nature of my own self and the world around me. But bookish knowledge did not take me any closer to this goal. Knowledge derived with the help of the senses is not entirely dependable, for our senses can deceive us.

Restless, I read the biographies of Jesus Christ, the Buddha, Ramakrishna, Mirabai, Mahatma Gandhi and others. Inspired, I tried to acquire qualities that could elevate me to a higher position. But it was not easy; I was young and passions and desires had me in their grip.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Eternal Game of Hide-and-Seek

Karmapa comes from the word karma or karmaka, which means activity. The Karmapas are the first to have realised successive reincarnations. This unbroken succession of masters who have preserved and transmitted the instructions of the Karma Kagyu tradition is referred to as the 'Golden Rosary".

Hence in the Kagyu lineage and practice, the oral teachings and the master-disciple relationship are of supreme significance.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: The Tradition of Harmonious Living - Karmapa

The future is unpredictable, so the end is unknown to us. This is the mystery of human life. Ancient wisdom had no hesitation in accepting this truth. But today, we find it difficult to accept.

T S Eliot lamented: "Where is the wisdom, we have lost in knowledge;/ Where is the knowledge, we have lost in information".

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Think Cosmic - Save the World

Who is a good human being? Charles Dickens said people were good and bad. But he couldn"t figure out what made them that way. Unfortunately, Dickens missed - by about 50 years - the revolution in psychology brought about by Sigmund Freud.

Freud believed an individual'spersonality was shaped in his infancy, with later influences having only a negligible impact. However, Freud erred in focusing on natural instincts to the exclusion of social structures.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Goodness, a Lighter State of Being

The word riyaz has its origins in r iyazat, which implies ibadat, bandagi, bhakti or devotion. If riyaz is performed with a spirit of devotion, the exercise becomes ibadat. But while r iyaz is rather mechanically equated with practice or exercise, the all-important difference is one of spirit. Riyaz is to achieve that which has not been achieved so far. For that, the student has to struggle with faith.

In the initial stages one might be less than sure whether one is correct in what one is doing. But that is the struggle! In the absence of faith, one's riyaz will be filled with doubt. Faith is of great importance in r iyaz . Practice with a doubt-ridden mind will achieve little.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Divine Music Springs From the Soul

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who founded the Transcendental Meditation technique, recently said that a great shift is about to take place in the world; a new paradigm is unfolding for faster progress. Maharishi said this great leap of progress for mankind will be a shift from "knowing to Being".

For generations, life has been lived on the level of "knowing" (I know this, I know that). But "Being" is the basis of knowing. The field of Being is infinitely more powerful than the surface level of "knowing". Physics tells us that more subtle levels of nature contain more intelligence, more power (the atomic level is more powerful than the molecular level).

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Knowing to Being - A Paradigm Shift

Suryayog is a dynamic spiritual yoga which brings us in tune with nature and the inner self. We are drawn towards eternal light, from saguna swaroop to nirguna swaroop - from the human to the Supreme.

Suryayog is a meaningful way of life taught by Himalayan Masters and practised by yogis who survive without food and sustenance for days. They draw power from Surya or the Sun, whose vibrant energy transforms and changes the bio-electric powers in all beings, fusing body, prana, mind and soul into a divine experience of cosmic consciousness.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace in Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Suryayog: Surya, The Healer And Energiser

On his release from prison, the great Nelson Mandela said: "Together we live in a global neighbourhood and it is not to the long-term benefit of any if there are islands of wealth in a sea of poverty. We need a globalisation of responsibility as well.

Above all that is the challenge of the new century." Mandela was absolutely right. The evolution of technology down the linear, reductionist path, which defines only that which is physically quantifiable, has jeopardised our eco-system, if not human civilisation.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Greed Is a Threat to Civilisation

Leadership is a powerful construct. A leader is envied for the position and authority he enjoys. He receives adulation and is celebrated as a champion and deliverer. Little wonder, then, a leader is often emulated; even envied. High and powerful positions are fervently sought out for all the promise they hold. And what can be more alluring than the highest post in the land?

Even if Sonia Gandhi'sreasons for abjuring the high post are debatable, the very act of saying 'no"- to the most important and powerful job in the country - is something few would have the courage (of conviction) to carry out, and that too with the composure and determination that Sonia displayed.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Price of Leadership: Emulation and Envy

Does an enlightened individual need to remain caged in the body? Why not get liberated from the physical? For seven days, the Buddha grappled with this dilemma. In the end, he decided that there was nothing personal about enlightenment - the knowledge should be shared with all for the benefit of humankind. He spent the next 50 years doing just that and all those who listened to him benefited greatly.

It is necessary for all of us to discover truth but once we find it, it should be shared freely with others. This will not only provide more insight, but also foster peace and happiness. The desire to share our discoveries with the world is normally fuelled by greed for either fame or money. Very few are selfless enough to share their discoveries freely for common benefit.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Cosmic Consciousness Is Well Within Reach

Yoga is now a universally sought-out medium and spirituality as a subject has become part of the curriculum of leading B-schools in the US. What is the reason for the resurgence of spirituality?

There are three interpretations: One school cites that in the modern era an organisation needs to innovate continuously to survive for which every individual stakeholder in the organisation needs to leverage his creative energy by connecting to God's own creative energy.

The other school feels that the sudden eruption of numerous corporate scandals worldwide is due to the lack of an appropriate value system. Hence the need to incorporate spirituality in the business curriculum apart from outlining the need for an evolution in the field of corporate governance.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Why We Need to Get Connected to God

If one were to explore the philosophical basis of normative ethics to examine where terrorism falls on the moral spectrum, it will become evident that terrorism, sabotage and guerilla tactics are all acts of violence, essentially no different from overt war in the conventional sense.

Terrorist attacks amount to war by stealth, shadowy figures replacing uniformed combatants, attacking innocents to send a message to the real targets who are out of reach.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Conflict Resolution Begins at Home

Even as we prepare to deal with the threat of war and conflict, we need to focus on the equally critical issue of the impact this has on people's hearts and minds. The signal failure of military action to produce a clear prospect for peace has left many feeling suffocated with illusions of powerlessness and dread.

The impasse could be broken through military force or other forms of "hard power". At best, however, such action only responds to the symptoms of conflict. To the extent it plants further seeds of hatred in regions already torn by strife, it deepens and entrenches antagonisms.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Creating a Global Climate for Peace

Technologically we live in a borderless world. In reality, however, we exist in compartments, separated by walls of caste, religion and geography. We acknowledge the information explosion as being a great achievement and take pride in describing ourselves as a knowledge-based society. Snowed under as we are with mounds of information, we are facing a paradox - we find that ignorance levels are growing as well. The rate at which we are accumulating information is not commensurate with the rate at which our awareness is growing.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Peace or Violence, Make Your Choice

Morality is neither an abstraction nor many-complexioned. There cannot be different sets of morality for politicians, business persons and bureaucrats. If such a difference is being accepted by most of us today, it is because we have been indifferent to the progressive deterioration of moral and ethical standards in the social order over the last half century.

Any moral code has to be applicable to all. "I never did, or countenanced, in public life", said Jefferson, "a single act inconsistent with the strictest good faith, having never believed there was one code of morality for a public and another for a private man".

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: The Core Values of Humanity

We seem to be free, to do that which we choose and not that which is chosen for us; but possibly, the freedom may be illusory; in fact, it may be bondage.

We may be bound by predestination, the will of a Supreme Intelligent Power, or blind inexorable Nature, or the necessity of our own previous development.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Of Freedom, Fate And Free Will

What do we generally do when we want to get something done, or want to expel something unnecessary, unnatural or repugnant? We take a vow and feel immensely satisfied in the bargain. But we forget that taking a vow is quite an unintelligent act.

When we vow not to do something, it simply means we have not understood certain underlying truths, or are unaware of the workings of our unconscious. It is an act of suppression that can turn into a strange and poisonous repression as well.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Transcendence Helps Conquer Anger