We get up after a sound, deep, dreamless Sleep and say, “I had a wonderful sleep after long time. I felt Peace with in.” Here even a dream disturbs our idea of peace. We are going through this every day and yet fail to understand the reason behind our restlessness. Yet another irony of our life unravelled.
We feel happy when we when we are not feeling, when we are not knowing, and when we are not even disturbed by a dream. We feel ourselves at peace when we detach the material world from us. Yet after waking up we confine this wonderful experience of the last night’s sound sleep as a coffee comment and start our busy day looking for peace and enjoyment. We run in to everything material world has to offer in search of this peace, yet return empty handed. We are getting ourselves connected to the material life instead of getting detached from it.
Gautama Buddha was supposed to have gained the ultimate wisdom while at rest under the shade of a banyan tree. No body knows what He understood sitting there. He had searched for the meaning of life everywhere He could search for. He had travelled, asked questions, saw experiences yet was unable to find the peace He was searching for. Then when He decided to allow himself some rest, He was blessed with the wisdom. So information might be wealth, but wealth is never peace.
The next time you wonder where the world is taking you and when you feel restless, remember the sound dreamless sleep you had when you were aware of nothing, not even of your self.
A foot note: Don't quit your job just because you can find peace at rest. Buddha did not stop doing his duties when he found out the secret to peace. Do your duties, let them not touch us. What I was trying to convey is that blessed are those who can live like they are in a sound sleep, untouched by the connections and attachments the material world has in store. This is exactly what Krishna meant when he said, 'karmanye vaadhikarasye maa bhaleshu kadhachanaa' (do your duties with out expecting the results), because expectations cause connections and connections are bonds which bind us from finding the peace within us.
