Creating the perfect Symphony

“We often use the expression, “strike a chord in one’s heart.” The heart is like an instrument. It is the richness of the heart that determines the richness of our life experiences. Given the same circumstances, a person with a single-stringed heart might only produce and experience a monotonous music of life, while a person with a hundred-stringed heart can create and enjoy an immensely rich and deep symphony of life.” – Dr. Daisaku Ikeda

I was moved by the truth in these lines and began to enjoy my life that much more once I focused on creating the ‘hundred-stringed heart’. As a result, I am richer with a huge circle of friends I have been able to strike a chord with. We often wait for another to strike a chord in our heart. While it is impossible to create the symphony all alone, it isn’t required to wait for another to initiate it either. Pull the right chords within your heart and hear the music reverberate out into the universe. That will in turn attract what will eventually lead to the perfect symphony in your life. It boils down to the strength of the signals you send out into the universe. The greater and richer they are, the greater the frequency returned.

It is only when we focus on cultivating the inner richness of our heart that life becomes truly purposeful and full of joy. There is newness to living life this way. I say this because ‘focus on the self’ gives us a refreshing perspective to address troublesome situations. Blame and anger directed at the outside world is futile at the end of the day. It doesn’t change anything.

Focus on self improvement on the other hand is the surest path to happiness. As we build the treasures of the heart, turning anger to compassion, hatred to love and fear into courage…these very treasures become the foundation for leading a life full of rich experiences. And these are the very virtues that help us strike the perfect chord. Fine tune your heart and mind to do that and enjoy the ripple effect – a richer life experience enjoyed with an increased circle of friends; because interaction with others is what creates the perfect symphony.

From Inner Peace to World Peace

(The title of this blog is borrowed from Mr. Kawada’s lecture series for want of being able to come up with a more appropriate one.)

“To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.” - Confucius

More than ever the human desire is turning towards peace and happiness and harmonious coexistence with fellow humans. And these are some of the current solutions floating in the minds of people to achieve everlasting peace - Hang Ajmal Kasabs and Afzal Gurus, Gun Down all the terrorists living on the face of the earth; bomb the militant outfits springing in different parts of the world. Ban the use of weapons, arms and ammunitions, nuclear bombs. Arrange a dialogue between the nation heads which most often prove futile; Any more ideas that you can come up with?

To my mind none of these mentioned above is a plausible solution to achieving world peace. It is far more complex and deep rooted than these simplistic ones. It requires an ideological change and a fundamental reform in the human heart because that is where the seed of hatred and war originates. Only when we are at peace with ourselves and one another, can we inch closer to the dream of creating a peaceful world. Therefore inner peace is the roadmap to achieving world peace.

To begin with, the whole idea of ‘World Peace’ sounds a distant dream, elusive and unattainable.  So it would be helpful to narrow it down to something more achievable and realistic.  Let’s look at it this way –  world peace begins at home. If each one of us makes efforts to create peace and happiness at home and then extend it to our neighborhoods, through ripple effect we will have many more happy households and soon a happier world.

Even in order to create a peaceful environment at home, we first need to be happy and peaceful within. That inner joy will radiate outward and create an amicable environment. On the contrary, if we ourselves feel gloomy and unhappy within then there is very little that we can do to enliven the environment around us.

It is natural to encounter people in our environment with whom we will have differences of opinion. But it is respect for another human life transcending and rising above any differences that will help us look beyond the differences. We need to base our actions on this fundamental principle of respect for the other person. And yet this simple act of respecting another human life is the most difficult problem before humanity.

And till we have inculcated this as a habit in our daily lives, a peaceful world will remain merely but a wish.