WHAT IS 'SERENITY'

 

In a recent  class on 'Living without Anger' our Master TGN added a new dimension to the subject by defining "Serenity", the Tamil equivalent of which term is "Santham".

 

The definition which came to us is a continuum of his earlier explanation of "Annoyance" as only an "avataram of Anger". Serenity is that evolved state where the Mind does not allow Anger to arise at all.

 

And indeed, indeed, how many tens of times in the course of our daily life that we slip into situations of Annoyance and Irritation? As we commute to work in our two-wheeler or four-wheeler, do not we flare up in thought against other road-users and the traffic-cops whose demeanour is as harsh as their language? In all such cases the Anger that we experience is futile and it only results in our diastolic blood-pressure rising and building up to lead us to a cardiologist's clinic in due course! Sage Tiruvalluvar says (in Verse 309 of Tirukkural) that if only you train yourself in Serenity you will obtain all that you have thought of:

 

 

 

Does not Jesus the Christ voice the same assurance in His Sermon on the Mount : "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth"?

 

Sages such as Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ and Tiruvalluvar never gave out any upadesam as such — they only offered conditional advice. If you follow it you would be freed from misery, that is all. It is for you to take it or leave it. J.Krishnamurti provides an example: "I can identify misery for you and tell you the means to eradicate the misery. But if you do not fulfil the conditions for ending it, then be prepared for the indefinite continuance of misery, whatever be the gods or gurus or gospels you may believe in!" According to Sant Thiagarajar of Tiruvaiyaru, "Whether you have reined in your senses or whether you are a Vedantin, know that without Serenity you would never have a state of well-being and peace".

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