In order to achieve inward peace we must learn to rely on Hope, Belief and Faith and treat them as our unfailing allies in the war waged outside. We should treat them as our sheet anchor. Let the winds blow furiously and storms and upheavals occur - still we should hold to HBF. The HBF formula has proved its efficacy and usefulness and if applied firmly, judiciously, and diligently will give the same results.

Let us be prepared to lose all but not the treasure of hope. The hope within keeps an individual moving and serves as an incentive to future progress and happiness. Then let hope be the chariot, belief the sword, and faith the armour in the grim and fierce battle of life.

The trifles of life should be ignored as far as possible. They come and go. Why should we give them our attention and time? Let us shake off our depression. Let us shun pessimism and seek refuge in optimism, which can serve as the best pick me up, if rightly applied.

Let the thoughts be noble and sublime. Negative thoughts are the inward enemies. Positive thoughts lead to a positive personality. As we think so we are likely to become. We can be a changed person only when we choose to change our thought pattern. To get rid of negative thoughts is to change our destiny.

It is due to your thinking - what you are. Either you are in harmony or you are at war. Thoughts can make or mar life.

It is your thinking that makes or mars, why see the mud, why not see the stars?

Let the tender and sensitive plant of love grow within, and let it expand so as to cover the entire universe.

Desires should be curtailed. There is no limit to desires. We should not be defeated by the army of desires. Too many desires imply an inferiority complex. Let us desire to have no desire.

When opportunity knocks at the door, open the door and smile. Let the opportunity talk first.


At times hold a Disarmament Conference in your private chamber, to explore ways and means to find the inward peace and to disarm inner tension.

To this conference may be summoned the heart, the mind, intellect, reason, doubt, hope, belief, faith, will, and imagination. I am sure reason and doubt, finding faith participating, will stage a walk out. Reason and doubt are at loggerheads with faith. Will and imagination will compete for supremacy but in the case of conflict it is imagination that emerges triumphant.

The resolution passed at the conference should be like this:-

Resolved that, in the interest of inner harmony and inward peace, diplomatic relations are hereby severed with all those distressing thoughts that keep the mind confused, perplexed and agitated, and thus deprived of inward peace.

As soon as we get a problem we should think that the One who sent the problem will solve it for us. Like the mystics we should treat every difficulty as a gift from the Friend. A gift should cause no worry but should, instead, give pleasure. To get a problem or difficulty implies that our faith is being put to the test. It is dangerous to make an appointment with worry. Let us be bold and say - "I refuse to grant an interview to worry."

Let us accept things as they are. There are two types of persons. One type says:- "What cannot be cured must be endured." The other type says:- "What cannot be endured must be cured." The first dictum implies surrender and the latter, struggle and assertion. The fact is that if we can bear and endure without grudge, we are sure to minimise ninety percent of "the slings and arrows of an outrageous fortune." The remaining ten percent also will lose hold and wither away, like smoke.

By all means let us be concerned, if we will, about the problem or difficulty, but it is not wise to be worried about it. To be concerned is one thing, to be worried is something else. Worry itself is incapable of giving a solution. On the contrary it magnifies the problem.

It is better to solve problems one by one. It is not advisable to mix the problems and be lost in the labyrinth. When problems are united their unity gives them strength. If problems are ignored as long as possible most of them meet a natural death. Let us forget our problems for some time and the problems will forget us.

Prayers offer an effective remedy to shake off despondency, depression and despair and enable us to overcome the problems. Sometimes the solution to a problem comes when we least expect it.

The mystics do not care for the future, for the future will take care of itself. They ignore the past - which is dead. They have learned to live in the present. Tomorrow is a promissory note bearing no signature. Yesterday is a cancelled cheque. Today furnishes us with ready cash. Let us take it and let us waive the rest.

Let us act as a good general in the battle of life, and control our thoughts, our passions and our emotions. The mind need not be a furnace, the body a pyre, nor thoughts the arrows and imagination the bow.

Success and Failure are relative terms. It is better to be indifferent to them. All our so-called problems are our guests. They are not going to stay with us for an indefinite period of time.

Every problem has a solution. With the problem comes the solution. We see the problem but we do not see the solution. As after every autumn comes the spring, so after every hardship comes relief. The problem confronting us is, in fact, a test of our endurance, perseverance, patience and power. To be quite calm and collected is to be undaunted and to overcome the problem.

Calmness of mind attracts success.

For inward peace let us look within. Like happiness it comes from within.

Let us avoid temptations. Adam had to pay heavily for being tempted to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. To be tempted is to have an unstable mind.

Let us accept the inevitable.

Lust, greed, needless arguments etc. should be avoided. It is not wise to expect anything from others. Expectation may bring disappointment and disappointment may cause worry. When the mind is confused it is always better to take refuge in nature, good books and the company of good people.

Be sincere to yourself and to others, and people will be sincere to you.

Learn the technique of being by yourself.

To get higher things, some inconvenience and delay should be borne, and small things have to be renounced. There is a price for everything. Success demands it own price. Pay the price and do not be confused.

Illness is a tax that we have to pay for being healthy. Loss in business means the payment of charity. Unemployment means that it is intended that you should learn to wait and watch. Domestic trouble is a test of endurance, patience, mutual trust and mutual help.

It is better to do one thing at a time. Moderation is good in all things. Let hope and ambition be within limits.

The merging of the individual will with the Divine Will is an occasion for peace.

Self-surrender is the way to be happy.

To think of persons or events we do not like is to be deprived of a cheerful frame of mind - resulting in confusion and tension.

To swim with the waves is not to be drowned in the boisterous sea of life, and thus to reach the shore safely.

In our daily life we exchange pride for power, material acquisitions for happiness, pain for pleasure, doubt for advanced intelligence, greed for greatness, lust for contentment, striving for strength, and suffering for serenity.

Inward peace is the sovereign remedy, enough to make life sovereign, supreme and serene. It is an achievement, but once it is achieved it becomes a gift. No price is too high to get inward peace.


The Writing on the Wall:

To selfishly seek happiness is to deny oneself happiness.
To contribute to the happiness of others is to make oneself happy.


Dr. Zahurul Hassan Sharib, Ajmer, India
First published in 1978
Excerpt from one of a series of lectures written over about 18 years for the Society of Mystics



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