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By Gokul Gokani March 13. 2015 4:40PM Inner Peace: A man is influenced by the company he keeps Dr. Gokul Gokani “We have passed the age of adventure and advancement for any new thing in our life now,” said a senior citizen sitting in Lithia Park, to his laughing club friend, after a belly-laughter session. His friend didn't agree and said, “Why do you close the door for anything and everything, as life is full of possibilities?” “I don’t see any point to venture to learn or even try such new-era things.” “You must not give up so easily and readily without knowing what it is!” “But I feel it is a waste of our little time left.” “Who knows how much of our journey is left? I would love to learn new positive things till the last!” “If it is not needed and materially not beneficial, then I will not bother to even try.” “Most important things of life have no economic value. What is the market value of friendship, love, happiness, peace, joy, celebrative attitude, singing and dancing? But without these in our healthy life, we will be just machines or monsters!” “I do agree with you in this matter, but any new project takes a toll and gives me frustration. If it does not work and seems to be a failure, it will drain my reserved energy or make me depressed.” “I know what you mean, but we must be available and open to any new challenge or venture. As life always brings what we need at this moment, to grow inwards now sharpens our nervous system and saves us from dementia and such other anomalies like Alzheimer’s. So be brave and be here and now.” “I am not too keen for such stupidity or trivia.” “How do you know that it is trivia, before trying it? You can’t know how to swim, if you never put yourself in water and decide beforehand that swimming is never possible, or it is a waste of time. Then you will never experience the joy of swimming. First and foremost is your intention, your inclination, your willingness for adventure to go into the unknown so far, and then to take a bold step to plunge with positive attitude and total commitment and trust in self! Life gives us a chance time and again, but our timid mind keeps us away from the opportunity for our overall progress, development and surprise!” “What has that to do with our inner peace or inner growth?” “My friend, these steps look ordinary, unlikely to change our ultimate knowledge, serenity and knowing the truth — but don’t be misguided, as a thousand-mile journey starts with one simple and ordinary step, which looks very simple and lackluster, but that is the only way. It is said, "well begun is half done." The first step in the right direction will ultimately lead you to your final destination for sure one day. So don’t hesitate to decide and be ready for the surprises. When you are in such crossroad, don’ follow the mind, but listen to your heart and its silent whisper. Mind is always very noisy loud and never allows you to listen to your heart. So you have to learn to sit in silence and watch the train of thoughts, as if you are watching the movie or TV from inside. That is the only way to reach to yourself one day. Until you separate yourself from your mind and its monkey business and be a witness to your thoughts, you will never come home, which means you will never have a chance to know who you are in reality and will miss the opportunity called life!” Dr. Gokul Gokani has lived in Ashland since 1999. Born in India, he shares the experience of meditation with fellow travelers, is a Reiki master, Ayurveda counselor, healer and spiritual counselor. Currently Dr. Gokani teaches "Stress Management with Relaxation and Meditation" in the SOU OLLI program. For more information, email [email protected] or go to www.aumawakeningcenter.com. Share your Inner Peace The Ashland Daily Tidings invites residents of the Rogue Valley to submit articles on all aspects of inner peace, including intuition, inner guidance, mind training, courage, fearlessness, forgiveness of self or others, honesty, gentleness, humor, open mindedness, friendship, tolerance, trust, faith, kindness, gratitude, overcoming and/or accepting life’s challenges of addictions, loss, grief, pain, awareness of presence and more. Send 600- to 700-word articles to Sally McKirgan, [email protected]. http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20150313/NEWS/150319891 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->