Human values: Peace (love in thought)
'The peace that pervades the heart can never be shaken for any reason; only peace of this kind is worthy of the name.'
'...How do you get Shanti (inner peace)? By knowing that you are the Atma, which has no birth or death, no joy or grief, no up and no down...'
Sathya Sai Baba
Today we have arrived at number four of the five main human values, namely: Peace or Love in thought. (For previous posts on Hum values check @Clara-Andriessen) This is the seventh article I write on the subject of human values and I thought it was time to do a recap of the information in the first article which explains the origins of these human values. AND add some new information about the energy layers in and around our body they correspond with.
Sathya Sai Baba, a Divine incarnation living from 23 November 1926 to 24 April 2011, from the south of India, has extracted five human values from the Veda's ( ancient sacred texts from India). Though there are five, they are all based on Love. They are Love expressed on different levels, which is interesting.
1.Love
2. Truth (Love in speach)
3. Right conduct ( Love in action)
4. Peace (Love in thought)
5. Non-violence (Love in understanding)
The five values of Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non-violence are related to different inner instruments of the body . The value of Truth is expressed through speach or words. The value of righteousness is expressed through the body. This is related to the physical sheath. Peace can be experienced only in the mental plane. For Sathya, Dharma and Shanthi one has to purify the instruments of speach, body and mind. Love comes out of the mental and bliss sheath. Non-violence comes from Bliss sheath. Love (prema) flows as an undercurrent in all the inner instruments and purifies them. So all the five values are having relationship with the five sheaths.
- Dharma comes from Annamaya Kosa (the physical body)
- Prema comes from Praanamaya (ethereal body) and Manomaya Kosa (astral body)
- Shanthi comes from Manomaya Kosa (astral body, emotions and thoughts)
- Sathya comes from Vijnanamaya Kosa (spirit body which holds the higher intelectual capacity of discernment. )
- Ahimsa comes from Anandamaya Kosa (spirit body which is strongly connected to the Atma/Soul/Self)
(Translations of the sanskrit sheath names I have roughly taken from the sheath system Rudolf Steiner has explained in his books. In future posts maybe more about this.)
'[...]Divinity is there in all the sheaths of the body. It is contant Integrated Awareness in different forms in speach, action and feelings.' Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Sathya Sai Baba created educational programs for both adults and children with them, called EHV ( Education in Human Values). Many people all over the world have studied them and benefitted from them.
As I always like to find my own way with things and believe in checking in with my inner compass, I must admit I have never really studied them even though I consider myself a Sai devotee. They somehow seemed to me like outer values that I would have to make myself adapt to, with will power. But when I asked Sai Baba inside 'What shall I write on Steemit, what will benefit people?' He answered: Human values. I was a bit surprised as I didn't have a strong connection with them and I might even have had a little resistance up till then, but maybe the time was ripe now. I felt inspired or at least curious to give them a try.
I was joyfully surprised to find that: Human values are the qualities that are already present within each of us. They come with our human blueprint. The five human values are the essential human traits that need to be remembered and brought in to our daily consciousness so that we can become what we were meant to be: the salt of the earth. Beings that benefit society, rather than harming it. Human values are that which unites us in our apparent diversity as they live in each of us. While I was reading up on them, I found that each value has sub values to give us more substance to the value Peace. To shine light on its many forms of appearance and expression. I also noticed a similarity with the value/needs lists of non-violent communication by Marshall Rosenberg. Non-violent communication is teaching us to become aware of the needs that drive our actions and to own them by becoming aware of them so that in communication we can be more transparant and authentic.
I am not sure how the placement of the human values in the energy bodies will help me exploring the values, but I am learning as we go and will tell you all about it in my reflection post next week. Maybe it could be interesting to try and feel in which field or plane of your being that you are familiar with, you are experiencing peace when you do. Like is it more of a feeling for you or and understanding, or something that has nothing much to do with either, but comes from something eternal, like the rythm of the oceanwaves, but gives a reflection on one of them or both.
Today I am exploring PEACE, the fourth value which is also based on Love. I think these sub values of the basic value PEACE that you can find below can do the same for us as the needs/values lists of Non violent communication do. We can use this list to remember them and to become aware of which sub values lie closest to our heart at this point and we feel inspired to express PEACE with throughout the day. In other words: Which thoughts would you like to promote in your being?
Peace (Love in thought)
- Attention,
- calm,
- concentration,
- contentment,
- dignity,
- discipline,
- endurance,
- focus,
- happiness,
- honesty,
- humility,
- inner silence,
- reflection,
- satisfaction,
- self-acceptance,
- self-confidence,
- self-control,
- self-discipline,
- self-respect,
- understanding,
- care for environment,
- national responsibility
To become reacquainted with the ones we may have lost touch with, we can dedicate our attention to one of these sub values each day and see what it brings up for us and what it may possibly bring out in us! My experience in life is that things will flow better if we give these things first to ourselves. For example when we choose tolerance, we give ourselves the gift of tolerance first and then when we feel the Love flowing in that sub value we can start giving it to others too. In fact I think that will happen all by itself at that point. Are you ready to become reacquainted with the five gems inside of you? I invite you to pick one of these sub values today, the one that attracts you most and see what it does for you and the world around you. If you feel inspired to do so you can pick more values for the other days of this week, I will do so too. At the end of this week I will share my experiences with you that I had with this journey with the sub values of PEACE. It could get very interesting. It actually already is. I will start journeyed with the sub value 'self confidence' today. I would be interested to read about your journey in the comments, if you feel like sharing.
And for more inspiring posts from other passengers on the ecotrain, click on:
Love Clara