Where is the World’s Most Peaceful Place? This Buddhist story provides the answer to your question, which was narrated by Osho in one of his lectures.
Buddhist Story by Osho
Whenever we feel troubled in our lives, we search for a place where we can find peace and relieve our stress. There are many such places that we come across. But when we return to our own place, the same stress, worries, and troubles surround us again.
In such situations, a question arises: Is there a place in the world where we can find eternal joy and peace, a place where all the worldly worries vanish, a place that is the most peaceful place on Earth?
The story revolves around an American psychologist who wanted to learn Vipassana meditation in Burma’s Rangoon, which is known for its largest Vipassana school among Buddhists.
He took a three-week leave and made all the preparations to reach Rangoon.
Even before starting the journey, his mind had built many imaginations. These imaginations grew bigger as he approached the ashram. He started believing that the place he is going to is the most peaceful place in the world, which is why such a large Vipassana ashram has been established there.
In his imagination, the ashram was situated at the foot of a mountain, surrounded by dense trees, where waterfalls were flowing nearby, birds were chirping, and flowers were blooming.
He thought that he would spend these three weeks in bliss. Finally, he escaped from the madness of New York, even if it was just for a few days!
But when his taxi stopped in front of the ashram, he was disappointed. He was in the midst of Rangoon’s bustling fish market. There was noise everywhere, chaos everywhere. Bees were buzzing, dogs were barking, people were trading, women were running, and children were screaming.
He asked, “Is this the place of the ashram?”
He felt like going back immediately. But there was no flight available to return for the next three days. So he thought, “Now that I am here, at least let me have a glimpse of these enlightened masters!” He wondered which enlightened master had established this ashram here. Is this a place to establish an ashram?
When he went inside, he was amazed. It was evening, and two hundred crows were returning to the ashram because the Buddhist monks must have thrown them some grains after their meal. The crows were cawing all around. He exclaimed, “What kind of place is this where even the monks feed the crows?”
Then he noticed a monk wandering around, just like Buddhist monks do while meditating. A monk was sitting peacefully under a tree, absorbed in meditation. The young man stood there for a moment, unable to comprehend anything. It seemed very contradictory. But the faces of those monks were filled with immense peace. It was as if all this chaos was not happening, or it was happening somewhere else, in a different world, where this news doesn’t reach or doesn’t affect them. After seeing the faces of those monks, he thought of staying for three days.
He went to the guru and asked, “What is this situation? Why did you choose this place?”
The guru replied, “Wait, if you ask the same question after three weeks, I will answer you then.”
He waited for three weeks. Initially, he thought of staying for only three days, but in three days, he realized that there was something meaningful in it.
He extended his stay for a week, and gradually, he understood that all this chaos happening in the market, the noise, the trucks passing by, the running cars, the cawing crows, the barking dogs, and buzzing bees, all these things had no significance. He started going deeper within himself. He started going inward, and nothing obstructed him.
By the third week, he felt that if these crows were not here, if these dogs were not here, if this market did not exist, then maybe meditation could not happen. Because of these things, a background was created.
Then he apologized to the guru, saying, “I complained without reason. It was my impatience.”
The guru replied, “I have created this ashram here with great thought. It has been established here so that when there is disturbance, there is no reaction to the disturbance. The reaction becomes empty, and the mind becomes peaceful. And then you find the most peaceful place in the world within yourself.”
Yoga is also meant to make oneself internally blissful and peaceful, even in external turmoil, dissatisfaction, and stress.
Yoga is the control of the modifications of the mind.
The practice of Vipassana meditation is precisely that, where there is no reaction to the obstacle when it arises. The reaction becomes empty, and the mind becomes peaceful. After that, you find the most peaceful place in the world, which is within you, where external disturbances cannot reach.
