A Serene Mind

This gentle sunrise greeted me a while ago on the way to my morning yoga practice. It was so softly beautiful that I turned the car around, drove down the country road beside the meadow, and stopped. I had to capture the energy of light and mist as best as a photograph could. Its serenity calls me to a nobler way of thinking. These days my mind wants to wander and drift to incredulous frustration, anger, angst, and turmoil. I wonder…does your mind twist the same?

From the outer chaos of the world and the inner foreboding of my spirit I turn to ponder the wisdom of the ages that resides in holy scripture. The words of familiar sages reveal the hallmark of indivisible divinity in Truths repeated across eons and cultures and religions.

Think on these things the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:8: “…Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” (New Kings James translation) Ah..these things. Good things. Gracious and lovely. Rest there in peace.

I also find a clear and direct path to a serene mind in the Yoga Sutras 1:33. It tells of four kinds of people: happy, unhappy, virtuous, and wicked.

With the happy be friendly.

With the unhappy be compassionate.

With the virtuous be delighted.

With the wicked just disregard them.

In my edition of the Yoga Sutras, the commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda offers a bit more guidance.

When we are friendly to happy people their happiness will be reflected on us. Be truly glad for their happiness. It will make you happy, too!

Realize that unhappy people have burdens we cannot begin to know; their unhappiness holds them back. Our compassion has great potential for their good.

With virtuous people find delight because from them we can learn so much.

And when we encounter wicked people (and I put truly stubborn people in this category, too, I seem to find a lot more of them) just disregard them. Let them be. They will not change their minds and if we try to help or offer advice or argue with them it will only be our own peace that is disturbed.

It is lesson number 4 that is the most challenging for me, but it held well recently as I wrote and then deleted a message to a local politician. She is in the realm of the not-virtuous, exhibiting both a lack of integrity and stubborn arrogance as she refused to understand the unethical behavior she exhibited. Disregard for her allows me to keep my equilibrium and peace.

And it is lesson number 4 that I breathe silently when I hear the vitriole in today's media.

Lesson 4: Satchidananda calls it “my guiding light to keep my mind serene always.”

Serene. Always.

 Both the Philippians and Yoga Sutra passages call me to remember that Light is in me, ever with me, always available to light my path with the serene calm of joy and the deep store of eternal wisdom.

May you remember, too.

Original photo by Dorothy Barkley Bryson iPhone14 Pro, February 1, 2025

TO CONNNECT. I would love to hear from you and learn how this piece (or any of my other writings here) resonate with you and your journey to finding your own deepest self, your own Real. While these writings are about my path, my hope is that they shine light for yours. You can email me directly at barkleybryson41@gmail.com or you can also simply subscribe via the home page of this website. May peace and happiness be yours, always.