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Who doesn’t want peace? The whole world is concerned about peace. In the context of the individual, it means peace of mind. No one wants mental unrest. Everyone likes to lead a life of peace and tranquillity.
How can this be possible? There can be neither individual nor world peace without first refining your emotions, because it is there that unrest has its roots. One of the ways of refining the inner world is choosing someone adorable, or Ishta.
There is hardly any religion without a concept of the Ishta. Who should be your Ishta, or adored one? Could it be the guru? No, the guru can show the right path, but cannot be Ishta. Could a teacher be Ishta? The teacher can show the way, can teach and impart knowledge, but being a human being, he cannot be Ishta. Even aTirthankar — Jain saint — cannot be an Ishta.
No physical being can be an Ishta. Why? Because an Ishta is nirvikalp — admitting no alternative — and so is free from distinctions. A physical being will say, “Do this, don’t do that.” That will create a dilemma. Why follow someone who obstructs, hinders, stops? The Ishta neither stops nor obstructs, but is simply an ideal. God, or Deva, and guru, or teacher, are recognised as two centres of faith.
The Ishta can only be one who has transcended the world of inner feelings. He is not only beyond the mind, but also beyond emotion, pure and free from love and hate. One who has become arhat or vitraga, becomes our Ishta. We can call him by any name, Atma, Parmatma, whatever.
DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.
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