Apropos of Inner Peace.

Dear Alok,
I appreciate with gratitude that you thought me capable of answering your query as to how not to let behaviours of others distroy one's inner peace.
A little reflection on the matter gave me a clear hint that I am not capable;better say entitled; to answer your query. It was for the simple reason that I myself have not been able to keep my inner peace undisturbed whenever such occasions arose out of the unpleasant behaviours of others.
Nevertheless, this deficiency in the character of mine has not failed me to reflect on the matter. Rather I felt prompted  to explore the issue for my better understanding and practising the same if possible. As you would appreciate--understanding a thing and practising it are two different things.
Let us try to understand what internal peace may stand to mean. It is that mental set up whose composition refuses to change even if an array of adversities are thrust upon us either by providence or by the vile attempts of others. But in day to day life we find exactly the opposite. We conceal our reactions by controlling our countenance but go on simmering internally. The result is that internal peace is boiling but the pot is covered by the lid called countenance.
Internal peace, I suppose, can be likened to a stone. If the stone is allowed to remain under the sun for long it becomes hot for a hand touching it. And the same stone under the moonlight appears cool upon touch. In either case the stone is the same. Hot or cool is the concern of the experiencer not the stone.
Now the question is-is this internal peace  within the reach of a person whose priority in life revolves around collection, comparison and consumption? I suppose his internal peace is heavily compromised in that case. In other words, the more we long for a thing (i.e. money, power, position, respect etc.) the more we become short on the (internal) peace. We then become easily vulnerable. Even the slightest sleight of others tends to distroy our mental composition.
Thus if we learn not to long for what has been indicated above, it will go a long way to build not only our internal peace but to keep it intact also all the time.
Second thing is expectations. It is, generally speaking, not good. Expectations from others if unfulfilled hurts our heart. Expectations breed disappointments that soon degenerate into anger, resentment and very often revenge. All these are anathema for internal peace.
Thirdly, we should learn to appreciate a maxim- जो प्राप्त है पर्याप्त है; if we wish to be at peace with ourselves. Contentment is happiness. I am sorry to say that I don't believe in the generally held view that contentment militates growth. In fact contentment develops a man on all fronts-economically, socially and above all spiritually. And this growth is stable unlike in the case when it is born out of restlessness.
Therefore,if we assiduously work on these aspects of leading our life and rigoursly train our mind on these fronts the notchy behaviour of others will lose their teeth. It  will not be able to distroy our internal peace.
But is it that easy? Certainly not. Because I am reminded of a Shloka from the Mahabharata- दुखादुद्विजते सर्व:सर्वस्य सुखमीप्सितम(everyone loves pleasure and pain purturbs all).So to remain unaffected by pain and pleasure is a godly quality.  Not to speak of average man even sages and great souls haven't been able to keep themselves above it. Our religious books are full of such stories where we find that even great sages are seen to lose their cool and temper every now and then.
But losing one's cool doesn't necessarily mean that internal peace is lost. Of course it is disturbed but not distroyed ; I suppose.
Nevertheless when all is said and done,it is submitted that evenness of mind which is nothing but internal peace is not impossible to achieve. But it requires yogic perseverance and practice which is not the cup of tea for a person like me.
I hope your query is answered to some extent if not in entirety by my limited knowledge of the field which has no boundaries.
Yours
R.R.Prabhakar.
30.04.2020.