What the World Still Lacks: From Frenzy to Serenity

In a noisy world where everything moves quickly, have you ever wondered, “What is this world lacking?” Some might think it is money, others technology, and some, peace. But from the perspective of Buddhism, the world lacks something very simple yet profoundly important: tranquility.

**The World Forgets Tranquility**

Within each person, two opposing psychological states always exist: agitation and tranquility. Agitation can manifest as compassion, excitement, or even hatred and frenzy. Tranquility is a state of peace, clarity, composure, and wisdom. When witnessing the suffering of others, feeling moved is a good thing. But in the face of hatred, tranquility becomes a precious remedy. Today, the world is imbalanced, leaning heavily towards agitation, making tranquility an increasingly rare luxury.

A mind that is tranquil and serene is the expression of an inner being that is more valuable, elevated, wiser, more composed, and mature.

**The Thirst for Sensation and Its False Gifts**

Because of this lack of stillness, people seek intense sensations—through racing cars, football, or idolizing celebrities—all to fill the emptiness in their souls. Buddhism calls this the aggregate of feeling demanding food in the form of sensations. A single football player can make millions cheer or cry with each kick. A singer with bizarre stage moves can cause the youth to demolish a hotel just for a scrap of clothing. But as youth fades, these pursuits become meaningless and foolish.

Essentially, we seek sensations to fill the voids of our soul, to provide nourishment for the aggregate of feeling, which is the sensory nervous system.

Only those with wisdom and innate goodness, who practice meditative concentration, can recognize a different kind of happiness that this world cannot find. When their minds become serene, they no longer chase after fleeting emotions.

**Meditative Concentration: A Precious Remedy for a Frenzied World**

The Buddha’s teachings say that meditative concentration is the path to achieving absolute tranquility. Whether it is mindfulness of Buddha, observing the breath, or contemplation, all are forms of meditation. Through practice, we learn to focus the mind and let go of delusive thoughts. Gradually, our minds become peaceful and clear. And as each person becomes more serene, the entire world grows a little less frantic.

The meditative concentration of Buddhism is an extremely precious remedy for this frenzied world.

Therefore, a disciple of the Buddha must begin with themselves. Set aside time each day to sit, calm the mind, recite the Buddha’s name, or observe the breath. This is how we replenish the world’s supply of tranquility, and also how we live more deeply and meaningfully.

**The World Also Lacks Fair Adjustment**

Beyond tranquility, the world also lacks fair adjustment. Statistics show that the three hundred richest people on Earth possess wealth equal to that of three billion of the poorest. But the method of adjustment is not to seize assets from the rich to give to the poor, for that would be unjust. Legitimate wealth is the fruit of labor, the sweat of a person.

Adjustment does not mean taking money from the rich to give to the poor. A person’s assets are like their skin, their blood, their very flesh—it cannot be torn away.

The correct way to adjust is to transform cause and effect. The poor lack merit, so helping them is not just about giving money, but creating opportunities for them to learn, work, and generate blessings from merit. The rich need to practice sharing and charity, so they do not cling tightly to wealth and create negative karma. This is the Buddhist way of balance: no one has their just due taken away, but everyone has the opportunity to generate sufficient merit.

**Each Person Is the World’s Healer**

We do not need to change the entire world; we only need to start with ourselves. Let us live more tranquilly, with more compassion, knowing how to share and help the less fortunate. Each small action is a brick that helps fill what the world lacks. Let us maintain a serene mind and a compassionate heart, so that when we close our eyes for the final time, we depart peacefully, with no regrets.

If one lives a life where they toil and busy themselves for the sake of others, then at the moment of death, they will pass away peacefully.

That is the message of the Buddha: true peace never comes from the outside, but from within. And when the inner self is serene, the world will recover its balance.