“Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.” • Alan Watts
Today, we are all interconnected through the internet. Nikola Tesla had already envisioned a time like this — where human minds and lives would be linked across the globe.
We live in an era where anything that happens in any corner of the world can be known instantly, everywhere.
Now more than ever, people are becoming aware of various important causes: Palestinian rights, women’s rights, the rights of Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ+ rights, animal rights, and the global climate crisis.
This is a time when people feel the deep need to express who they are — either to affirm their values, or as a way to rise beyond their current struggles.
There is great potential for empathy, compassion, and mutual understanding.
Yet when we open social media — Facebook, Instagram, and others — we’re overwhelmed by angry, aggressive comments. Posts are often filled with insults, defensiveness, and toxic language. It’s as if these platforms have become a dumping ground for daily frustration and dissatisfaction.
It’s easy to lash out when the other person isn’t physically present. But we forget that our words have power — they influence those who read them, and can wound deeply. In doing so, we’re co-creating a collective mental environment that is dark, polluted, and harmful.
This is a clear sign of how sick global society has become. It reflects how deeply we lack care for our own minds — a lack of mental hygiene.
We often consume information on the internet without reflection. We remain trapped in a shallow understanding of things, reacting defensively when faced with alternative views. We believe what we see online without critical thought. And when our beliefs are challenged, we panic — because it threatens our identity. We become reactive, fearful, and aggressive. This too is a symptom of poor mental hygiene.
We put so much care into our bodies and outward appearance, but forget to take care of our minds.
Mental hygiene begins with honest self-reflection. It means learning to analyze our thoughts, our emotional reactions, and how we interact with others — with clarity and care.
Peace starts from here. From within…
The Inner Conflict Behind Our Social Reality
We have a great potential as human beings — and this is especially true today.
Because nowadays, more and more people — the majority, in fact — are naturally inclined to stand up for justice. We feel a deep sensitivity toward the rights of others, because deep down, most of us have an instinct to stand up against injustice, to respect life in all its forms, and to honor diversity.
This shows we are naturally inclined toward depth, toward compassion.
But due to a lack of inner tools, education, or guidance, we often stay on the surface. And this tension — between our deep potential and the shallowness we’re stuck in — creates an inner conflict.
It’s a conflict we often don’t recognize within ourselves.
So, unable to face it inwardly, we project it outward — and one of the easiest places to do that is on social media.
We attack, judge, and insult others not because they are the real enemy, but because we are uncomfortable with our own unresolved pain.
That’s why I want to encourage a more inward approach in our daily lives — not as a spiritual trend or moral stance, but as a necessity, just like caring for our body and physical health.
Because without taking care of our mind, even our physical well-being cannot be truly protected.
And more importantly: the peace we wish for others — for the Palestinian people, for the planet, for animals, for all beings — cannot be fully realized in the world if we are creating the opposite within ourselves, day after day, through our thoughts, actions, and online behavior.
There are people who have taken their own lives because of the cruelty of a single comment on social media.
We often don’t realize the weight of our words — how much damage a single sentence can cause when it’s thrown out carelessly, filled with our own frustration and pain.
We are creating a reality — not just for others, but for ourselves. A reality that reflects our inner imbalance.
And so everything we try to face — personally and collectively — cannot be overcome with stability, because we ourselves are undermining that balance from within.
We live in a world society where the sense of humility is lost, where arrogance and pride are confused with dignity . Humility is the base of all qualities, is the door for true understanding, is the door for self acceptance.
Sometimes we are so proud of what we “know.”
The wise ones spend a lot of time trying to understand, and uncertainty becomes their comfort zone — even their strength.
It’s something to remind us that whatever we know doesn’t really come from ourselves.
Most of the time, we learn from what others teach us — and then we make that knowledge feel like it’s our own.
May Wisdom prevail in the world, so that anyone can find themselves, their true nature. May Arya Manjsuhri in his multitude of names, help us to dispel the darkness in our mind.
Peace in the world begins with inner peace. Mental care is not optional — it is essential.
Manjushri spoke to the Elves 