How do you go about that search?
I have no prescribed formula. The greatest obstacle to that peace is the mind. I have tried to pursue consistently but not continuously ways to silent the mind. Meditation has helped, especially the form which has its origins in Krishnamurti and was carried on by others, including Osho. You sit quietly and become the observer, with no comment or participation. I have found that the mind then settles down on its own. And in that void, resides peace. The challenge of course is to prolong it. So you have to regularly meditate and recharge your batteries.
I don’t do it as regularly as I would like to, because the sterile seductions of the world are infinite.

One thing I would like to add: the defining word for the Hindu way of life is “anand”, joy. Even in terms of spirituality, this is not a negative worldview. So I try to look at the gift of life as the reason for the joy of life. The sheer joy of being alive. There is so much to be grateful for. And as Osho says, “gratitude is the only real form of prayer”.
Here again, the problem is the mind: it mediates that experience of joy with so many other distractions and futile pursuits, that one loses the sense of immediacy of the experience.

What is the role of the divine in your life?
I strongly believe it is a sign of mental conservatism to deny that which you don’t comprehend. That is why I continue to believe. Because there is so much I don’t comprehend. Unlike the revealed religions, as a Hindu I have no definition for the divine. Yet, because of several personal experiences, I do believe that there is a higher power. Merely because I cannot comprehend or define it, does not mean I should reject it. Therefore, I believe and think I will continue to do so.
Also, I am convinced that nothing is random in life. While at some level, life seems to be an accumulation of events permeated by essential futility or no ontological meaning, another part of me believes there is nothing random, and that everything happens because it was destined. I just cannot escape it. My mind says I am elevating my individual mundane ego to an unrealistic level to believe that everything in my life has a preordained pattern; while another part of my mind genuinely believes that even though I cannot comprehend it, nothing happens randomly in life.

... contd.