Lasting Solution for Modern-Day
Conflicts
(continued from page
2 )
The true religious leaders love and even worship the whole of creation,
seeing everything as God-consciousness. They see the unity underlying
all diversity. But, nowadays, many religious leaders misinterpret
the words and experiences of the ancient seers and prophets, and
they exploit weak-minded people.
Religion and spirituality are the key with which we can open our
hearts and see everyone with compassion. But our minds, being blinded
by selfishness, have lost their proper judgment; our vision has
become distorted. And this attitude will only serve to create more
darkness. Using that very same key that is meant to open our hearts,
our indiscriminate mindset locks our hearts shut instead.
There is a story about four men who were on their way to attend
a religious conference and had to spend the night together on an
island. It was a bitter-cold night. Each traveler carried a matchbox
and a small bundle of firewood in his pack, but each one thought
he was the only one who had firewood and matches.
One of them thought, "Judging from the medallion around that
man's neck, I would say he is from some other religion. If I start
a fire, he will also benefit from the warmth. Why should I use my
precious wood to warm him?"
The second man thought, "That person is from the country that
has always fought against us. I wouldn't dream of using my wood
to make him comfortable!"
The third man looked at one of the others and thought, "I
know that fellow. He belongs to a sect that always creates problems
in my religion. I'm not going to waste my wood for his sake!"
The fourth man thought, "That man has a different skin color
and I hate that! There's no way I'm going to use my wood for him!".
In the morning they were all dead.
Similarly, we harbor enmity toward others in the name of religion,
nationality, color, and caste, without showing any compassion toward
our fellow beings.
Modern society is like a person suffering from a severe fever.
As the fever increases, the person utters words that make no sense.
Pointing at a chair on the floor, she may ask, "Why is that
chair flying?" What answer can we give? How can we prove to
her that the chair isn't flying? There's only one way to help her:
we have to give her the necessary medicine to bring down the fever,
and once the fever is reduced, everything will return to normal.
Today, people are suffering from the fever of selfishness, greed,
unrestrained desire, etc.
Religion and spirituality form the path that helps to transform
the anger within us into compassion, our hatred into love, our lustful
thoughts into divine thoughts, and our jealousy into sympathy. Yet,
in our present deluded mental state, most of us do not understand
this.
 Society
is comprised of individuals. It is the conflict in the individual
mind that manifests outwardly as war. When individuals change, society
will automatically change. Just as hatred and vengefulness exist
in the mind, peace and love can also exist in the mind.
To wage wars, we spend billions of dollars and engage countless
people. Think of how much attention and intense effort goes into
that process! If we were to use even a fraction of that money and
effort for the sake of world peace, we could definitely bring about
peace and harmony in this world.
Every country spends huge amounts on building security systems.
Security is indispensable; but the greatest security of all comes
when we imbibe the spiritual principles and live accordingly. We
have forgotten this.
Today the enemies that are attacking us from both within and without
cannot be dealt with just by increasing the power of our weapons.
We can no longer afford to delay the rediscovery and strengthening
of our most powerful weapon, spirituality, which is inherent in
us all.
There are over a billion people in this world suffering from poverty
and starvation. Poverty, in truth, is our greatest enemy. It is
one of the basic reasons why people commit theft and murder, and
why people become terrorists. It is also the reason why people turn
to prostitution. Poverty not only affects the body, but also weakens
the mind. And such minds are then influenced in the name of religion
and injected with the poison of terrorist ideals. Looking at it
this way, Amma feels that 80% of the problems in society would be
resolved if we were to eradicate poverty.
In general, the human race is on a journey without a clear goal.
A driver pulled up to an intersection and asked a pedestrian,
"Could you tell me where this road leads to?"
"Where do you want to go?" asked the pedestrian.
"I don't know," replied the driver.
"Well, then," said the pedestrian, "it obviously
doesn't matter which road you take!"
We shouldn't be like that driver. We need to have a clear goal.
Amma is alarmed to see the direction in which the world is heading.
If, in the future, there is a third world war, let it not be a war
between nations, but a war against our common enemy, poverty!
In today's world, people experience two types of poverty: the poverty
caused by lack of food, clothing, and shelter, and the poverty caused
by lack of love and compassion. Of these two, the second type needs
to be considered first - because, if we have love and compassion
in our hearts, then we will wholeheartedly serve those who suffer
from lack of food, clothing, and shelter.
It is not the era we live in, but compassionate hearts that will
bring about a change in society. And religions should be able to
create more compassionate hearts. This should be the main objective
of religion and spirituality.
In order to protect this world, we have to choose a path by which
we forsake our personal differences and desires. By forgiving and
forgetting, we can try to recreate and give new life to this world.
It is useless to dig up and scrutinize the past; it won't benefit
anyone. We need to abandon the path of vengeance and retaliation,
and impartially evaluate the present world situation. Only then
can we discover the path to true progress.
< Page4>
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