Peace is sought by all, individually as well as collectively. When people talk of peace, they do not just mean the absence of conflict, but a condition in which everyone is free from the fear of violence and there is harmony in society.
But in the world today, conflicts are so common that the mere cessation of hostilities is celebrated as an achievement. In some parts of the world, centuries-old prejudices, grievances, and hatred fuel intermittent conflict and have created such mindsets that people are not even interested in pursuing lasting peace. They are content to ensure that they have the means to deter their enemies and retaliate against their attacks.
On the other hand, there are countries that have not seen a military conflict for centuries. But do their citizens live in peace?
Stress is very much a part of life for people in these countries, as it is with almost everyone today. Accidents, suicides, homicides and other crimes do take place in these countries and their citizens suffer from diseases just as people elsewhere.
Prosperity, political stability and other external factors do not bring peace. Peace can be experienced only when the mind is not disturbed, distracted or influenced in any way by anything, whether good or bad. In such a state, the mind becomes still, and one is able to observe how it works.
Silence enables one to look clearly into the deep recesses of the mind and watch the subtle mechanisms of thought and feeling work. On doing this, one realises that it is vices that rob us of peace. So long as one is under the influence of any vice, one cannot experience peace for long.
Greed, anger, hatred, lust, jealousy, ego, attachment… all pull the mind in various directions, creating desires, distorting our perspective and impairing our judgement. One can become a slave to vices without realising it, until one begins to wonder why one cannot experience lasting peace.
All the ills that plague the world can be traced to one or the other vice, or combinations of them. The constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation states that “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed”.
Not only wars; crime, corruption, inequality, and even diseases begin in our minds.
These evils are the results of thoughts triggered by vices. For example, inequality exists, and is growing every year, because those who have far more wealth than they will ever need are unwilling to share it with the less fortunate. It may be because of greed, selfishness, miserliness, lack of compassion, or callous disregard for fellow humans. None of these reasons is counted as a virtue.
We can experience lasting peace only by freeing ourselves of the influence of vices. For that we have to first know, and remember, who we are. When we identify the self with the body, we see ourselves in terms of our nationality, race, gender, or socio-economic status. We get influenced by these aspects of our life and our thinking and behaviour become skewed. Just as an actor has an identity of his own that is separate from the roles he plays, we have a true, eternal identity that is beyond the labels by which we define ourselves.
We are spiritual beings, or souls, and peace, purity, love and truth are our innate qualities. The soul, in its original state, is pure, peaceful, loving, and truthful. When we keep remembering who we are and the qualities we possess, they begin to emerge from under the influences that had suppressed them. We then begin to experience these virtues and express them in our words and actions. This is how knowledge of the true self changes our life.
But since there are a lot of challenges in the world out there and many things pull the mind in different directions, it is not easy to remain focused on subtle spiritual truths. To acquire the inner strength to resist distractions, we need to connect with a source of power. The biggest such source is the Supreme Soul, the father of all souls. When souls remember Him, they receive His powers, and regular practice of such remembrance, which is called Rajyoga meditation, makes the souls immune to external influences.
Such souls naturally experience and spread peace. When more and more souls do this, peaceful communities are created. This is the basis for establishing a peaceful world order.
B.K. Asha is Director of the Brahma Kumaris’ Om Shanti Retreat Centre in Gurugram, Haryana.
Prosperity, political stability and other external factors do not bring peace. Peace can be experienced only when the mind is not disturbed, distracted or influenced in any way by anything, whether good or bad. In such a state, the mind becomes still, and one is able to observe how it works.