Peace has been the most elusive thing the modern world has sought in recent times. It has been the Holy Grail of humanity’s quest for perfection. Despite tremendous scientific know-how and technological wonders, we are living in an age that is starved of even a few moments of true peace.
Peace is an essential prerequisite for progress in any society. Today, in the name of peace, nations spend a lot of time and money. Peace-keeping has become a travesty of our times. Military expenditure and the arms trade account for the largest spending in the world. The UN was created after World War II to preserve peace, yet the UN’s entire budget is just a tiny fraction of the world’s military expenditure. That nations can spend so much on their military but contribute so little to the goals of global security, peace and international cooperation is a significant marker for the seriousness of global leaders with regard to peacekeeping.
“The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.” – Erasmus
Peace cannot be established through military power or peace summits. Treaties, charters, agreements and alliances cannot bring peace on earth. Peace is more than just absence of war or conflict.
“The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” – Martin L King Jr.
Peace is a holistic state of living that encompasses the purity, wellbeing and progress of everything in the world, including nature, environment and material things. It is that feeling of total well-being in which a human being lives in harmony with himself, others and the environment.
Ideally, true peace signifies a time or life in which every human being has adequate health, wealth, social rights, cordial relations and work satisfaction. This can happen only when our thoughts, attitudes, emotions and actions are righteous.
“Peace may sound simple–one beautiful word– but it requires everything we have, every quality, every strength, every dream, every high ideal.” – Yehudi Menuhin
Peace cannot dwell where violence prevails. Not just in a gross physical sense. Any thought or feeling that is influenced by vices such as lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego shatters peace. Peace comes where purity dwells. A mind that is free from negative and wasteful emotions will be able to sustain peace.
The precursor of a peaceful society is a clean and positive mind. A peaceful society is a place where there is no violence in the home, relations, society, and work.
When each individual makes a conscious choice guided by Godly wisdom to create peace in his thoughts and actions, the era of lasting peace will become a reality sooner than we think.
The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU) is an international non-governmental organisation, which intends to help individuals re-discover and strengthen their inherent worth by encouraging and facilitating a process of spiritual awakening.
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