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GLOBAL NEWS
PEACE REQUIRES PRAYER, PATIENCE AND FORGIVENESS
Message by Gurudev Shree Chitrabhanuji
tragedy leads to more distrust and suspicion, we will have ensured the ultimate victory of terrorists. The only answer to distrust and suspicion is understanding. Let us pray for that. Revenge is natural to some but it is inhuman and barbaric. Gandhi rightly warned us, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". We need to avoid blindness and myopia and pray for understanding and illumination. Let us pray for such understanding and for peace that abides it.
Let us pray that we overcome hatred and malice and bring amity and concord into our lives. Let us start every new day cherishing our blessings. We resolve to see good around us, to hope for a bright future. Let us think of peace, let us feel love and let us practise compassion. Let us look forward to each day imagining and contemplating in a positive way of health, happiness and harmony.
We need to rekindle our natural compassion and overcome our insensitivity. One way of doing that is to be alive to the sufferings of our fellow creatures on this planet. Instead of letting violence beget violence, we should let compassion beget compassion. Reverence for life brings vibrations of peace and will lead to a sense of well being in us. That feeling is truly a blessing.
11th September 2001 has been a tragic day not only for America but also for the whole world because such savage violence diminishes all mankind. The death of innocent people is a cause for grief and even for anger for some. But this is truly a time for prayer. We often pray for our selfish and greedy needs. But such prayers are never fulfilled because our greed tends to be endless and satisfaction always eludes us. True prayers are always selfless in essence, and it is time for such prayers at this moment.
We need to pray first and foremost for the peace and comfort of those who are bereaved and overcome by loss. But we also need to pray for calm and tranquillity within. It is such calm that can bring clarity and take us beyond our present confusion. We need clarity if we are to go beyond numbness, shock and even senseless anger that tempts us to revenge and retribution.
We need prayer. Prayer brings introspection. We need to introspect over the violence that begets violence. How do we break the senseless cycle of destruction that we are caught in? Are we capable of restraint? Can we check the triumphalist rhetoric that satisfies our ego and love of power? We need to reflect, and do so deeply, on the causes that provoke such anger and lead to such unspeakable tragedy. Have we of the civilised world fuelled the hatred that has caused such catastrophes? Is resentment bred by insensitivity and thoughtlessness? Can we only demonise some "Other"? Are the demons of our own making? If so, we need to confront the demons within and conquer them. Only such self-conquest can make for abiding peace.
America has held the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as sacred. The events of 11 September represent an attack on these rights. The best guarantee of these rights would be to ensure them globally. We need to pray so that we remain sensitive to Universal Aspirations. It is those who feel anger over denial and discrimination who express themselves with such wanton acts. Let us then pray that we can feel the suffering of the helpless and the poor. Let us pray for the blessing of the less blessed. If this
On 11 September the whole world witnessed a tragedy. If Mahavir were alive, how would he have reacted to all this? I believe, "Kshma" (forgive) would be his first response. He detested violence of any kind, for any purpose. It does not matter who is right - violence is always wrong. He would certainly not say revenge, as President Bush did in the very first hours after the attack. It is easy to react in these circumstances, but what is required is calmness and careful thinking prior to action. The greater the calamity, the greater the patience that is required in our response. Forgiveness and self-renewal are the only lasting solutions to violence.
Kshma would lead us to enquire as to what it was that motivated such horrific violence. Was there a deep anger and frustration among some people? If so, why? As a society, we need to minimise violence and maximise mutual support and understanding. Our focus should always be on actions and values which last, not on temporary motives and personal ego. The Jain tradition recognises the inevitability of death for all living beings and shows us the path to
Jain Spirit . December 2001 - February 2002
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