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JAINISM AND ITS POWER
111 change in the angle of vision of the statesmen of the great nations : there is no slackening of the rush for armaments and the cult of destructive power. In short, the war that was fought out has completely failed in its purpose, if it really did aim at securing Peace! Distrust is the prevailing note of our political life to-day, and it is distrust which must sooner or later lead us into war again with our neighbours. And let me say that this distrust is fully justified by experience. For we have learnt the bitter lesson that political promises are grounded not upon conscience and honesty of purpose, but upon mere considerations of national convenience and advantage, so that in their hearts the statesmen are all the time aware that the great treaties which they adorn with their signatures are but seldom anything more than mere scraps of paper ! But shall not peace be secured through such organizations as the League of Nations, or the Brotherhood of Youth and the Fellowship of Reconciliation ? My reply is an emphatic NO! For the Coriner will be in danger of becoming the breeding ground of intrigue, and the others will never have a voice-in any case not an effective voice in the disposal of matters pertaining to peace and war amongst the nations of mer..
I do not want to be a pessimist by any means : but it is no good to shut one's eyes to the fact that our political aspiralions are at war with the science of peace, and will not yield anything except thorns and tears so long as its outlook on life is not completely changed. You need to change the very hearts of men in the first instance, and the change must be universal, neither sporadic nor erratic. A few good men can accomplish noihing in a world that is constituted by the opposite type of people. The outlook on life of the peacelully inclined man is of the average man of our day. To-day you have only the two ideals in the innermost hearts of men, namely, acquisition and fashion! What you want for Peace on the contrary is the passion to live and to let live! In other words, those who aspire to introduce the millennium of PEACE in the world to-day must find out a way to the human heart and to replace therein the existing harmful ideals of acquisition and fashion with the love for the neighbour, both
near and remote, and respect and loving regard for all forms of Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
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