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About a decade ago, in one of GuruMaa’s pravachans in NY, She predicted a World War 3 between 2001 and 2004, that the trouble will originate from central Asia/mid-east Asia, and that religion will be the root-cause of this conflict. In fact, She has been saying this since 1973. She advised us to ensure that we have enough savings in India, and are prepared to go back to our homeland, if necessary, not as refugees, but with some investments to lean on. She said that the US would be severely impacted. I remember this vividly, because I was very upset about these predictions. I still believe that the ‘believers’ in peace will outnumber the ‘non-believers,’ and truth will ultimately prevail. For once, I wanted GuruMaa to be wrong.
On 9/11, I was in HK on the phone with our HQ staff in the World Financial Center, next to the World Trade Center. The first plane hit the WTC. We were interrupted a little bit, but the call continued for a few more minutes. Our call ended soon, and I found out later that our HQ colleagues evacuated safely, but I rushed to the Internet and TV. Just like everyone else in the world, I was watching with total disbelief. It was surreal. My thoughts soon wandered to GuruMaa’s Pravachan. Was this the beginning?
I called GuruMaa later in a very depressed mood. She reminded me of Her predictions, but also gave me courage. She said that such events happen so that humankind is reminded once again of Him, but that He will re-appear when necessary in the fight of good over evil. All the re-incarnations have happened in the quest of defeating the evil powers, when they become too powerful.
As I write this article in early-December, I look back on 2001 with amazement, and am deeply worried about the future. What kind of world are we going to leave behind for our children? How can we stop this madness?
As we ask these questions, all the obvious solutions come up. How can we…Empower the UN to be a more proactive catalyst for peace? Find a permanent solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Permanently expand and keep the Global Alliance against terrorism, and make it a goal for the UN? Stop all sales of destructive arms by all governments and private arms manufacturers? Stop the production of all nuclear, chemical and biological arms? And on and on. But none of these seem to be within our control or get to the root cause of the issues.
After mindless debates, I come back to the question: what action items, which are still within our abilities, can we take? Here are some examples:
Be positive and bold. There is nothing to fear but fear. Try and lead a normal life. Enjoy every moment of your life as a blessing from God. Thank Him for all the good things in life. Be tolerant, and if you have children, raise them to be tolerant. Tolerance for all other races, creeds, religions, languages, art, culture etc. This world would be incomplete and boring without the diversity in everything around us. Let us learn to respect, tolerate, enjoy and even celebrate the diversity. In HK, I have an Australian family of Jewish heritage as my neighbors. We shared the significance of Deepawali with them, and explained the meaning of the Swastika from an iconographic perspective. They really appreciated it, and were fine when we were drawing these symbols at our entrance during the Deepawali celebrations. We also requested them to invite our daughter to their house so that she can learn about the upcoming Hannukah festival. In Mumbai, I grew up celebrating Christmas every year and I always looked forward to Santa. We are doing the same for our daughter. We have a Christmas tree in our house.
Our GuruMaa, and many religious leaders have been imploring us to live our lives with cooperation and tolerance. We should stop living in a separate, divided way that our ego-centric or self-centered living has created in this generation.
Pray for world peace! As I have written in earlier editorials, prayers work! Can you imagine, the power of 3 billion prayers for peace, every day! Pledge some of your personal time for peace efforts or any selfless activity. This selflessness disease needs to be spread around the world. You can go to www.pledgepeace.org and pledge your time, and begin the healing process. These peacemaking activities could be related to prayer, acts of charity, forgiveness, personal transformation, outreach etc. The Endowment Fund for Permanent World Peace, created by His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, has another innovative idea. This group espouses raising the consciousness of the world by creating an indomitable strength of harmony and positivity. They suggest a centralized program, leveraging 40,000 Vedic Pandits in India or decentralized local programs, where a ‘period’ of peace is introduced in all schools throughout the world.
These events also bring me back to Gandhiji’s teachings. An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind, he had said. According to Gandhiji, the source of violence are the seven social sins:
• Politics without principles
• Wealth without work
• Commerce without morality
• Education without character
• Pleasure without conscience
• Science without humanity
• Worship without sacrifice
Salvation lies in changing the self before we attempt to change the society. One at a time...let us pledge to take these first few steps to change ourselves.
Footnote:
It is ironic that we are celebrating the 100 years of Nobel Peace Prize, the world’s most prestigious prize awarded for the preservation of peace! When Alfred Nobel died in Dec, 1896, he had left a will, according to which most of his wealth was to be used for five prizes, including one for peace. The prize for peace was to be awarded to the person who ‘shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding of peace congresses.” Mahatma Gandhi, the strongest symbol of non-violence in the 20th century was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and 1948. Can the readers tell us if and when was our Father of the Nation awarded this prize?
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