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India has repeatedly
denounced Pakistan for terrorist attacks in Kashmir.
Yet, the U.S. Congress had offered millions of dollars in aid to
Pakistan. The president of
the United States has declared a war against terrorism.
What, then, does the word terrorism mean?
On hearing the news that the Pentagon was awarding the largest contract
in history- $200 billion- to build military aircraft, I could only ask
myself: “Who is the enemy?” “Why do we require the production of
such sophisticated weapons knowing that any nation’s armed forces can
in no way present a military challenge to those of our country and Great
Britain?” We are fighting
a war against terrorism. We
are supposedly going to exterminate all the terrorists in the world.
Is this what we need more weapons of mass destruction for?
Knowing that 500,000 children have died in Iraq in the past 10 years (as
reported by the United Nations) made me also think: “What about the
future of those that survived?” I
thought about the children in Afghanistan who are now sleeping on the
bare ground without a blanket to cover their bodies.
They had to flee in TERROR from the ceaseless bombing, day and
night, leaving behind all their possessions to seek safety, hoping to be
embraced by humanitarian arms in neighboring countries, only to be
denied entry; being told that the borders were closed and that they
would have to remain in no-man’s land, waiting for either another lost
bomb to tear them into pieces or to die of hunger and despair.
But, some of these children will survive, growing up having
already received their first lesson in terrorism and they will know
exactly what terror feels like. Will
they have the capacity to be loving and tender human beings?
Or will they apply what they have learned and lived?
As war rhetoric increases along with military actions to “eliminate”
terrorists, we would learn much by looking back to history.
Hitler tried to “eliminate” the Jewish people.
He killed millions, but failed. In
Biblical history, King Herod’s fear of displacement by Jesus Christ
led him to order the death of thousands of infants.
He also failed at his objective.
Will we try to emulate these crimes against humanity in order to be able
to “eliminate” terrorism? Violence
did not succeed then and it will not succeed now.
Violence is not the answer.
We should seek the path of peace.
The Afghani children who live through this nightmare may grow up to
think that in order to survive one must have powerful, sophisticated
means of mass destruction. They
will find that this requires much wealth and learn that accumulating
wealth means taking away from others what is rightfully theirs, causing
others undue suffering. They
might also learn about Hiroshima and Nagasaki and think that burning
thousands of innocent civilians alive may be justified for the cause of
peace or for the sake of revenge. They
will see this as one of many examples of the way in which “justice”
has been meted out by the world’s most powerful.
Looking around they will notice the disproportionate difference between
the poorest and the wealthiest. Having
lived a life of poverty and despair, they will understand the
powerlessness of the poor and be reminded of their first lesson in
terrorism when they were denied entry into a safe haven.
Those children may feel inspired by figures such as the Biblical
character Samson who sacrificed his life in order to kill the
Philistines; and they may justify barbaric actions in God’s name.
Or, they may simply become fanatical, seething with anger and
thirsting for revenge, also acting with a distorted sense of justice.
Violence, no matter where it originates or what form it takes, denies
the sacredness of human life.
“Anyone
who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the
darkness.
Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is
nothing in him to make him stumble.
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around
in the darkness; he does not know where he is going because the darkness
has blinded him.
1 John, 9-11
We need to think about how those of us who are Christians can ask for
forgiveness from Our Father when we do not “forgive those who trespass
against us”?
To truly combat terrorism we need to build an army of “freedom
fighters” who will fight not for the freedom to live a wasteful,
materialistic lifestyle, to pollute the environment, to exhaust our
natural resources without thinking of future generations, to create and
stock weapons of mass destruction, to be enslaved in alcoholism or drug
addiction. Real freedom is
to conquer anger, greed, jealousy, hatred, and all other negative
emotions that denigrate our condition as human beings.
We need to replace the present, negative worldwide cloud of anger,
hatred and despair with one of love, understanding and compassion.
Only then will we have “defeated” the terrorists.
Unless abundance is shared amongst all members of the human family;
as long as “justice” is
used to justify self-serving purposes; as long as we cannot see that our
brothers’ weaknesses are a reflection of our own; as long as we export
violence through the media and through our own actions; as long as we
lead a wasteful lifestyle and lack respect for natural resources and the
environment; as long as we have no respect for other cultures and
beliefs and feel we have the right to replace
governments of other nations at our whim; peace will not be
within our reach.
Looking at history again, we can see two examples of the power of
non-violence: Gandhi and Jesus Christ.
Mahatma Gandhi taught that the road of non-violence,
self-sacrifice, integrity, and the exaltation of true human values are
what lead to peace. He liberated his country using the weapon that a
human being should use: non-violence. Gandhi had the courage to face an
empire without employing violence and was triumphant in leading his
country to independence. In
Biblical times, the people of Israel were awaiting a Messiah who would
forcefully and violently liberate them from the oppression of the
Romans. Instead, Jesus
Christ came with a message of love and humility.
He was crucified for spreading his message, and today, his
representative, the Pope, sits on a throne in Roman’s territory.
This is a testimony to the power of love.
Violence
wins temporal battles. Non-violence
wins the war. Our weapons
should be billions of prayers, hours of meditation, effective actions of
moral courage that will elevate our condition as human beings, and
billions of hearts palpitating with love and forgiveness.
Humankind is now facing a challenge that seems to have no solution.
This is an opportunity to demonstrate the merit of human courage.
By putting into practice non-violent actions, this challenge can
be met successfully. The
vow of non-violence supported by ethical disciplines and observances1,
prayer, meditation and other means of developing internal strength offer
the best formula to solve the riddle in which the world is presently
enmeshed.
Research has proven the power of prayer and meditation as effective
means of bringing about change. Some
studies mention that if 1% of the population concentrates on the
practice of meditation, the necessary mental shift will take place.
This, then, is a unique moment in which all peace seekers can
exercise their capacity to act in the service of humanity.
A sequential meditation is being proposed.
More concrete actions such as fasting, individual and collective
practices of self-sacrifice, etc. should follow.
The peace seekers of the world can lead the way to a better and
more enlightened existence.
1 Yamas (non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing,
self-restraint, and non-greediness) and Niyamas (purity,
contentment, austerities, Self-knowledge, and surrender to God).
Sidebar:
A CALL TO ACTION
“Embrace the world with a mantle of love” is the first call for
action to all peace seekers in the world and to those who believe that
Ahimsa, non-violence, is the most powerful weapon for bringing peace.
If each peace seeker joins with friends, family and acquaintances
as part of a global meditation/prayer initiative in their homes,
studios, places of work, or better still out in nature, the energy field
that could be built to envelop the whole planet will be more powerful
than any sophisticated technological destructive device.
In this warfare, peace seekers will use spiritual ammunition.
Courage and self-control will be the battleships and aircraft to
attack violence at its source. We
will use missiles of compassion with warheads loaded with viruses of
tolerance and understanding in the hope they be contagious and touch all
the population. To prove
our fairness, we will explode some of the warheads in our own territory.
To accomplish the holocaust of evil tendencies we will drop the
atomic bomb of love.
What is more encouraging is that these weapons can be built by each
individual in his/her own factory, the heart.
This means each human being is much richer than all the Lockheeds
and Boeings put together with a small investment of time.
Let’s sign a 60 million-person contract (1% of the world’s
population) with the defense department of our souls.
This is what we need to raise the level of consciousness of the
whole 6 billion members of our human family.
Let’s remember the words of the great initiate, Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov
2:
Never forget that the foundation of all strength is unity, harmony.
Remember that you must form one great family in spite of all your
differences of character, tastes, degree of evolution, social or
professional standing, and so on. Leave
all these details to one side, for they are not important.
They have very little to do with your spiritual life.
You must strengthen the conviction in your hearts that, in spite
of all your differences, you all belong together.
You are here to pray, meditate and sing together in order to
awaken consciences throughout the world.
If you do this, you will really and truly be powerful.
The M.K. Gandhi Institute of Non-violence in Memphis, Tennessee will be
one of the pillars of this Call for Action.
We will take a second step in a day of fast on January 30th,
2002 the anniversary of the death of Mahatma Gandhi.
A website has been established to provide information and the different
actions to be taken as they evolve.
It is also the place to enroll in the army of non-violence.
Please visit www.globalcoalitionforpeace.net.
A format to start the meditation session based on Gandhiji’s
multifaith prayers can be printed from this site.
2 Daily Meditations (Prosveta, USA)
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