Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Today’s wars began with fear and ignorance. But the way to peace runs through awakened consciousness and our shared humanity.
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The world is in the midst of two deadly wars. Russia and the United States are facing strong adversaries. The war between Russia and Ukraine began with Russia’s fear of NATO expansion. The war between the United States and Iran arose from the United States’ fear of nuclear proliferation by Iran.
Both wars began with fear. The leaders who started these wars feared that their adversaries would jeopardize their safety in the future. But in truth, the feared future threat had not yet materialized when the decisions for war were made. Their fear of imminent danger was enacted upon the stage of their stressed minds! It was their fear that brought them not only to the brink of war but into the arena of the battlefield itself. Since then, these nations have found it impossible to extricate themselves from the raging fires of the conflict.
Both wars started with the thought that they would end almost immediately after they began. Unfortunately, this has not happened, nor is it likely to happen in the foreseeable future!
Violence always begets violence. The result of mass killing never leads to a positive reaction from the laws of nature governing the universe. He who slays will also be slain. This is the inevitable outcome. This is the world situation we are facing today.
The sacrifice of human life is no longer a high concern in this landscape colored by anger, fear, hatred and revenge. Human values have been overlooked. The humanitarian crisis looms large on the horizon of life. We have been condemned to witness nations plummeting into an abyss of self-immolation. What are we to do?
From Ignorance to Awareness
We can only seek a passageway out of the suffocating prison of ignorance into the light of a new knowledge capable of freeing humanity from the dense darkness of stupidity. The only possible solution must be to open the gateway to a heightened spiritual awareness that can lead the world forward toward harmony, peace and international integration.
In the words of Martin Luther King Jr.:
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
In the words often ascribed to Plato, ignorance is the stem and root of all evil. It is ignorance that has led the “superpowers,” Russia and the United States, into two useless wars.
Their status as superpowers is being compromised. They are being reduced to becoming weaker nations due to their errors in decision-making. The universe is reacting to the sinful actions perpetrated by these wars. The universal law that reaction is always equal to action is being revealed. We are witnessing the result of anger backfiring on the opponents.
One Human Family
The only way to rise to a higher level of understanding is to commit ourselves to extinguishing the flames of animosity between ourselves and our fellow men in all parts of the world. We may look, dress, speak and worship differently, but the same blood runs through all of our veins. We are brothers and sisters in one world family. It’s time to recognize the truth of our shared humanity. There is no other way to stop the rampant bloodshed in the world.
The mirror of time is glaring at us. We must have the courage to face the truth it reveals. We must take recourse to self-awareness.
Awakening Consciousness
Consciousness must be enlivened and awakened from deep within. When society is educated to contact the field of pure consciousness regularly, problems will wither away. Divisions will no longer dominate our perception.
In the words of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi:
“Consciousness in the individual is that area where the totality of life is located.”
The Transcendental Meditation technique has been scientifically documented and conclusively shown to reduce stress, anxiety and hypertension in the individual and improve cognitive functions and brain coherence. The Transcendental Meditation technique is one of the most scientifically validated methods for the development of full human potential in the world.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation, has said:
“Transcendental Meditation opens the awareness to the infinite reservoir of energy, creativity, and intelligence that lies deep within everyone… All problems in life arise from some weakness of mind. All weakness of mind is due to the mind’s ignorance of its own essential nature, which is universal and the source of infinite energy and intelligence… In order to root out any problem of life it is only necessary to be brought out of ignorance, to be brought to knowledge.”
Breaking the Web of Ignorance
The present humanitarian crisis can be overcome by the collective resolve to turn to a higher source of knowledge. The focus must be to eradicate the limiting beliefs that keep the human mind ensnared in the web of ignorance. This web of ignorance separates us from each other. It must be broken open so that humanity can soar into the sky of freedom.
In the words of William Shakespeare:
“Ignorance is the curse of God,Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.”
There is hope that we will ascend to fly forth beyond the confines of ignorance. Already we see a collective turning away from war, a yearning for a new world order based on love, peace and a reawakening of shared values of unity and mutual appreciation. There is a resurgence of a collective inspiration in the heart of humanity to move forward as ONE.
You may also enjoy reading Inner Peace: The Basis of World Peace, by Barbara Ann Briggs.
