War and Peace

After witnessing the total destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, God decided to have a teleconference with America, Russia and England who had emerged as the most powerful nations on earth. First He asked Russia what they want so as to stop the recurrence of another war. Russia replied, “Being communist, we don’t believe in You. However, if you are as powerful as claimed by your believers then please annihilate America from the Earth. Thereafter there will be peace on earth.” Disappointed with the Russian answer, God turned to America and repeated His question. America said, “We believe in Your power. If you really wish to see peace on earth, please wipe-out the name of Russia from the map of the earth.” By now God was thoroughly disgusted. With flickering hope of peace, God now turned to England and posed the same question. England most humbly replied, “We don’t have any wish of ours. Just fulfill the wishes of both America and Russia.”

This is surely a joke. But, the message is real. We are told that a ‘war’ is being fought to bring ‘peace’. But, each war leads to yet another war somewhere else. Manufacturing arms and ammunitions is perhaps the biggest industry in the world. What would happen to this industry without wars? What is it that drives humans to go into wars? We seem to have forgotten the meaning of co-existence. This is perhaps because we are confused on the real meaning of ‘winning’. Every outward desire to win is a sign of some defeat within. Greater the urge to conquer the world, emptier the person is from within. However, the fact remains that no amount of external conquests can fill the void within. Hence, all efforts ought to be directed inward. We must fight fiercest war within with our own weaknesses, negative tendencies and wrong ideas.

Recently, while visiting a village fare in India, I chanced into a small gathering where a young poet was reciting his fresh poetry. One couplet struck a deep chord in me. Roughly translated, it means, “No one is eager to tread the path of righteousness. But everyone is ready to fight in the name of God.”

Let’s welcome the New Year and the New Decade with a resolve to give peace a genuine chance.

Saving the Earth

The recently concluded Copenhagen summit may not have met with all the expectations, but it has ignited the minds of all in thinking about the Earth. The Hollywood movie “2012” graphically presented the vision of total destruction, if and when it happens. Whether or not every one of us is responsible for bringing such devastating effect on the earth, each one of us is going to be affected. Hence, each one of us carries responsibility of saving the earth.

It has now been established that our rampant use of the limited natural resources is the major cause of such dreadful future of the earth. Our lives today are controlled by a variety of gadgets, such as cars, computers, iPhones, Blackberries, Nanos, etc. Further, we change them faster than our clothes. Production and disposal of these gadgets add much more green-house gas and carbon to the atmosphere than while we simply use them. Therefore, the longer we use a gadget; the cleaner will be our environment.

I remember from my childhood in 1960’s when people used to buy a product with an eye on its longevity, besides its fitness-for-use. It used to be a matter of pride to keep using a product for a long time, often attached with some sentimental values. Those who could afford foreign stuff almost always preferred ‘Made in Germany’ over other makes mainly because of their longevity. Then, Japan entered the market subtly through the toy industry offering cheap and attractive toys which didn’t last long. Soon this trend covered other products. Recently while discussing this topic, a colleague coined the phrase “planned and perceived obsolescence”. In the last two decades or so, manufacturers have started planning fast obsolescence in the design of their products. Simultaneously, clever marketing has created a perception of quick obsolescence in the minds of consumers. Consequently, the consumers, especially the younger lot, cannot think of using the same product beyond a short time period.

We need to question this trend of fast disposable products – especially those whose production and disposal harms the environment. We need to look into our ‘needs’ more than our ‘greeds’. Mahatma Gandhi has rightly said, “Earth has plenty to satisfy everyone’s needs. But it cannot fulfil the greeds of even a few.”

No Idea

We are what our ideas are. We form a variety of ideas through our studies and interactions with others in the society. Ideas are like the lens through which we see the entire world. Indeed, we perpetually live through our ideas. When these ideas are in line with the ‘truth’, we experience ‘happiness’. When they are opposed to the truth, we experience ‘stress’. But, can they help us see the truth or, more precisely, experience the truth?

When you come across a thing or a situation which is completely unknown, you become dumbfounded. You have no idea about it. Hence, you examine it from all angles up to a point where you feel oneness with it. This is the state of experiencing the truth. However, someone comes along and explains you about it or your mind starts correlating with the past experiences. No sooner an idea is formed; you lose the intimate proximity with that object or situation. Now you do not see the object ‘as it is’.

Truth can never be captured by any idea. Even the most brilliant idea can only describe some aspects of the truth, but not the truth itself in its entirety. When you start believing your idea to be the truth, you deny yourself the chance of experiencing the truth. Idea, thus, becomes a barrier to the truth.

If we wish to live a life full of truthful experiences, then we must approach every moment with a fresh mind, devoid of any idea. We must not carry any mental baggage. We must die every moment to the past. Every moment carries immense possibilities that can only be seen when we are fully present in that moment. This does not mean all ideas are useless. We need appropriate ideas to conduct ourselves in the world with each other. However, we must not believe them to be cast in stone. Otherwise, we run the risk of turning ourselves into fanatics. We must remain open to all new possibilities in every moment.

The best idea for living a blissful life is to have No Idea or Is it so???

Education is the Key

Recently, Paul Salem delivered a potent message through an article, “War against Extremism” in a local newspaper.  His concluding sentence says it all, “The struggle for the future of the Arab and Muslim worlds that is being fought now will be won or lost not on the battlefield, but in the classroom.” To know that “Taleban” means “students” was yet another revelation for me. The question is: students of what? Love or hatred? Also, why only young men (or boys) are recruited by these extremist organisations?

Indeed, family and school are the nurseries for young minds. What they learn and imbibe in these places would shape their’s and that of world’s destiny as they grow. Utmost care and caution is needed in bringing up children and making them true inheritors of our progress. In this context, it is counter-productive to lower guards in educating and employing young ones. Knife gains its sharpness only when rubbed against rough surface. Gold becomes more valuable only after burning in intense fire. Similarly, youngsters would shine only against appropriate benchmarks both in schools and at work. Messing with high benchmarks of learning and working is, indeed, spoiling their future and increasing ‘educational poverty’.

Practicing Ho’oponopono

Ever since I came across this Hawaiian technique of healing I have been reading about it and implementing in day-to-day living. Following is a summary of my understanding so far:

We do not live in the same world. Each one of us lives in his/her own world projected on one’s own consciousness through his/her sense organs based on his/her own memories, thoughts, values, desires, expectations, aspirations, prejudices, etc. Consequently, the world that I perceive includes everyone and everything that I experience in my own consciousness. Indeed, they are my own making. Hence, if I am experiencing a painful situation then something within me has caused it to happen as it is confined to my own consciousness. It could be a negative thought or a selfish desire or hatred towards specific individual or unrealistic expectation, etc. Sometime I may feel pain just watching or meeting another ailing or suffering person. This may be due to my association of this person’s suffering with some deep-rooted childhood fear from my own memory. Thus, every experience has its root cause within me. Therefore, I must take remedial action also within myself to relieve the pain.

This is where Ho’oponopono comes handy. Whenever I feel pain or agitation in any situation, I pause and reflect. Keeping in mind the above explanation, I silently start asking divinity to forgive my wrongdoings of the past, if any (by repetitively saying, “I am sorry. Please forgive me.”). I also thank divinity for cleaning my subconscious mind and blessing me with all that I already enjoy (by repetitively saying, “I love you. Thank You.”). Such silent act of repentance and gratitude miraculously calms the mind and reduces the pain. In my short period of practicing Ho’oponopono, I have often found myself keeping my cool in otherwise stressful situations and even resolving the problem through some innovative means that earlier eluded my attention. I wish to continue on this royal path of internal cleaning.

The mind of a terrorist

After the last year's attacks on Mumbai, there was anger in the air. I too was angry. Watching and listening to endless debates and discussions, led me to reflect on the root cause of the problem and the way forward.

Certain questions arose in my mind: Who is a terrorist? Was he not an innocent child when born? What turned him into a terrorist? Could mere counter-killing of terrorists eliminate terrorism? Wouldn’t this only be a symptomatic relief? Has any country ever benefited in the long run from supporting terrorism? Isn’t terrorism like the fire that ultimately burns the very hand providing the fuel? I believe answers to such questions could help us in directing the vast energy otherwise expressed in form of anger.

I wonder what was going through the minds of the terrorists while shooting mercilessly. Media reports say that there was no remorse on their faces while killing innocent people. They were more like robots programmed to perform a particular action. Who was responsible for making such robots?

I believe the answer lies in their upbringing. Parents, teachers and the society are all responsible in some ways. If they were taught the true essence of religion and human values in their childhood, no one could have brainwashed them into perpetrating violence against innocents in the name of religion.

While targeting and eliminating terrorist camps would provide short-term relief, the long-term solution can come from addressing the more fundamental issues related to the environment in which an innocent child turns into a terrorist. Becoming a fine human being is not accidental. It is hard work and the collective responsibility of the entire society.

Regaining Barakat

Some time back, while discussing about the new US President-elect, Barack Obama, a UAE national colleague explained that Barack is derived from the Arabic word barakat (barkat in Hindi/Urdu). In the absence of an exact equivalent word in English, he went on to explain its meaning to an Englishman — one man earns less and lives happily with his large family without any anxiety or depression. Another man earns more and lives with his small family in perpetual stress and depression. There is barakat’ in the first man’s earning.

We work ourselves into a depression when we let unimportant things overwhelm us. We lose, as it were, barakat’ from our earnings. Words like contentedness’ patience’ and tolerance are not only meant for poor people who don’t seem to have other alternatives. They are also precious for all mankind. Our essential needs are very few. However, our greed knows no limits. Mahatma Gandhi rightly said that there is plenty in the world to fulfil everyone’s needs, but not enough to fulfil even one person’s greed.

The present global financial crisis has amply demonstrated this. Greed of a few powerful entities has robbed the world of its peace. The famous historian Will Durant said, “Liberty is the child of Order and mother of Chaos.” An order will surely be created out of the current financial anarchy through implementation of stringent rules and regulations by different countries. This will give a temporary sense of liberation. However, greed would once again take the extreme form of liberty and lead the world to yet another chaos, perhaps with greater intensity. This has happened in the past and will happen in future, unless we learn to manage our greed. Let’s hope Barack Obama will live up to his name and bring barakat to society at large.