Today, literally every government in the world makes constant and hard efforts to resolve conflicts, restore peace, settle disputes, and end militaristic confrontations, and so on. But we find that despite the best efforts by the people in power, we are no closer to our goal. Why is it so?
There is no doubt that every sensible person wishes that these conflicts, which are the enemies of humanity and which recur with more or less vigor after lying dormant for a while, could be ended somehow. In other words, everyone wants harmony and amity to prevail at all strata of society and for all times and in all ways. But unfortunately, we are passing through such a long and dark tunnel that we are yet unable to see the light at the other end.
Perhaps one of the main reasons for our failure is that we try to end these various kinds of conflicts separately. In other words, we make separate efforts to have harmony in each sphere, thinking that harmony in all these would, ultimately, bring peace to society. But we fail to realise that such piecemeal efforts will not serve any purpose because, before we have eradicated the causes of conflicts in one sphere, they would reappear in an aggravated form in another sphere. And before we have brought the trouble under control in the other sphere, conflict would have appeared again in the first sphere that had become comparatively free for a while from the troubles. Surprisingly, this would keep going on and on, driving us crazy and out of our minds. So, how do we have harmony in all the spheres and for all times?
A thorough and deep analysis of the nature of the aforementioned conflicts would lead us to the discovery of the truth that the source of all these conflicts is the human psyche. In other words, we ourselves are the source and generators of these conflicts. After all, political, economic, religious, and other matters are the various aspects of the human personality, aren’t they? These are the manifestations of various human interests. So, it is disharmony at this source that causes various kinds of disharmony.
In that case, how can disharmony in various spheres be eliminated unless its source is plugged and the leakage at that point is stopped? Hence, if there is a conflict between man’s mind and intellect, or man’s emotions and intellect, or between sanskaras and intellect, or even between intellect and intellect, then this is bound to find its manifestation in various forms, like political, economic, and religious conflicts.
It is, therefore, necessary that the inner conflict within human beings is first stopped to achieve inner harmony. In this context, it is essential to recognise that inner harmony is possible only through spiritual wisdom, meditation, and spiritual values.
The values that bring and sustain harmony in our relationships of all kinds and at all levels are: love, justice, fair play, humility, cooperation, and honesty. Remember! Our relationships at the personal, communal, racial, ethnic, or international level cannot be harmonious unless we internalise these values through spiritual knowledge, the practice of positive thinking, silence, good behaviour, and meditation. So, let us join hands to bring universal stability through inner stability, thereby creating a harmonious environment to live in.
(Writer is a spiritual educator & popular columnist for publications across India, Nepal & UK. Till Date 8500+ Published Columns have been written by Him)