In these troubled times, humanity is witnessing a growing hunger for peace and human unity. We are realising that our survival depends upon us recognising that we are all one family. So how can we attain peace in the world?
FORGIVE AND FORGET
The first step toward peace is forgiveness. If we are to realise peace in our world, we must learn to forget the past and forgive those who have wronged us. We must replace revenge with forgiveness and compassion. We must cleanse ourselves of anger and hatred and replace them with love and forgiveness.
How can we achieve this? I offer you a solution that has worked through the ages. Compassion, forgiveness and peace can be ours through spirituality.
SPIRITUALITY IS THE WAY
What is spirituality? Spirituality is the recognition that our true self is our soul. It is recognising that our soul is one with God. It is realising that we are not merely our body and mind, but a soul that inhabits the body.
We may think of ourselves as being a body bearing a name or that we are a citizen of a certain country. But spirituality is recognising that behind these outer names and outer labels we are all souls, a part of the one Creator.
As such, we are all members of one family. When we develop this angle of vision, we start breaking down the barriers that separate one human being from another. We start feeling like we are all connected at the level of the soul. When we experience our unity and connectedness, we start caring about each other. We want to help and serve each other. The hungry cries of our neighbour’s children will cause us as much pain as the cries of our own children. We will see the homeless man on the street as our own homeless grandfather, and we will be moved to help him. Our vision will be broadened and we will have compassion for the suffering of all human beings and will want to help them.
AWAKEN TO YOUR TRUE NATURE
How can we develop this noble vision? We can do so by awakening spiritually. We awaken to our spiritual nature through the simple technique of meditation on the inner Light and Sound of God. This process of inversion helps us wash away hatred and replace it with love and peace.
By sitting in silence and directing our attention within, we connect with our soul and are able to tap into the love, peace and bliss that is within us. As we do so, we become loving, kind, peaceful and giving human beings.
Through daily meditation, we come in contact with God and are bathed in divine love and bliss, which cleanses us of the years of habits that caused us to have hatred and anger. In its place, we are imbued with the qualities of love, forgiveness and compassion. In this state of peace and love, we are then able to develop the qualities of forgiveness and compassion for those who have hurt us.
As we become more peaceful ourselves, we begin to radiate peace to all those with whom we come in contact. Peace begins with us.
It all begins with the first step and that is forgiveness. Forgiveness will lead to inner peace, and this inner peace will blossom into outer peace in the world, enriching every heart.
The author is the head of the Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission.