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Every year, the United Nations (UN) celebrates September 21 as the International Day of Peace. It was announced exactly 43 years ago as a shared date for the world to create a culture of peace. With evidence of wars and geopolitical tensions across the world, this year's Peace Day holds special significance. On this occasion, let us know the thoughts of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Maharaj…
Peace is not just the absence of conflict and it is not something you can buy in the market or achieve through some lofty policy. It has to be nurtured within you. Peace is your nature.
Peace is needed at three levels. The first level is peace within you; the second level is – peace in our surroundings like our family, friends and workplace; the third level is peace between countries. In fact without personal peace neither peace is possible in our environment nor in the world. Now here peace does not mean that you remain passive. Peace warriors remain active with the desire to stop any wrongdoing. They bring out the wrongdoers and wrongdoers in the society and stand against them. So we all should become peace ambassadors and peace warriors.
Unless every member of our global family finds peace, our peace is incomplete. The challenge before us is to reach out to those people, countries and parts of the world where there is no peace; where there is conflict. It is our responsibility to bring peace to every corner of the world. Most peace loving people remain passive and silent, but today peace loving people need to be active.
An important example of Gandhiji
Once around 1940 Mahatma Gandhi was travelling by train in Darjeeling. Pandit Sudhakar Chaturvedi, the secretary of the South India region, was also with him. Years later we got a lesson from Panditji. In the middle of the journey, the railway engine and the coaches got separated from each other. The engine kept moving forward and the coaches started moving backwards. When this happened, panic spread among the rest of the passengers, but at that time Gandhiji told them to note down some important things that he was saying. Panditji found this very strange and he told Gandhiji that “at this time people are worried about saving their lives and you are asking to take notes.” Gandhiji told his secretary, “If an accident happens at this time, none of us will survive, but if we survive, it will be a pity that we have wasted so much time in useless worry.”
There are constantly situations in life that distract you, but when we are calm and centered within ourselves, we spread waves of peace all around us.
People are resilient and learn to unite in the face of adversity, but can we unite for something positive, constructive and harmonious like spreading peace? If we are mentally strong and don't get influenced by misinformation, we can do it. Social media is a double-edged sword these days. It can provide correct information, but also spreads many rumours, which can sometimes lead to some confusion, so this situation needs to be used wisely.
There is immense power in collective voices supporting peace. Colombia suffered from civil war for 52 years. We spoke to their main rebel group and they agreed to a ceasefire.
They abandoned years of armed conflict and adopted the path of non-violence. Everyone was so happy that the war was over, they supported peace, but did not participate in the referendum. As a result, the peace proposal was not accepted in the first referendum. However, then the people of the country woke up and chose peace, but it took more effort. Thus, history proves that even a small percentage of the population can bring about a big change. Therefore, those who stand for peace should raise their voice and inspire others to do the same.
A peaceful mind can communicate effectively; this understanding is very essential for establishing peace between countries and communities. Today we all need to be more aware that through collective efforts and mutual understanding we can build a harmonious and compassionate world; in this spirit we should all support peace, stand for peace!