Peace Begins With Me

I was invited to be a speaker, by a college to address the students on World Peace Day which is celebrated every year on 21^st September .  As I started to ponder on what I could talk about, I thought more deeply on what exactly is peace. And the closest definition that I could arrive is "Peace is but the absence of conflict."

So I ask myself, "Is it possible to live a life without conflicts?" A World without conflicts sound beautiful, yet utopian. Especially, with so much of egos at play, unfairness, wars and fights happening in the world in the name of national boundaries, natural resources, trades, religions, castes and creed, conflicts becomes inevitable.

As long as there is life, there will be conflicts. Asking for a world without conflicts, is similar to asking for the 7 billion people existing on this earth to attain enlightenment, at one go. If we think this is impossible, then global peace is impossible too.

Peace is no doubt the highest ideal, that we should aspire for, but Is Global peace a possibility?. My genuine answer is a NO.

But why then do we talk so much about something which is not achievable?

Though Global Peace may never happen, we can aspire for inner peace. Because, I believe "Peace begins with me." We can choose to be a peaceful person. If we become aware of the reasons for our inner conflicts, we can take action to redress it.

So, what could be the various reasons for conflict? Pride, Prestige, Discrimination of any form, Superiority Complex, Competitive spirit to win at any cost, Greed, Jealousy and many more.

If these are the reasons for personal or interpersonal conflicts, then the antidote for this is Love, Care, Happiness, Understanding, Empathy, Forgiveness and Acceptance.

Of all the above, I feel Forgiveness and Acceptance are the two vital behavioural skills or attitude we can change, to achieve Peace.

Those who want peace, must learn forgiveness. People will wrong us. People will hurt us. We can choose to hurt back or forgive them. When we choose to hurt back, this will create a continuous loop. This will put us in constant pressure and we cannot have peace. It is only by forgiving someone can we break this loop. Forgive not for the sake of the offender, but for ourselves, because not forgiving disturbs our peace.

 The next quality is Acceptance. I feel, acceptance is a better word than tolerance. Tolerance is negative and painful, whereas acceptance is positive and blissful.

Let's learn to respond and not react. Do we bark back at a street dog, that barks at us? No! Why?  Because, we accept that it is a dog.

When someone hurts you, remember that person is hurt. So, instead of reacting to anger with anger, respond with consolation and understanding. This will change the situation.

Peace and Progress, sometimes sounds like contradictory statements. But, it is not necessarily that way. We can have both peace and progress, when we grow and help others grow too. Whenever we strive for a win – win situation, we can have peaceful progress.

Ubuntu is a South African Philosophy, which says, "I am what I am , because of who we all are". It is the belief that our welfare depends on the welfare of others. It is about the kindness among men to co-exist, without fighting and competing beastly, with one another. Ubuntu is the humanness quality of human.

Let's try to imbibe this virtue and be the torch bearers of peace. Like they say one lamp lights the another. May our words, actions and deeds make others imbibe these qualities in them.

 

D. Senthil Kannan,

Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com