Peace for International Understanding
* Mrs. S. Venkateswari
Introduction
� Our goal is peace now-this very instant. It is control to our
happiness that our years, long or short, be free of anger and that our
body be used as a means of giving others the gift of kindness. � Dr.
Gerald G. Jampblsky.
� I think you cannot speak about peace, you cannot be a peacemaker if
you are not at peace with yourself and if you do not have peace in the
first social unit for which you are responsible-your own family.� -
Robert Muller.
�Peace is what everyone seeks; but it can never be secured from the
outside world.� The millionaires are harassed by fear and anxiety.
Accumulation of riches or power cannot endow Peace. Right or wrong
whatever a man thinks or does is with the intention of attaining peace
and happiness. By Peace, Western countries mean the interval between two
wars, when vigorous efforts are made to avenge the insult of defeat and
consolidate the spoils of victory and prepare for the next round: that
is no Peace !
Peace can be a reality for each of us if we have faith in our innate
power to be good, to do good and see good. When man thinks good and
speaks good and does good peace will ensure tranquility one can
experience peace only when there is an emotional equilibrium. Emotional
conflict can never withstand the truth and righteousness.
� Peace can come only from the fountain of peace, within. �
Before describing the title of the article. � Peace, the cry of mankind
�, we must know about the significance of the today world situation
present today.
Significance of the world situation present today. Viewed historically,
the present state has been brought about by the enormous strides made in
the evolution of the mind of the human race as a whole, especially
during the past two centuries, There has been a tremendous acceleration
of change brought about especially by development in science and
technology. These developments have also resulted in corresponding
changes in man�s views about the world in which he lives, the kind of
fife he leads, the political, social institutions which condition and
control him, etc. The revolutions such as printing, wireless and
television supplemented by satellites have opened new worlds to him and
he is exposed to a flood of ideas from which he was deprived before. The
contemporary man, ever in the villages, is not isolated from the world.
Events anywhere affect him directly or indirectly, the world has
literally shrunk in time, thanks to the communications revolution. Apart
from human dignity which is upheld today, moral principles like
corruption and nepotism ( Favouritism shown to one�s relatives by giving
appointments etc. ) are debated in public and even a powerful president
bows down to the power of public opinion. These are all assets and
positive aspects of the contemporary world which we should not lose
sight of.
Causes for Peace in World situation present today
Now-a-days, due the atomic power, destruction and bloodshed, humanity is
desperately looking for a way out of the deathtrap. It craves life
instead of death. It wants peace in place of war. Humanity needs love
instead of hatred.
� World dreams of a better humanity, of greater wisdom, of a finer
cultural mantle for its body than the bloody rags of its robot
civilisation. � writes Pritprim A.
Dr. Alexis Carrel, the Nobel Prize winner, U. S. A. writes in his
thought-provoking book �Man, the unknown,� in the chapter � Remaking of
man, � has not modern life decreased the intelligence and the morality
of the whole nation? Why must we pay several million dollars each year
to fight criminals? Why do the gangsters continue victoriously to attack
banks, kill police, mar, kidnap, or assassinate children inspite of the
immense amount of money spent on them. . . Doesn�t the world crisis
depend on individual and social factors that are more important than the
economic ones? It is to be hoped that the spectacle of civilization at
the beginning of its decline compels us to ascertain whether the causes
of the catastrophe are not within ourselves, as well as in our
institutions and that we �II fully realise the imperativeness of our
renovation. �
The foregoing sample of the warnings given by serious thinkers, lend a
firm support to our own feelings of the desperate situation in which
humanity lives today.
Love is the rare article today ! There is no love in the home, between
father and son, between husband and wife, between brother and brother.
Living has become very artificial. Men are moving in fear, not knowing
what might happen to them at the next step.
Man, with leading of a demon, fuming with hate, engaged in fighting,
holds Peace Conferences and, finds himself on his planes for Peace !
What can mere talk achieve?
Those, who plan for the nation to day are planning only for roads, dams,
factories and farms. They ignore the path ; of the spirit to fields
where love, humanity, service and ! sacrifice can be cultivated.
Man is now able to soar into outer space and reach upto the moon. Earth
and sky are his play grounds. But though he is intelligent enough to
sail through space and under the sea and shoot bombs across continents,
he is not moral enough to live at peace with his neighbour;
� Money comes and goes;
But morality ?
It comes and grows !
Lack of morality, lack of loving nature, hatred tendency towards other
religions, caste, creed, over desire, unwanted and undesirable desires,
greedy, narrow outlook of others, self esteem and self ego even when one
is educated, they cry for peace and they cry from their heart. From the
Prime Minister down to the beggar, all ask for peace and aspire for
peace. Peace can�t be manufactured by industrial undertakings.
These are all the causes for world peace in the present world situation.
And that is why the Peace is required in the present today world.
Man himself desires peace and rushes towards destruction. Destroying
others, he destroys himself.
Foundation for Real Peace
Humanity comprises millions and millions of human individuals scattered
all over the world. Today the problem is vastly different and immensely
complex for correcting human beings, yet there are also many favourable
signs the chief of which is the great awakening in almost the whole of
mankind to a sense of world basis of human values.
Human values are of five basic types viz. :
Human values
1. Truth, :
2. Righteous conduct , :
3. Peace, : Essence of Life
4. Love, :
5. Non-violence. :
When there is human intellect naturally it leads to find the truth. The
truth in action is righteous conduct. Peace is the end or purpose of all
human endeavour, What is equally important is to recognise that nothing
in this universe is ever responsible for all sense of peace which he
has. It is only when our internal emotional system is disturbed that
restlessness and confusion find home. By efforts we can certainly avoid
such emotional problems, Love is a source of energy which each
individual transmits and receives every moment. It affects all forms of
life. Life becomes simpler and more enjoyable, when one experiences that
love is not selfishness and it lives by giving and forgiving.
Non-violence is the might of human achievement and perfection. It is the
universal love that goes beyond our notion with fallow beings and
embraces all living and non-living things.
These 5 human values must start at the right-age,
2 Human Values in Education in Bringing about Peace
Merely, acquiring knowledge is not education but change in children�s
behaviour or character is the most precious gift of education. So in
schools proper moral education should be given. Children are the crops
growing in the fields to yield the harvest on which the nation has to
sustain itself.
So it is important to consider the role of teachers, parents and the
external environment, called society. The teacher is the most important
asset to the school. He should be a model for the children. He has to
understand the children�s problem and according to their age, behaviour,
individual caring of the children he has to teach moral values like
patience, happiness, contentment, honesty which will lead them to peace.
Children learn more from their home. Parents should be model for them
and they should not misguide the child. They have to provide healthy
environment and they have to fulfil the children�s physical and
educational needs.
� Education must teach a person what life is and its goal. It must
purify the heart and clarify the vision. It must promote virtues and
ravine the morale and spiritual standards of the educated. �
Role of Society :
Transformation of the world is to be achieved through the transformation
of the individual. There is world-wide recognition among thinking people
that the future of humanity lies in developing the powers of mind. All
religions are the facets of the �ONE� reality. Nobody seriously accepts,
to day that one religion is superior to another or that God has
specially favoured any race in preference to others. It is also
recognised that merely being born into a religion does not confer
wisdom. Pride in the achievement of science and technology have given
place to recognition and the limitations of reason and also cognition
that there are worlds beyond the limitation of our senses. There is
great interest all over the world in understanding the immense powers of
the human mind.
Even though due to desire the individuals of the society get weakened in
their minds that affects the peace so that desire must be uprooted.
Desire involves seeking beyond the limits of possibility. Man must give
up the desire for objective pleasure, based on illusion that the world
is manifold, multicolored, etc. and not on the truth that in the world
nature all creation is � ONE. � and
Foundation for real peace, according to the Vedas, is quality of
Maithree. It means amicability, Friendship, Compassion, Kindness. That
is to say, my word, deed and thought shall be in accordance with thy
word, thought and deed.
As Jesus said,-
� Love thy neighbour,
as thyself. �
� If there is righteousness in the heart, there�ll be beauty in
character. If there is beauty in character, there will be harmony in the
home. When there is harmony in the home there�ll be order in the nation.
When there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.
So, prejudices against others on the basis of caste, creed, colour and
mode of worship, should be avoided.
Conclusion :
The peace of the world depends on peace and amity nations among, The
peace of a nation depends on the peace between the concomitants
units-the villages, the families and finally, the individuals of each
family. So, every individual has the responsibility to love others, have
faith in them and revere them as sparks of The Divine. Everyone has to
cultivate the virtues of tolerance, forbearance and brotherhood.
