The positive spirit of hope and faith in God is essential for our well-being
The Bhagavat Gita verse (BG 8.15) states, that the world is a place of ordeal and unease for the living beings. Further, it outlines the genres of trouble caused by nature (adi-Devika), by society (adi-bhautika), and by body & mind (adhyatmitka). Does the cause of discomfort trigger resentment, bitterness, and anger? Does it invoke a victimhood mindset? Does the innate troubles of the world have a license for perpetrating violence, causing generational rivalry and spreading animosity?
Humans look forward to living in peace and harmony however still we see fights between individuals, family, friends and nations. The underlying reason behind such fights/war shows the obvious failure of any potential dialogue, but more than that it reveals the true characters of an individual or and leaders involved directly in this fight/war. The Bhagavad Gita 16.4 states; that hypocrisy, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, and ignorance are the traits of a person possessed by ignorance. And, these fights/war exposes the deep-seated dark traits seated within the hearts of individual/leaders, leading to the unfortunate dehumanization of humanity.
Every fight/war historically, globally and generationally has been fought due to conflicting ideologies between the well-intentioned and not-so-well-intentioned people or groups. But people bereft of spiritual wisdom; act whimsically, instinctually, and emotionally to further their self-serving ideologies without much thought. Additionally, when people start believing they are ‘right’ 20 times a day, it gets into their heads. They act as (pseudo) God displaying their ignorance brazenly, adversely impacting the lives of many. What they fail to recognize is that, at the core, every being is equal in spiritual identity (nastatmano). Steeped in arrogance and ignorance they fail to perceive the sanctity of life, and thus engage in unbeneficial, destructive work (Agra karma) bringing socio-cultural and economic ruins (ksayaya Jagat). True greatness lies in forgiveness, sacrifice, and compromise for a higher objective of life, peace, and harmony. If those are not the values that drive us; how could it be otherwise? In the absence of spirituality that fosters resilience and forgiveness, people would naturally tend to slip into the bloody cycle of endless retribution. As a social thinker’s question, How many lives per mile would ultimately work, to bring the parties to the table in negotiation? If tooth for a tooth, and eye for an eye is the policy followed, then the whole society will end up blind and toothless.
The quintessential message of Krishna Consciousness, calls forth the positive spirit of hope, meaning and faith in God in critical times. Historically, Kamsa ran a godless kingdom and wreaked havoc in the society by using deceit, fear, and force to maintain his grip on power. To assuage the suffering, Lord Krsna appeared as lightning amid the darkness of the world and neutralized Kamsa who was possessed by the spirit of ignorance beyond redemption. Currently, this lightning potency of the Lord is still accessible, within our reach, as the wisdom of the Gita. Irrespective of social, cultural, or religious diversities, the spiritual wisdom of the Gita empowers us to orient our lives towards a higher purpose, beyond selfish and short-sighted objectives. This higher purpose needs to be placed at the heart of world leaders and citizens, guided by universal qualities of forgiveness, fortitude, simplicity, nonviolence, truthfulness, and freedom from anger, among others. Guided by wisdom and integrating such favourable characteristics into our lives as individuals, we feel spiritually empowered to be a positive force, bringing order amid the chaos of godless civilization and bridging the divide among human hearts with faith, peace, and unity.
(The author is the Spiritual Guru of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness)
