End the Inner Wars to End the Outer Wars
Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of a world in which all people are recognised and loved as human beings, without prejudice of any kind. He didn’t just preach. He put his words into action. He dedicated his whole life to peace and non-violence. We just marked the 157th anniversary of his birth. It is a day not only honoured here in India, but across the world as the United Nations International Day of Non-Violence.
Even though he could have become the prime minister or president of India, he declined because he had no desire whatsoever for fame or power. In fact, at the stroke of midnight, when India was declared independent, he was found consoling the victims of a riot-affected area.
From the beginning, our world has been torn by war and violence. So many great souls have laboured for peace, and labour for it still, and yet the condition of the world seems hardly to change. War and strife, suffering and hunger, go on as before, and many wonder whether there will ever be a lasting resolution.
But the wars we see in the world today are only the outward face of the wars within the human mind, raging with the strife and evil that burn there. The mind was meant to be our willing servant; instead it has made itself our master and rules over us.
Far deadlier than any weapon in the outer world are the hatred, enmity, and cruelty within the human heart. Until these dark feelings are extinguished, war, conflict, and injustice will go on as an unending tale.
A nightingale once sat singing happily on the branch of a tree. A hunter came and made ready to catch it and kill it. The little bird looked piteously into his eyes and pleaded, “Please do not kill me. Let me go.” The hunter’s heart was moved by that anguished cry. For a moment he saw clearly the difference between this bird who lived in freedom, harming no one and radiating joy as it flew, versus his own life, sunk in cruelty. He said to the bird, “I will set you free, but on one condition. You must tell me the secret of your happiness.”
“I am afraid of you,” said the nightingale. “First let me go and then I will tell you.” The hunter released it, and as it flew beyond his reach, the bird called back, “The cause of all your sorrow is the evil within you. Your heart is filled with the darkness of cruelty. But we wound no one. We sing the song of love, and the goodness in our hearts is the secret of our joy.”
Those words opened the hunter’s eyes. He turned from the path of cruelty and began a new life, bound in love and compassion. Like the hunter, when we see the sorrow and suffering of others, our hearts should melt, and the empathy we feel within should manifest in what we do.
If the world’s troubles could be answered in a single word, that word would be compassion. In two words: compassion and love. In three: compassion, love, and patience. When our hearts become filled with goodness, wars and conflicts will come to an end, and peace will at last prevail upon the Earth. Let us have the courage and perseverance to realise this dream. For this to happen, each one of us needs to discover our innate qualities of compassion, love, and patience, and then, with faith in the Divine, live them out in self-sacrifice for the good of all.
My prayer is for all those who pray and work for peace across the world to gain even more strength and inspiration. As they continue to bring this healing light to others, may more and more people join them in their noble quest.
Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, known simply as Amma, is a spiritual master and humanitarian who has given her darshan in the form of a motherly embrace to more than 4 crore people. Listening to the cries of the suffering, Amma leads the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, an NGO that reaches across more than 50 countries, working in healthcare, disaster relief, education, gender equality, and environmental restoration; Views presented are personal.
