The preamble to the United Nations charter says, "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that defences of peace must be constructed". In the rock-edicts of Ashoka one finds the earliest instance of the transformation of a King who not only abjured war, shaken by its horrendous consequences, but who went on to ban war in his kingdom as a measure of state policy. His inquiry into the psychological roots pf war led him to believe that hatred for the other's beliefs is the primary cause of war but that hatred can never be appeased by hatred; it "can be appeased only by love which is the eternal law". This inner understanding transformed Ashoka into the great apostle-king of peace and spiritual values, remembered today not because he fought and won wars, but because he had the courage to perform the more difficult task of winning the hearts of the people.
Wars have been happening for millenia: wars of aggression, wars to end wars, cold wars, wars in self-defence and 'just' wars. But their roots lie in the prejudices, complexes and fears that have plagued the human mind. The solution to war lies in "freedom from fear", as Jiddu Krishnamurti said. "Belief and behaviour go together", pointed out Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. "If we believe in blood, race and soil, our world will be filled with Buchenwalds. If we believe in universal spiritual values, peace and understanding will grow". Urdu short story writer, Krishan Chander, narrates to poignant story of two soldiers journeying back home in a pensive mood after World War II, one soldier hoping that someday all soldiers will lay down their arms and refuse to fight, to which the other responds, "In that case the enemy would win!"
The story reflects our innermost insecurities and conditioning which would require an enemy even when none might exist. The search for the holy grail of peace is a journey that must begin with a reality check within, of our real anxieties and fears and hopes, the realisation that these are common concerns, which alone can trigger empathy and understanding beyond ideologies. It would be worth the effort to tear apart this veil of malevolence and double-speak which seems to shroud us all today, and trend the old pilgrim path to brotherhood and bonding, to resurrect value-systems which have ennobled our traditions and kept them alive for us.
"Why should we honour those only who die on the battlefield? Are they any less heroes who go into the abyss of oneself?" asked W.B. Yeats. It is such heroes and traditions we need to revive today more than ever, when images of blood and destruction seem to pervade and haunt us daily. For what is needed are not critiques but compassion, what is required are not theories but the therapeutic balm of understanding.
As President Eisenhower reflected, "With everyone a loser in any new war, a better understanding than ever before is essential among people and nations". To borrow the idiom put forth by T S Eliot, we have not merely a wasteland wrought by war but a wasteland of values. In a world ridden by terrorist attacks and tragedies, one is reminded of the hauntingly evocative affirmation of the human spirit in the John Lennon song 'Imagine', which captures this quest for peace in the shadow of war - "Yu may say i'm a dreamer, but i'm not the only one, someday you too will join us, and the world will be as one".
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