Let there be the light of peace on earth

Asato ma sathgamaya, Tamaso ma sathgamaya, Mrtyor Maa Amrtamgamaya, Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi

The above Sanskrit words as they  appear in the ancient Hindu scriptures of the Upanishads can be loosely translated as: ‘lead me from the unreal self to the real, from darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge, from the restriction of the mortal world to the immortal.

Last week was Deepavali, the festival of lights. Next month would be Christmas, celebrating the birth of Christ who the Christian scriptures describe as the light of the world. Eid al-Fitr would be in April when the faithful of Islam would end a month of fasting and prayer. Vesak would follow in May, commemorating the birth, enlightenment and passing of the Buddha.

What is the commonality of these festivals? If one word could be used it is ‘light.’ If another complimentary word is to be used it is ‘peace.’ 

All the above spiritual leaders, alongside the Hindu sages came upon this earth to bring it the light of wisdom, restraint, kindness, forgiveness and empathy. Peace is the common word to every one of these paths and even when words such as Jihad or the battle of the Kutushetra war described in the Bagavad Gita are phenomena to explain the conquest of evil and the upholding of the good which is in every human heart. There are many other religions in the world that all preach peace, for example in the Talmud, the Holy Book of the Judaic faith it is stated that to save one life is akin to have saved humanity. Similar statements are found in other religious texts including the Holy Quran. Why are these books described as ‘holy’? This is because it holds texts written by humans inspired by the highest spiritual inspiration, we could say inspired by  divinity. But where is this divinity if we do not hold it in practice? This earth today lacks the practice of the divine peace aspired to by all religious founders. What is divine in our actions if we create hell on earth by killing fellow beings? What is the point of seeking a heaven elsewhere when we have a golden chance to create a heaven on this very earth? Is this not what we should be contemplating, during all these religious festivals which can be celebrated by us without any barriers, because they all hold wisdom and teachings for all, irrespective of what religions our parents were. 

On the topic of heaven and hell, there is an interesting Zen Buddhist story of how a burly Samurai went before a Zen master and demanded to know about heaven and hell. The Zen master described the man in a very detrimental fashion asking why he should tell an uncouth, smelly, vagabond what heaven was. Immediately the Samurai drew his sword with the intent of chopping off the monk’s head. The Zen master then quietly said ‘that is hell.’ Upon realising his folly the Samurai sheathed his sword and put his hands together in worship as he realised the wisdom being taught. ‘That’, said the Zen teacher, is heaven. 

What heaven can we seek through wars and terror? Adolf Hitler taught the world what cold blooded hell was as he hunted the Jews. Such horrors teach us one thing. Never repeat them. Being a victim one can learn never to victimise another.  This is what we mean by lighting up a dark world. 

The Gautama Buddha preached that if one lights the pathway for another, it will light up his own path. In a world torn by wars, we have more need than ever before to meditate upon and act upon peace; the light of the world, so that the darkness of ignorance that fuels terrorism and wars would end. Peace begins in communication. Communication cannot occur without comprehension. If only one comprehends as one looks at any child, regardless of creed or nationality, killed in the wars of adults, that we could understand enough to gain clarity to abhor and protest wars which achieve nothing but torment. Wars create enemies within oneself because to kill another betrays the divinity enshrouded naturally in human beings. Empathy is the activating of this divinity which is the light this world needs. (SV)