Children, Amma feels sad when she looks at the world today. We can see pictures of bloodshed and tears everywhere. There is not even mercy for small children. How many innocent people are dying daily because of wars and terrorist attacks in various parts of the world?
There were wars in the past, too. But in those days, people used to comply with war conventions such as not attacking the unarmed and not fighting after sunset. But today, any atrocity or unrighteous act is considered acceptable. Selfishness and egoism rule the world.
The root cause of all destruction is the ego. The worst destruction is wreaked by two types of egos: one, the ego of power and money; two, the ego that says, “Only my vision is true. I will not tolerate any other viewpoint.” Unless we become free of such egos, we cannot enjoy peace in life.
All viewpoints are important. We must respect everyone’s viewpoint and try to take it into consideration. If we do so, we can stop these senseless wars and bloodshed. In order to understand and respect the viewpoints of others, we must awaken the love within us.
Many of us show great interest in learning new languages. But no language other than that of love can help us truly understand each other. We have completely forgotten this language of the heart.
Amma remembers an incident. Once, volunteers of a humanitarian organization went to see a wealthy businessman to raise funds for their humanitarian activities. They spoke at length about the sad plight of those who were suffering. Their description would have melted anyone’s heart, but the businessman was not interested in listening to them.
As the disappointed volunteers got up to leave, the businessman said, “Wait. Let me ask you a question. If you can give the correct answer, I’ll help you. I have an artificial eye. Can you tell me which one it is?”
They looked carefully at his eyes, and then one of them said, “The left eye is artificial.”
“Amazing! So far, no one has ever been able to detect the artificial eye, which is very expensive. How did you detect it?”
The social worker said, “I gazed deeply into both your eyes. I saw a trace of compassion in your left eye whereas your right eye was as hard as stone. That’s why I was sure that your real eye is the right one!”
This businessman is the symbol of our times. Our heads are heated by egoism, and our hearts are frozen by selfishness. It should be otherwise. The heart should be warm with love and compassion. The head should be cool with the expansiveness of wisdom.
We must strive to understand the feelings of others and act accordingly. Each nation must become the eyes, ears, voice, heart, mind, and body of other nations. Only then can we understand the sorrows of others and respond appropriately. Only then can the world grow as one single entity. Only through such growth can we have equality, kinship and peace.