Western Morning News (Saturday)
Peacemakers look for the positives in life
JOHN Lennon sang “Give Peace a Chance”. If only. Peace isn’t working, and never has. We call ourselves a civilised society. It’s a description we don’t deserve because, in reality, we’re anything but, judging by the way we interact with our fellow man. Human beings are war mongers, always have been and I suspect always will be. In living memory we’ve had the Second World War and many other wars that may not have involved the entire world, but they’ve certainly been prominent and devastated lives, economies, the planet. Think Korea, Vietnam, Northern Ireland, Iraq, Kosovo. Ethiopia, West Africa, Russia, Lebanon, Cambodia. There’s the aggression in China, Iran. The list goes on and on. All this in recent history. Civilised? I don’t think so.
We mark the shocking, vile, evil and tragic experiences of the Jews in the concentration camps by lighting candles on Holocaust Day. And so we should. But at the same time the Israelis seem to have forgotten the terrible tragedies inflicted on many of its people when they continue even today to murder innocent Palestinian children and their families. We turn a blind eye to Saudi Arabia and its appalling human rights, likewise China and many other countries.
These are crazy times. The Bible had it right. The love of money is the root of all evil. Wars are based on money, or the power behind getting it. Money is only a means to an end, not a measure of real wealth and success. But the Putins, Pol Pots of this world have such huge distorted egos that they seem to think they need money and power to run the world. How wrong they are.
Satish Kumar has reason to despair.
When he was nine he renounced the world and joined the wandering Jain monks. He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and at 18 felt he could achieve more being part of the world. So the young man campaigned to turn Gandhi’s vision of a peaceful future into reality. When 89-year-old Bertrand Russell was arrested at an anti-nuclear demonstration, Satish, then in his early 20’s, was inspired to do a peace pilgrimage.
Not just hopping on a plane. No, he walked from India to Moscow, London, Paris and America with no money and wearing just the clothes he stood up in. He depended on the kindness and hospitality of strangers, delivering a humble packet of “peace tea” to the leaders of the four capitals of the nuclear world. Satish Kumar has talked his walk. He’s an Indian British activist, a peace pilgrim who has been inspiring global change for over 50 years. He’s devoted his life to campaigning for ecological regeneration, social justice and spiritual fulfilment. For over 43 years he’s been the longest serving UK editor of the same magazine,
Resurgence, described by The Guardian as the “spiritual and ecological flagship of the environmental movement.” He’s founded educational charities for social and environmental justice and co-founded Schumacher College, in Totnes.
As well as being a best-selling author, Kumar has presented TV and radio shows where he passionately shares visions of a just future for all. His work has been recognised by many major organisations and universities who have awarded him doctorates and more.
I was keen to know what this ‘peace warrior’ was thinking about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Did he feel has packets of tea had failed? “Not at all” he laughed. “At the time they made people think, and that was the purpose of the walk.
“Now peace could be obtained by using more of a diplomatic role. If people are prepared to find peace they could. Every violent ruler has the option to change, even Hitler. Warmongers nurture their negative side and that’s where things start going wrong.
“The Bible says “Love your neighbour as you Love yourself” and that is the only way for Peace. If you don’t love yourself, if you’re not at peace with yourself it’s impossible to be at peace with the world. Peace isn’t an absence of war. It’s more than that. We have to learn a positive love of living together, accepting each other, celebrating our diversity, whether our skin colour, race, faith, language – all the things that make us different. Our diversity should be glorified and welcomed. Then you find Peace.”
Some philosophies reckon that until we learn from wars, they will continue. That atrocious leaders in history are actually saints, sent to stir up atrocities and shock mankind into realising how appalling we can be to each other. And by witnessing such terrible actions, civilisation will stand back and vow never to let history repeat. It’s a controversial, other dimensional observation.
Meanwhile another peacemaker, Mahatma Gandhi, reckoned every individual in the world could be held responsible for the unrest in the world and would continue to do so until we “became the change we want to see in the world”. It requires changing every thought, word and deed that we hold each day. To drop the negativity and look for the positive. That’s a pretty tough homework assignment. But if it “Gives Peace A Chance” I reckon it’s worth a try.
The Bible had it right. The love of money is the root of all evil. Wars are based on money, or the power behind getting it.