Prem Rawat responds to questions about peace.
Why is it that people create war?
War begins with denial. One group decides that their cause is greater and that the other group's cause does not exist. Causes become greater, and human beings are reduced to nothing.
People fight because they give more legitimacy to their causes than to human life. In their rationalizations, they have diminished the value of human life. The first time someone came up with the idea that a cause was greater than human life, the balance was upset, and it has continued to get worse. Human beings will fight when they do not understand what life is all about, because in wars we squander life. War does not exist only on the battlefield. At home, without a war, we squander life.
We live in a world at war. Is it realistic to hope for world peace?
When I was a child, I used to be enamored with the idea of “world peace,” and it was a great thought to have. Then, as I started traveling throughout the world and meeting people, I realized there was no such thing. In all these years, I have never come across anything tangible that I could call the world. It is not the world that needs to be fixed; it is people. When people are at peace within, there will be world peace. Right now, people are fascinated by war.
Why is it that people create war?
War begins with denial. One group decides that their cause is greater and that the other group's cause does not exist. Causes become greater, and human beings are reduced to nothing.
People fight because they give more legitimacy to their causes than to human life. In their rationalizations, they have diminished the value of human life. The first time someone came up with the idea that a cause was greater than human life, the balance was upset, and it has continued to get worse. Human beings will fight when they do not understand what life is all about, because in wars we squander life. War does not exist only on the battlefield. At home, without a war, we squander life.