To end violence, raise human consciousness
Limited identity is the real source of the problem. Once you create an identity, the whole force of who you are—your intelligence, emotions, capability, strength, everything—serves that identity.
Violence is not on the street. Violence is in the human mind. The fundamental source of this are the limited identifications that you have created. If someone belongs to something else, and they disagree with what you say, a fight will happen. If you are verbally saying harsh things, and if things go out of control, hands will rise. If hands are not enough, sticks will rise. If sticks are not enough, swords will rise. If that is not enough, guns will come.
Once you create an identity, the whole force of who you are—your intelligence, emotions, capability, strength, everything—serves that identity. Our problems have come because we have never nurtured human consciousness on the planet on a large scale. If you are not willing to invest in that, you will suffer this endlessly.
Revenge is not a solution
People may accuse me of talking philosophy. They will want to know, “What do we do with those men who killed these people? Shouldn’t they be killed?” Let’s understand this: right now, if someone came and killed someone in your family, the news cycle will run for twenty-four hours; or if more people died, it would run for a few days. Then the news channels forget about it.
But the people who lost someone dear to them— not only will they not forget it in their lifetime, they will sow the seeds of anger, resentment, and hatred in their children’s hearts. So, when theirs die, they will carry that hurt and kill someone here. Then you carry that hurt and kill someone there. There is no end to this. Machoism is not the answer. If you kill someone, you are not mitigating the problem in any way, you are just magnifying it.
This is a very deep-rooted problem that we have divided the world in the form of nations, religions, races, castes, and creeds. As a generation of people, if the youth do not strive to eliminate these divisions, fights will happen. If my identity and your identity are absolutely separate, me wanting to put you aside, and if you do not go away, to put you down is the natural consequence of a strong sense of identity. And as we get more equipped and powerful, the numbers that will die will increase.
The only solution
I beseech every young person in the world: the most important thing to do right now is to raise human consciousness. Because what we are referring to as consciousness is not a limited identity, it is a limitless identity. If you are really concerned, you must understand that this is a lifelong mission. This is not going to go away if you just feel guilty for one day and go shout a slogan somewhere or tweet about it. Any problem of this magnitude cannot be solved overnight. If we start working on it, maybe we can bring about a solution in a few generations. We should not just react to the immediate expression of the problem. We need to invest our life in solving the problem at its very root.
| Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, and visionary, and a prominent spiritual leader. An author, poet, and internationally renowned speaker, Sadhguru is the founder of Isha Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to human wellbeing. (www.isha.sadhguru.org) |
Enjoyed reading Khabar magazine? Subscribe to Khabar and get a full digital copy of this Indian-American community magazine.
