Subject: Clanek: The War on Ignorance by Krsna Dharma Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 11:36:14 +0200 From: janjm To: secretariat@forum2000.cz http://www.chakra.org/articles/2001/10/07/krsna.dharma.on.ignorance/index.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------- Chakra.org [Other News Page] [HOME] Go to the “Other News Page” The New War on Ignorance by Krishna Dharma The Guardian, Saturday, September 29, 2001 [reprinted with permission from Krishna Dharma] "Good will prevail over evil," declared President Bush, as he tried to rally his stunned country. Surely, we must all share that hope, but do we all share the same concept of good? Did the people behind the awful events in America believe they were perpetrating evil? Osama bin Laden is urging all Muslims to join a "jihad for the sake of God, urged by his prophet". If the American attacks were, indeed, a part of this so-called jihad, then they were done with the unswerving conviction that it was God's will. And what higher good can there be than that? God is all good, by any religious definition, and his will must mean the good of all creatures. But how do we know the divine will? Many times it has been invoked in order to justify war. The first crusaders, who attacked Jerusalem a thousand years ago, were promised salvation by Pope Urban II; the defending Muslims also strongly believed the Lord was with them. During the Gulf war, both President Bush Sr and Saddam Hussein declared that God was with him. The Muslims who die in what they see as their jihad believe they will go to paradise and enjoy everlasting pleasures. Quite a conundrum for God, it seems. How can he support everyone? So what is his definition of good and bad? It might be handy to know before we embark on any fierce campaigns. A good place to start looking is scripture, though that, of course, is often the root of disagreement. Opposing parties usually have their different scriptures to quote in order to establish that followers of any other scripture are godless barbarians. I once walked into a shop in my priestly robes, and the shopkeeper exclaimed: "Your book is wrong!". So, whose book is right? Who is actually on God's side, doing his will? Perhaps Christ's instruction to judge a tree by its fruits is helpful. If a person is actually approaching God, then he or she should become godly. The Bhagavad-gita, India's ancient spiritual text, offers a list of godly qualities found in a genuinely God-conscious person: tolerance, humility, kindness, mercy, non-violence and equality toward all living beings. These are a few definitions of goodness given by Krishna, who is accepted as God in the Bhagavad-gita. Of course, these qualities can be developed by anyone from any faith background. They are not the exclusive preserve of any religion, for we find genuine saints in all traditions. Real religion, according to the Bhagavad-gita, is that process which aims to please God, thereby taking the practitioner closer to him. This may manifest itself in various forms, different systems and rituals described in different scriptures, but, if the essential aim is to please the Lord, then why should we squabble? If I am actually trying to please a person I love, then how can I hate others trying to please the same person, even if they are doing it in a different way? Hating others in the name of God because they are different defeats the purpose of pleasing God. Rather than pleasure, it would be more likely to give the Lord pain, just as a father is pained when he sees his sons fight. And if I hold such hatred, I myself am not actually coming close to God. But is there ever any justification for a holy war? How about rooting out unbelievers? Surely, that must please God. And, clearly, some self-styled holy warriors see things in those terms, believing they are purging the earth of its scourge of atheists. But how can that please the Lord? If my brother turns away from my father, and I kill him, what would my father think? The Bhagavad-gita says that a godly person feels compassion for others, seeing that their suffering is caused by ignorance — by not knowing that we are all eternal parts of the supreme spirit, capable of enjoying eternal happiness. Feeling that happiness himself, he wants only to share it with others by sharing his knowledge. He loves all beings as much as he loves God. The real war, then, is against ignorance, first of all in ourselves. This is the actual triumph of good over evil, gaining knowledge of who we really are, and of God — and of how to reach him. If we really do want good to prevail, then we should come together with a desire to know and satisfy the Supreme, peacefully discussing how that can best be done. We should recognise the integrity of other people's faiths, and see that they too are children of the same God we are trying to worship, and are equally loved by him — even if, at present, they choose to turn away from him. After all, has not the Lord himself given us that free choice? The ultimate definition of good must be that which is conducive to the permanent happiness of all beings. Only God has that vision, and thus our highest good lies in approaching Him. The Bhagavad-gita says the Lord will reciprocate with such an attempt, and free us from all suffering. And that must undoubtedly be the aim of all human endeavours. Krishna Dharma is a Vaishnava Hindu priest and author of a translation of the Mahabharata. Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/0,6957,178089,00.html [The above link was submitted to CHAKRA along with the article, but it no longer leads to the article on the Guardian web site. The article can now be found at the link below.] http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4266817,00.html CHAKRA 7 October 2001