The Peacemakers, the real peacemakers are never at peace. They can never work for peace if they are at peace. They are a bunch of disturbed people. They are disturbed with what they see around them. And, they are extremely sensitive. They feel the slightest disturbance, the slightest pain felt by anyone.
Without such sensitivity they would not be working for peace. Peacemaking is no ordinary work; it needs great energy, a huge amount of it – a kind of energy that only comes with sensitivity. Peacemaking is not a task for the insensitive. It is not meant for such. The insensitive is quite. But, don’t you mistake their quietness with peace!
Insensitive to what is happening around him or her, a quite person may be silent. But, such silence is not peace.
Sensitive to suffering, pain, hatred, injustice and other social ills, a peacemaker can never be silent, he cannot remain quite. He or she will work unceasingly to eliminate all those ills.
Those who are not sensitive enough, run away to forests. They make their castles there, their imaginary castles of peace. And, their castles are everywhere, as their forests are. They disconnect themselves from the world. What a waste of human life…. What a waste of human energy….. What a waste of precious time and opportunity…..
A Peacemaker does not run away to forest.
You will find him or her working in the midst of turmoil, facing all the challenges that life has in store for him, for her.
A Peacemaker does not build an imaginary castle of peace. He or she is working to turn the whole world into a large castle of peace. A Peacemaker cannot but work for World Peace – for which he or she will start with the ground right under him, under her. That is his country, her nation.
Your country, your nation is part of the world given you to work with. You cannot disregard that part and start working for other countries, for other parts of the world. Such would be an unwise act. Existence works in accordance with its Master Plan. There are people chosen for other parts of the world, people belonging to that part of the world. You are not needed there, as they are not needed here.
By all means help others once you are done with your homework. By all means send your peace troops overseas, if there is no need for them at home. It is really unwise to spend taxpayers’ heard earned money and risk the lives of our youth – when our country still needs both of them.
For a country to promote World Peace, it must work on peace at home first. Right now my country is going through turbulent weather; I must try to save it first. I must check my own roofing. I must strengthen my window and door panels. I must fix all of that first before helping others.
Do I sound egoistic?
Well, so be it then – but I must save myself first before trying to save others. My “unsaved” self cannot possibly save others. My country, my nation is an extension of my “self” that must be saved – for only then I can contribute toward World Peace, toward the saving of others.
Indeed it would be egoistic on my part to raise slogans and proclaim myself as a savior, when my own soul must still be saved. Who are we anyway to make such claims? We cannot save anybody, not a single soul. We can only serve our fellow-beings. A Peacemaker is essentially a servant. He is born to serve, he lives to serve, and he dies in service – in the service of the less privileged ones, the broken ones.
Someone asks me, “How do we recognize a genuine Peacemaker?”
I reply him, “There is no need for that, be a genuine Peacemaker yourself.”
Do not waste your precious time and energy in finding a Peacemaker, be one yourself. Each and every community, a village, a town, a city is in need of Peacemakers. Your country is need of Peacemakers, and of course, this world is in need of Peacemakers. Be one. It is a very lucrative job….. Your reward, as I mentioned earlier, would be a certificate, a death certificate issued by the Supreme Most Authority, The Existence Itself, stating “Died in The Service of One”.
Yes, In the Service of One.
For, a Peacemaker does everything in the spirit of service. For a Peacemaker, service to fellow-being is same as service to God, to Existence.
One cannot be paid to do the job of a Peacemaker, as is often done these days. So many NGOs take pride in identifying themselves as service organizations. They claim that they are dedicated to Promotion of Peace. Ask them, would they do all that if not paid? Even being paid is fine, ask them how much are they paid?
The condition in third world countries, in the developing nations, is worse. Volunteers are no longer volunteers, they do no voluntarily service. They are paid workers. Often, a fresh graduate is paid more than an experienced executive working in a private company. And, much more than what the state-owned companies would pay.
These are our present day peacemakers….. peacemakers with small “p”, not capital. No, they do not deserve that.
They are working in the comfort of their 5-star hotel rooms to draft out treaties between two warring parties. What kind of treaty can you expect from them? They keep themselves away from reality. A round or two among those who are in conflict can never give you a clear picture of what is actually happening. You do not even have an idea of the real issues. What we do in the name of peace and peacemaking is actually a mockery. We do not mean what we say, and we do not do what we mean.
We are not disturbed with what we see around us. We are not sensitive enough. We are insensitive to the suffering and pain of our fellow-beings. We are not Peacemakers….. We have no right to make such claim.
“How to be one, how to be a Peacemaker with big ‘P’?” asks my friend.
Simple, don’t do what they are doing. Find yourself another job; work free for Peace and Peacemaking.
“But it is difficult to find another job,” he complains.
“It is not.
Albeit, it is difficult to get the same salary, the same pay. So, you cannot be a Peacemaker, friend. You can only write treaties. You are doing a clerk’s job, a clerk’s work.”
Indeed, worse than that.
For, a clerk is recognized for the work he does. You are not even recognized as the writer of those treaties. You are reduced to a ghost writer. No, friend…. That is not being a Peacemaker. Don’t you ever live in that illusion. You are deceiving yourself. You are just a paid worker, nothing more and nothing less. Take pride in working with multinational foundations, but do not deceive yourself with false identity.
When you deceive yourself, when you live under illusion – you lose the clarity of your thoughts, and ultimately the power of mind. As a ghost writer you have already lost your dignity, what else are you apt to losing?
A Judas is born from age to age.
He does not betray Jesus. He cannot do so. He betrays himself. He betrays his own conscience. He goes against his own nature. He does what he knows he should not be doing. One can write a gospel about him, on him, and try to defend him…. The fact remains that he “left” Jesus that was his True Self. He abandons The Source to drink from secondary sources.
Don’t you see Judas, Peace is with Jesus!
Don’t you see Abu Jahl, the very personification of all that you believe in stands before you as Muhammad?
By crucifying Jesus, by stoning Muhammad, in fact you are trying to punish yourself. But, that is not what Jesus and Muhammad taught you. You want to work for Peace, but keep away from the very Source of Peace – how can? How is that possible?
Being close to the Source of Peace, close to Buddha, to Lao Tze, to Krishna, to Jesus, to Muhammad, to Nanak and to Bahaullah means being close to your “self”. And, it is only when you are close to your “self”, that you can possibly draw enough strength to work for Peace, as Peacemaker.