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Inner Peace for World Peace
Everyone desires peace and when we stop to think about it this means peace of mind as much
as peace in the world. Indeed wars, violence and acts of anger all begin in the mind and
so inner peace not only protects us from any peacelessness that may be around us but is
also the foundation for lasting peace among people. Such inner peace is a reservoir of
values, attitudes and thoughts, a state of mind in which there is self-respect, respect
for others and their rights, understanding, tolerance, forgiveness, responsibility and
strength of character. Peace then is not just the absence of war or external hostility
but also the absence of the seeds of such conflict, the anger, fear, hatred, discrimination
and other such tendencies that so often lead to physical violence. As individuals endowed
with conscience, reason and the capacity to think and choose, we are responsible for our
own peace of mind. But such inner peace is also the seed for world peace and we must each
strive for such personal peace if we wish to build a true culture of peace in the world around us,
whether within our homes, families, communities, countries or global society as a whole.
Bringing about such lasting peace requires a worldwide concerted movement for change in
which each of us must play a part – so let us, one by one, day by day, thought by thought,
start building such a culture of peace.
Affiliated to the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) since 1980, and in general consultative
status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC),and affiliated to UNICEF, the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University was
given seven Peace Messenger Awards by the UN Secretary-General for its significant contribution
to the International Year of Peace in 1986. During the
International Year for a Culture of Peace,
it held 56 launch events and 33 Flagship Events and collected 37 million signatures of Manifesto
2000. The Brahma Kumaris therefore welcomed the UN General Assembly’s resolution in 2001 that
the International Day of Peace should be observed on the 21st September of each year and its
invitation to all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities for the duration of
the Day, observing it as day of global ceasefire and non-violence.
The idea of world peace is one that appeals to everyone and yet it seems to be the case that
many people leave it others to do something about it. Indeed, much does need to be done by
leaders and people in positions of power and authority if peace is to prevail on earth but
there is always something that anyone can do to help make the world a better place, no
matter how small that thought, word or action may seem. Developing our own peace of mind
is an important part of the overall process and techniques such as reflection, meditation
and prayer all help us to get in touch with our inner selves, with the inner world of thoughts
and feelings, and support efforts to live the positive values that humanity holds dear. Each
of us must learn to be peaceful as it will only take a few moments of anger or violence to
destroy the peace that others, or indeed we ourselves, may have created.
So just as war, violence and conflict begin in the human mind, so also it is in our hearts
and heads that the seeds of a peaceful, just and caring world must be planted if we are to
see the fruit of these qualities in the world around us. This change in thinking, attitude
and behaviour will not happen unless we become more aware of our inner selves, more reflective
and introspective. Since its foundation in India in 1937, the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual
University has helped individuals of all walks of life to do precisely this, encouraging them
to take a more spiritual perspective of life and reconnect with human values such as respect,
responsibility, honesty, love, tolerance and peace. It now has centres in
nearly 90 countries and its centre in Thailand, established in the 1980s, has regularly supported
the International Day of Peace through a variety of different programmes and activities.
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