Prelude : we will not eradicate violence and violent
conflict in our lifetime, war would sometimes be necessary and morally
justified. A quote from the speech of President Barack Obama POTUSA in Norway
for his Nobel Peace Prize on Dec 10 2009.
The Holy Bible
affirms that from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of Heaven
suffers violence and the violent takes it by force.
According to an Islamic scholar, mankind has 3 fundamental problems,
Discrimination, Poverty and Ignorance. Discrimination is the cause of racist
attributes and racism, which results in mistrust, distrust and
psycho-tendencies, dislike and consequently hatred, which is the bedrock of
violence.
Every man/woman alive or dead wants only one thing in common
and that’s peace, even those terrorists on the streets from Kabul to Fallujah, Kano
to Jos, Baghdad to Beirut, all want peace, Muslims want peace, Christians do,
so do Buddhists, Sikhs etc.
We all desire peace of mind but within every 12 disciple
there's always a Judas(negative root), that is to say, as much as we all love
peace, certain people don't believe that peace can be attained, which leads
them to extreme measures, such as resorting to coercion, intimidation and Violence.
Needless to say
further, it suffices me to describe peace (as it can't be defined) as it’s abstract,
we don't see, touch, nor can we hold peace, we only feel it, because it’s a
state of mind. It starts from you, to express or export peace one needs to
personally experience peace of mind, the pathway can't be explained by anyone,
but I know of a certain“Meditation”
and “Minding your own Business” could.
This is so because, the belief that Peace is desirable is barely able to
achieve it.
Meditation is that
moment when you picture things, places, people, and events with your inner eyes;
you are totally lost in thoughts. One is near-unconscious, lost to his current
environment and can only be brought back by distractions or when personal
fulfillment is assumed to have been achieved. Every time spent meditating brings
one closer to emotional, personal, and mental fulfillment. However one must be
careful not to confuse daydreaming or wishy-washy thinking as meditation. In
the former only assumed future is seen and modified to what one really need and
want, while the latter views your past and present as the basis of defining
your future, it shows what went wrong and how it might have been prevented,
which explains how it can be avoided in the future.
Minding your own business, this cannot be overstated
further, 75% of the problems USA faces in terms of foreign relations are as a
result of not minding their own business. Even the Good Book warns “don't suffer as a busybody in
other men's matter“, the ability
to focus and concentrate on our flaws rather than those of others shows great
maturity on our part and keeps us further away from problem, by so doing giving
peace of mind and rest for the body. Remove the beam in your eyes before trying
to remove the mote in mine.
A state of absence
from peace is war, it doesn't necessarily mean we go up with arms against each
other. In business field especially marketing, there's a term known as “price-war” between 2 firms, it
doesn't imply that firm-A goes up in arms against Firm-B, instead both firms
compete in terms of product price, one raises or reduces price the other
counters that move. In essence what I'm saying is that we could be at war with
ourselves without even knowing it, finding the connection between soul, spirit
and body is very essential for peace of mind. Peace isn’t merely the absence of
visible, physical conflicts.
Religion and religiosity: a proven tool to obtaining peace
of mind, religion just like every other field has been poisoned, with over-religious
zealots and fanatics who practice another brand of religion, the amazing aspect
of it all is that they are living by their respective “Good Books”, which apparently seems to support some
form of religious-violence. Some zealots deliberately decide the portion of the
Good Books which seems to support their claims and motives. “Proper and
Positive understanding of a religion can help to attain peace of mind”.
Environment and Friends: both work hand in hand most time.
Your environment affects your thinking which in turn determines your state of
mind, living in a peaceful environment can impact you positively provided no
external factors are at work. You could also live in a criminalized society and
experience peace of mind, provided you are neither a target nor a tool of/for
violent individuals. Friends make or mar a man, if you have great friends, your
mind is bound to be at a certain peace level but if your friends are nothing to
write home about, I implore you to change them as fast as one changes his/her
under-wear.
“Truth be said, man will not always experience peace of mind
through his life, living in the mountains, forests, jungles or deserts can't
always guarantee peace of mind, Jesus Christ wasn't always, Prophet Muhammad
wasn't, Lord Buddha wasn't, Confucius wasn't, so what makes you think you are
more special”.
What matters in life is contentment, when one is contented,
he hasn't the time to be greedy or exercise any form of Jealousy which breeds
hatred for fellow humans and places us on war-path, thus taking away our peace.
Contentment here doesn’t mean we should be fine with every situation, certain
situations require change, broadening of our horizon and thinking beyond our
natural limit. Anyone at peace with him/herself loves all and doesn't
discriminate, doesn't breed animosity, and most importantly strives to help
others attain such state.
The United Nations
has always tried to sue and pursue for peace between warring factions and
nations, but its processes sometimes are flawed, judgments bias, reserved for
powerless nations and often in favor of Western countries. I'm not implying
that the bad-eggs in those nations should go unpunished, I’m just reiterating
the fact that what is good for the goose should also be good for the gander. Judgments
should be unbiased and straight forward, there should lay no sacred-cow.
Trust, honesty and
peaceful co-existence should be encouraged, factionalism and tribalism,
ethnicism, racism, and stereotyping discouraged. Most importantly employment
creation, because the idle man is the devil’s workshop, idle individuals are
willing tools in the hands of powerful, violent-driven men. Their minds can be
easily poisoned and dangerous thoughts sold to them, they are the terrorists
and rebels we find everywhere around us.
I conclude by quoting POTUS Barack Obama “we don’t have to live in an IDEALIZED
world, to still reach for those ideals, which would make it a better place”.
Peace is achievable and it BEGINS with ME and YOU.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE TO MY HOME COUNTRY FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF
NIGERIA
GOD BLESS NIGERIA, HER CITIZENS AND LEADERS WHO WORK FOR HER
GOOD.AMEN.
Written Exclusively by
Ahaiwe Ikenna Joshua ©
All questions and inquires can be directed to ---- joshdimples007@yahoomail.com
1st October
2012
Comments
Post a Comment