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But one by one, many of those dearest to me died. I thought that nature was very cruel. Then I began to realize that my love was undergoing discipline; that I was to expand my love, not limit it to my family. God showed me that it was He whom I loved in my loved ones. Then, from within, my love began to expand to all. I could no longer feel partiality toward family. When I returned to India in 1935, I saw that this was true.... Therefore, through family life and then through national life, God is schooling every individual to understand his international family, that we may have a United States of the World with Truth as our guide. International Understanding Dissolves Divisive Boundaries We are all aliens here. No territory belongs permanently to any country. The hand of time eventually erases all nations. Their boundaries don’t last, because they represent divisions that have been carved out by force. I believe a time will come when in greater understanding we shall have no boundaries anymore. We shall call the earth our country; and we shall, by a process of justice and international assembly, distribute unselfishly the goods of the world according to the needs of the people. But equality cannot be established by force; it must come from the heart. The greatest blessing would be to develop international understanding by which we may realize this truth. These ideals should be taught in all the schools. Just as it would be a sin to teach everyone to "love your family; it doesn’t matter what happens to your country," so it is a sin to teach love of country that militates against your greater world family. When in every school love of country is overemphasized, it sows the seeds of misunderstanding and even hatred toward other nations. How dare we spoil children by teaching them the kind of patriotism in which there are seeds of hatred! Unless you love your country, you cannot love the world; but children should be taught also to love other countries as they love their own. That is the principle of God. Peace Will Come When We Learn to See God in All So you see, we must dissociate our wisdom from all environmental influences. If we can learn to understand others, and to free our minds from all prejudices born of environment, we begin to express the perfect image of God within us and to find it in all. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." The light of the sun falls equally on the diamond and the charcoal; but the diamond, by its transparency, reflects the sun more. Bhagavan Krishna taught that because the wisdom in man is covered by ignorance, and because man chooses to misuse his independence to nurture that ignorance, he doesn’t reflect the true image of God that is within him. But in all those who use the power of the mind to be good, the power of Spirit will manifest. If we can receive that power of Spirit, then we become true sons of God. And we must learn to see the light of God falling on both His good and bad children. Peace will come when we discipline our hearts to see God in all, not just in those who love us or whom we think of as our own. Peace is not something that you and I or a few great souls can create at once, by command. Even a million Christs or Krishnas could not do it. Try as he would, Lord Krishna could not prevent the great war between the Pandavas and Kauravas, which is described in the Mahabharata. All humanity has to become Christlike to bring peace on earth. When each one of us shapes his life according to the wisdom and example of a Christ, a Krishna, a Buddha, we can have peace here; not before. We must start now, with ourselves. We should try to be like the divine ones who have come on earth again and again to show us the way. By our loving each other and keeping our understanding clear, as they taught and exemplified, peace can come.

Peace Begins at Home and in the Schools Each individual in a family and community should strive to live peacefully with others. Peace must begin in the home and in the schools. In the classrooms we must teach international patriotism — to love the world as Jesus, Krishna, and the great masters have taught, and not to do anything that would lead to international discomfort. It is not our nationality or our color that we should be proud of, but our understanding. We should cultivate our understanding and use it to determine what is truly best for family happiness, national happiness, and international happiness. International happiness should include the well-being of the nation, the community, and the family. The standard of legislation should be merit, not color of skin or any other class distinction. These are the ideals to be taught to children. So long as God’s children differentiate, "We are Indians and you are Americans; we are Germans, you are English," so long will they be bound by delusion and the world divided. Much war and suffering and destruction will be prevented if we cease to emphasize differences and learn to love all without distinction or prejudice. Be more proud that you are made in the image of God than that you are of a certain nationality; for "American" and "Indian" and all the other nationalities are just outer coats, which in time will be discarded. But you are a child of God throughout eternity. Isn’t it better to teach that ideal to your children? It is the only way to peace: Establish the true ideals of peace in the schools, and live peace in your own life.... Yoga Meditation Reveals Our Divine Nature Out of the cosmic tomes of truth, India developed the Yoga system, the science of oneness — oneness of the soul with God; oneness with the principles of eternal righteousness; with the universe; and with all mankind. The sage Patanjali formulated the Yoga system into eight steps for achieving the goal: 1. Avoid unrighteous behavior - yama. 2. Follow certain moral and spiritual precepts - niyama. 3. Learn to be still in body and mind, for where motion ceases, there begins the perception of God - asana. 4. While concentrating on the state of peace, practice control of the life force in the body - pranayama. 5. When your mind is your own, that is, under your control through pranayama, then you can give it to God - pratyahara. 6. Then begins meditation: first, concentrate on one of God’s cosmic manifestations such as love, wisdom, joy - dharana. 7. What follows in meditation is an expansion of the realization of God’s infinite omnipresent nature - dhyana. 8. When the soul merges as one with God, who is ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Bliss, that is the goal - samadhi.

The joy of God can never be exhausted. He is sufficient; the purpose and the aim of existence. True understanding comes when we feel God as the great bliss of meditation. And peace is the first proof of His presence. To have peace we must love more, but we cannot love people unconditionally unless we know God. The soul is absolutely perfect, but when identified with the body as ego, its expression becomes distorted by human imperfections. If human beings were only these imperfect bodies and minds, there would be some justification for prejudices and divisions. But we are all souls, made in God’s image. So Yoga teaches us to know the divine nature in ourselves and others. Through yoga meditation we can know that we are gods. If Everyone Learns God-Communion, Peace Will Reign I believe that if every citizen in the world is taught to commune with God (not merely to know Him intellectually), then peace can reign; not before. When by persistence in meditation you realize God through communion with Him, your heart is prepared to embrace all humanity. I am neither a Hindu nor an American. Humanity is my race, and no one on earth can make me feel otherwise. Prejudice and exclusiveness are so childish. We are here for just a little while and then whisked away. We must remember only that we are children of God. I love all countries as I love my India. And my prayer to you is that you love all nations as you love America. God created a diverse world to teach you to forget your physical differences with other races; and, from the debris of misunderstanding and prejudice, to salvage your understanding and use it to make an effort to know Him as our one Father. Therefore, my friends, resolve that you will love the world as your own nation, and that you will love your nation as you love your family. Through this understanding you will help to establish a world family on the indestructible foundation of wisdom. Follow the ways of God. Set a time apart each day to meditate on Him. When you commune with God, you shall feel toward everyone as toward your own. No one can ever make me feel he is not mine. All human beings are God’s children, and He is my Father.

 

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