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Today i'd like to talk to you about
peace.
Now i know that
just about everybody
has their own interpretation
of what peace is.
But peace for me
is something that comes from the heart
of human beings,
not from the minds.
In this world
there is so much greed,
and really
so much
of this stuff that goes on - the wars,
the differences.
And we need to look
at what is real.
For me the reality
exists within us,
a simple reality,
a simple understanding.
Peace is a requirement
for us,
each individual on the face of this earth.
Because, when we look at the this world today with all these
things that are happening,
you cannot
but help
understand one thing,
and that is that people
all around
are starting to
lose their humanity.
And what do i mean by humanity?
We need to understand
that we are human.
We need to understand
that that's good,
not bad.
Not mediocrity,
but something that is good.
It seems like
over the years
the word "humanity"
or being human
has been associated with something negative.
We say, "To err is human."
We are capable
of making errors, this is true. But we are also capable
of making other things happen
in this world.
If we can just remember
that we have both
things
that we can do.
Yes
we can create problems, yes we can create wars, yes we can be susceptible to greed,
yes, we can be susceptible to anger,
yes, we can be susceptible to fear.
But at the same time
we have the capacity,
we have the ability
to have peace,
to live
in harmony
with
this world,
to invent,
to create those things
that will help
each other,
and be on this earth,
not as somebody
who's just
into making errors,
but somebody
who's
there to uplift
our own lives,
to move beyond
certain rationales, to move beyond certain thresholds
that have limited us
and that continue to limit us.
Those thresholds that we have placed,
whether knowingly
or unknowingly,
they limit us
in our perspective.
They limit us
in expression of
being human,
of being here.
Because look at it -
you know, single-handedly
of all the species that are on the face of this earfh,
as human beings
we are just
into destroying
the very planet
that we exist on.
And yes, there are a lot of ideas,
and people have written about it, and people have discussed about it.
But this isn't time for discussion.
This isn't time to
just go, "Hmm,
wonder what this is."
No, this is time to act
to be.
And where does it begin?
It begins
from every
single
individual.
It begins
with us,
with us, each
one of
us.
On the face of this earth,
right now,
tragedies abound.
And these tragedies
are so incredibly
unnecessary.
We have lost
the ability to see their value of another being on this earth.
Everything has been compartmentalized: good, bad, right, wrong.
In the name
of religion, people fight.
That is
unconceivable. How
could that be?
Because religion is about peace, religion is about
wonderful things.
But people have taken that issue
and they fight with each other.
Where they should be respecting life,
they look at life as something that is trivial.
What happened?
What happened that we got
to this point
where
the respect, the basic respect
for one another is gone?
To see somebody,
whether they
are Muslim or they are Hindu or they're Christian,
and say,
"Enjoy. Enjoy your connection,
enjoy what you believe in." What happened,
that all of a sudden it's like, "No, you are inferior,
I am superior."
is this what culture is about?
i think there are a wonderful things.
But we are ignoring them every single day.
How long is it gonna go on?
I am a voice for peace.
This is a small voice,
but when it joins
with the voice
of all the people
who want peace,
who want peace,
then this becomes a very, very
big voice.
It is amazing
to see
anyone make effort,
and to even ask, "What can i do
so that we can have peace
on this earth
in our lifetime?"
You know, there are people who are very greedy,
there are people who don't care.
But, in my opinion
that is a minority.
The majority of the people on the face of this earth
want peace. And if
this is true,
then peace
on earth
is a very achievable
objective.
People say,
"It's not going to happen." Well,
let this time belong to those
who believe it can
happen,
not to the ones
who say
it cannot.
They've tried it their way,
and nothing has happened that is good.
Here,
today,
is
the result card,
is the report card.
And when you look at it,
we are
destroying our own atmosphere,
we're destroying our own planet, we're destroying our own rivers, we're
destroying our own oceans, we're destroying
other species that
have nothing to do
with,
you know, contributing thought or contributing ideas.
No,
innocent.
And we are,
every day,
every day,
24/7,
destroying,
destroying,
destroying, destroying.
It is hard for us to create something
without destroying something first.
For me,
for you,
peace
is not just a solution to a problem.
Peace
is important,
peace is necessary
for our well being,
for the world being of all those
that share this planet
with us.
It's not just an idea,
it is a necessity.
Peace has been talked about
for ages.
Yes, wars have existed for ages, people have fought with each other for ages,
but at the same time
there has been
that voice that has always existed,
"Let there be peace."
With all our technology,
with all our understanding, with all our aspirations, why can't we aspire
to have peace
on the face of this earth?
There's a small story,
and the story is:
there was once an archer,
and he would go from town to town exhibiting
his ability
to shoot
an arrow
with deadly accuracy.
And as he would exhibit his
forte,
people would clap, people would applaud, and this would
bring him gratification.
One day while he was exhibiting,
he heard a voice in the back,
and there was a man
who used to sell oil,
and you know he had his bamboo and a
pot of oil in the front, pot of oil in the back, and he would go from village
to village selling oil.
One day, while this archer was showing his
abilities,
he hears from the back of the crowd, "It's only a matter of practice."
And this really
really
made him very angry.
He's like, "Who's saying that?"
And after his exhibition was finished, he went back and he
looked at the guy,
and he said, "Were you saying
this thing about where it's only a matter of practice?"
and the guy said, "Yeah,
it's only a matter of practice."
"So how can you say that?
You know, i'm so good at what I do and
i have trained ,
and i'm just,
i have this natural ability."
And the guy
who was selling the oil said, "Look, it is still a matter practice."
He said,
"What do you mean?"
He said, "i'll show you."
So he took an empty bottle,
and he took one of these coins that had a hole in it,
put it on top of the bottle,
he picked up this huge pot
full of oil that he had,
and he started pouring the oil
through the coin
into the bottle
without spilling a drop.
And he said, "Now you try it."
And of course the archer saw that he couldn't do that.
And so he finally
agreed
that yes, it is
a matter
of practice.
I like to quote that story
because i think it really is a matter of practice.
If we practice greed, that's what we're gonna get a good at.
If we practice peace,
that's what we're gonna get good at.
If we practice anger, then that's what we're gonna get good at.
if we practice differences, then that's what we're gonna get good at.
If we practice
looking at each other with compassion -
what happened to compassion?
Compassion.
- then that's what we're gonna get good at.
When you look at the realm
of the people on the face of this earth,
it has to be asked: "What are you
practicing?"
To see
people interested in peace,
people want to practice peace,
people want to practice compassion,
people want to
practice
those things
that will bring the humanity back
into
human beings,
is always
incredibly
admirable. Thank you.