remacy that fuel conflict. Put quite simply: 'The answer to the problems of this world is for every one of us to go beyond our present capacities and become better citizens of the world' (1)

One person may seem very small, but like waves rippling in a pond after a stone has been dropped in it, the effects of one person's c

In the late sixties, the youth of the West became enraptured with the concept of peace. John Lennon captured these times with the simple messages of 'all we are saying is give peace a chance' and 'war is over if you want it'. However although the peace movement contributed significantly to the ending of the Vietnam War, thirty years later we find that many young people are actually quite cynical about the possibility of global harmony ever taking root on earth. Part of the problem is that, at the moment, approaches to achieve world harmony are applied from the top down, in the form of grand ideas and concepts which everyone is then expected to live up to. These ideas seem to offer a panacea to all troubles, and for a while they generate a great deal of enthusiasm. However, due to various reasons such as leaders not living up to the ideals they espouse, people become tired and prefer to concentrate on their own personal lives rather than aspire for such abstract notions as world harmony.

This doesnt mean that a harmonious world isn't possible; it just means that to achieve it we have to try and approach it from another angle. An alternative approach is to start from the bottom up, with one person at a time. Outer peace can only reign on earth when each one of us has abiding inner peace, free from the insecurities and desires for supremacy that fuel conflict. Put quite simply: 'The answer to the problems of this world is for every one of us to go beyond our present capacities and become better citizens of the world' (1)

One person may seem very small, but like waves rippling in a pond after a stone has been dropped in it, the effects of one person's ch

r we find that many young people are actually quite cynical about the possibility of global harmony ever taking root on earth. Part of the problem is that, at the moment, approaches to achieve world harmony are applied from the top down, in the form of grand ideas and concepts which everyone is then expected to live up to. These ideas seem to offer a panacea to all troubles, and for a while they generate a great deal of enthusiasm. However, due to various reasons such as leaders not living up to the ideals they espouse, people become tired and prefer to concentrate on their own personal lives rather than aspire for such abstract notions as world harmony.

This doesnt mean that a harmonious world isn't possible; it just means that to achieve it we have to try and approach it from another angle. An alternative approach is to start from the bottom up, with one person at a time. Outer peace can only reign on earth when each one of us has abiding inner peace, free from the insecurities and desires for supremacy that fuel conflict. Put quite simply: 'The answer to the problems of this world is for every one of us to go beyond our present capacities and become better citizens of the world' (1)

One person may seem very small, but like waves rippling in a pond after a stone has been dropped in it, the effects of one person's c

m to offer a panacea to all troubles, and for a while they generate a great deal of enthusiasm. However, due to various reasons such as leaders not living up to the ideals they espouse, people become tired and prefer to concentrate on their own personal lives rather than aspire for such abstract notions as world harmony.

This doesnt mean that a harmonious world isn't possible; it just means that to achieve it we have to try and approach it from another angle. An alternative approach is to start from the bottom up, with one person at a time. Outer peace can only reign on earth when each one of us has abiding inner peace, free from the insecurities and desires for supremacy that fuel conflict. Put quite simply: 'The answer to the problems of this world is for every one of us to go beyond our present capacities and become better citizens of the world' (1)

One person may seem very small, but like waves rippling in a pond after a stone has been dropped in it, the effects of one person's c

mean that a harmonious world isn't possible; it just means that to achieve it we have to try and approach it from another angle. An alternative approach is to start from the bottom up, with one person at a time. Outer peace can only reign on earth when each one of us has abiding inner peace, free from the insecurities and desires for supremacy that fuel conflict. Put quite simply: 'The answer to the problems of this world is for every one of us to go beyond our present capacities and become better citizens of the world' (1)

One person may seem very small, but like waves rippling in a pond after a stone has been dropped in it, the effects of one person's c

remacy that fuel conflict. Put quite simply: 'The answer to the problems of this world is for every one of us to go beyond our present capacities and become better citizens of the world' (1)

One person may seem very small, but like waves rippling in a pond after a stone has been dropped in it, the effects of one person's change for the better can affect all around them. The twentieth century alone can point to many examples such as Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev and Mother Teresa. You might say that your actions would be insignificant compared to theirs, but an interesting quote in a book I read recently went 'Even in a seemingly losing cause, one person may unknowingly inspire another, and that person yet a third, who could go on to change the world... '. (2) In addition, great people did not suddenly become great people as a result of the situation they faced; they had developed those qualities beforehand, far away from the public eye. And on the strength of their personal example, luminaries such as these brought us far closer to the goal of world harmony than all the grand concepts and ideas that had gone before them.

References:

(1) Sri Chinmoy, Seventy Seven Thousand Service Trees

(2) Paul Rogat Loeb, The Impossible Will Take a Little While