Guiding Light: Shift In Our Self-identity

Today the world that we live in is badly divided on the basis of religion, language, nationality, political ideology and a very large number of other factors, as a result of which there is grave discrimination all over in every field of life. Not only does this discrimination create law & order problems, but it also affects physical and mental health of the people very badly. In order to treat such a large part of population suffering from many psychosomatic diseases, caused by tension, insecurity, lack of love and spirit of enthusiasm, many hospitals need to be run, doctors have to be trained, medicines have to be made and supplied and so many other expensive things have to be done. All this puts a lot of economic burden on the country. And, in order to have enough money for maintenance of the machinery and workforce required for health-care and also for law, justice and public peace, the government has to then tax the people. 

As a result of the costs having gone up and the taxes having been raised, everyone tries to make some extra money by tax-evasion or other unfair means. This promotes corruption. The society then becomes more materialistic and the values of love, cooperation, service, sympathy, etc. are replaced by profiteering and accumulation of property and wealth. This, in turn, leads to other negative tendencies. 

This simple analysis should lead us to conclude that there is no alternative to values like purity, love and peace. As long as there is discrimination on the basis of religion, language, nationality etc., there will always be partiality, injustice, violence, etc. and, therefore, there will be no peace. So, the universal philosophy of life enjoins on us to create and maintain an atmosphere of love, harmony, unity, cooperation and sympathy. But this cannot be possible unless and until there is a shift in our self-identity. If our identities are based on religion, language, nationality, etc. there will always be conflicts, struggles and strikes. 

The only factor that can unite us in spite of these differences is our spiritual identity. If we all live in the belief that we are the beings-of-light, i.e. souls, and are children of the Supreme Being of Light, then only will our attitude and behaviour towards others will be based on a feeling of brotherhood and love based on that relationship. If all humans come to recognise their true, spiritual identity and their mutual brotherhood, all boundaries of nations, races, religions, classes etc. would become meaningless, and humanity would be able to live in peace and harmony as one family.

The writer is a spiritual educator and popular columnist for publications across India, Nepal and the UK. He can be contacted at nikunjji@gmail.com / www.brahmakumaris.com