A Message

A Message

1993 4-5 April-May 20-21 A Message (401) Q. Today we are a deeply divided society. To what principle of life should we then turn – Hindus, Muslims and others – so that we may live in harmony?

A. The, answer is the same as you would give a child who tells you that he wants a rose, but that the rosebush is covered with thorns. You tell him quite simply that he should by all means pluck the flower, but be careful to avoid the thorns.

In our dealings with others we must remember that people are like rosebushes. They have their roses, but they also have their thorns. The rose is man’s conscience. The thorn is his ego. So in any human interaction, you should refrain from hitting out at the ego, and attempt instead to touch the conscience. In that way harmony will prevail in society at all times.

Every individual is born with an ego and a conscience. While the ego is a source of hatred, the conscience is a source of love. When both lie dormant, it is up to you which you choose to awaken. If you awaken the ego, you will get hatred and enmity in return. But if you awaken the conscience, you will get love and friendship.

I should like to recount an incident which very aptly illustrates this point. In a certain town in Madhya Pardesh, the Hindus led a procession through the streets of a Muslim area. When it drew level with a mosque, heated arguments broke out between the processionists and the Imam of the mosque. Then some Muslims threw stones at the procession, the Hindus retaliated, and the result was a communal riot.

The lmam Sahab later realized that the cause of the riot had been the arousal of the processionist’s egos when they had stones thrown at them. He decided, therefore, that if the Hindus again marched in procession past the mosque he would act differently. He would instead awaken their consciences.

The following year, the Hindus did again march in procession through the Muslim area. When they reached the mosque, the Imam, as he had privately resolved, came out to meet them, but this time with a garland of flowers. He welcomed the leader and placed the garland around his neck. This gesture awakened the Hindus’ conscience. Where, in previous years, Hindus and Muslims had clashed with each other, this year they began embracing one another.