THE CULTURE OF PEACE TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE

give me peace, but they didn’t. So I thought I’d change my career. I left my career with NASA as an astronaut and went into business. I made a lot of money, but I still could not find any peace. There was still something missing in my life.” In 1978, Duke’s spiritual life changed course when he attended a Bible study session. In his autobiography, he wrote that his temper, ego, single-minded devotion to work and greed had damaged his relationship with his wife, Dotty, and their children. His marriage nearly ended in divorce when Dotty battled depression and, at one point, considered suicide. After Duke committed his life to God, he said, both his marriage and his relationship with his children improved considerably. The couple credited God with making their lives fuller and more joyful. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan once observed that this pattern is not unique to Charles Duke. It is, in fact, the condition of many people today. The present age is an age of “making it big”, of attaining ever greater success. There are unprecedented opportunities to acquire wealth, fame and power. People race against one another in pursuit of these things, and many do succeed in obtaining them. They are hailed as “super-achievers”. Yet experience shows that material achievement does not necessarily bring inner joy. Many reach the heights of worldly success only to discover a sense of emptiness within. The pattern repeats itself endlessly. Someone works tirelessly to amass wealth, only to discover that money cannot provide the joy they sought. Another marries the partner of their dreams, only to watch the relationship gradually lose its charm. A politician climbs to the top of the ladder, only to find the coveted position— and themselves—miserable once they arrive. Someone spends years saving for and building a dream home, only to discover that unhappiness has followed them through the door. Perhaps this also explains the enduring human attraction to tragedy in literature, news and film: people recognize something of their own experience in it. Attempts to manufacture happiness through