It is a fact well-known in physics that energy is generated when things are destroyed. Let’s look at food for a simple example. When you eat, you first destroy the food in your mouth. Then your stomach takes over and destroys it even more, enabling your intestines to extract the required energy. After all the energy has been extracted, the resulting waste is expelled. The point to remember here is that destruction creates energy. It’s strange, but true.
Now, we would do it homeopathically, the Ghandian way. We do not promote, nor practice violence. But when the Karmic forces have unleashed violence, an opportunity for change opens up. The only thing we can do in such a situation, is seize the opportunity and use the destructive energy to move towards a new democratic balance. Such a new balance is reached when political democracy has been extended to include economic democracy.
Every problem is an opportunity
So when confronted with George Bush and ‘Islamo-fascist’ policies and actions, we should see this as an opportunity. Not one that we have sought. Not one that we promote. On the contrary, we do everything in our power to end it. In practical terms this means supporting Dennis Kucinich, despite the fact that some of his thinking is still stuck in old paradigms. But he is the only candidate who can be trusted to end the war. And his peace-initiatives must be supported.
On the other hand, it should be noted that in the course of human history social change has always come about after war and destruction. In fact, as explained above, there is a natural principle behind this. We extract energy from destruction. This energy can be used for good or for bad. We repeat, we would not use the brutal kind of destruction we see at this time on both sides in Iraq. It is not our way. It is not the spiritual way. We know there exists a just and spiritual way of destruction, namely by means of example, provocative persuasion and patience. And as a matter of fact, the whole Universe co-operates with this just way. Precisely because it is just.
But many people are blunted and are still more easily persuaded by force than by persuasion. The truth is that there is hatred between Muslims and Jews and Americans. And also between Islam and other faiths in general. Just as the Christian and Jewish faiths believe they are superior, so does Islam. These wrong attitudes can eventually only result in one thing: war. This is karma. This is what we have now.
Will it ever end?
Now, we must try to end it in all ways possible. But to do that, we need alternatives. On the economic level, the ‘just third way’, promoted by the Center for Economic and Social Justice (www.cesj.org), is such an alternative. Now, violence is totally against what this third way stands for. We will and cannot ever use brute force to promote or establish it. But we can, seeing that the violence has already been unleashed by karmic forces, make use of the opportunities this violence presents. Because people will get sick of it and then they are going to want alternatives. The third way presents those.
Ghandi was unafraid amidst the most violent clashes. Unafraid to confront the most violent persons, without ever promoting or using violence himself. He let his adversaries use the violence until they were sick of it. He only used persuasion. It can be done, especially now that the violence-genie is out of the bottle anyway. Don’t get us wrong. We are not saying that we must join in the violence, seeing that it’s gone out of hand anyway. We are saying that this situation will create energy, which can be used for good to move towards a new democratic balance. That will result in lasting peace.
It is paradoxical, but true. Ghandi succeeded, because others used force. We can also succeed, because others use force, if we act wisely.
In our daily video Ghandi explains what non-violence is.