Our household was troubled recently by the news of two suicides among the youth of our city. One was a co-worker and close friend. Another sad outcome at the same time was the shooting death resulting from a married couple’s quarrel in the very same city neighborhood. These waters were further roiled by a Facebook posting I saw that same week from a young person asserting the old claim, “God is dead.” Again and again, we push away the very source of the peace we might find for troubled minds and souls, a healing love that could start as a ripple in our small pond before its orbit grew into a wave that traveled out to the world.
“The world is filled with hungry souls who famish in the very presence of the bread of life; men die searching for the very God who lives within them.” (The Urantia Book, The UB, 159:3.8)
Krishnamurti taught us to seek to end violence in our own hearts before condemning violence in the world, “Let us come back to the central issue - is it possible to eradicate violence in ourselves?” (Freedom From the Known, Ch. 6)
If we did have an ideal of non-violence and a belief in non-violent solutions to our problems, it is fading away under the greater noise of gunfire.
“Is there a difference between individual anger, with violent action on the part of the individual, and the organized hatred of a society which breeds and builds up an army to destroy another society? … We know what violence is without expressing in words, in phrases, in action. As a human being in whom the animal is still very strong, in spite of centuries of so-called civilization, where shall I begin? Shall I begin at the periphery, which is society, or at the center, which is myself?”
(J. Krishnamurti, http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/krishnamurti-teachings/view-daily-quote/20141026.php?t=Violence)
“Happiness and joy take origin in the inner life.” (The UB, 111:4.7)
Too often, the world does not love and that is what wears us down. Is that why there are so many shootings? Those with little or no active spiritual life, and who have few moral persons as acceptable role models, are vulnerable to violence. People hunger for spiritual realities, are “famished” partly because our civilization may be losing its vision of what is real and authentic. The socially approved goal of material acquisition does not inspire one. It provides only transient happiness. So people become desperate. Often they want to strike back. Some turn to suicide as a solution, sometimes taking others with them in a kind of retaliatory act.
As I’ve mentioned before, I see that my students, not yet mature young adults, respond to ideals preserved in our democratic history and freedoms. They express them freely, hopefully, seemingly fearlessly, yet they too are torn this way and that by differing, conflicting messages the society broadcasts far and wide. What to do? Do they succumb to the pressure of families and peer groups pushing them into materialist goals, good jobs with high salaries? Or do they follow a flickering instinct, a “still small voice” advocating service to a good cause that would fulfill their desire for a meaningful life?
Ideals are born in the inner life, The UB tells us (111:4.10). “Meanings are nonexistent in a wholly sensory or material world. Meanings and values are only perceived in the inner or supermaterial spheres of human experience.” (111:4.2)
More than ever, people need to establish a routine of visiting a quiet space for contemplation, where one can hear the voice of the spirit, and seek an understanding of what is communicated between a striving soul and its higher power. We need a method of discovering what is meaningful and important, of selecting wisely from the information pouring into our minds in an ever-increasing torrent. We need a truth and meanings and values filter. The lack of being in touch with spiritual reality is undoubtedly a reason why governments, businesses, and financial systems seem to veer out of control, close to a cliff.
“Mental prayer is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” Teresa of Avila (The Interior Castle, 1577)
The Urantia Book offers responses to the many questions Krishnamurti raised about what to do with violence in his times on Earth, 1929-1986. They are similar to answers he himself shared. “Since this inner life of man is truly creative, there rests upon each person the responsibility of choosing as to whether this creativity shall be spontaneous and wholly haphazard or controlled, directed, and constructive. How can a creative imagination produce worthy children when the stage whereon it functions is already preoccupied by prejudice, hate, fears, resentments, revenge, and bigotries? (111:4.9)
“Personal, spiritual religious experience is an efficient solvent for most mortal difficulties; it is an effective sorter, evaluator, and adjuster of all human problems. Religion does not remove or destroy human troubles, but it does dissolve, absorb, illuminate, and transcend them. True religion unifies the personality for effective adjustment to all mortal requirements.” (196:3.1)
In our information overloaded society, let us look for ways to connect young people to a feeling of reverence for spirit reality, a renewed one with nature, even a practice of communion with the spirit guide within, their own personal experience of a shared “inner life” with God (111:4). We can do it together by taking nature walks, hiking a trail, visiting a beach, singing an uplifting song when sitting down to a shared meal. We can delight in the accomplishments of the past with a visit to a museum. Take one of these many paths to healing. Or blaze a new trail.
“Future generations shall know also the radiance of our joy, the buoyance of our good will, and the inspiration of our good humor. We proclaim a message of good news which is infectious in its transforming power. Our religion is throbbing with new life and new meanings. Those who accept this teaching are filled with joy and in their hearts are constrained to rejoice evermore. Increasing happiness is always the experience of all who are certain about God.” (159:3.10)
