“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until and unless we obtain peace within ourselves.” – Dalai Lama. (UPSC IAS Mains 2021 General Studies (Paper – 4)
Peace is the lack of conflict and the condition of acceptance. Peace allows individuals and society to reap healthy benefits out of their potential.
Relevance of peace within ourselves, for peace in the world:
- Peace within is the key to good mental health, which is crucial for roles as parents and children at home, soldiers at borders, leaders in public life, employees at work etc.
- Inner peace helps promote religious harmony, which is the anti-dote to communalism.
- When people are satiated within, incidents of crimes like rapes, thefts, domestic violence, corruption etc. are likely to be lower.
- Inner peace is linked to lack of greed, which has repercussions against inequality of wealth, status and income, rabid consumerism, climate change etc.
- Social conflicts like Naxalism, separatism etc. can be ascribed to lack of inner peace within individuals.
However, peace within ourselves can also have negative repercussions:
- It can lead to supine morality and unaware citizenry. For example, attitude of indifference towards gender issues, sanitation etc.
- Peace within can be a barrier to intellectual growth. For example, acceptance of religious dogmas can undermine scientific explorations.
Inner peace is the building block of peace in the world. But desire for peace must avoid the hazard of surrender to dogmas and conflicts.
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