international relations

[Guest guest]

If I may, I would like to connect the joke that my niece made

yesterday back to a question that she asked last week. She asked how

people who worship the female Divine are influenced by their beliefs

in their everyday lives. She received the reply (with which I fully

concur) that one should be honest and moral in all things, respecting

the needs and feelings of others. To disrepect the Divine in another

is to insult the Divine in yourself.

This applies not only to coworkers you meet in your place of

employment, but also to international relations. You should see the

Divine in peoples of other nations, even though they may be very

different from you. You should listen to their needs and encourage

them to act in an honest and moral manner, just as you act this way

yourself.

In teaching, it is sometimes useful to have a negative example,

an illustration of how things should not be done. Mr. Bush's approach

to foreign policy has been to ignore the needs and wishes of other

nations. He is the leader of the most powerful nation, with the most

powerful army, therefore he makes the decisions and everyone else

must follow. I refer here not specifically to his invasion of Iraq

but more to his relations with very close friends of the United

States, such as France, Germany, and even Canada. He has angered many

by ignoring their opinions.

The question becomes what to do about such unenlightened behavior.

My niece is correct that such a path is dangerous and affects

everyone in the world. Gandhi spent his entire life on this question,

and I can add little except to refer to his writings. In all such

decisions, one must be motivated and guided by love of the Divine,

taking guidance and solace from the Supreme Divine Light who loves us

all.

 

Sister Usha