The Threat of World War III.
Sivarama Swami: In 1914 at the outbreak of World War I, H.G. Wells wrote a series of articles that appeared as a book called ‘The War to end War’. Meanwhile, the retort of Prime Minister David Lloyd George was: “This war, like the next war, is a war to end war.”
And so it was: World War 2, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and it continues to this day. At a rough count, 240 million people died during World War I. H.G. Wells didn’t get it right. My mother, who lived through the Holocaust had also told me that at the end of World War II, everyone had thought, “Now we have learned our lesson … no more war.” They didn’t get it right either. Can man stop war? And will next one possibly be a nuclear war? Is World War III, inevitable?
If humanity continues living as it is doing now then the answer is: no you cannot stop war. And World War III may be one of them.
Are there any solutions at all? And what lifestyle do we need to live to bring about an end to this conflict? First let me say what are not solutions—peace treaties, international committees or the United Nations (UN). Since the UN was formed in 1945, there have been over 140 wars. They don’t have it right either.
To solve a problem, you need to know the cause. What are the causes of war? There are two: 1) man’s misuse of his free will 2) the reaction from the misuse of our free will (Karma). Karma means nature’s response to man’s actions. You have to really dig deep into history to find a more sinful and degraded time than we live in today. The scale of it is staggering:
90 billion animals slaughtered for food yearly. 1.5 billion abortions since 1980
Rampant drug abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality Ethnic cleansing
Race discrimination
Pedophelia
Senseless destruction of forests, our waterways and the environment I could go on. The bottom line is this: for every action there is a reaction. For every action not in harmony with God’s and nature’s laws, man will get a reaction— that’s karma. That karma stores up, and when it hits a critical point, a tipping point, then something happens. Plagues, tsunamis, earthquakes and yes, also war. S
So we need to change our lifestyle in order to reduce our accumulation of Karma. Our lifestyle needs to be in harmony with God’s laws. And yes, we need to know what those laws are and abide by them. In this we will live in Peace, not pieces.