Spirituality as an antidote to conflicts

Most of us dread a conflict situation in our life, because it makes us uncomfortable and stressful. As a result, we learn to avoid, suppress or withdraw from conflict or even act as though it doesn’t exist. The conflict in human life begins from the time the infant is yet in its mother’s womb. Whether it would be a male or a female baby, a prodigy or a dunce, a veritable beauty or ugliness personified? —these are some of the questions that raise ripples in the minds of the parents and later, determine their attitudes towards the newly-born, especially if it is a female child.

These attitudes, in turn, leave an imprint or a scar on their psyche which, in its own turn, influences their behaviour that becomes the cause of conflicts in the society. In some societies, these are minor questions whereas in others, in which the female is still looked upon as an inferior being as compared to a male, these and related questions are considered as big ones.

The example of the gender-difference of the baby is now at the periphery of the wheel of problems. It comes at the centre of the stage only when there are cases of bride-burning or pre-birth gender-tests. At the centre of the circle now is the troika of social, economic and political conflicts. These conflicts have now taken a highly aggravated pitch. And, of these three, the political conflicts have, of late, taken a very virulent form. 

A growing body of research has shown spirituality as a great antidote for all kinds of conflicts. From a spiritual perspective, the simplest and the most powerful value needed for conflict resolution is ‘Respect’. This is because most of the people don’t wish to negotiate when they are in possession of material power. Therefore, there’s an urgent need for those to realize and respect their inner powers.

For global conflicts the solution lies with the leadership. The leaders can bring about the much-needed change and make it trickle down the societies. Leaders of today must remember that any kind of  change can be termed ‘Real’ only when it affects the grassroots. It is thus very important to recognize that the world shall change, when I change. Hence, people should not wait to be told that they need to change, instead they should realise it themselves.