Hindu And Muslim Fighting

Ambassador Cowsik speaks of the bitter fighting that was transpiring between Hindus and Muslims over a mosque in northern India.

Sri Chinmoy: Almost all conflicts come from ignorance. Our human consciousness is such that we prefer ignorance to wisdom. There are two rooms: the heart-room and the mind-room. The heart-room is illumined. The mind-room, unfortunately, is still unlit. The mindroom is supplying us with knowledge, not with wisdom, and there is a great difference between knowledge and wisdom. Wisdom comes from the soul and teaches us the message of oneness, whereas earthly knowledge—which is an accumulation of things by the mind—teaches us division. When we live in the mind, which is all separativity, we try to possess the world. But the moment we try to possess something, we see that that very thing has already possessed us. We try to possess someone with our affection, love or cleverness, but to our wide surprise we see that we are already possessed by that person. But if we follow the heart's way, no matter where I am going, I feel that I am carrying you in the inmost recesses of my heart. At that time I don't try to possess you; we sing only the oneness-song.

The mind wants peace, but the peace that the mind wants is the peace that comes from supremacy. If I am one step ahead of you or a little higher than you, then I feel peaceful. This is the so-called knowledge of the mind. But the heart's wisdom is not like that. The heart doesn't want to go one step ahead or one step behind someone else; it wants to go only together, together, together. Because the heart always carries the whole world inside it, it brings the message of oneness.

We need only one thing: peace of mind. But the thing that we need most, we do not value. We want others to see the world the way we see the world; we want division and supremacy. But this is absolutely wrong. If we really love God, how can we fight over whether a particular shrine is a mosque or a temple? We know the real temple is inside our hearts. Hindus use the term 'Bhagavan' and Muslims say 'Allah.' But it is the same Person, the same Reality, the same Divinity. Muslims call it a mosque and Hindus call it a temple, but it is the same place of worship. Let Hindus and Muslims each worship in their own way. If Muslims and Hindus lived in the heart rather than in the mind, then this particular conflict would never have occurred.

It is only when the mind becomes illumined that it will see eye to eye with the heart. At that time the mind also will have true wisdom. But until the mind is illumined, it will always be filled with doubt, fear, anxieties, worries and insecurities. These will remain unless and until we get illumination from the soul. Those who are fervently praying and meditating are the pioneers in bringing the light of the soul to the mind.