Lord Mountbatten was India’s last British Viceroy. When, at midnight on August 15, 1947, he declared on All India Radio: ‘Today India is free’, that for India was a historic moment. But at that time the champion of the freedom struggle, Mahatma Gandhi, was not present in Delhi, as were other national leaders, to listen to this announcement. At that crucial moment, he was in Noakhli in East Bengal trying to restore peace after bloody riots had erupted there during the pre-partition days. From Noakhli he sent a letter to one of his Gujarati friends: Mere charon aor aag lagi hui hai, par mere man mein shanti hai. (There is fire all around me, yet I find peace in my heart) At that juncture, peace seemed to be a distant dream, yet Mahatma Gandhi was able to feel peace in his heart. This is the most practical formula for peace. International peace may be a long-term goal but individual peace can be achieved instantly. If you want to establish peace in the world around you, you must at the same time be sufficiently mature as to be able to achieve peace of mind, even in a highly disturbed situation. This is the only workable formula for peaceful living and it is a duality which is quite within the capacity of every human being. Mahatma Gandhi clearly demonstrated this fact. All it requires is the art of thought management. Man’s mind has enormous capabilities. It is in no way unusual for a single mind to learn two or more languages and have a command of all of them. If the bilingual formula is possible for man, then the above-stated Gandhian pattern is also possible for anyone. Man’s personality is entirely in his own hands. He has total command over his own thoughts, heart and mind. He can think as he wants to think. He can wish as he wants to wish. He can sense as he wants to sense. In a similar way, he must adopt the formula: I will live in peace whatever the cost. I will develop a peaceful mind. I will not allow anyone to disturb my mind. Thus, in the personal sphere, he can live in total peace, with complete peace of mind. But the world outside him is not under his control. It functions quite independently. So, he must divide his intellectual activities into two parts. As far as his own mind is concerned, he can live in complete peace. But as far as the outside world is concerned, he may continue giving his advice, but must leave it to others to be instrumental (or not) in the acceptance of his advice. You cannot change the world. Likewise, the world cannot change your mind. So, accept this arrangement and you can live with peace of mind, while at the same time offering your peaceful guidance to the world around you. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
