_Mr. Utsunomiya:_ Both superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, have a combined destructive force capable of destroying the whole earth probably ten or twenty times. And yet they continue to build and add to this enormous power. Some people, particularly President Reagan, insist that all this power is necessary to deter the other side from attacking the rest of the world — the theory of deterrence. Some Japanese leaders also agree with the American contention. But this is a self-defeating logic, in my thinking.

Sri Chinmoy: I am a seeker and a God-lover, and I fully agree with you, I fully agree with you, I fully agree with you. In this world, is there anybody who does not want satisfaction? What I want, what you want, what everybody wants is satisfaction. But what kind of satisfaction do most people get? A child throws a ball against a window and breaks the glass. He gets satisfaction for five seconds. Then his parents scold and strike him, and so many people speak ill of him and say that he is restless and useless. He gets a moment's satisfaction from destroying something, but then everybody scolds and insults him. So what happens to his satisfaction then? But if the same child studies well and is polite, humble, sympathetic and generous, he will get a different kind of satisfaction, and nobody will scold him or insult him. People will only love him.

If the superpowers use their atomic power, they will kill millions of people. But God's entire creation will not be destroyed. Impossible! Somewhere on earth, people will survive. These survivors will have no love for the ones who started the war. Let us say I am a poet and you are a boxer. We are members of the same family and live in the same house. If we have an argument, you can knock me down since you are a boxer. But the rest of the members of the family will hate you because the power that you have used is destruction-power and not love-power. Lord Buddha came here from India with the message of peace. Jesus Christ also had the message of peace. Is there anybody who does not know of them? The Christ is known, the Buddha is known and other spiritual figures are known as saviours, and they are remembered with love and adoration. But if the present leaders of the superpowers destroy the world, they will be known as Hitlers or Mussolinis. Now who is going to love a Hitler or Mussolini? I may be able to destroy you, but the world will hate me and I will experience no sense of satisfaction. But if I use my love-power, as Buddha used his love-power and Christ used his love-power, then the world will always remember me with love.

So we have to see which kind of power we need. If we want peace, which is the only satisfaction, then we need love-power. I have to love you and you have to love me. By loving we expand and expand, and the satisfaction that we get constantly increases, plus it lasts. But from destruction we get no satisfaction at all. It lasts for one second and then is destroyed by the hate we get from those we harmed. If I have done something bad, I can brag. But then I look around and see that everybody hates me. Will I get satisfaction? No! But if I have done something good and great, everybody will be dancing with joy, and that joy will last forever.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Japan, my life bows to your heart, Agni Press, 1984
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/jlb