6. Questions & Answers

There is so much suffering: having compassion, how can one be at peace?

Do you think you are different from the world? Are you not the world? The world that you have made with your ambition, with your greed, with your economic securities, with your wars—you made it. The torture of animals for your food, the wastage of money on war, the lack of right education—you have built this world, it is part of you. So you are the world and the world is you; there is no division between you and the world. You ask, "How can you have peace when the world suffers?" How can you have peace when you are suffering? This is the question, because you are the world. You can go all over the world, talk to human beings, whether they are clever, famous or illiterate, they are all going through a terrible time—like you. So the question is not, "How can you have peace when the world is suffering?" You are suffering and therefore the world suffers; therefore put an end to your suffering, if you know how to end it. Suffering with its self-pity comes to an end only when there is self-knowing. (J. Krishnamurti)

What else can I do after I change my own lifestyle?

Channel some of your energy into one of the following efforts to save our planet, our home and life source:

  • clean up the environment
  • recycle
  • solar energy and other alternative energy forms
  • help free animals from exploitation, in laboratories and livestock farming
  • save seeds, especially open-pollinated seeds
  • organic gardening
  • plant trees, especially fruit trees, nut trees
  • plant flowers
  • educate others
  • music, dance, beauty, art
  • love others
  • shelter those who need it
  • help others