sky to heaven - the invisible life.

Justice in the world begins within the hearts of humankind.

Why are so many people dying in wars? Why is there so much food, and yet so many are hungry? Why is there so much wealth among the few, but the many are so poor? Why are some born without sight or limb? And so they say, “Life is not fair.”

These questions can appear so far away, because I’m not in any of those situations. There is no war around me. I have food to eat, and money to spend. I have eyes to see and legs to walk with. And so they say, “That’s just life, and that’s the way the world is.”

They say, “Be grateful for what you have.” But how can you be grateful for what you have, while others have so little to be grateful for? Imagine 10 people in a room, 1 with food to eat and the other 9 with none. How can the one feel grateful while the others starve? If I were that one person, I would know in my heart that my having and the others not having is unfair. Being grateful for oneself is not the solution to the injustices and sufferings of the world.

The world reminds me every day. I walk down the street and see a man begging for food, and I am reminded. I read the newspaper and it says 800 million people in the world do not have enough food, and I am reminded. I turn on the TV and more people have been killed in a war, and I am reminded.

I have a choice. I can close my eyes, put down the newspaper, or change the channel. I can turn my mind and heart to other things. I can choose to forget and not think about such things. I can continue to live my own little life. But even if I choose this way to live, I will always be reminded. Because the truth is always there, even if I do not wish to see it. The truth is always everywhere.

I can also choose to think that other people’s sufferings are not my concern or responsibility. For I did not kill anyone, I did not take away another’s food, and I did not make people poor. Other people’s sufferings are not my responsibility, for I was not the one who caused their sufferings or created the circumstances that caused their sufferings. There is something wrong, yes, but I did nothing to make it wrong, and so it is not my responsibility to help make it right.

But I can imagine… what if I were the one who was begging for food? What if I were the one who was hungry? What if I were the one in the middle of a war? Wouldn’t I hope for the assistance of others? Wouldn’t I wish to be saved or helped from my circumstances? Wouldn’t I wish for the world to care about me? Wouldn’t I wish for justice?

Yes, of course I would. And so, on this earth, we are all brothers and sisters. We are all one family, though we see it not. You and I, we are all together on this one earth, which we all share and call home. Justice will never be found in the law, because first it must live within the hearts of all humankind. Inside me, inside you, inside us all. If justice does not live within the hearts of men, then the law will always be broken or manipulated by those who do not possess justice within their hearts. So where there is justice in the hearts of men, there is the opportunity for happiness. But where there is injustice, there will be no happiness.

Give to the world, and the world will give to you.

People think the happiness of the world is impossible, and so most of us only try to find happiness in our own lives – which most of us have not succeeded in finding, either. We invest so much in our own happiness, and so little in the world’s happiness. For most of us, our responsibilities as citizens of the world merely consist of “being informed” and “voting”. We stay informed about how much the world has so many problems, and then blame politicians, political parties, and governments who we allow to run the world for us. We put the responsibility and the blame on everybody else except ourselves. We have to do this, or else we could not sleep well at night. We have to think the responsibility is not ours, otherwise we would be responsible - and we would have to do something about it.

Many say, “What can you do? You are only one person among billions.” Yet one person in a lifetime can do a billion little things. You may believe that you are just an ordinary person, with no special gifts, talents, abilities, powers, knowledge, resources, or charisma. But I believe otherwise.

You have a heart. You have a mind. You have a voice. You have a life. That makes you an extraordinary, powerful being. And everyone has great gifts and powers inside them, and it is up to each person to discover them, and to use them for either self or world. They are there, underneath the surface of the ordinary, inside you. But if they remain undiscovered and unused, it is that person’s great loss, as well as a great loss to the world. That person is an unopened gift, both to themselves and to the world.

If you serve the world, you may think there is no reward. What is the point in fighting for a cause that probably won’t be resolved in your lifetime? Why give your whole life away and get nothing back? Why go through the trouble of easing the suffering of others, when you suffer yourself? Why try to build happiness in the world when you have so little happiness yourself? For you believe that saving the world is about sacrifice, suffering, hardship, and disappointment. And you believe inside your heart that you cannot help the world until you have helped yourself. You want to give, but only when you have more than enough for yourself to keep.

But I believe when you give to the world, you do get something back - you get the world. For the world needs you, just as you need the world. As you stand up and support others, others will stand up and support you. For as you love, so shall you be loved. And as your love expands, your heart expands also, and so too, does your life and world. When your love becomes larger, your family becomes larger, for we are all truly one family. Let the world into your heart, and your heart opens and the world welcomes you and lets you into it. As you give yourself to the world, the world gives itself back to you. For happiness lies in the growing heart, not the shrinking one.

But if you are concerned only with self, narrow will be your experience of the world and life. As you give little love, so you receive little love. And in thinking small, you become small. For the world needs you, and if you close yourself to the world, the world can only close itself to you. If you have given up on the world, you will often feel the world has given up on you. If you have not cared for the world, you will feel the world cares little for you. For what you do to the world, the world can only do to you. The world is as you are. I say again, The world is as you are.

As you are, so the world is.

Suffering and unhappiness lie not in the saving of the world, but in not saving the world and shutting yourself off to it. The many who have only served themselves, believing that selfish happiness was the only way to happiness, did not find happiness or escape from suffering. For if selfish happiness truly were the way, the world would long ago have become a much happier place than it is, and the world would be selfishly happy. But the state of the world today is a testimony that selfish happiness is not the way, and it is actually the primary reason why there is much suffering and so little happiness in the world. And so I believe your happiness lies not just in your own personal happiness, but also in the happiness of the world. In saving the world, you save yourself. For what you do to it, it shall do to you.

Some of you might now say, “Then tell me what to do.” But I cannot tell you what to do, because I am not you, and you are an extraordinary, powerful being unto yourself. As each person has been given unique gifts and powers, so each person’s task and purpose will be unique. You must discover, decide, and create for yourself your place and mission. But know that you have been given your heart and your mind for a reason. They are very powerful gifts and tools. Think and feel your way to your answers. They are the link to your life and the world. You have a heart. You have a mind. You have a voice. You have a life. And these things are enough.

These things are enough, because all thoughts and actions in the history of the world have their original source in these things. From our heart, mind, voice, and life, flow wealth and poverty, success and failure, love and hate, happiness and misery, life and death, creation and destruction. And so it is from these things that we give to the world or take from it, that we help it or harm it, that we serve it or enslave it, that we make the world better or worse, that we create world peace or world chaos. For as you are a part of the world, you create the world – right here, right now. And to the extent that we all are, so the world is.