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Let me begin by acknowledging that, in this time of upheaval and unrest, everyone must do whatever they practically can to help and change things. However, since Sufism concerns the inner reality, that is what I will address. Peace is always associated with harmony. Everything in creation exists in a state of harmony except human beings. Inherently, humans are in a state of disharmony between different aspects of themselves, and they consequently reflect that disharmony onto their local and global communities. Paradoxically, human beings are also capable of reaching the highest level of peace. This is the very journey of life. The true meaning of the word jihād—not the sensationalized version we hear in media—is "struggle." It refers to the internal struggle, the inner war humans face to establish inner peace and tranquility. This war requires forcing the ego-personality into submission to realize the nature of one's true and essential self. According to tradition, the Prophet of Islam placed the greatest emphasis on this inner war over outer conflict, despite the necessities of his time. The formation of a new religion often invites resistance and hostility, yet the Prophet, with full knowledge of the human condition, stressed the supreme importance of inner jihād even amidst external conflict. This lesson is particularly valuable for our current global climate: without purifying the ego and achieving a victorious jihād against our own demons, one cannot find peace, and communities and the world inevitably pay a high price. Talking about peace is one thing; attaining and maintaining it is another. Many great figures have created periods of peace, but these are often followed again by unrest and hostility. Why? Because the internal disharmony within us remains unaddressed. The highest level of peace exists in the divine presence. This means one must be stripped of ego characteristics—greed, anger, jealousy, the seven deadly sins—and separated from the personality that carries our personal history, baggage, and habits. We must exist in a place where we are nothing but our true and essential self. Only from this place can we know God and, therefore, know absolute peace. In Islam, God has many names; one is As-Salām, which means "Peace." To be in His divine presence is literally to be at peace, a state Sufis strive to reach. Peace is about divine consciousness. It is about submission to unity with Him, for one cannot be in His presence without unity. If God is peace, how can we live in peace while forgetting God? Modern civilization has largely forgotten God. This is where religions come into play. It is the job of the world's religions to help people transcend egotistic multiplicity, realize their God-consciousness, and realize the unity of living that embraces all facets of life—the unity of existence. During this period of international conflict, it has become even clearer that human beings have distorted and impaired our religious vehicle. We are adept at distorting and manipulating anything pure. We have manipulated the real meaning, message, and purpose of religions until they are incapable of truly benefiting us and preparing us for our created purpose. We have made religions fail us. We live by mindsets such as: my truth is truer than your truth; I am more important than you; I am more entitled to this land; my religion is better than yours. Whether the "I" symbolizes an individual, community, religion, or nation, these are mindsets that keep us at the level of separation and ultimately lead to hostility and war. These beliefs all stem from a lack of God-consciousness. After all, there is only one God. If there is only one God, then, in reality, behind the multiplicity of various forms, there is only one religion: the religion of God. This is the spiritual and mystical meaning of religion. Of course, one must transcend from self-consciousness to God-consciousness to understand this, and from one's personal truth to the Truth (with a capital T) in order to see differently. Otherwise, each person's truth seems to be the only truth—precisely the situation we have in the world today. Therefore, the idea of living in peace with others and with one's environment without first going through what it takes to be at peace with oneself is a fallacy. The world is full of people who talk about concepts without living them. Let us learn to become what we talk about. Let us learn to be the change we wish to see—a profound statement that is the theme of today's gathering. Perhaps the moment has come to recognize the problems of the world and our own feelings, and to demand that our religions guide us to the unity of God. In oneness, we unite. It is time for religions to embrace the spiritual elements of their teachings and pave the path to unity with our Creator and His creation, so that we may attain peace. I would like to close with a verse of poetry from Rūmī: He says, "It is we who are at times hidden and at times revealed, at times a Muslim, at times a Hebrew, and at times a Christian. Until the love of ours is placed in every heart, every day we appear in a different image." Thank you. Recording location: Australia, Sydney, World Peace Forum 2003