Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai,
Edinburg, Scotland, June 5, 1999 (Originally in English)

Q: Do you think there will always be war?

M: If our planet elevated itself to a higher level of spiritual understanding, there would be no more war. War only exists in an atmosphere of hatred, misunderstanding and frustration because of the distance between humans and the God within themselves. War is the crying out of anguish, of longing for Home; it's the most desperate and violent cry of a kid who doesn't know where his father is. So if we show him the father or the mother, he will stop crying and kicking his feet.

The child doesn't know right from wrong. The child--hungry, thirsty, cold, frightened and lonely--only wants the bosom of his mother. That's all there is. But as long as our planet is still far away from God's knowledge, we will still have wars. And that's why I am coming to different countries, sometimes even without invitation, if God has directed me there--so that the child can know the father and stop all these desperate, lonely cries.

In the higher civilizations of other planets, people are more intelligent and spiritually developed. They don't ever have war with each other because they know God is with them all the time; God is the only thing they live with and for. On this planet, not many of us can see God directly; we don't talk to God directly about all of our anguish, our frustrations, our fears and our worries. But despite our tough appearance, we all have our problems, weaknesses, fears, wants and desperation. And when we have nowhere to turn to, we tend to turn violent. That's how war happens.

But the violent ones are also victims of war, in a way. The true victims of war and the ones who cause war are both victims, just of a different kind and different degree. The ones who cause war are the worst victims of all, because they don't even know right from wrong. They can't run away from themselves to take refuge in any other country, because they're deep within this terrible illusion of the negative power. They're struggling very, very hard. So the only way to end war on this planet or anywhere is to be enlightened, to know God--just like when the child is hugged by the mother, he stops crying.