Sri Nasargadatta Maharaj received the following question at the time of the war in what was then East Pakistan, subsequently to become Bangladesh. For more about Sri Nisargadatta, see this earlier post.

Q: Are you not at all concerned about the state of the world? Look at the horrors in East Pakistan. Do they not touch you at all?

M: I read newspapers. I know what is going on! But my reaction is not like yours. You are looking for a cure, while I am concerned with prevention. As long as there are causes, there must be results. As long as people are bent on dividing and separating, as long as they are selfish and aggressive, such things will happen. If you want peace and harmony in the world, you must have peace and harmony in your hearts and minds. Such change cannot be imposed; it must come from within. Those who abhor war must get war out of their system. Without peaceful people, how can you have peace in the the world? As long as people are as they are, the world must be as it is. I am doing my part in trying to help people to know themselves as the only cause of their own misery. In that sense, I am a useful man.