Anmol Saxena

The world is at war once more. Social media and TV show the same story repeatedly: destruction, displacement, anger, and revenge. We are told that this war is about safety, independence, history, and land. Analysts talk about geopolitical alignments and strategic interests. Govts make statements to explain their actions. Both sides say they had no choice. But underneath talk of strategy is something more fragile and human: our inability to stop and think.

There are no real winners in war. Even winners get ruins – cities that are falling apart, and trust that is broken. Shyam Lal Saxena, Babuji Maharaj, often talked about how pointless war is. He said that “conflict arises when collective consciousness becomes disturbed.” His advice during rough times was simple: “Stay at peace inside yourself even when the world is falling apart.”

Metacognition is the ability to think about how we think on a personal level. It’s the quiet place where we can feel our anger before we do something about it. It is the time when we stop blindly defending our beliefs and start questioning them. When we lose that ability, we react instead of thinking. Now picture that failure being shared by millions of people –collective metacognition.

A country also ‘thinks.’ It tells stories about who it is, what it has been through, and what it deserves. It encourages feelings of pride, shame, anger, and insecurity in groups. Leaders tell these stories over and over; they are taught in schools and talked about in public. They become truths that no one can question over time. Collective metacognition would mean that a group of people can take a step back and ask hard questions such as, “Are our fears reasonable?” Are we reacting to something that is happening right now, or to something that happened in the past? Are we seeing the other side as people or just as enemies?

The conflict today has gotten worse because of both weapons and stories of betrayal, unfairness, and survival. Everyone thinks they are protecting themselves. They all think what they are doing is necessary. In an age of instant communication, emotional contagion spreads quickly. Pictures of pain spread faster than understanding. The outrage grows stronger. Leaders act when people are angry. The cycle keeps going. Without a shared sense of self, feelings become rules.

A security issue can be resolved through dialogue or escalated into an existential threat. A historical grievance can be recognised and resolved, or it can be exploited to incite anger. The failure stems from the incapacity to scrutinise our own framing prior to acting. Babuji said that world peace can only happen when each person is at peace. An insecure identity seeks validation through dominance. A damaged mind sends its fear out into the world. When a lot of people are angry and anxious about something, those feelings build up in the collective consciousness.

Leaders are not distinct from this domain; they arise from it. If people can’t see their own anger, it will be hard for groups to see their anger. If people can’t stop and think before they act, countries will have a hard time doing the same before they start a war. This doesn’t mean that countries should ignore real threats. Someone who is peaceful on the inside can still protect their boundaries, but not with hate.

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