THE NINTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SEPT. 11

TENSION MARKS THIS YEAR’S 9/11
REMEMBRANCE OF ATTACKS OF 2001

www.bloomberg.com - Nine years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Americans prepared Saturday to come together in somber memorials and peace rallies - and to confront one another in protests over a proposed mosque and Islamic center two blocks from Ground Zero. For the first time, bitter passions over religious tolerance and partisan politics threatened to overshadow an anniversary that previously passed mostly as a quiet day of national mourning and sober reflection. President Barack Obama, marking the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, said Americans should remember the national unity and the “human capacity for good” that followed the nation’s worst act of terrorism. In his weekly address on the radio and Internet, Obama said the lesson to be drawn from the attacks is that the nation is bound by “a set of common ideals” that can be exemplified by service.

This year’s commemoration of the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history has become entangled in controversies about plans to build an Islamic center near the site where extremists slammed two hijacked airliners into New York City’s World Trade Center and a Florida pastor’s threat to burn the Muslim holy book on the anniversary. Obama, in his address, said he recognized that the country is going through “a time of difficulty” and warned against divisiveness. “It is often in such moments that some try to stoke bitterness,” he said, without mentioning the mosque site or the Florida pastor. “But on this day, we are reminded that at our best, we do not give in to this temptation.” “On this day, we also honor those who died so that others might live,” Obama said. “In acts of courage and decency, they defended a simple precept: I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper.”


President Obama called this day of remembrance, unity, reflection and renewal. He said the mission is to strengthen relations between the Western and Muslim world, and confront the things that have polarized relations between the Muslim and non-Muslim trough multireligious and multinational efforts. The real solution is to serve and please Śrī Hari, and then everyone will become satisfied, for all are in Him and He is in all.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The nations of the world, irrespective of race and religion, can only be truly united in love and harmony by following the path of prema-bhakti (love of God) as laid down by Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Love (prema) is even greater than the concept of non-violence (ahimsa). To 'not harm others' is a negative; that is to say, it means to refrain from doing something rather than doing it. On the other hand, love or prema is a positive action; it is the effort to do good towards others. In reality, all talk about non-violence is in fact quite superficial, for in this life none can exist without harming another. True non-violence is possible only when the self is totally surrendered to doing that which is for the welfare of all living creatures. ... Since we are all infinitesimal parts of the One Supreme Entity, our true happiness lies in union, in the completion of the incomplete.

Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Madhava Mahārāja :
"Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and International Peace"
Lecture at Religious Convention at Balaji Bhavana
in Hyderabad from August 5 through 7, 1961.
http://www.sreecgmath.org/scgmtimes/scgmsbdm.php
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library - www.bvml.org/SBDMM/