Historically, the relationship between religions and world peace is very ambiguous. Religions have always promoted world peace, declaring God is the creator of the universe, and all people are brothers and sisters. World peace creates a basis for human beings to cultivate love, mercy, repentance and forgiveness, so religions have the potential for creating true human beings.

On the other hand, people use religion to justify wars. People not only use religion but they misuse religion for their own selfish purposes to stay in power and to control people. Religions create certain emotions that can lead one or others to act violently, such as killing innocent people for no cause and committing crimes against society. Eventually, these emotions may lead them to war in the name of God, even when their basic tenets are against war.

People also have misused religion by inciting people to fight with others in the name of God. People commit more crimes in groups than as individuals. Religion has had the power to create heaven on earth as well as a hell on earth.

We have gone to the moon and Mars but not learned to live peacefully on earth.

I believe that spirituality is beyond religion, and that money and power do not move the world. Only love moves the world. God is love and love is God. According to Paramhansa Yogananda: "Giving love to all, feeling the love of God, seeing his presence in everyone ... is the way to live in this world."

All religions are like the branches of the same tree, which has only one major root. That is God. God is eternal and resides in hearts of all human beings. If you love someone, you love God and if you hate someone, you hate God.

Our dreams have a great capacity to change things. Without Martin Luther King's dream, he would have been an ordinary person. Today he is a hero: He pursued his dream for racial equality. Dreams show us what kind of society we can become; dreams have divine messages and the power to move people from mere possibilities to realities.

Gandhi looked upon India as a diverse community with the potential to cast off the colonial yoke and became the biggest democracy on Earth. He studied different scriptures and found the commonality amongst religions. He united people from all different religions and suggested that they should live in peace and harmony. He believed that Ahimsa (non-violence, or refraining from harming others in thoughts, speech and deeds) is the highest religion.

All religions teach hope, the belief that things can change for the better. We must hope for peace even when peace appears to be all but impossible.

First, find peace within using exercises to purify one's mind, body and spirit: prayer, fasting and silence. Then create peace among communities. If we are successful in building the bridges among religions, then we would be able to remove the seeds of hatred, violence and war.

As Gandhi said, "There is no way to peace, peace is the way. Be a change to see change in the world."

Raj Kumar, an Ayurvedic wellness counselor, is the president of Gandhi International Institute for Peace. E-mail faith@honoluluadvertiser.com or call 525-8035. Articles submitted to The Advertiser may be published or distributed in print, electronic or other forms.