The most remarkable photograph ever taken is the photograph of earth taken from the moon. It shows us as we are- just a tiny speck of life and light against the unending vastness of outer space. Earth is the only planet where human beings can live. Mother Earth should not be converted into a battlefield between warring nations.

We are in an age of turmoil and transit. Humanity is in utter peril, not from another species, not from outer space, but from itself. There is violence and hatred, killing and suffering all around us. In our arrogance and ignorance, we have destroyed the environment of this planet. We have polluted the oceans. We have made the air unfit for breathing. We have desecrated nature and decimated wild life.

The myth of the churning of the milky ocean is of great significance. Prolonged churning has given incredible gifts- science and technology, medicines, communications, space, outer space etc., which have given us many material comforts. This scientific and technological power, if used for benign purposes, can abolish poverty and hunger, malnutrition and misery, illiteracy and unemployment from the face of this earth. On the other hand, we now have enough nuclear power to destroy the human race 40 times over, to commit not only racial suicide but also terricide, the destruction of planet earth. We may be the last generation of human beings to inhabit this earth.

Can we as thinking beings accept this situation? Can we acquiesce in a situation where ¼ of the world is overfed and ¾ underfed? Can we live in a global village where millions die of malnutrition, stunted in body and mind and other millions suffer from obesity and overeating? Can we live in an age where millions lack elementary medical care and other millions are overmedicated?

If the answer to the above questions is in the negative, as it must be, then we must move towards a new transition. It is essential for human survival. We have got to move towards co-operation, co-ordination, live and let live, give and take, complementarity in place of competition, and convergence in place of conflict. We must heal the split in the human psyche. Immediate involvement in peace and disarmament movements is essential. There has to be a parallel movement for inner peace within each of us. We cannot expect Lord Shiva to appear and swallow the poison. We have got to drink the poison ourselves. We must co-operate with the spiritual power of the earth. Mother Earth has sustained the human race for countless centuries. May that great divine power give us the strength and courage that we need to make the transition.