The world was shaken to its roots by the horrific events in New York last week. Many said, "Is this a wake-up call to the world?"

The grief of the innocent civilian victims, the emergency service personnel, the bereaved relatives and friends, has caused a wave of deep grief in every individual and community in the world. Grief is the cause of many illnesses.

I felt a sense of shock and an unexplained feeling of numbness. The more important feeling that drew my attention was that the horrific images on the screen revived our memories of the tragic death of our son in an accident, many years ago.

I suddenly found myself reminiscing on the effects on the mental and emotional health of people watching images of such disasters - many people in Britain and around the world are going to be reliving their own bereavements and their hearts will go out to the families and friends of the victims.

Also, with an incident like this, everyone gets scared and anxious about their future and their safety.

Those who are already suffering from anxiety and depression, can become worse and require counselling and therapy or anti-depressants.

The only solace and comfort one can find is in deep silent prayer, resorting to one's belief and faith in God. The God that is loving, caring and sharing, the God in man's heart that flows with compassion for fellow human beings and for all creation.

Taking refuge in spirituality and the loving support of friends and family helps overcome grief reaction.

Wherever in the world there is war or terrorism, people live in fear and their health suffers.

Ayurveda talks about kalparinam - the effect of time and action and the karma of previous lives on the human mind, body and emotions - as one of the causes of disease in the community.

What is it that causes man to behave with such hostility towards each other?

Power? Money? Ego? Selfishness?

Ayurveda and Yoga, like most religions, talk about ego, lust for power, possessiveness, greed, anger and desires as the root causes of individual and communal illness.

Moral values and rules of conduct such as truth, non-violence and non-acquisitiveness in the development of social structure and political policies have received emphasis in Ayurveda for promoting well being in an individual, community or a nation.

When every child in every country is taught at school to respect and love nature and care for his fellow human beings, when they are made aware we are all inter-dependent for our welfare, then this world may turn into a happier place.

I am sure many people received several text messages, as I did, of goodwill and prayer on email and mobile phone, to relay to as many others as possible.

This reveals the powerful feeling in man to reach out to his fellow beings - to love and to share.

So let us all pray. God bless everyone.