Courage, love and action - that combination gives meaning back to
the word peace.
~ Patricia Smith Melton
|
introduction
|
In the article Redefining Peace Patricia
Smith Melton says "I don't know what the word "peace"
means anymore - too many paintings of doves and
rainbows.". Not to mention visions of yogis sitting
cross legged in meditation... The authors of the
articles in this month's issue have delved deeply enough
into the meaning and expression of "peace" to give us
some fresh insights into it. We feel it is such a
crucial part of our "world server" work that whatever we
can do to bring us closer to an understanding of the
true meaning of peace is worth the time spent. Each of
these writers has brought some ray of light to the
subject. They explore it from its relationship to our
personal lives and its role in the business world to the
building of a culture of peace in the world. Most
importantly they explore its deepest meaning in our
lives.
In my research for material for this issue I was again
reminded of the vast numbers of people and organizations
around the world - I dare say in every country on our
planet - that are working for "peace". The work covers
many layers and facets of what humans define as peace.
This work is vital to humanity, but it seems important
to remember that true peace isn't the absence of war and
conflict and violence, it is not an outer condition but
a cosmic Principle. The more we understand its true
nature the better chance we have of bringing it into our
lives and our world. As Johann Arnold says "Like a seed
beneath the soil, it germinates silently and unseen, but
then bursts with vitality, unfurling, flowering, and
finally coming to fruit." pulling us into a new way of
being and into new activity.
Barbara Allen
Blue Door
by Valerie Perex
Micronesia
The Meaning of
Peace
by Tom
Carney
I have had an insight, a
realization concerning the meaning, significance and
light of the word we call peace. As you know when
encountered, these insights or realizations are
formless. They have no density, no form or shape. They
are noun-less or nameless. They are just knowings, what
the Ancients called straight knowledge. Being a writer,
I have been trying for several months now to bring this
insight into a vehicle, a container, a medium that would
give it shape and appearance in the world of form so
that it could be communicated to others. I try to create
these artifacts with thoughtforms, with images made up
of parts of speech, of nouns, verbs, adjectives,
adverbs.
Creating a container for
the meaning and significance of Peace has been a very
difficult project. I know that what D.K. (the Tibetan
teacher Djwhal Khul) has said is that until one can put
an abstraction into forms that communicate the essence
or at least provide a window into the essence, the
meaning, significance and Light of the abstraction, one
doesn’t really understand the abstraction himself. I
have decided to be direct, to be, actually, peaceful.
So, I will come right out and tell you what that
realization is.
First of all it is the
realization that Peace is an Omnipresent, Cosmic
Principle in the same sense that Love or Service or
Harmony are Omnipresent Principles. Such Principles are,
actually, Lives that live and move in Truth, and Truth,
as we all know, is the true name for Cosmos. Thus,
Peace, like Beauty is a frequency that always and only
exists in the presence of Truth.
In the same sense that
Beauty is Truth and Love is Truth, Peace is Truth.
Peace, like Love is not
something that humans make, it does not have to be
conjured up. Peace is not a form. It is not a condition
that can be declared or proclaimed by writing on a
paper. Peace does not come and go, it is.
Again, like Love, Peace
is. It simply has to be realized and then after awhile,
recognized for what it is. It is hard to put these
abstractions together, but just about everyone has
experienced being in the presence of beauty. If we will
consider for a moment, we will recognize that that
experience carried with it another subtle frequency, a
frequency that, for a moment at least, made it possible
for us realize that all was right in the Universe, that
God was in His Heaven. We had, for a few moments at
least, an unshakeable conviction that the world was at
one. This is Peace. It has to be known.
None of us can forget
Beauty. We easily recall our experiences with it. And if
we look closely, we will realize that we have gradually
become able to see beauty more and more easily. You
remember how the world came alive after a number of
encounters with Beauty, how we began to see the Beauty,
the Truth that existed in the meanest of objects as well
as the darkest of nights and most barren deserts, how we
have been bowled over by the radiance of beauty which
streams from the faces of children and old people. Peace
is like that. Once we really see that Peace is, that it
always and only exists in the presence of Truth we are
more and more able to register its presence in our daily
lives. This process is what is meant by the ancient
saying that “Peace begins within.”
There is an expression,
“We Know it by heart.” This refers to having memorized
something, usually a poem or a piece of text, or a way
to get some where. It means that we have gone over this
ground so many times we do not even have to think about
it any more.
This is another example of
how the Ageless Wisdom has been lost in the world of
things, the forest of form. To “know by heart” means
that one knows without any intellectual or knowledge
process. Peace is something that can be known only by
heart. It is, like Beauty, something that is registered
by the heart. The heart is the organ of the Intuition.
There is no knowledge about peace, there is only
experience of it. There is only being to Peace.
Finally, let me say, that
Peace will never be found as long as it is looked for as
a period when conflict does not exist. Peace has nothing
to do with war or the cessation of war. Peace, like
Beauty and Love is an unconditional aspect of Truth.
Once we see and experience this peace will begin to
enter into our lives and radiate out from us in a new
and powerful way, as will Beauty, as will Love.
In conclusion, let me
share with you a prophetic passage from an ancient
Archive:
“When the Avatar has made
His appearance, then will the ‘Sons of men who are now
the Sons of God withdraw Their faces from the shining
light and radiate that light upon the sons of men who
know not yet they are the Sons of God. Then shall the
Coming One appear, His footsteps hastened through the
valley of the shadow by the One of awful power Who
stands upon the mountain top, breathing out love
eternal, light supernal and peaceful silent Will.
"Then will the sons of men
respond. Then will a newer light shine forth into the
dismal weary vale of earth. Then will new life course
through the veins of men, and then will their vision
compass all the ways of what may be.
"So peace will come
again on earth, but a peace unlike aught known before.
Then will the will-to-good flower forth as
understanding, and understanding blossom as goodwill in
men.’"
The Rays and The Initiations P. 94, 5
A. A. Bailey |
Broken Gate by
Pamela Benson
|
For a
printable version
of this entire page
click here
or you can print out
each individual article on its own
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
John
Lennon
1940-1980
|
Bangkok Elephant
by Iain Waugh
Thailand
|
The
Peace Which Passeth Understanding
We stand
today on the verge of great things. Humanity is on its way with
renewed impetus. It stands no longer at the crossroads, but
irrevocable decisions have been made, and the race is moving forward
along a path which will lead it eventually into light and peace. It
will find its way into "the peace which passeth understanding"
because it will be a peace which is independent of outer conditions
and which is not based upon what present humanity defines as peace.
The peace which lies ahead of the race is the peace of serenity and
of joy—a serenity, based upon spiritual understanding; and a serenity
that is not an astral condition but a soul reaction. These
qualities are not achieved as the result of disciplining the
emotional nature, but demonstrate as a natural, automatic
realignment. These two qualities of the soul—serenity and joy—are
the indications that the soul, the ego, the One Who stands alone, is
controlling or dominating the personality, circumstance, and all
environing conditions of life in the three worlds.
Alice A. Bailey
Esoteric Psychology Vol. 2 p 199 |
|
Do you realise that
what you do, how you live and how you think can help or hinder the
state of the world? Cease being drawn into the whirlpool of chaos
and confusion, of destruction and devastation, and start right now
concentrating on the wonder and beauty of the world around you. Give
thanks for everything. Bless all those souls whom you contact.
Refuse to see the worst in people, in things or in conditions, and
seek always for the very best. It is not being like an ostrich
hiding your head in the sand and refusing to face the realities of
the world. It is simply looking for and concentrating on the very
best in everything and everyone. You are a tiny world within
yourself. When there is peace, harmony, love and understanding right
there deep within your little world, it will be reflected in the
outer world all around you. When you can do it, you are beginning to
help the whole vast situation in the world.
Eileen Caddy, Findhorn
Community, Scotland
Swamped
Canoe Swollen River
by Kristen Evans
What Is Peace?
From The Peace
Book:
108 Simple Ways to
Create a More Peaceful World,
By Louise Diamond, Third Edition, pages XVIII‑XIX
Peace is more than the absence of war, violence, or conflict, though that is
an important first step. Peace is a presence ‑ the presence of connection.
Inner peace is about connection with our true and natural self, and a sense of
being part of something larger. This connection gives rise to serenity,
balance, and a feeling of well‑being.
Peace with others is about our connection with the open heart, through which
we remember our shared humanness. This brings us to the practice of conflict
resolution, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
Peace in our communities and in the world requires a connection to respect for
our multiple differences, and for the right of all people to justice, freedom,
and dignity. This leads to trust, community, and co‑existence.
Peace is a state of mind and a path of action. It is a concept, a goal, an
experience, a path. Peace is an ideal. It is both intangible and concrete,
complex and simple, exciting and calming. Peace is personal and political; it
is spiritual and practical, local and global. It is a process and an outcome,
and above all a way of being.
Ultimately, peace is about the quality of our relationships ‑ with ourselves and
with others. How can we live together, in the smallest individual and family
units and in the largest networks of peoples and nations, in ways that honor
who we are as dignified human beings?
info@thepeacecompany.com
www.thepeacecompany.com
|
House At The
Top Of The Mountain
by Tracy Lake
Honduras
|
What Is A
Culture Of Peace?
By Louise Diamond
The United Nations declared the year 2000 as the International Year of the
Culture of Peace, and the years 2001 to 2010 as the
International Decade for a
Culture of Peace and Non‑violence for the Children of the World. Governments,
local organizations, and individuals all over the world are using these years
to probe deeply into the nature and practice of a peace culture.
This is a noble goal, and one I am fully aligned with. Yet, let's be honest:
not having experienced a culture of peace, we don't actually know‑any of us‑exactly what it feels like, sounds like, looks like, as an integrated way
of life. It exists for humanity as a dream, a hope, a vision, which we are in
the early stages of realizing. We do, however, know what some of the key
elements of a peace culture are.
When our norms as a family, a community or a society foster inclusiveness
instead of discrimination, an attitude of 'we' rather than 'us versus them,
and partnership rather than domination, then we can be said to be living in a
culture of peace.
When we automatically solve our conflicts through negotiation, rather than
with guns or bombs; when we remember that we are all in this together, rather
than assuming that any of us are entitled to have what we want at the expense
of others; and when we treat every person, regardless of how they look, act,
or worship, with equal dignity and respect, then we know we are living in a
culture of peace.
When we engage in dialogue that bridges our differences, rather than debate
that polarizes us; stand with the oppressed rather than the oppressors; and
treat animals, forests, oceans, and all our natural resources as honored
relatives with whom we share the earth, rather than as objects existing for
our pleasure and our profit; then we are living in a culture of peace.
When we can go inside ‑ and
touch the deepest chord of serenity and joy at will, rather than expecting our
well‑being to come from the outside; relieve our stress with meditation and
relaxation rather than drugs or at‑risk behavior; and express our feelings
honestly and appropriately, rather than acting them out in hurtful ways; then
we will know a culture of peace.
When we live from love
rather than fear; let compassion triumph over hatred; seek reconciliation
rather than revenge; and practice generosity instead of greed; then we will
live in a culture of peace.
info@thepeacecompany.com
www.thepeacecompany.com
|
|
When Mother Teresa
received her Nobel Prize, she was asked the question, "What can we
do to promote world peace?" She replied...
"Go home and love your family."
-- Mother Teresa
|
Maurena &
Mestizo
by Joseph Speicher
Philippines
|
An Excerpt from
Being Peace
by Thich Nhat Hanh
"From time to time, to remind ourselves to relax, to be peaceful, we may wish
to set aside some time for a retreat, a day of mindfulness, when we can walk
slowly, smile, drink tea with a friend, enjoy being together as if we are the
happiest people on Earth. This is not a retreat, it is a treat. During walking
meditation, during kitchen and garden work, during sitting meditation, all day
long, we can practice smiling. At first you may find it difficult to smile, and
we have to think about why. Smiling means that we are ourselves, that we have
sovereignty over ourselves, that we are not drowned into forgetfulness. This
kind of smile can be seen on the faces of Buddhas and bodisattvas.
"I would like to offer one short poem you can recite from time to time, while
breathing and smiling.
Breathing in, I calm my body.
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment
I know this is a wonderful moment.
" 'Breathing in, I calm my body.' This line is like drinking a glass of ice
water - you feel the cold, the freshness, permeate your body. When I breathe in
and recite this line, I actually feel the breathing calming my body, calming my
mind.
" 'Breathing out, I smile.' You know the effect of a smile. A smile can relax
hundreds of muscles in your face, and relax your nervous system. A smile makes
you master of yourself. That is why the Buddhas and the bodhisattvas are always
smiling. When you smile, you realize the wonder of the smile.
" 'Dwelling in the present moment.' While I sit here, I don't think of
somewhere else, of the future or the past. I sit here, and I know where I am.
This is very important. We tend be alive in the future, not now. We say, 'Wait
until I finish school and get my Ph.D. degree, and then I will be really alive.'
When we have it, and it's not easy to get, we say to ourselves, 'I have to wait
until I have a job in order to be really alive.' And then after the job, a car.
After the car, a house. We are not capable of being alive in the present moment.
We tend to postpone being alive to the future, the distant future, we don't know
when. Now is not the moment to be alive. We may never be alive at all in our
entire life. Therefore the technique, if we have to speak of a technique, is to
be in the present moment, to be aware that we are here and now, and the only
moment to be alive is the present moment.
 " 'I know this is a wonderful moment.' This is the only moment that is real.
To be here and now, and enjoy the present moment is our most wonderful task.
'Calming, Smiling, Present moment, Wonderful moment.'
I hope you will try it."
Smiling is very important. If we are not able to smile,
then the world will not have peace. It is not by going out for a demonstration
against nuclear missiles that we can bring about peace. It is with our capacity
of smiling, breathing, and being peace that we can make peace.
Thich
Nhat Hanh
|
|
|
Girl With Seedlings by
David Kaplowe - Guatemala |
From the
Kosmos Journal online
http://www.kosmosjournal.org/kjo/articles/articlessub2/opening-the-door-to-a-new.shtml
"When a great world crisis is upon humanity, as it appears to
be now, when it seems that all that was sane and human is just about to be
destroyed, when wars and violence are threatening the land, a group of
people appear working selflessly to avert the downfall of the world. They
are the Hidden Remnant who appear again and again in times of great
danger when the world needs help to face a deep crisis."
Opening the Door
to a New Humanity
By Janis Roze
Over six billion different worldviews are
walking on our earth. Every individual I-universe has one. Together we
create and carry the vibrating, advancing, struggling humanity’s creation –
a moving, changing noosphere. The noosphere, a term popularized by Jesuit
philosopher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, is described as the sphere around
the earth produced by the human mind, emotions, ambitions, hopes and dreams.
Let us remember that our individual mind, emotions, ambitions, hopes and
dreams are an integral part of this human masterpiece. In that enterprise we
all are coworkers. Many of us, however, are perplexed and wondering what
kind of noosphere we are creating. Is it global society or global confusion?
In these days of crises, violence and uncertainties we may ask again an old
question, “Quo vadis, Homo sapiens”, Where are we as humanity going? And we
may also ask, Where am I going as an individual?
Let’s leave aside for a moment all the
magnificent complications of philosophies, ideologies, sciences, religions,
traditions and ways of life. Let’s accept them as rich fruit to nourish
human consciousness. All of us, rich or poor, famous or not, powerful or
powerless, educated or not, thinkers or doers, seekers or not seekers,
believers or atheists, spiritualists or materialists are constructing our
individual lives. In the ongoing effort of building our “personal empires”
with a sense that we will live forever, we discover that we are an essential
ingredient in the evolution of the cosmically unique human world. What an
opportunity and responsibility!
Viewing the world situation, some signs
suggest that we are gradually becoming insensitive, mechanized and
dehumanized leading to a global catastrophe. Some other signs suggest that
precisely due to this world crisis we are in process of opening the door to
a New Humanity. Some see it and work for it with enthusiasm, intensity and
love, some are reluctant, while many go around confused; but we all are
marching together toward the New Humanity.
In addition to the “external” effort to
better the human condition, the search for the door to the New Humanity is
leading us inside, deep into our individual being where the essential human
is woven into the authentic human. In special moments, out of the spiritual
depth of every individual, the urge to recognize and express the authentic
human bubbles up to the surface.
The present world condition calls for the
mobilization of the essential human to meet the global crisis we face. Two
examples illustrate the effort toward the New Humanity: one on human
relationships, the other on humanity’s relationship to nature.
The Reawakening of the Hidden Remnant
Only from the spiritual depth where the
divine presence dwells can we mobilize the essential humanity needed to
solve the global megaproblems of contemporary society. One dramatic call
went forth from the 9/11 tragedy.
In midst of pain, suffering, questionings
and a sense of helplessness about the collapse of the Twin Towers, a new
call was heard. Triggered by compassion, forgiveness and love the call
spread almost silently all over the land and in many lands beyond. From the
ruins and dust of the Twin Towers we sensed the awakening of a new
spirituality. This destroyed symbol of humankind, together with people from
sixty countries became, as the New York Times said, “hugely important –
indeed almost spiritual – to people in New York and around the world”. The
central energy for the transmutation of humanity emanated from the suffering
of New York where all the world religions, all nations, all cultures and
traditions, all expressions of the arts and the political, social and
economic thinking are present.
In its essence the tragedy was not a call
for vengeance but to awaken the inner giant within us. Many of us wept as we
walked the streets of New York holding candles. Three days after 9/11 a
small red sticker with the message “Our grief is not a cry for war” appeared
on many walls. It was the call for the Hidden Remnant.
Whence the Hidden Remnant?
When a great world crisis is upon humanity,
as it appears to be now, when it seems that all that was sane and human is
just about to be destroyed, when wars and violence are threatening the land
a group of people appear working selflessly to avert the downfall of the
world. They are the Hidden Remnant who appear again and again in times of
great danger when the world needs help to face a deep crisis. In their
personal lives they stand for humankind. They stand for the authentically
human and work for the completion of human destiny. They are the “I who is
We” people. Plato called them “the very small remnant” in search of the
truly human and of the wisdom of ages. Isiah mentioned this small remnant as
that group of people who saved the land. Gerald Sykes called them the Hidden
Remnant. They continue working for human sanity as if standing on a volcano
that is about to explode, in spite of the apparently imminent danger of
explosion. A person who escaped from the twentieth floor of the Twin Towers
and called his wife to say that he was all right, but decided to return to
the twentieth floor to help to evacuate his friends – and never returned –
is a Hidden Remnant.
Today, once more we stand on a volcano that
is in danger of exploding. In the face of new world danger nourished by
blind vengeance, violence, hate and sheer inhumanity we all are invited to
awaken within ourselves the Hidden Remnant. We are invited to mobilize the
strength within and to take a stand, the stand for humankind.
So spoke the plant to a human
An illustration of the great
interdependence where the essential human and nature entwine was offered to
me in a strange way, by a tiny plant in Brazil.
In 1996, during one of our Earthwatch
research trips we were collecting and studying medicinal plants in the
luscious Atlantic Rain Forest, around Buzios, Brazil. We took daily
collecting trips in the forest gathering the plants, sometimes with a local
healer who knew them well. One day we were particularly successful in
finding interesting species of healing plants. Back in the lab we carefully
prepared each specimen, knowing that each one of them has its special
qualities to heal, to hurt, or to nourish. We learned that in the forest
there is no plant or tree that is “just there”, as we frequently think about
them. All play a role in the ecological interactions and interdependence.
Tiredness freed my mind and emotions from
the internal noise of the personality that almost always accompanies us. I
was handling the plant ‘A041’ quietly pondering its qualities, almost as if
I was inquiring about its existence. In my inner silence I became aware of a
message that an important part of the creation – the plants – intended to
transmit to us humans. This is what I “heard” from my magical plant.
Long before you came, our world was
designed to provide for your coming. We toiled and struggled to survive.
At the same time, we gathered energies and material that we offered to the
rest of the Wave of Evolution.
We all grew together because we were
One. We had one aim given to us by the Mother Earth. We reached for the
Sun, our true giver of life. Our roots were in the Mother Earth to draw
nourishment for life. We do not have time as you have it but we have
rhythms – a kind of dance together.
We learned to generate what we need,
without knowing that we will offer everything to the Wave of Evolution.
This offer was our way to transform and make the next step of the Wave. We
produced all that is needed to maintain the Great Harmony in the animal
world, in the human world.
It went well for a long time. But then
the Great Break came. You humans gradually forgot the Wave of Evolution.
You became fascinated about what you could do with the riches of the
Mother Earth. You isolated yourselves and invented your own strange
purposes and definitions and you stopped listening to the pulse of life.
You grew deaf to the melody of the Mother Earth. You sank into a listless
world where you heard only the echo of your own doings.
Now the Great Break is wreaking havoc
in our world and in the world of our brothers, the animals. You forgot
that everything in you is from soil, plants and animals. Yes, you have
forgotten that on the Mother Earth we are brothers and sisters sharing the
same rhythm of life. You have forgotten that sun shines on all of us
equally and that the Great Journey is to return to the Creator. Mother
Earth nourished us all, provided for us and sent us on the journey of
Cosmic design.
We suffer by not being able to tell
you about our offering and that we all journey together on the Wave of
Evolution. We offer you nourishment, healing, beauty and life. We suffer
because you isolated yourselves and the Gift of the Plant is not
recognized. We have all you need to restore the Great Harmony, and much
more. It is so because we share the One Wisdom, that of the Mother Earth,
that of the Creator. Silence your noise. Open your hearts. We offer you
all that we are as a gift of life and let us journey on the Wave of
Evolution together again.
A Note from Janis Roze
In 1957, as a herpetologist (that’s a
person who studies snakes) from the Central University of Venezuela in
Caracas, I was doing research at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Pitrim Sorokin, a respected friend of Harvard’s Center of Creative Altruism
invited me to participate in the conference on New Knowledge in Human Values
organized at the Kresge Auditorium, MIT. In the next two days my world broke
open. All my hopes for steps toward a new way of humankind, for hastening
human development as a kind of spiritual awakening, for promoting human
dignity, reverence for life, respect for the developing world and its
people, and exploring the ways and power of love, as well as meeting people
who were advancing it, were fulfilled. However young and insignificant, I
knew that I had said yes to it. The rest of my life will be dedicated to
advancing the human condition, respect for nature, integrating knowledge of
many fields, seeking peace with social and human justice and, above all
else, reaching into the depth of the spiritual-divine milieu to search for
the meaning of being human. The cutting edge people of that time I met and
heard at the Conference included Abraham Maslow, Ludwig von Bertalanffy,
Diasetz Suzuki, Henry Margenau, Erich Fromm, Paul Tillich, Gordon Allport,
Theodosius Dobzhansky, Robert Hartman and many more. Most of them became
members of the International Center for Integrative Studies that we later
established in New York to promote a dialogue on “crucial contemporary
issues and the future of humanity”. This dialogue is continuing in my own
life.
Used with permission from the
author and Kosmos Journal |
|
Preferred
Transportation
by Christian Sanders
Guatemala
|
From the
Bruderhof PeaceMakers Guide
http://www.peacemakersguide.org/articles/jca/Action.htm
A Call to Action
Johann Christoph Arnold
Excerpted from
Seeking Peace, available in e-book format.
Time itself is neutral; it
can be used either destructively or constructively. More
and more I feel that the people of ill will have used
time much more effectively than have the people of good
will. We will have to repent in this generation not
merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad
people, but for the appalling silence of the good
people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of
inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of
men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this
hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of
stagnation.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Peace does not mean
inactivity. It can include calm or repose. St.
Augustine's oft-repeated quote - "My heart does not find
rest, until it rests in Thee" - contains a deep truth.
Yet what is "rest" in God? Is it complacence, passivity?
The gift of peace is an
answer to unfulfilled longing; it is an end to the
destructive wear-and-tear of doubt and sin. It is
wholeness and healing. But as much as it is all of
these, peace is a call to action and new life. Peace may
grow out of prayer and meditation, but it cannot stop
there. It brings new obligations, new energy, and new
creativity. Like a seed beneath the soil, it germinates
silently and unseen, but then bursts with vitality,
unfurling, flowering, and finally coming to fruit.
In his book Innerland
my grandfather writes that the end of time is not the
end of activity: "The gates of the City on the Hill are
not shut, but remain open." In the same sense, we who
have received the gift of peace cannot keep it to
ourselves, shutting out the noise around us and ignoring
the plight of those who do not possess it:
It is well and good to
have achieved peace and quiet in this life, yet those
who do are often tempted by the human tendency to ignore
the basic will of Jesus: that once the heavy-laden soul
is renewed, it must become a source of strength and
energy for action. To sink spinelessly into a dumb
stillness means being utterly useless for the life to
which Jesus calls us.
Speaking from the
perspective of engaged Buddhism, with its equal emphases
on meditation and on compassionate commitment to others,
Thich Nhat Hanh recalls the Vietnam War and the dilemma
it posed for him. Was the fruit of peace contemplation,
or was it action?
So many of our villages
were being bombed. Along with my monastic brothers and
sisters, I had to decide what to do. Should we
continue to practice in our monasteries, or should we
leave the meditation halls in order to help the people
who were suffering under the bombs? After careful
reflection, we decided to do both - to go out and help
people, but to do so in a spirit of engaged
mindfulness...Once there is seeing, there must also be
doing. Otherwise, what is the use of seeing?
If we seek to live in
peace with our fellow human beings, certain inescapable
responsibilities will fall on us, and we must grapple
with them like Thich Nhat Hanh and his monks did. We
cannot choose to live in harmony just with God, or just
with ourselves, to the exclusion of others.
After my mother joined the
Bruderhof in her early twenties, she struggled for
months to discern what peace means in concrete terms.
She wanted to devote herself to God, yet at the same
time she was unsettled by a question her family and
friends had put to her: how could she do anything for
world peace if she wasn't "in the world" anymore?
In a letter to her mother,
she admitted she had no foolproof answers, yet felt
certain that to live for peace, she must break away from
the strife of bourgeois life and follow a different
course. This did not necessarily mean a life of pious
inactivity:
Our community does not
seek the peace of a hermit's life, or reject the world
and its people just so we can pursue our own goals
undisturbed. No! We take an active interest in current
events, national and international, so that we may be
led together to action and a clear stand...We are not
afraid to express our convictions strongly and openly,
and to put them into practice for all to see. That is
what counts. It is not a matter of secluding ourselves
within a set of monastery walls to go the way we have
chosen in peace and quiet.
"Peace and quiet" were
the very opposite of what my mother was looking for,
and the same is true for many people who have turned
against the meaninglessness of the middle-class rat
race. When a person sets out to find peace, the search
springs from the desire to find a deeper, more truly
fulfilled life, not an emptier one. Veterans and
businessmen, housewives and ministers, high school
dropouts and educated professionals have all told me
the same: peace does not just mean saying no to
violence, greed, lust, or hypocrisy. It means saying
yes to something that takes the place of all these.
John Winter is a former
lab employee who left his job after discovering that his
firm was involved in ammunitions testing. He says:
I rejected violence and
began to look for peace, but soon I realized that
peace is much more than the absence of war. I was
tired of saying I couldn't join the army. What could I
do? I was seeking a practical alternative to war, not
just an end to it. I wanted to commit myself to a
different way. I wanted something to live for, not
just something to fight against.
Gertrud Dalgas, a teacher
who joined my grandparents and their little community in
1921, only months after its founding, felt the same. At
the time, she wrote in a magazine article:
Our vision is of a
kingdom of peace and nonviolence, a kingdom of freedom
rooted in God. The critique and rejection of the
prevailing conditions demands a positive counter-move
of us, as an example. But precisely because we
criticize capitalism, class hatred, murder, war, and
deceit in social relationships, we feel compelled to
dare a totally new and different life. We are merely a
handful of people from various classes, trades, and
professions. But we are not just refusing to bear
arms, or refuting the values of society at large in a
negative way. We are building community against the
demands of state, church, private property, and
economic and social privilege.
Neither Gertrud, nor John,
nor anyone else I have quoted would claim that the
answer to the problems of the world is community in
itself, let alone the Bruderhof. But they would surely
agree that if peace means action and commitment, it
demands a fight. So would Dick Thomson, a Cornell
graduate I have known for forty years. He writes:
As a young man of
twenty, I knew very well that peace was hardly to be
found in the present world. I grew up during World War
II, with the newspapers full of war news and
propaganda, culminating in the dropping of the atomic
bombs on Japan. I well remember the battles between
John L. Lewis and his mine-workers' union and big
business management too. My mother voted Democrat,
while my father voted Republican, but neither had much
to say about God, and I found nothing attractive or
hopeful in what I saw of religion.
If I had a god, it was
science and the human mind, and I was encouraged to
think I had an especially sharp one. Yet how little I
knew of all the unpeace in the world, or even in
myself, having never suffered war, poverty,
oppression, serious illness, or any mental challenge I
thought I could not meet. As I grew older, however, I
was hounded by guilt over besetting sins I could not
overcome, and by an inner discord that only became
more intense, the more I tried to solve it.
Jesus says, "My peace I
give unto you: not as the world giveth," and yet,
"Think not that I am come to send peace upon the
earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."
At the Bruderhof I met
ordinary men and women who had discovered peace and
joy in a united conviction that they had found the
central fight of life. They knew what (or whom) they
were fighting for. For the sake of their Lord, they
were ready to face any suffering or need.
Here was a peace that
struck my heart: not a withdrawing into death-like
silence and passivity, but just the opposite: the
peace of forgiveness and a new start in life, the
peace of courage and activity, and outspoken
opposition to evil in all forms, along with love to
all people.
When I asked about the
source of this peace and joy, which I had never
experienced in my life before, I was told, "Jesus
Christ." Without seeing, I would not have believed,
but this was real. It was then that I realized I had
found the fight to which I, too, could and must give
my own life.
I know that my
experience is not unique to the Bruderhof, and that
God's kingdom is not limited to those who call
themselves Christians. The idea of finding peace "in
the fight" is there in the writings of the early
Quakers - of George Fox, Isaac Penington, and many
others of their day who experienced the rebirth of
faith amid the dead ashes of formal religiosity. It is
also there among political prisoners and prisoners of
conscience I know, including former Panthers, and
members of Philadelphia's MOVE organization. These men
and women speak a different language and live more
radically than the Bruderhof, but they are close in
heart and spirit to what I've tried to describe, even
if the press has unfairly demonized them as crazy
radicals because of their unpopular position on race
and social justice. When you correspond or visit with
them, you sense that despite the hardships they have
suffered (some of them for many years) they have joy
and peace. They are passionate, but not violent or
irrational. And they know what their fight is: to
reveal the truth as they recognize it, and to stand by
it.
Again, when I came to
the Bruderhof as an unpeaceful young man, it was this
same peace that moved me, a peace that radiated from
people who knew what battle they were in, what war
they were waging.
When God gives us his
peace or love or joy, it remains his, and we cannot
take it with us or keep it as our own. So long as it
pleases him to give it to us, it is available. If we
lose the gift, by slackening in the fight, or for any
other reason, God still holds it in his hands and we
can go back to him for it.
We cannot use the gift
of peace: it uses us! To the extent that our own will
takes over, we lose it. But this is our richness: we
know where we can find it again.
Author Amy Carmichael
uses the imagery of a battlefield to describe peace. She
says that a soldier lying in bed while the battle is on
does not have peace, but rather he who gives his life on
the field. Those who fight closest to the captain are
most likely to be wounded, but they will also have the
greatest peace.
People talk about peace
all the time; everybody wants it, no one is against it.
But who is ready to commit himself to working for it to
become a concrete reality? For each person, the call to
action will take a unique form. For one it may lead to
activism; for the next, to community; for the next, to
an entirely different calling. It may simply mean being
a voice of reconciliation at one's place of work, or
trying to be more forgiving and loving at home.
A great deed may be nobler
than an ordinary, unnoticed one, but it can distract us
from the things we ought to be doing right around us. It
can even produce a hardness of heart toward those who
need us most. Jean Vanier warns, "Sometimes it is easier
to hear the cries of the poor and oppressed who are far
away than the cries of brothers and sisters in our own
community. There is nothing very splendid in responding
to the person who is with us day after day and who gets
on our nerves."
Wherever we are and
whatever we do, there will be sacrifices to make and
commitments to fulfill if our peace is to bear fruit.
For unlike the false peace that mixes everything and
commits one to nothing, God's peace comes as a bracing
wind, and sets into motion everything that stands in its
path.
If we go no further than
individually edifying encounters with Jesus, we are
missing the greatness of his cause. That is why we are
told to seek the kingdom of God and its righteousness
first: so that we might become worthy not only in the
sense of personal blessedness, but as fighters for his
kingdom.
Let us live more
intensely in the expectation of the Lord! If we do not
wait for him in every aspect of our life, we do not
wait at all. I ask myself every day: have I hoped
enough, fought enough, loved enough? Our expectation
of the kingdom must lead to deeds.
J. Heinrich Arnold
|
Peeking Pig
by Shana Pereira
El Salvador |
|
City Scape
by Julius Kassovic
Nepal
|
From the PeaceBuilding.com website
http://www.peacebuilding.com/
Peace Building Through Business
“Business has become the most
powerful institution on the planet. The dominant institution in any society
needs to take responsibility for the whole. But business has not had such a
tradition. This is a new role, not well understood or accepted. Built on the
concept of capitalism and free enterprise from the beginning was the assumption
that the actions of many units of individual enterprise, responding to market
forces and guided by the "invisible hand " of Adam Smith, would somehow add up
to desirable outcomes. But in the last decade of the twentieth century, it has
become clear that the "invisible hand " is faltering. It depended on a consensus
of overarching meanings and values that is no longer present. So business has to
adopt a tradition it has never had throughout the entire history of capitalism:
to share responsibility for the whole. Every decision that is made, every action
that is taken, must be viewed in light of that responsibility.”
—Willis Harmon
Defining the emerging field of
PeaceBuilding for the 21st Century:
"Peace" is both an innate state of Mind/Being, and a
dynamic evolutionary process.
"Individuals and Nations, acting in
concert, DO make a difference in the quality of our
lives, our institutions, our environment and our
planetary future. Through co-operation, we manifest the
essential Spirit that unites us amid our diverse ways."
PeaceBuilding
Through You
We must recognize that
"social peace is as important as strategic or political
peace" and commit ourselves to promoting the capacity
for peace-building at all levels of the global system.
The reality is, PeaceBuilding in all
its many forms will only be realized as each one of us
steps forward and creates our part of "new environments
and new cultures" in our daily lives, in our work and
personal relationships, and what ever endeavors we are
involved with. As it is stated, "We are the people we
have been waiting for".
*Excerpts from a paper "Peace-Building
for the 21st Century", Avon Mattison, Willis Harman, Tom
Hurley, Meir Carasso and Duane Elgin, February 12, 1996.
Moroccan Delicacies
by Lisa Lind
Morocco |
|
“True Peace is always possible. Yet it requires strength and
practice, particularly in times of great difficulty. To some, peace and
nonviolence are synonymous with passivity and weakness. In truth,
practicing peace and nonviolence is far from passive. To practice peace,
to make peace alive in us, is to actively cultivate understanding, love
and compassion, even in the face of misperception and conflict.
Practicing peace, especially in times of war, requires courage.”
–from
Creating True Peace by
Thich Nhat Hanh
|
Women, Monkey, Bottles & Bones
by John Veurrier
Ecuador
|
|
Women At Well
by Kerry Zahn
Mauritania
"We can see that ‘peace’ is conceived of as the law,
the rhythm, the logic of the universe. It is conceived of
as the virtue, natural feeling, logical mood of humans."
|
http://ignca.nic.in/cd_09005.htm
From the
book
CULTURE OF PEACE
Edited by BAIDYANATH SARASWATI
The True Meaning of Peace
from the Chinese Literary
Perspective
by Tan Chung
The concept of ‘Peace’ in our modern civilization (should I say, Western
civilization?) is the facade of war, dominated by the calculations of
realpolitik. This English word originates from the French concept which
denotes ‘agreement’ — agreeing to stop a conflict or war. When we refer to
The Universal Dictionary of the English Language we find that the first
notion of ‘peace’ is ‘cessation of, freedom from, strife, warfare’, and the
second notion of it is ‘treaty of peace between hostile nations’. Even in
the third notion, it is understood as ‘freedom from civil disorder,
disturbance, agitation’ and ‘freedom from strife, controversy or agitation’.
Only after these notions come ‘tranquillity, concord, mental calm, serenity
of mind’. This European concept of peace (which is more or less universally
accepted) is something similar to the Chinese word wu (its palaeographic
form shows a combination of denoting ‘to stop’ and denoting ‘weapon’). This
wu concept was to capture the joyous mood of the soldiers when they heard of
the news of cease-fire (stopping the weapon). This was, in fact, the
original Chinese word for ‘dance’. However, today we use the word for such
connotations like ‘military’, ‘fight’, ‘fighting skill’ (as used in wushu,
etc.) Like the case of ‘peace’ in the European cultural context, this
Chinese concept of wu remains a facade of war. I may call this category of
thinking the ‘red-eyed view of peace’.
In this paper I wish to present the green-eyed view of peace which
originates from ‘Agroculture’. I have coined this word to avoid using the
cumbersome formulation of ‘agriculture culture’. When humans came to this
earth as a result of evolution, they started making stone weapons to hunt
other animals for food. After many thousand years, these primitive hunters
transformed themselves into two dominant cultural modes. Some began to tame
the animals and graze them on grassland. Some of the animals were kept as
their food, but other animals, particularly horses, were used for quick
movement and fighting. They finished off the grass in one place and moved to
another to graze. This approach amounted to the looting of Mother Earth.
Also in the movement they clashed with other nomadic groups and practised
the principle of ‘might is right’. Nomadic culture is essentially a hunter’s
culture intoxicated in fighting, looting and warfare.
But there was another cultural mode of settling down in a place and start
cultivating Mother Earth for subsistence. When Mother Earth’s generosity
surpassed their level of subsistence, they domesticated wild animals and fed
them — ultimately killing them for food. This mode is the agrocultural mode.
Agroculture is a cultural mode that is meant to replace the hunter’s
culture. Gone are the days when humans tiresomely and cruelly chased and
killed other animals on the run. Agroculture is a relaxed mood, oriented in
the spirit of peace. It is grown from Mother Earth, and endeared to Mother
Earth. Earth is important to an agriculturist (so also an ‘agroculturist’)
who cultivates the good earth under his feet and depends for his livelihood
on it. Agroculture thrives on the exuberance of the planted growth, and
avoids insensately looting the vegetation in the environment. Agroculture is
eco-friendly.
To agroculture, peace is not an aftermath after war. It is an integral
part of human existence. The concept of peace takes its birth with
agriculture and agroculture. Peace, attachment to Mother Earth, friendship
with ecology are essential ingredients for a good agrocultural life. Peace
and agroculture are symbiotic. With agroculture there cannot be any concept
of peace. For agroculture is a farewell to the hunter’s culture, a farewell
to arms, a farewell to chasing others — be it a wild animal or a hostile
human. The Western way of life has not completely said farewell to this
hunter’s culture. Western table manners daily practised by the kings and
queens, by civilians and soldiers, by the workers wearing white, blue or
other coloured collars, by writers, film stars, poets, and so on involves
cutting meat with a knife and taking it into the mouth with a fork almost
exactly in the same fashion as a primitive hunter did thousands of years
ago. But, those who have bid farewell to the hunter’s culture have long laid
aside, and have long forgotten, knives and forks while eating. For thousands
of years, the Indians have put cooked food on leaves and helped themselves
with their fingers, while the Chinese have used chopsticks and spoons. These
are symbols of agroculture, of non-violence — symbols of peace. For
agroculture is born with peace just as peace is born with agroculture.......
.....‘When Heaven and Earth interact there is the creation of all
beings. When the sages interact with the hearts of the people there is peace
in the universe.’
Here I have translated the term heping into peace, but it is a
combination of two concepts: he (smooth, harmonious and peaceful) and ping
(even, tranquil, just and peaceful). We can see that ‘peace’ is conceived of
as the law, the rhythm, the logic of the universe. It is conceived of as the
virtue, natural feeling, logical mood of humans.
In the commentary of the first gua, qianyuan (Heaven), there is an
observation that the daren or great man merges his virtue with Heaven and
Earth, merges his brightness with the sun and moon, merges his rhythm with
the four seasons, and merges his good and bad omens with the spirits. This
term ‘great man’ is used in the Book of Change in such a manner that we see
it as a signification of God. The Chinese term daren (with da meaning
‘great’ and ren meaning ‘person’) comes so near to the ancient Indian
concept of mahapurusha.
In the commentary of the second gua, kunyuan, is praised as the creator
of all the things and beings. This kunyuan is a reference to our Mother
Earth. It is also observed that this Mother Earth interacts with Heaven (tian)
in the mood of shuncheng, i.e. obeying and sustaining.
All this makes it clear that in the wisdom of Chinese agroculture, there
is only mutual give and take, sustenance, creation, harmony, tranquility,
and peace — there should not be conflict and war.
Confucius, in his Daxue (Great Learning), observed that the learning
process began with zhiyu zhishan (to stop at the optimum). He continued:
‘Knowing how to stop will achieve stability. After achieving stability there
is tranquility. After tranquility there is peace of mind and ease of mood.
After acquiring peace of mind and ease of mood one can think and reflect.
After thinking and reflection there is achievement.’3
Then, Confucius spelt out the process by which a gentleman could develop
his career. First, he should become earnest and sincere; then he should put
his heart in the right place; then he should cultivate saintly behaviour;
then he should put his family in order; then he should bring his country
under a good rule; then he should make the universe a place of taiping.4
Again, there is some difficulty in translating taiping, which is a
combination of tai (connoting grand, extreme, etc.) along with ping
(connoting even, tranquil, just, peaceful, etc.). In fact, this ping is the
same ping which we have just seen in the Book of Change, and Confucius’
taiping and the term heping we have cited earlier from the Supplementary
Commentaries of the Book of Change are similar ideas. As I have said
earlier, peace was conceived of as the natural law and rhythm of the
universe. Now Confucius added a dimension of human dynamism to it. Peace to
Confucius was the ultimate goal of human endeavour, in other words.
Our journey starting with the Book of Change to Confucius’ spiritual
world has witnessed a shift of emphasis from the fundamental laws of Nature
to human endeavour, suggesting that the peaceful nature of the universe had
been disturbed, and should be upheld by human endeavour. This shift does
reveal the gap between agrocultural idealism and human reality — peace being
constantly disturbed by human activities. However, what I wish to emphasize
is that to the Chinese agroculture, peace is no secondary reality, and
certainly not an afterthought cropping up at the end of the war or conflict.
To the Chinese agrocultural mind, peace is the reality of the universe,
the fundamental condition of human existence: not, as the French and other
European definitions suggest, an expediency, a temporary arrangement, or a
momentary escape from quarrels, conflict and war.
|
|
Peace Starts Here
We often think of peace as the
absence of war; that if the powerful countries would reduce
their arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into
the weapons, we see our own minds - our prejudices, fears, and
ignorance. Even if we transported all the bombs to the moon, the
roots of war and the reasons for bombs would still be here, in
our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we would make new
bombs.
Seek to become more aware of
what causes anger and separation, and what overcomes them. Root
out the violence in your life, and learn to live compassionately
and mindfully. Seek peace. When you have peace within, real
peace with others will be possible.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Seeking Peace
courtesy of the Daily Dig
http://dailydig.bruderhof.org
|
Transportation
by Matthew Edwardson
Guinea
"Peace is about
taking responsibility for
being born into the miracle of life."
|
From the Peace Times on the
Peace x Peace website
Redefining Peace:
An Interview with Patricia
Smith Melton
"Courage, love and action - that
combination gives meaning back to the word peace."
~ Patricia Smith Melton
How do you define peace?
I don't know what the word "peace"
means anymore - too many paintings of doves and rainbows. Global
harmony takes more than pretty images. So, the dove went across the
flood and brought back a stick, but who's going to pick up those
sticks and build communities with them? That's work, that's getting
off the ark, that's creating a place where humans can live together
and thrive. No one gets to sit on the sidelines. We can all do
something and, however small it may seem to us, it helps. Peace is
about taking responsibility for being born into the miracle of life.
As I lost the personal relationship
with the word "peace," my commitment to changing social conditions
has intensified. I believe in courage, forgiveness, education,
respect, financial equity, equal representation, women's rights, all
human rights, freedom of speech, the end of violence against all
living beings starting with the travesties against women and
children, and I believe in communicating our human sameness to each
other. That's what I believe in. and I'm not alone. The hundreds of
thousands of women gathering on International Women's Day around the
world prove that.
Is love necessary for peace?
Love of others isn't
necessary for peace. I don't have to love someone to let them live
in peace or to cooperate with them so we can both thrive. But love
fuels peace building, it gives energy and purpose, and it brings all
the parts together so you understand them as a whole.
For me, love is pervasive and
all-inclusive, which doesn't mean we always act on it or are aware
of it. Fear can cancel out the sensation of love. Then existence
becomes perceived as trying to stay alive; we become constricted and
suspicious rather than expansive and embracing. The sheer energy it
takes to shut others out of our emotional-psychological world is
disempowering.
Let's face it, humans are works in
process, we are unfinished. But we carry within ourselves tidal
waves of the impulse to love. For me, free will is whether or not we
put into action the impulse to love, quite literally do we let love
flow through us and do its work. We have the key of free will, but
do we turn it? That's the choice.
Are women better at expressing
love?
Women don't have a monopoly
on the ability to love and, in western cultures at least, that myth
helps alienate and marginalize men into roles where decisions are
made by statistics, finances and military hardware. Women need to be
activated, but, like it or not, we still have that role of inspiring
men. The world doesn't need "perfect wives," it needs women who
choose to show that good will, listening, connecting and
communicating everyday human needs have influence for security and
living well - and that it is safe for men to do the "feminine"
things of caring, of saying "no" to violence. We can have peace when
"feminine" ways of perceiving and acting are understood by men with
power not only as courageous but as effective and right.
What role does courage play in
building peace?
Courage is like love, it
has a million facets depending on where it's needed and the style
and beliefs of the person who's expressing it. Courage is protecting
the children from violence and educating them with curtains over the
windows, testifying at post-genocidal war crimes, forgiving the
neighbor who tried to kill you during ethnic cleansing, wearing make
up under your burqa, rising at 5:30 am each day to cook for
children's soup kitchens. Courage is flexible, and, like love, it
will find a way.
Courage, love and action - that
combination gives meaning back to the word "peace."
What makes you believe women can
bring peace to our world?
Throughout history we see instances of impassioned women organized
to bring change - standing up to injustice and violence - but now a
worldwide movement of women is coalescing. A critical mass of women
has come to understand that the world is their nest, and it is
threatened.
Most women find safety for themselves
and their families by bonding with others - to tend and befriend
rather than "fight or flight" - and they are influenced by the
desire to build a nest that nurtures everyone in it. These two
impulses make women natural peace builders.
What does "nesting" have to do with
building peace?
Just as most women feel impelled to
make a nurturing environment in which they and their family can
thrive, they will fight to protect that "nest" from danger they
perceive from the outside. So the question becomes: how large do
women see their nests? What's inside the nest and what's outside? If
they view their nest as limited to their house, then people beyond
it will not have the benefit of their talents for bonding,
inclusion, tending and befriending.
Yet, today's reality is no woman's
home is safe unless we have global peace. We no longer have the
option to shut out people we view as the "enemy" - we all live in
this messy global nest together
And once you see yourself, your most
vulnerable self, in someone outside of your protective nest, perhaps
in very dire circumstances, everything changes. A deep side of women
- of most humans - becomes activated to nurse, cherish, empower,
educate, feed and love.
That's when women experience the world
as their nest and start cleaning it up. A woman who suddenly sees
the world as her home - filled with treasures among the debris - and
who has decided this is the time to clean, is unstoppable. That's
what PEACE X PEACE is empowering.
http://peacexpeace.org/newsletter28/default.htm |
|
A line from a poem by a major Chinese poet in the T'ang Dynasty, Li Po (701-762):
"We sit together, the mountain and me,
until only the
mountain remains."
|
Horse-Drawn Sled
by Liz Demarest
Lithuania
|
On how ideas can become an epidemic...
"As human
beings, we always expect everyday change to happen slowly and
steadily, and for there to be some relationship between cause and
effect. And when there isn't -- when crime drops dramatically in New
York for no apparent reason, or when a movie made on a shoestring
budget ends up making hundreds of millions of dollars -- we're
surprised. I'm saying, don't be surprised. This is the way social
epidemics work."
Malcolm
Gladwell - from his book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can
Make A Big Difference
http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/index.html
|
personal courage
|
VISIONARY LEADER OF
THE MONTH
From the
Center for Visionary Leadership website
Avon Mattison
On September 11, 2001, Avon
Mattison was at the United Nations, preparing for a special Day of
Peace which was to begin with Secretary General Kofi Annan ringing
the Peace Bell, launching what was to be the first annual Culture of
Peace Week. She was just doing her "job" that day: representing
inter-generational and inter-cultural peace-building organizations
around the world at an annual UN Conference. But just at that
moment, terrorists attacked the World Trade towers, and many feared
the UN would be the next target. Everyone was evacuated from the UN,
but Avon decided to stay.
She went to the meditation room in
the UN, past the flags of all nations on the planet, and she prayed
for the protection of the UN and Peace for all beings. She affirmed
her willingness to serve in whatever way was needed. Instead of
fear, she said she felt an unear | | |
