Peace itself is the path as well as the goal of that path, the means and the end.
Refuges known as Peace Villages were scattered throughout the southern United States up until the 1800's. The Tsalagi (Cherokee) people used these villages as a sanctuary where, through diet and meditation, the inhabitants radiated peace of mind. No blood was shed, nor was harm done within their boundaries. Each Peace Village was guided by the Peace Chief, who remained committed to protecting life and transforming consciousness.
The Peacekeeper holds the vision of peace for all beings in all worlds, as beauteous expression of harmony and balance resonating through thought, word, and deed.
The
Peacekeeper sees all in good relationship, perceiving the underlying unity of
creation.
The Peacekeeper knows that each being is empowered by will to choose, wisdom
to see, and intelligence to act, all being together weaving the dream of our
shared reality.
Recognizing that patterns of mind manifest as one's individual, family, clan, national, and planetary relationships, the Peacekeeper turns aside anger, doubt, and fear, harmonizing conflicting emotions through complementary resolution.
The
Peacekeeper acts with consideration for future generations, with the mind of
preserving life and that which enriches living.
. . .
Peacekeeper mind is an integration of light and dark within oneself. It is to
choose to empower oneself, to be what one is rather than reacting in the patterns
of the past or to the expectations of others. It is to recognize ourselves in
the moment. As a nation, as a planet, we are growing. Many of the ideas that
have been important in our development and learning as a human race have been
outer explorations: scientific means, inventions, methods of healing. Now we
are coming again to the inner exploration. We are seeing the whole cycle, the
cycle of things. In this cycle it is our thought that is most significant. Even
the plants and the land show us that. When people take the time to create a
space of love in their homes, a place and time for prayer and meditation, a
vortex of energy is created that actually strengthens the electromagnetic fields
of their bodies and the land where they live. This lesson was clearly demonstrated
at Findhorn, the spiritual community in Scotland renowned for its magnificent,
almost "miraculous" gardens. The power of attunement to the land and
to the flow of abundance in one's own mind can manifest miracles of abundance
on Earth. So a stream of clear thinking is most important. We are co-creators.
Being present in the moment means acknowledging whatever energy is being experienced and bringing it to resolution, by calling forth balance. When there is anger or frustration in you or around you, instead of focusing on the anger, focus on the seed of compassion, focus on love and resolution. The thought form of resolution in itself sets up a resonant field that enables the mind to perceive methods of resolution.
Dhyani
Ywahoo
Voices of our Ancestors
Shambhala Publications, 1987
Make yourself a modern-day peacekeeper. As Dhyani Ywahoo suggests, focus on the seeds of compassion, love and resolution when there is anger around you. Breathing in another person's anger and breathing out love is a challenging place to start.
Fasting
is a traditional way to purify the body and spirit; here it is dedicated to
world peace. In their pastoral, The Challenge of Peace, the US Catholic bishops
call the Christian community to fast for the cause of peace.
As a tangible sign of our need and desire to do penance, we, for the cause of peace, commit ourselves to fasting and abstinence on each Friday of the year. We call upon our people voluntarily to do penance on Friday by eating less food and by abstaining from meat. This return to a traditional practice of penance, once well observed in the US church, should be accompanied by works of charity and service toward our neighbors. Each Friday should be a day significantly devoted to prayer, penance and almsgiving for peace.
The New Testament's answer to the question, "Why should we fast?" is "As a sign of your love." Fasting is not an end in itself. Love has to do with relationships, and fasting can lead us to a better understanding of our essential relationships with ourselves, with others, with the planet earth, and with God. Fasting and abstinence may well be a starting point for spiritual growth toward greater love among the well-fed congregations in this affluent society, protected by a bloated nuclear arsenal.
The New Testament does not guarantee a positive outcome for fasting. Fasting can get side-tracked into dieting. Fasting which will result in deepening love must begin in love and abide in it. Yet a loving decision to forego the joy of uncontrolled eating for a single day out of each seven can put us in touch immediately with our dependence on our own gratification for a sense of well-being. Our initial efforts to fast may reveal that we do indeed live "by bread alone." What then?
A
time of fasting is a time of testing human readiness to wait on God. Do we trust
that God lives, that God cares, that God loves and keeps the earth and all who
live on it? Have we the humility to yield control to God? Fasting in faith can
lead us more deeply into the mystery of God with us and in us, and so restore
human hope grown weary, love grown cold.
The New Testament regularly associates fasting and prayer and almsgiving. So
does the peace pastoral. Both prayer and almsgiving move the center of our fasting
beyond our preoccupation with ourselves toward a center of love. If we dare
to discover hunger symbolically through a day of fasting each week, a further
decision to complement that fast with almsgiving will force us to look around
for hungry people.
A day of fasting and involvement with the hungry can draw us further into understanding the complexity of our social reality. We might become more curious about the fat defense budgets and their relationship to unemployment, underemployment, inflation, empty stomachs. We might get more interested in the chain of world food production, which keeps our supermarkets and tables loaded while keeping the world's agricultural workers malnourished, feeding instead the workers' resentment of us and our way of life.
This simple discipline, practiced and continually reflected on, can be a sign of our deepening conversion to the mystery of a love powerful enough to redeem the world.
Mary
Collins, OSB
The Fire of Peace: A Prayer Book
Compiled and edited by Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB, Pax Christi USA, 1992
Try fasting for half a day. Then a day. Fasting helps to break our attachment to everything we cling to, not just food.
In Islam, fasting from sun-up to sunset is required during Ramadan, roughly
one month out of the year. It is recommended at other times to allow a person
to detach from desires and rest in dhikr. The basic principle of dhikr, which
is remembrance or invocation of Allah, is to bring a person into a state where
there are no thoughts, thereby becoming neutralized or cleansed.
Peace
Pilgrim has walked 250,000 miles for peace. She says: "This
is the way of peace: Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred
with love. There is nothing new about this message, except the practice of it.
And the practice of it is required not only in the international situation but
also in the personal situation. I believe that the situation in the world is
a reflection of our own immaturity. If we were mature, harmonious people, war
would be no problem whatever--it would be impossible.
All of us can work for peace. We can work right where we are, right within ourselves,
because the more peace we have within our own lives, the more we can reflect
into the outer situation."
The fear and anxiety
caused by the possibility of war are the biggest health challenges we face right
now. As a physician, I know full well that emotions such as fear and anger impede
the healing process and, if held long enough, actually lock us into a vicious
cycle that produces more pain, more fear, and more anxiety. This can wreak havoc
on our minds, bodies, and spirits. But this doesn't have to be the case.
There are very specific things each of us can do right now to help prevent war
and at the same time create peace in our bodies, minds, and spirits.
Use your thoughts wisely. Understand their power. Thoughts have a tendency to
become their physical equivalent. This is one of the fundamental laws of the
universe.
Another one is the law of attraction, which states that "like attracts
like." Because it is consciousness that creates reality, the kind of consciousness
you hold (your vibration) actually creates the kind of life you're living.
It's impossible to create peace and harmony if you're pushing up against a war.
It's impossible to create peace and harmony if you're condemning George Bush,
Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, etc. You don't have to agree with them, but realize
that you'll be contributing to the energy that creates war if you assume an
"embattled" mentality concerning them.
The split in our nation right now about war is actually creating more of the
energy of war. It's not possible to "fight" for peace without creating
war. To create peace, you have to be peaceful.
The only way to stop war is to start from within yourself.
You must do personal disarmament.
The only way to get and stay peaceful is to concentrate on what brings you peace
and resist the downward spiral of negative emotions that blames others for your
lack of peace.
Remember, that to which you give your attention expands.
Although there is no denying that we're in a perilous and frightening position
right now, that doesn't mean we are powerless to change it.
But the only way to do so is by changing your thoughts and emotions from those
of anger, hatred, and fear to those associated with compassion and peace.
Daily Exercise for Creating Peace:
Spend 30 seconds
several times a day creating a "virtual" reality of what peace would
look and feel like.
Imagine that it's a year from now and the economy is flourishing.
George
Bush is radiantly healthy; the governments of the free world are all cooperating
to ensure global harmony and peace.
And Saddam and Bin Laden and their influence have
disappeared from the planet.
Imagine all our soldiers back home and reunited with their families.
Imagine a global village in which all of us can travel freely and joyously and
with understanding and acceptance of each other's cultures.
When thinking about Iraq or North Korea, imagine the women and children.
Send your energy and compassion to them. Don't try to change the men of these
countries. In fact, don't even give them any thought lest you energize them.
Withdraw your energy from them so that you will no longer be "feeding"
them.
Dozens of studies have documented the fact that our thoughts can and do affect
others in profound and measurable ways.
Another Tip for Creating Peace:
Avoid watching
the news and reading the newspapers. Headlines are designed to keep you afraid
and disempowered so that you will buy more papers or watch more television.
Then you get "hooked" on the news because you're waiting for some
official "guidance" that will keep you safe and secure.
This simply can't happen, because it's not the way the media is set up.
The media is designed to get you riled up, so that you remain tuned in to the
"chain of pain."
The only lasting safety and security come from the peace that you create within
yourself. What's safe for one person will be dangerous for another.
Remember all the hundreds of stories from September 11, about the people who
were supposed to be at the World Trade Center but, for hundreds of different
reasons, simply weren't there that day.
Tune in to how you are feeling when you've severed the influence of the mass media. This will give you the guidance you're seeking.
Finally, know that when you are tuned into your heart, your Inner Wisdom, and God, then your energy lightens up and your vibration literally changes.
You become a beacon
of light and peace. You become an uplifter and a peacemaker.
There's an old saying, "The rising tide lifts all boats. But it won't raise
a stone."
Stop looking at and thinking about the stones. Join me in raising the tide.
And remember the words of the great M. K. Gandhi, "When in despair, I remember
that all through history the way of truth and love has always won; there have
been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in
the end they always fall."
Warmly,
Christiane Northrup, M.D.