To have peace, be peace

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

From the Bowl of Saki by Sufi Inayat Khan

(a series of contemplations for each day of the year):

July 2

Man must first create peace in himself if he desires to see peace in the world, for, lacking peace within, no effort of his can bring any result.

[AZBlue]

1. Reminds me of what Gandhi said

"You must be the change you want to see in the world."

It's so true. Change (or peace) must start somewhere, why not with you?

[LWolf]

2. I know this is true.

Peace is not the same thing as "anti-war." Anti-war sentiments can, and are, held by people who do not live peace.

I was pondering this yesterday and this morning:

I'm directed, drawn, to moving forward the process of "being" peace. A good place to start is in paying attention to how I engage people I don't agree with. People who want to "fight" and "win" instead of converse.

It's an automatic reaction to meet them on their own ground, which immediately moves me away from where I want to be.

So I've been pondering: should I just quit spending time at DU? Should I pull out of political engagement in order to establish and nurture that inner peace?

Seriously. How can we foster inner, or outer, peace, when we are caught up in rage, in political warfare, in the polarization that is politics in the U.S.?

Where are my energies likely to have the longest-term, best effects? In my community, working on inner peace and peace in the small pond I interact in, or in the bigger political picture?

What are the thoughts of the peaceworkers?

[yawetag]

3. My thoughts? As a peaceworker? They are actually very simple...

My thoughts are these: That war is NEVER the answer, and that all of our nation's so-called "enemies" can be transformed -- eventually -- into our friends, if only we would strive to cultivate that rarest and most prescious of all diplomatic flowers: A willingness to listen.

A willingness to never, ever -- no matter what should happen -- to never stop talking with our "enemies", or stop listening to them.