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The New Peace Report, #1
By Louise Diamond, Ph.D.
Welcome to The New Peace Report, an occasional set of reflections on world and national affairs in these times of change and challenge, as seen through the lens of deep peace.
Why Deep Peace andThe New Peace Report?
 I have devoted the past twenty years of my life to ‘tikkun olam’ (the healing and repair of the world) through building a culture of peace at home and abroad. In 2007 I wrote 12 monthly e-newsletters, The Peace Report, as a way to highlight some new thinking and positive action in that field.
In the evolution of my own journey, I find that I have taken the notion of ‘peace’ deeper and wider than ever before. Global warming and global warring are symptoms of a critical illness in the consciousness of humanity, an illness that threatens us with serious upheaval if not massive destruction in the near future.
And so, I now feel to write about Deep Peace, which I understand as going beyond conflict resolution and reconciliation, beyond even fostering a culture of peace. Deep Peace for me is a living experience of the interconnectedness of all being. It brings Spirit and consciousness into the conversation, as well as speaks to the relationship of peace to justice, power, and poverty; to good governance, environmental sustainability, and inter-faith harmony – in short, to all the critical issues of today. Deep Peace is both a path for transformative social change and a vision for what that change will bring about.
Above all, Deep Peace is a stepping stone in evolution. I take seriously the myriad prophecies surrounding these times, some of which focus specifically on 2012. I do believe humanity stands at the choice-point for breakdown or breakthrough, and that many of us are discovering new ways to articulate and to actualize the principles of Oneness, Wholeness, and Interconnectedness that are the bedrock of the breakthrough scenario.
It is to that journey that I wish to now address myself, and thus The New Peace Report. This is a discovery process for me as well as for the reader. I make no promises about form or content – we’ll see, together, how this evolves. I offer these musings in service to ‘the healing and repair of the world’ in these times of change and challenge, and pray that you will find something here that provokes, inspires, and invites you too to critical thinking, inner reflection, and cooperative action. For the benefit of all our relations.
Election Reflections
Okay, I’ve watched some of the endless debates of presidential wannabes. I’ve read the analyses in the weekly magazines and listened to the various pundits make sense of it all. However, I have not yet heard some of the things I wish to hear from any of the candidates. So, addressing the candidates directly, here is my wish list.
One of the most critical lessons we have learned from the Bush administration is that the president does not operate alone. Who s/he chooses as advisors and heads of government agencies and major initiatives makes a BIG difference. Tell us who your team will be. This doesn’t have to be an actual list of promised appointments, but name names, tell us ‘the people I respect for such and such a role include…’ In this way we can know so much more about what to expect from your administration, should you become president.
Don’t just talk about change as a future promise; show us change in the ‘now.’ Real change would be to move beyond a personal politics of individual competition into an awareness of the whole and the power of cooperation. Real change would mean a demonstration of global thinking, of caring for the well-being of all and not just self and cronies. If you want us to believe you are the change agent you promise to be, do your campaign in a new way.
For instance, you promise to unify the country? Try unifying your own party. Instead of tearing down your ‘opponents’ in the primaries, tell us the good points of their policies, and build on that to make something even better. Instead of attacking your colleagues, show us what peacemaking and reconciliation really looks like within your own political family. Each of the candidates has something fine to offer; how do you, together, make a powerful whole?
If you took that view, you would automatically speak up for one another’s right to be heard. The media has, in effect, made it impossible for many of the so-called ‘minor’ candidates to be known by the public. For example, when Dennis Kucinich was dis-invited to participate in a presidential debate by MSNBC, every single one of you, both Democrat and Republican, should have raised the hue and cry, were you truly putting the interest of free and fair elections above individual advancement.
And speaking of free and fair elections – something the U.S. promotes around the globe as the hallmark of democracy – where is the conversation about the integrity of our own election system? Shame, shame on us for letting our elections be controlled by money, by extreme partisanship, by discrimination, and by sleazy actors.
I expect every one of you to be working now, passionately and vociferously, to insure that voting machines are safe; that challenges intended to keep certain groups of voters from being able to cast their votes are squashed, that dirty tricks and oppositional research and nasty lies about one another are eliminated from the election landscape – even if it means you yourself lose the boost that could be gained from these tactics. Why? Because, again, the good of the nation is served by honest and fair elections, and the good of the nation is more important than individual advancement. Show us you stand for that.
And please, as you move beyond general promises to fix all the ills of society with ‘your plan,’ and get begin to get specific on issues like global warming, Iraq, immigration, the economy, health care, etc., notice that there is another whole area of conversation missing. President Bush and his team have imbedded very damaging policies into the infrastructure of U.S. governance, through presidential signings, executive orders, judicial and commission appointments, etc. Name these, and show us how you will correct them, for if they go unchallenged they will undermine all the new initiatives you wish to launch.
Most particularly, you need to help our country and the world shift from a fear-based concept of national security to a compassion-based understanding of global security. Make explicit why it’s necessary to do so, because the American people are insulated, and don’t really understand their role as global citizens in these times.
This shift is critical, because the next president will lead during intense times of change. We need more than fight energy to get us through. Global warming, poverty, global warring, terrorism, religious fundamentalism of all kinds, and WMD, especially nukes, are all vehicles by which the human family is destroying itself. While they need to be addressed, vigorously, they are not, in themselves, the root problem. The root problem is how we view ourselves as an interconnected family of life, and within that view how we choose to relate to one another (including the earth and elements) and act collectively and cooperatively to address the challenges that face us all. Please articulate this vision, because it guides everything else.
We – the country and the world – need this new vision, and a leadership that is creative and impassioned, inspiring and specific, in helping us manifest it. If we always do what we always did, we will always get what we always got. So far, I’m still waiting for any of you candidates to produce this vision. Please don’t keep us waiting much longer….
How to Change the World Update
 In mid-January we began the first 3-month term of the How to Change the World course for transformative social change agents and artists, called Systems, the Way of the One. Eleven people attended a four-day intensive workshop, and another 22 people are engaged in the course via Home Study. Our focus: a study of Oneness, Wholeness, and Interconnectedness, primarily through an understanding of deep ecology and systems thinking.
Because nature is the best teacher of Oneness, Wholeness, and Interconnectedness, we invited the natural world into our Learning Community. Here is a simple exercise we did that you can also do, to have a direct experience of two basic systems truths: the parts are wholes in themselves and also part of a larger whole; and we need each other to survive and thrive.
The Tree of Life
 Either go outside and sit or stand with a tree, inviting it to be your teacher, or sit inside with a large sheet of paper and various crayons, colored pencils, markers, etc. and draw a picture of a tree.
Whichever method you choose, starting with the seed from which the tree grew, slowly move your attention to all parts of the tree – the roots, the trunk, the branches, the leaves, the flowers and the fruit. Identify with, or become, each new part, speaking in the first person (aloud or silently), describing what that part is and does, and how it is related to other parts of the tree. For instance, ‘I am the seed, and I contain the pattern for the whole tree within myself. Without me, the tree would not be, yet as the tree grows, I dissolve. I am the roots, and I…etc.’
Focus on each part separately, as a whole in itself and as a part of the larger whole. Then focus on the tree as a whole, with all the different parts working together (‘I am the tree and I…’). Then focus on the tree as part of a forest (‘I am the forest, and I…’). Then focus on the forest adjoining a field or meadow (‘I am a whole natural ecosystem, and I…’). Then, across the meadow, see houses, towns, and cities, again seeing each part of the larger whole (‘I am a larger ecosystem, and I…’). Then gradually bring your awareness back from the cities and towns to the meadow, the forest, the whole tree, and then to each part.
Now reflect on the experience. What did you notice about the tree? About its separate parts? About interconnectedness and interdependence? About larger and smaller systems? About the relationship between the part and the whole? Write about this in a personal journal, or share with a friend. Finish by giving thanks to the tree for showing you so much about living systems.
You can go to www.louisediamond.com/training.html to learn more about this course and to register for the second three-month term, Power, the Way of Right Relationship, which begins mid-April.
Hummingbird Recommends…
 As the earth warms, habitats shrink, species disappear, and ecosystems are disturbed from various sources, our relatives who happen to be four-legged, wingeds, swimmers, creepers and crawlers, plant or mineral beings, the elements, and others appear in our lives in new ways, trying to get our attention.
Indeed, Mother Earth has been attempting to wake us up for some time. Yet many of even the most environmentally-conscious among us still hold the unconscious belief that the natural world is separate from humanity. We forget that the earth herself is alive, and that all beings are joined with us in a single, interdependent, and intricate web of life.
One of the key principles of systems thinking is to give voice to the voiceless. It is time to listen to our relatives from other species, other dimensions. They have a unique perspective on our world, and many gifts to share with us two-leggeds, yet are rarely given the space and the respect to offer their wisdom.
In the 1980’s Joanna Macy and John Seed developed a process known as the Council of All Beings that allows other-than-humans to speak – first to each other, and then to people. I strongly recommend you first read about and then actually convene a Council of All Beings. Anyone can do it – the instructions are right on the website:
http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/deep-eco/coab.htm
What allows us to slaughter each other in wars is the same thing that allows us to foul our air and water, deplete our natural resources, and basically destroy our own life-support system. It is the view of separation and domination. Until we remember that we are all in this together, our dream of peace on earth/peace with earth will remain a distant fantasy. I believe the Council of All Beings is a valuable tool in our remembering.
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