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The New Peace Report, #4
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 a global shift toward Deep Peace. I define Deep Peace as 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 all the critical issues of today (injustice, poverty, environment, health, economy, etc.)
This Peace of Land
 As we celebrate Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22, let us remember our true relationship to the Earth. We in the dominant society have acted for centuries as if the elements and all of Earth’s natural resources were ours for the taking. We have assumed an adversarial relationship of supremacy, best expressed in the popular phrases, ‘man versus nature,’ or ‘man’s conquest of nature (or of the frontier, or of space).’
This view is exactly the same one that we hold toward other peoples and countries. Historically, the United States has demonstrated this belief in its actions toward the Native American and African-American peoples, through the years of Manifest Destiny, and now we are seeing it again in Iraq (and elsewhere).
Let’s be clear. This worldview of separation and dominance must change. Why? Because it is based on incorrect assumptions; because it causes great damage; because it is counterproductive, creating problems rather than solving them; because it is immoral; and because it will lead inevitably to disaster of the highest order for the family of life who share this planet, whether through environmental devastation or through catastrophic war.
This Earth Day, let us remember, instead, that there is only one of us. One complex, interconnected, living system, of which humans, animals, plants, the elements, all living beings, and the Earth herself are integral and interdependent parts. Let us remember that everything is our relative in this one Earth Family, and treat all our relatives with respect and appreciation. Let us extend our love and our caring to the natural world, and seek her cooperation rather than her submission to our needs and greeds.
Let us, above all, recognize nature as our teacher, our partner, and our pathway to peace. She is our teacher, because a close examination of her ways mirrors to us the great mysteries of our lives – lessons about cycles and change; life and death; transformation and tranquility; diversity and oneness; the infinite beauty and innate intelligence that resides within and all around us.
She is our partner, because the forces of wind and water, sun and soil, when harnessed appropriately for the good of the whole, can bring great benefit to all. Because all members of this intricate web depend on each other for survival and well-being. Because working with rather than seeking power over nature can help us solve some of our most vexing challenges.
She is our pathway to peace because, through a deep bond with the natural world, we find that inner peace that allows us to be the peace we seek in the world, and come to understand how we must be with others in the human part of the family – connected, concerned for the larger good, and responsible for the effect of our thoughts, words, and actions.
Only when we change our thinking from ‘this piece of land’ to ‘this peace of land’ can we hope to pass a healthy, whole, and holy life on to our children and grandchildren. This Earth Day, I encourage you to celebrate Deep Peace by going outside and giving thanks to the living Earth for all her gifts. And please, make a commitment to being her best friend and partner in what is called in Judaism ‘tikkun olam,’ the healing and repair of the world.
Election Reflections, Again
 As I write this, the voters in the Democratic Pennsylvania primary are just going to the polls. I pray that the results will bring us some relief from the ugly, petty, and unproductive battle now being waged on the political scene.
We’ve heard their policy proposals, and alas, we’ve heard all too much of the personal attack and denigration. Instead, I would wish to invite Senators Clinton, Obama, and McCain into a different kind of dialogue altogether. I would hope they would begin to speak to the following:
How will you revitalize American democracy, by:
- Engaging the voice of the people, as well as the elected leadership, in constructive dialogue rather than polarized debate, so we can find creative solutions to critical issues?
- Restoring civil rights and human rights trampled by Bush administration policies?
- Promoting independent media and a proliferation of media ownership, for a truly informed citizenry?
How will you revitalize American foreign policy, by:
- Helping the American people understand why, in an interdependent world, our approach to security must focus on unity, cooperation, and the well-being of all?
- Bringing fresh new voices and innovative approaches to the difficult challenges we face, so that we address problems from a different mindset than that which created them?
- Addressing root causes, so that instead of managing symptoms and responding to crises we begin to change basic assumptions and ways of being together on this planet?
How will you revitalize American society by:
- Acknowledging the culture of violence that permeates our society at every level, and showing the way to a culture of peace?
- Addressing racism, sexism, and all other forms of ingrained intolerance at the social, structural, and political levels, for concrete progress toward ‘a more perfect union?’
- Guiding our collective consciousness beyond the ‘either/or,’ ‘us versus them’ mentality into the 21st century reality that ‘we’re all in this together?’
The situation in our country and in the world today demands of our leadership that we go beyond the ‘same old, same old’ and leap into the new. We can no longer afford to tinker around the edges of the issues facing us.
We are called not to incremental but to transformative change, a journey that understands at its core that we are all connected, that what harms one harms all, and that our petty differences are inconsequential in light of the urgent need to cooperate for creative solutions that benefit the whole of humanity and the planet. I beg our presidential hopefuls to step forward, out of the usual political muck, and lay down this path for us.
All the News You Never Hear
A true democracy depends on an informed citizenry. That’s a basic ‘given’ in a free society. However, our information media channels are increasingly held by ever-smaller numbers of corporate giants. As a result, there is much about what is going on in our world that we never are exposed to. We will never achieve Deep Peace without accurate and wide-ranging information about the world around us.
For instance, did you know about the brave group of librarians in Connecticut who have challenged the constitutionality of the Patriot Act that allows the FBI to demand access to library users’ internet histories? Go to Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now site (www.democracynow.org) and subscribe to her email updates to learn about this and other little-known stories about what’s really happening in our democracy in these times.
Did you ever hear about the Winter Soldier hearings in Silver Spring, Maryland last month, in which returned soldiers from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars told of atrocities they committed or witnessed, and their experience of our policies on the ground in these wars? Go to the Truthout site (www.truthout.org) to learn about this and to get daily reports of other news and views on the stories that are invisible in mainstream press.
Did you know that Raul Castro has now instituted a new policy that allows Cuban citizens to have mobile phones? Go to the UN Wire site (www.unwire.org) and subscribe to their regular email updates on world news that you might not ever see elsewhere.
There are other outlets I can recommend as well:
www.indymedia.org – a grassroots, activist-oriented collective of independent media sources
www.economist.com – a U.K.-based corporate news outlet that covers a wide range of global news not usually seen in U.S. mainstream press
www.huffingtonpost.com – an internet newspaper and blog site with a rich array of stories
www.enn.com – for all the latest environmental news and updates
If you want to be part of the Shift in our world today, I strongly encourage you to stay up-to-date on what’s going on around us. Not only is this personally empowering, but it also allows us to see those leverage points in the systems we care about where change is possible, and where we can make a difference.
Deep Peace and the Healing of the World
To honor the Earth and our commitment as change agents, I’d like to draw your attention to an eight-month home study program that I am part of. Called Deep Peace and the Healing of the World: Treasure Teachings from the Seven Stars, this course offers monthly CD talks and accompanying Wisdom Cards to those who would be practitioners and exemplars of Deep Peace in these times
The program offers the wisdom carried by my spiritual teacher, the Venerable
Dhyani Ywahoo, Principal Chief of the Aniyunwiwa, Green Mountain Band of the Eastern Cherokee, and Spiritual Director of Sunray Meditation Society. She brings to us these ancient teachings from the Pleiades, given in these times so that we might remember that we too are star people – beings of light – who can choose to caretake the most precious treasure of Deep Peace for the benefit of all our relations.
The program will cover the following topics:
- The Ywahoo Way – Introducing the basic spiritual principles and meditation practices of these Treasure Teachings
- The Earth is Alive – Exploring our relationship to the living earth
- The Family of Life – Understanding nine dimensions of right relationship
- The Peacekeeper’s Mission – Practicing the steps of peacemaking, inside and out
- Medicine Wheel Mandala – Savoring the ‘one taste’ of Native American and Tibetan Buddhist wisdom
- The Healing Basket – Considering the basic healing principles for self and others
- The Secrets of Transformation – Understanding the alchemical process that leads to manifestation of the ideal
- Deep Peace for World Healing – Integrating the whole of the course material and applying it in your life and work to benefit all beings, in light of the unique times we live in.
At the end of the program, you will be able to bring these ancient teachings alive in your whole being, and to practice Deep Peace for the benefit of self and others. In this way you will be assisting humanity in these days of change and challenge, supporting our choice for a world of peace that works for all.
You can learn more, and register, at www.sunray.org. The course costs $195.
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