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Being Peace
by Robert Rabbin
"In the hearts of people today there is a deep longing for peace. When the true
spirit of peace is thoroughly dominant, it becomes an inner experience with unlimited
possibilities. Only when this really happens, when the spirit of peace awakens and
takes possession of men's hearts, can humanity be saved from perishing." --
Albert Schweitzer
"Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about
by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state
of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people." -- Jawaharlal Nehru
The greatest weapon of mass destruction is the attitude of militarism within the
human mind. The missiles and bombs from this arsenal are more lethal than anything
we could find in trailers and bunkers and silos. However many weapons might be found,
however many might be destroyed, 10 more will appear for every one that disappears.
We will not be safe until the attitude of militarism is dismantled; we will not be
safe until the attitude of true peace is created as the rule of law for persons and
nations alike.
The human race has come to this precise point in its brief history: change, or perish.
There is no middle ground. Weapons of mass destruction are proliferating like toxic
clouds within the minds of so many people whose power threatens civilization throughout
the world. Change, or perish. Let us change. We already know about militarism; we
already know about this barbarism. We do not yet know about peace. So let us learn,
and then change.
There is no more urgent question than this: How can I make peace real? How are we
to meet violence with nonviolence, to meet war with peace, to meet fear with love,
to meet hatred with compassion? How are we to dismantle the attitude of militarism
and install the attitude of peace, within our own minds and within the very structure
of society? It is, first and foremost, a choice, a decision, a commitment, a stand.
In this moment in which the world is trembling and reeling with angry passions and
violent convictions, we must call for peace, stand for peace, and act for peace.
We must accept only peace. But first, we must become peace itself, not an idea or
image of peace, not the rhetoric of peace, but actual peace, the peace in which violence
cannot arise, the peace in which the attitude of militarism cannot survive.
We must seek that peace, know that peace and become that peace. How do we do this?
We can do this through understanding, and through reflection, and through empathy.
We must understand that we already are peace. It is called the soul, and it is given
to all in equal measure as a flame of the Creator's fire, full of love and joy --
this is the soul, and this is peace. Regardless of what our mind may say, regardless
of what today's headlines may say, regardless of what society may say, peace is the
essential nature of all human beings. This is the savage irony of our times and of
the human condition: within each of us is the loving and peaceful flame of the Creator,
and yet we continue to accept violence and war as though they were as natural as
sunlight. They are not. They are an aberration, a disease; and the medicine is experiencing
the reality of the soul. We cannot kill our way to peace. We cannot bomb our way
to safety. We must understand that within the soul of all human beings is peace.
How do we find our way to the soul? How do we live from the soul? We have to reflect
deeply on the nature of the mind, we have to reflect deeply on the nature of thoughts
and beliefs. Even if this seems unrealistic, we must do this. We must come to know
that Silence waits for us just beneath the ragged surface of the mind. We must sit
together in Silence. We must join with others in Silence. We must let Silence illuminate
and transform the hateful delusions of demagoguery. This is how we enter the soul.
We must learn to be Silent, and from within this Silence we wash ourselves clean
of anger, fear, and hatred. And we must question our beliefs about self and other,
we must inquire into the origin and nature of anger and retribution, of fear and
hostility. We must, in a word, become wise, in the way towering trees are wise, and
glaciers, and tides. We must become wise, like deserts and mountains: Silent, profound,
majestic.
Entering this Silence is discovering our soul, and from within the infinite beauty
of our soul, we know peace, we become peace. We must do this now, today and tomorrow,
and every day for the rest of our lives -- for our own sake, and for the sake of
our families, our communities, our world.
But do not be fooled: Silence is not passive. Silence is not weak. Silence is not
mute. The Silence of which I speak is the mind and heart of the universal soul: it
is active, strong and loud. And it is peaceful. And it is unconquerable. When we
become truly peaceful within, we will create peace without.
This is the work that we must all take up, now and for the rest of our days. There
is no greater work than this. There is no greater wealth than this. There is no greater
philosophy than this. There is no greater security than this. There is no greater
justice than this. There is no greater contribution than this. There is no greater
truth than this.
You do not have to take my word for it. You know this for yourself. You know it now,
resting in your soul, resting in the depths of your being. Here, we find each other.
Here, we find our lost love and compassion. Here, in this depth, we find that truth
which is beyond differences, beyond dogmas, beyond justifications. It is the universal
soul, and its face shines with beauty, with tenderness, with love, with compassion,
with forgiveness. But most of all, it shines the same in all, and we must learn to
feel this as a living truth.
Our world risks losing this soul, if we do not find it within ourselves and if we
do not then stand and move and speak and act in the world with the full weight and
measure and power of this soul found again within our own depth of being where the
Creator placed it.
Do not be fooled by the shrill voices that call upon your fears and urge you to war,
to violence, to brutality. Do not do this. Turn away from this noise and enter the
Silence of your soul. Entering this place, then find new mouths and new words, new
hands and new actions, new hearts and new compassion. Let the children waiting in
celestial realms be suddenly happy at the prospect of coming to Earth.
Let us now resolve to enter the depths of Silence every day. Let us resolve to purify
our mind and heart in these still waters. Let us resolve to wash away all anger and
hatred and fear in these still waters, that we may find the peace, the love, the
joy that is within us and that we share these soul-treasures freely with one another
in friendship and mutual respect.
Let us affirm that we are peace, and knowing that we are peace, let us also affirm
that we will stand for peace, speak for peace, and create peace in each hour of each
day.
Though there is a great army of those who prefer violence, we must create an even
greater army of people who choose peace. Once we find our way into the spiritual
heart, into the silence of the soul, into the very mind of God and then into Oneness
with all of life -- we have no choice but to live in peace.
But we can be strong and active in our love. We can be mighty in our peaceful ways.
We can work long and hard to eradicate the true cause of violence, which is poverty
of spirit. We must work to enrich our own understanding, to unfurl the flag of peace
within our own heart. We must find strength and solace in our own inner light and
peace, and then we must spread this light and peace throughout the world in real
and telling ways, even dramatic ways.
Robert Rabbin is a writer, speaker, and spiritual activist. He is the author of
numerous books and articles, and the creator of TruthForPresident.org, an online
spiritual activism center. For contact information, please visit www.robrabbin.com
or www.truthforpresident.org.
Copyright © 2005 Robert Rabbin. All rights reserved. |
| January 2005 |
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