Expanding on Peace

Much of my life and my ideas have been held up to very tough scrutiny by people that do not want to see a different way of life for fear of leaving what they find comfortable. Even if this comfort meant the exploiting of many and even if it meant we were losing our most precious commodity: Our humanity. Even loved ones have often times been very cruel in their criticism of what I hold dear and what I want to manifest in this world.

Through the many paths that I have walked, or tried to walk through, I have realised that whatever I might have thought I was, I am a teacher first and foremost. This does not mean that I preach (although I do sometimes get a little carried away by my passions) and it does not mean that I give people the information that they need and test to make sure they get it my way 100%. It means that I try and give people advice, options and opinions in order to help them make an educated decision instead plundering ahead with their old ways, but it also means I cannot make people grasp the knowledge that I have to give. It also means that like any great teacher, sometimes I have to get educated as well.

The lesson that I struggle the most to teach and which saddens me the most when it is not accepted or grasped, is the lesson on how to achieve peace into this world of ours. Have we honestly lived so long with war and violence that we believe this is the way it should be? Have we spent our time in the shadows so long that we can no longer see the light? Do we fail to see how people blossom when they are enveloped by love and care instead of negativity and hostility?

Personally I can’t stand living in the shadows. I want to feel the glory of the sun on my face and in my life. Peace is the next step in our humanity and I believe we can see this shift all over the world all over the world if we just look for it. But the concept of peace is often misinterpreted as some Eutopia where people never argue and everyone converts to one world system and there are never any disagreements or differences or uniqueness. So just to clarify some simple concepts around the idea of peace:

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  Peace does not mean that we will never argue or that we will always agree.
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  Peace does mean that we will treat our enemies with dignity.
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  Peace means no war. It means that the adults who are in disagreement will stop sending children to fight their battles and sort their problems out themselves.
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  Peace means that we will be kind to one another as much as we can.
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  Peace means honesty and integrity.
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  Peace means that we are tired of knowing someone who has lost someone or has been lost due to war.
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  Peace means that we are willing to make the effort in order to achieve what we desire.

It is such a simple concept, yet it has so much power.

Deepak Chopra gave the following principles for living in peace, and although this is not written on stone, I believe it is a good place to start:

9 Principles for Conflict Resolution and Peace Negotiations as follows:
1. Agree that you will treat each other respectfully.
2. Recognize each side feels victimized by a sense of injustice.
3. Be ready to forgive and ask for forgiveness.
4. Refrain from belligerence.
5. Practice emotional intelligence.
6. Recognize that the other side may have values different from yours or foreign to you.
7. Don't make the other side appear wrong.
8. Refrain from bringing in discussions about ideology.
9. Recognize fear as a factor on both sides.