Inspiration for Peace

I attended a talk by my friend, Craig Barnes this week. Craig is a true patriot, in the essence of the word. He is a thorough scholar of history, a critical thinker, and a superbly compassionate man.

In his talk, Craig noted how we have to admit that the administration/regime that has been controlling the White House under Mr. Bush is clearly setting about creating an endless-war empire. Their entire apparatus of tyrrany has been focused on bringing more and more power into Mr. Bush’s hands, in order to benefit his closest allies: the executives and families of power, both here and in Saudi Arabia.

Our country was founded on the principle that too much power in one person’s hands always leads to tyrrany, and that’s exactly what we have ended up with in the U.S.  The so-called ‘financial crisis’ has afforded this regime of rogue powermongers yet another opportunity to grab even more immense control over now the financial spectrum of life in America.  More power leads to more power, and this greed for power and control will be Mr. Bush’s legacy, left behind in the wake of thousands of deaths, billions of dollars lost, millions of homes foreclosed upon.

Where is there inspiration for peace, for economic justice, for a return of direction to the hands of the people?

I return to my friend Craig Barnes’ talk I had the honor of attending. Craig replied to my question in a profoundly simple, yet powerful way. I asked Craig, "Where is our ability to intervene in the face of such a regime of evil, of power-mongering, war profiteering, and hatred? What can we do in the wake of this regime?"

Craig’s answer was, "Focus on keeping the stories that are loving, kind, compassionate and filled with freedom alive in our culture. Keep Gandhi alive as you’re doing, make his story relevant for today, connect with as many people as possible and be an archiver of alternative stories. Make it be alive, and real, and never let these stories die. Eventually, they will become the dominant story of peace across the world."

So that is my challenge for you: make the story of peace, compassion, community and love be your story to tell, however you find the doors opening in front of you to keep such a story alive. Make it be alive, vibrant, loving, cantankerous, compassionate. Tell such a story everywhere you go, look for it in others’ stories told to you, and tell their story to others, too.

I’ve decided to keep Gandhi’s story alive, and in some ways, make it mine. From my admiration for him and his life, comes a new energy for my own story that fills me with inspiration. Now you go out and find your own story that inspires you to make this world a better place.

Believe me, there is no shortage of projects to contribute your skills, your love, your energy towards. Make it yours.

You are enough.

Love Always,

Don, aka Gandhi Guy

Hatred will never conquer injustice–here’s why

Hatred will never conquer injustice; it will just create another form of hatred.

If there’s one thing that took Mahatma Gandhi beyond the scope of other peace-makers, it was his clear and abiding stand that we must love those who inflict injustice upon us.

You’re probably saying to your self, "My life is free of any injustice. I live freely, and without fear of my government. You must be talking about someone else’s life."

But my friend, a thought to consider: If anyone else experiences injustice, then we all do–we are not separate, we are connected. Those who benefit from the abuse of others are likewise suffering, though not so apparently.

Gandhi showed us that those who inflict pain and misery upon others are suffering too, and he admonished his followers and colleagues to hold the so-called enemies in respect, with politeness and courtesy, for they were the same as Gandhi’s circle.

So if we fall into hatred, we fail to see both the other person’s humanity, but we lose touch with our own capacity for love, compassion and courage. Hatred isn’t courageous, it is fear-based, because we hate that which we can’t connect with, or fear will hurt us.

We hate that which is different from us.

So to hate creates more distance, and thus more hate. It’s a vicious circle in every way, and we can’t escape the effects of such a circle when we’re in it.

A wonderful example in film story is Yoda’s admonishen to Luke Skywalker to not hate, to not fall into the ‘dark side’. Same message as Gandhi (Yoda actually looks a bit like Gandhi, doesn’t he?).

Hatred, anger, revenge, power and greed–all connected, all the same root: the ‘Other’ has something that I want, and I’m going to get it no matter what it takes!

Follow your hatred to it’s central core, with honesty and self-compassion, and you’ll find it always leads to greed–which is just more fear, in essence.

Love conquers all, and always will. "For a time tyrants and murderers seem invincible, but they always fall. Think of it: always."

With Love,

Don aka Gandhi Guy

The last stages of the coup that began…

This piece at Huffington points out that it’s the last stages of the coup that began in 2000. http://bit.ly/2uMjPE

Duh…

Presidential Peace Politics

Will we get a lasting peace?

Is that possible at all, ever?

I’ve come to believe after my short years on this planet that holding peace might not yet be possible for the human race.

There seem to be just too many people alive at this point who are still steeped in the old ways of war, killing, and in the case of the large corporations that make up the War Machine, profitting from war itself.

So I’ve come to think that longing for, and hoping for, and counting on a lasting world-wide peace just isn’t in the cards right now. There are too many Aces, Kings and Queens stacked in this crooked, murderous deck we call Civilization.

There is too much greed. Too much hatred. Too many people fanning the flames of bigotry, racism and sexism to count on peace happening across the world in the blink of an eye.

We are too comfortable, we in this Western world and here in the U.S., to get out of our complacency to the extent needed to lead the world in peace-making.

So I’ve had to ask myself, "So what DO I do toward the kind of world I wish to create? Where can I make a difference, and what kind of difference CAN I make in my lifetime?"

And what I land on over and over again is that if perhaps we can’t hold a world-wide peace, we can surely hold onto a ‘Process of Peace’.

What is a Process of Peace? It is the action steps needed to get folks to stop fighting, and start cooperating. It’s the courage to step into the fray of competing interests, and create Win-Win-Win situations that ripple out in our families, into our communities, in our school boards and town councils, and on up the ladder into our State, National and International negotiations.

A Process of Peace is what I’ve been writing about in a different form, in my articles on "The Way of We". Except that this Process of Peace is looking at the same philosophical stance but on a larger context.

Here are a few examples:

    *We each take time every day, making it part of our own personal spiritual path, to contribute somehow to peace in our world.

    *We look at what we want the world to look like–peace-filled, open-hearted, generous–and BE that change we wish to see in the world.

    *We take a look at the folks in our communities who are struggling, can’t eat or don’t have shelter, and we help them out in some way, shape or form.

Now, about the title of this article: Presidential Peace Politics. Can any of these ideas apply to the current race here in the U.S. for the Presidency, the contest between Barack Obama and John McCain? Is it at all possible to influence either one of these men, or both, to consider peace as a path that the United States could follow, rather than the aggressive war-mongering that the BushCo war crinimals have followed these past eight years?

The United States has had a history of warring, in some ways second to none in history. There is a case that can be made for saying that every war this country has been in since its inception falls into the category of Acts of Aggression toward other peoples and nations, rather than defensive acts or acts to promote freedom, as our U.S. mythology would have us believe.

Can we influence these two men running for President of the United States to consider peace as our national security plan, rather than pre-emptive warring as the best way to protect our ‘national interests’?

Perhaps not. Unfortunately. But perhaps with enough anger turned toward action, enough outrage turned into love, and enough of our own tendency to demonize our leaders changed into compassionate action, we can make a difference that will eventually ripple into the hightest office in the land.

We can hope, as Mr. Obama asks us to do. We can hope for peace, and plan for peace, and act for peace.

We can actually experience ourselves in peace in all of our relationships:within our Selves, with our loved ones, across our communities, across the world, and not wait for our elected leaders to forge the path toward peace for us.

We can never doubt that we are enough. You are enough, now, and always, to make a difference in this world.

Perhaps, when more and more of us create peace in our lives and between us and others, then our leaders will get in line with us, and we will lead.

Go for the experience of peace yourself. That’s a Process of Peace that goes beyond simply hoping.

It is real.