OUR TAKE ON PEACE
"When we plant
trees, we plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope. We also secure
the future for our children. I call on those around the world to
celebrate by planting a tree wherever you are. Today we are faced with
a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity
stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the
Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own."
Wangari Maathai, our first African sister to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
The powerful words
of our sister Wangari Maathai express so beautifully our collective
need to "plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope" and the "call on
those around the world", two important and necessary concepts that must
be acted upon as a means to achieving healing and peace for our world
family.
World peace is a
call to each of us to make the effort to act consciously, showing up
and being present, especially when there is a conflict, as an
integrated spiritual human being, with a sincere interest to learn from
and understand the situation, as an opportunity to grow and evolve,
with integrity, compassion, empathy, wisdom, thoughtfulness, patience,
dedication, and love, whether it feels good and easy to do this, or
whether it is challenging and difficult to do this, because it means we
have to talk about or do things that are hard, or make us feel
uncomfortable. This is the true work of peace, for peace is a verb, not
a noun.
"The Soul has the
power to heal the planet. Once we awaken at the level of the soul,
which is the level of our planetary being, we can act to save our world
and to save ourselves. This is the challenge facing the coming
generation, which has taken birth in a species out of harmony with life
and has inherited a wounded planet. Without such a spiritual awakening,
our efforts to save the planet and its natural resources will lack
depth and determination and easily become subverted by vested
interests."
Dr. David Frawley, from Yoga and the Sacred Fire.
The Healing
Community Centers are educational and integrative
healthcare centers dedicated to world peace via the integration of
mind/body/spirit, and as such, are exactly what our brother Dr. David
Frawely is discussing. They are Centers to teach the awakening "at the
level of the soul, which is the level of our planetary being."
World peace must
begin with each person finding her or his own inner peace. The HCC will
assist in this process by offering knowledge, skills, and healthcare,
for the healing of the body, mind, and spirit, in a setting that
fosters interdependence, evolutionary consciousness, communication,
connection, friendship/family, support, and of course, love. The result
of acquiring these skills is the raising of consciousness and
establishing a solid base of empowerment, awareness, knowledge, skills,
and ability for coping with our own individual difficulties and halting
our own individual cycle of violence. The secondary result of that,
affording individuals the knowledge and capacity to communicate
effectively with others, halting the external cycles of violence. Our
world family can learn how to do this by interacting with each other in
an environment that is safe, supportive, and welcoming of all the vast
and beautiful variations that comprise the existence and practices of
the human race, joining together all cultures and traditions equally in
the process of growth, evolution, transformation, and rebirth.
