A NEW CURRICULUM TO CREATE: “beyond war? love!”

[Leonora]

BW recognizes the widespread desire for an opportunity that encourages personal deepening in the meaning and implications of our DNA…..time set aside to connect and explore, write, think, and pursue for oneself.

At the latest BW Annual Meeting in Pennsylvania, Kern Beare, Executive Director for the on line community, Global MindShift, spoke about how they have just recently begun stating what is necessary for people to do now in terms of “love”, and how they are exploring the definitions and meaning together.

We agree that “love” is quite a fine word, and that their exploration nicely coincides with our need to deepen. GMS and BW grow from the same root and have in common the same, very essential world view of “All is One”.

So, to begin to address our need for deepening, might BW also explore the many dimensions of the concept of love? Consider:
War is about power.
Beyond War is about something more powerful than war.
Can what is beyond war, be described as love?
The question, what is love?, is related to the question, what is war?
As with all complex concepts, there is a range of definition from superficial to profound.
How would you describe the whole range of the kinds of love?
What meaning of love within that range is more powerful than war?
How is it more powerful?
How do you know?

Please join with others interested in, and challenged by, this endeavor, read the posts, then submit your ideas. Let’s see if we are able to work together with others…..

[Dan Welke]

Leonora,

What a wonderful idea! In the book "An Open Heart", the Dalai Lama teaches us that: Compassion is the wish that others be free of suffering. In the first step toward a compassionate heart, we must develop our empathy or closeness to others. We must also recognize the gravity of their misery. The closer we are to a person, the more unbearable we find that person's suffering. This closeness is not a physical proximity, nor need it be an emotional one. It is a feeling of responsibility, of concern for a person.

I think that is a very good definition of love. If enough people felt true compassion for all of their brothers and sisters, we would indeed get to a point where war would be extinct. That would be the ultimate triumph of love over war and hatred. While this sounds idealistic and impractical, we must consider that human history is sadly dominated by the opposites of love: greed, hatred and war. The only practical antidote is love, true compassion for all of our fellow human beings.

True love and compassion would naturally lead to non-violence, equitable distribution of resources and mutually beneficial human development. That would lead to more understanding, more cooperation, more non-violent conflict resolution.

Great spiritual leaders throughout the ages have told us love is the answer. Humanity has ignored that advice, and look what it has wrought. Shall we not pursue love as the best antidote to hate and war?

Let us commit to the work necessary to grow compassion within our hearts for all living things. It is not easy. It is a life long effort, and requires continuous effort through study, meditation and compassionate actions of service and kindness. As we touch others lives with compassion, some will then be inspired to be kind and compassionate too. This could grow and grow, if we would nuture it.

I also believe that love for our fellow human beings means we will fearlessly confront hatred and injustice wherever it victimizes innocents. Having true love and compassion for others means we care so much, emphathize so completely, that we cannot stand idly by or turn our backs when we see injustice. Martin Luther King Jr. said "It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it." MLK also said that "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."

I believe it is urgent that we change the direction of our world as soon as possible. Let us not only talk about love, let us live it!

Your loving brother in peace,
Dan

[Leonora]

Dan, I understand that you are equating Love with open-hearted Compassion for all. How do you square Compassion and empathy with "fearlessly confronting hatred and injustice"?

[Dan Welke]

Lenora,

Excellent question. I look to Mohandis K. Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr as role models. Both knew that it was neccesary to speak truth to power and confront hatred, bigotry and injustice with non-violent resistance. Standing in support of those who are being victimized may bring hostile responses from those who perpetrate the injustice. If I have true compassion for people, I cannot look the other way. I must consider the options and urgency of the situation and make the best possible decision on how to intervene to stop the hatred and injustice, or at least expose it to the light. Further, if I have compassion for the abuser, I must consider how to help them understand the error of their ways that they may grow and improve. I help neither the victim nor the abuser if I ignore the hatred, bigotry or injustice. In fact, inaction may imply consent. Therefore, compassion and empathy require that I fearlessly confront hatred and injustice with appropriate non-violent action.

The question then becomes how best to handle the given situation. Our moral compass, conscience and intellect then guide our actions. Fear must not be allowed to dictate our actions.

Does this answer your question?

Dan

[Dan Welke]

I recently found wrtings by Mohandas Gandhi that are directly relevant to this discussion. These quotes are from the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi.

Nonviolence and cowardice are contradictory terms. Nonviolence is the greatest virtue, cowardice the greatest vice. Nonviolence springs from love, cowardice from hate. Nonviolence always suffers, cowardice would always inflict suffering. Pefect nonviolence is the highest bravery. - Vol. 42, October 31, 1929

Votaries of nonviolence have to cultivate the capacity for sacrifice of the highest type in order to be free from fear. They worry not if they should lose their land, their wealth, their life. Those who have not overcome all fear cannot practice nonviolence to perfection. . . . This nonviolence cannot be learned by staying at home. It needs enterprise. In order to test ourselves, we should learn to dare danger and death, to mortify the flesh, to acquire the capacity to endure all manner of hardships. Those who tremble and take to their heels the moment they see two people fighting are not nonviolent, but cowards. Nonviolent persons will lay down their lives in preventing such quarrels. The bravery of the nonviolent is vastly superior to that of the violent. - Vol. 72, August 27, 1940

The way of nonviolence and truth is as sharp as the razor's edge. Its practice is more than our daily food. Rightly taken, food sustains the body; rightly practiced, nonviolence sustains the soul. The body food we can only take in measured quantities and at stated intervals; nonviolence, which is spiritual food, we have to take continually. There is no such thing as inaction. I have to be conscious every moment that I am pursuing the goal, and have to examine myself in terms of that goal. - Vol. 67, April 2, 1938

[David Hazen, Oregon State Coordinator, campaign for a U.S. Dept. of Peace]

I am very excited about Challenge Day, <<a href="http://www.challengeday.org/our_program.html">http://www.challengeday.org/our_program.html>; in which the goal is to make every child (actual or internal) feel safe, loved, and celebrated. I recently participated in the program, and was amazed at how rapidly we moved as a group from somewhat isolated and distant individuals to a deeply connected, compassionate, group. Their bottom line is to be the change.

Another piece of excitement is the advent of Appreciative Inquiry as a method to make large-systems transformations by focusing on what works and envisioning a positive future. <<a href="http://www.imaginechicago.org/inquiry.html">http://www.imaginechicago.org/inquiry.html>; We will be moving forward this method in order to create Eugene as a City of Peace.

[Leonora]

David, What would you say is required to make a child (or an adult) feel loved?

[Julie Santia]

My kids' school did Challenge Day with our 7th and 8th graders last year, which i got to participate in... It is a great program. Our kids were younger than what they usually work with but I think it would be great to start even younger. The adults participating got just as much out of it as the kids. It was also really easy to identify the people who are really struggling as they found it most difficult to participate at all.

Another program the school is starting is Non-Violent Communication. I am very excited about this new program at our school. It is going to be our "common language" at the school.

I am going to check out the imagine chicago link as a few of us are working on starting a local "Transition Town" group and it sounds like they would go hand in hand quite nicely. Thanks for the link!

Hooray for Eugene!

[Julie Santia]

If war is described as being all about power, and I'll add, control, then love can be described as being about powerlessness and a total lack of control. Have you ever tried to stop your heart from loving? To love is to be in a very vulnerable position. To battle or prepare for battle, is the opposite. The POWER of love is to trust, to acquiese.

[Dahlia El-Tobgy]

Julie has made a valid point in that the main factor that contributes to one's level of love is their level of trust. It takes a lifetime to build someone's trust, but can take one event, one instant to completely disintegrate that trust and have to start from square one. To feel love is to let go of the predictability of your life, to cooperate with someone about your decision making process. To be loved is to let your guard down; to allow someone into your life that you may not have been comfortable with in the past. But when people have been hurt in the past and put that wall up to protect themselves, the task of love is easier said than done. People need to come together through the principle of BW in that "we are one" and that we can learn from one another and be able to live in a collaborative environment rather than a combative environment; to give a hand rather than a fist.