Living Beyond War Examples (PSU)

[Debbie Kaufman]

Portland State University students will be using this space to post examples of people or organizations who are living beyond war. We hope that you will add your comments.

[Shawn Molden]

Buddhism, as a philosophy and way of life, is an excellent example of living beyond war. Siddhartha Gautama, known as "The Buddha," prescribed many practices that align with the principles of Beyond War. Most notably, the Eightfold Path (Right view, Right intention, Right speech, Right action, Right livelihood, Right effort, Right mindfulness, Right concentration, Right knowledge, and Right liberation) along with the concept of Karma provide an excellent example of the Beyond War tenant: The ends are the means in the making. Everything we do, or do not do, affects the world around us. The idea behind Karma is that our positive and negative actions result in equally positive or negative results. To follow the Eightfold Path, it is imperative to avoid negative actions like violence and hateful speech.

[Mora Rogers]

Hi, Shawn --

Thanks for your comments!

I've been a student of Buddhism and a practitioner of Buddhist meditation for many years, and it is that study and practice which have led me to embrace Beyond War as an organization congruent with my own values. As you point out, "The means are the ends in the making", is central to the practice of Buddhism in our everyday lives outside of the meditation hall. Intention and action in the present lay the groundwork for our understanding and experience in the future -- it is up to each of us to lay the foundation for the future we would like to inhabit.

[Elaine Hallmark]

Thanks Shawn and Mora for sharing about the Buddhist philosophy and its congruence with the Beyond War message. I think all the religions of the world share a similar basic message about the oneness of all life and about discovering the means to live a life that supports the continuation of life for all, not just the survival of "my own interests." Discovering the oneness of all the religions and learning from Buddhism about how to practice the life in each one of us would be a powerful tool for moving Beyond War!

[Elaine Hallmark]

Marc, You can see from Bill Hallmark's reply below that Beyond War is very interested in working with UNESCO. Our contact so far has been with the Chairs for Transcultural Studies, Inter-religious Dialogue and Peace. This looks like a very productive collaboration. If you have ideas for other kinds of connections with UNESCO, please let us know. They are a very large and somewhat difficult to understand, organization, but one that is very worthwhile with which to be associated.

[Anne Millhollen]

Hi Marc,
We in Eugene were invited to participate in a meeting held here that included all of the international Chairs of this section. What an honor to get to interact with such intelligent, deep thinking, realistic and committed people. We are coordinating an international effort with their help to make our Beyond War DVD reflect an international focus. If you would like to be involved in this project, let me know.

[kevin leonard]

Carl von Ossietzky was born October 3, 1889. He spent his childhood in Germany with his parents and got his inspiration to start writing as a career from his mother. Once he graduated from his schooling he began writing for papers in Germany. Ossietzky has makes many critical remarks and publishes many papers that are anti government and anti war over his time as a writer and editor. Through some of these publications Ossietzky has been held responsible and has spent his fair share of time in prison as a result. When he was younger he was called upon for military service with the Bavarian Pioneer Regiment after which he became a pacifist. In 1933 the political atmosphere in Germany begins to heat up and Ossietzky is taken by the secret police just after being warned that he was in danger. He is then put into prison again and eventually transferred to a concentration camp where he would spend the rest of his life before dying in 1938. Ossietzky won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1936 for his antiwar writing, unfortunately he was never able to receive this award due to his arrest.

[Rebekah Rudometkin]

Molokan Russians

Who are the Molokan Russians?
They are a group of people that emigrated from Russia to Los Angeles California in the early 1900’s, to escape war and seek refuge. They survived as a small community for over 100 years in a large city, while being surrounded by various worldly temptations.

During the Molokan’s time here in the United States, many new up roars and war took place.
A huge problem that the Molokan Community faced was to prove to the authorities that their brotherhood was a ‘religious sect or organization that forbade its members to participate in war.’ (Molokans in America).

Present day Molokans still carry on the tradition of stepping back and staying out of reach of various worldly temptations.

They put a tag on their name as a Conscious Objector; where they don’t participate in worldly affairs, fight in wars, and join the military. This is how the small community is living a life beyond war, by completely avoiding it.

Every few months Conscious Objector meetings are held for those who need to still obtain the C.O. Status. Names are kept on file along with weekly church service attendance, so when and if a situation does arise that the elders of the church can write a letter to dismiss what is at hand.

The Molokans individually and collectively feel that military training is not a solution to the present day military crisis.

[Elaine Hallmark]

I also had not heard of the Molokans. What a great discovery. Do you think we should learn more about them and what they are doing today in our 21st century society to help us hold to the values of living Beyond War?

[Elaine Hallmark]

Thank you for bringing Carl von Ossietzky to our attention. I certainly was not aware of him, nor of his Nobel Peace prize. It makes me think that an interesting project for a Beyond War volunteer would be to look at all the Nobel Peace Prize winners and do some kind of summary of what their lives have been about. What an inspiration it might be to all of us.

[Sarah Rose]

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
Mahatma Gandhi

There are 6 principles that Gandhi followed:

o Truth: learning from your own mistakes and conducting experiments on yourself.
o Nonviolence: nonresistance connected in a way to religion.
o Vegetarianism: carved in the Hindu and Jain traditions in India.
o Brahmacharya: spiritual and practical purity.
o Simplicity: giving up unnecessary spending.
o Faith: belief in a Higher power and that all religions are real and are equal.

Understand what is different of where and when Mahatma Gandhi lived and where and when you live

o He lived in India during the '30s and '40s when he was following these principles.

o We live in a society and amongst a generation that has a lot more technology, is more materialistic and we are not fighting for the same reasons (we have 'freedom'(opportunities to do what we want to do))

Manipulate the principles to not lose the meaning behind them but be able to apply them without feeling restricted. Here is an example:

o Truth: fight your own inner demons, fear and insecurities. Everyone is unique in this world and therefore, one should not compare with others. Be honest with yourself of who you are and what you want. If you think there is something to fix, then fix it.

o Nonviolence: control your temper and your thoughts. What we think, we become and therefore if you always think of hurting or feeling extremely angry at someone, those are the vibes you'll be giving to others. Best way to be nonviolent is to think positive and believe that whatever happens, it is for a good reason.

o Vegetarianism: not everyone can resist meat, but you can control your consumption. For health reasons, avoiding eating a lot of red meat is a good idea.

o Brahmacharya: many of us want to get married and have children or be intimate with someone. Therefore, becoming a brahmacharya might not be possible. However, you could reduce thinking of the opposite sex as an object.

o Simplicity: life in the western countries tends to be quite fast. Do you need the latest fashion clothing or can you wear the clothes you already have? Do you need 50-100 pairs of shoes? Do you need the latest gadgets? Simplicity doesn't mean foregoing all your desires, but not buying something right away or something you don't really need. Simplicity also means being happy with what you are given and have.

o Faith: believing that there is someone or something higher than you. You don't need to believe in God, but believing that everyone is equal and you are no less or more than someone else. It is knowing your values, ethics and morals. Faith is not following others blindly especially when someone else is doing something that your heart says is not right.

[Elaine Hallmark]

Mahatma Ghandi is always a great inspiration. Thank you for sharing this again and reminding us that to get Beyond War we can look to him for guidance.

[Glen Foster]

Veterans For Peace (VFP) is a national non-profit organization that is headquartered out of Saint Louis, MO. The organization was formed in 1985 and has chapters and members-at-large through the nation. Members include all branches of the military from as early as the Spanish civil war to the most recent conflicts in the Middle East. VFP has many catch phrases and the very specific mission statement, but I like the idea of "waging peace". The members of VFP participate in peace marches, letter writing, education, and leagal advice. VFP helps out current and former military members in the area of proclaiming ones self a conscientious objector. There are many other areas that VFP get into and so much more information about them on their website www.veteransforpeace.org I hope you check it out.