Like I said before, I'm not particularly religious, but I also think there's much to be learned about peace from the best of many spiritual traditions. Today, I came across this piece from The Praxis Peace Institute, written by Jack Kornfield (he's addressing dharma practitioners, but that's irrelevant to my interest):
[How] do we find our own place in a complex political world, and find a way towards peace? Our first task is to make our own heart a zone of peace. Instead of becoming entangled in an embattled bitterness, or cynicism that exists externally, we need to begin to heal those qualities within ourselves. We have to face our own suffering, our own fear, and transform them into compassion. Only then can we become ready to offer genuine help to the outside world. Albert Camus writes, "We all carry within us our places of exile, our crimes, our ravages. Our task is not to unleash them on the world; it is to transform them in ourselves."
A [person] who wants to act in the sphere of politics must quiet their mind and open their heart. Meditate, turn off the news, turn on Mozart, walk through the trees or the mountains and begin to make yourself peaceful. Make yourself a zone of peace, and allow the sensitivity and compassion that grows from our interconnection to extend to all beings. If we're not peaceful how can we create harmony in the world? If our own minds are not peaceful, how can we expect peace to come through the actions that we take? http://www.praxispeace.org/views_jack_kornfield.php
There's such wisdom in the idea that all peace - in the world or in our communities or in our relationships - begins with peace within ourselves (it's sort of the premise of this blog).
