WALKING FOR PEACE
The Bush Administration waged its wars and says it will wage endless war to fight terrorism. Thousands of people in Afghanistan and Iraq are now dead or dying and countless numbers of innocent people have been hurt. Is the world, as a result, a safer place? Or is there now more sorrow and anger in the world?
Everyone on earth wants to be safe and happy. We all breathe the same air, we all share the same concerns. If we harm one another, we can’t help but harm ourselves. The weapons we have used in these wars contain deadly substances which will contaminate soil and drinking water, will release toxins in the air, will harm plants and animals, will harm people for perhaps centuries . The hatred and sorrow that these wars have caused between people will produce reactions that lead to more suffering and death. This is inevitable.
Human beings are capable of committing horrendous atrocities, but we are also capable of wondrous acts of courage, kindness, love and compassion. Every day we find ourselves in situations – from the personal to the global -- where we can respond with hatred or love, with greed or generosity, with ignorance and fear or with understanding and compassion. If we choose to act with greed and hatred, then more greed and hatred is released into the world. If we choose to act with love, generosity and compassion, more love, generosity and compassion is released into the world. It only takes a moment to drop a bomb. The affects are immediate and devastating. But a power much greater than that is love – not the sentimental kind that disappears when things get difficult – but the kind that can move a people to resist brutality with nonviolence. This form of love takes great courage and a mountain of patience.
Martin Luther King said:
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiples hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. The chain reaction of evil … wars begetting more wars … must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the darkness of annihilation..
In our silent walking meditation, we remind ourselves of our interconnectedness to the earth and all beings on the earth. In the vast space of silence, we can recognize greed, hatred, and ignorance in our own minds – the same qualities of mind that create war. Meeting these mind states without reactivity, we sow the seeds of nonviolence toward ourselves from which nonviolence and compassion toward all beings can spring. Join us. The world needs peace. Let’s be peace together.
For information about future Walks for Peace, contact: Christine@bpfboston.org
The mission of the Buddhist peace fellowship (BPF), founded in 1978, is to serve as a catalyst and agent for socially engaged Buddhism. Our aim is to help all beings liberate themselves from the suffering that manifests in individuals, relationships, institutions, and social systems. BPF’s programs, publications, and practice groups link Buddhist teachings of wisdom and compassion with progressive social change.
For more information, visit
www.bpfboston.org
Resources
compares the cost of war to costs of education, healthcare, etc. at home.
The worldwide update of reported civilian deaths in the war on Iraq.
Union of Concerned Scientists web site with lots of fact sheets and analysis of Bush’s policies on the environment, nuclear weapons, and energy.
https://www.peace-action.org/forms/WMDads.php
Peace Action works for the elimination of nuclear weapons. The above web address will take you directly to their current campaign.
Take action urging an investigation into the Bush administration’s claims about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
http://www.peacefultomorrows.org
Peaceful Tomorrows is an advocacy organization founded by family members of September 11th victims who have united to turn our grief into action for peace.
Web page for the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) – an interfaith coalition of religious groups working for peace, of which the Buddhist Peace Fellowship is a member.
http://www.justicewithpeace.org/
A coalition of Boston area peace and justice groups who seek global peace through social and economic justice.