“We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapon arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds- our own prejudices, fears and ignorance. Even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of bombs are still there, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we will make new bombs. To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women. To prepare for war, to give millions of men and women the opportunity to practice killing day and night in their hearts, is to plant millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear that will be passed on for generations to come. ”
― Thich Nhat Hanh (thank you cinda)
The people are like beheaded cock that keeps on running…everywhere he finds the way. The fundamental blueprints are wrong…the manifestations are just the ramifications of that. Whosoever comes to erase those blueprints and install the fresh ones — becomes the entire new religion. Again the herder and the sheep. But thank god, few good man are still alive — but they aren’t the herder.
Beautiful!!! like John Lenon’s song Imagine!
Thank you for sharing Shekhar! ur blog is awesome!
calmness within thoughts is peace maybe.
I feel anger management from a very young age – the ability to express our unhappiness without violence, is the key. And, in turn, the ability of parents to have the skills to listen to kids, to teach them the skills of expressing their anger in a constructive manner is imperative. http://nevermindyaar.blogspot.com/2011/07/anger-out-of-control-in-sasia.html
awesome thought!….
Cinda?…i guess she used to put PRAYER everyday on this blog…is she still doing that?…couldnt find the PRAYER page…
oh amazing…found it…in ZEN thoughts…amazing…she is still doing that!…what a dedication!… lol…
world not possible without war. why war has been justified in mahabharata.
The weapons of the world will leave us when the consciousness of the planet too stops watching the same images and weapons being used on film…your emotions are a vibrational energy , and many producers create the same images of war, pain, suffering in the name of entertainment. Your vibrational emotions are tricked, but none the less not enhancing your enlightenment, but shrinking it into dis-ease! . The ‘light’ that fuels you knows no difference. Many package their poison in boxes called DVD, and unaware, they are creating their own karma, and often it is at the expense of our kids more often than not!
Yes, Kedar…Cinda is still putting prayers on our prayer flags flying free…;-)
It’s under “Zen Thoughts” (bottom of the list)
…by the grace of Shekhar and site Admin…namaste
Cinda
~Aum~
Sharing an inspiring talk by Bunker Roy I happened to watch on TED today. A view of ‘illiteracy’!
http://www.ted.com/talks/bunker_roy.html
Why does a nation bother spending money defending its borders then?
What has been the outcome of the peace yatra that AB Vajpayee took to Pakistan? Despite all the so called ‘peace talks’ and efforts, we still had to face 26/11 and the Kargil War.
Why are we chanting the mantra of “war on (global) terrorism” and participating in efforts to mitigate and/or eliminate it?
Sometimes it takes physical force to convey a message (provided that the context and the need are justified, but then one may ask the question – who justifies?).
Mere rhetoric or statesmanship do not stop genocide, rape, starvation, assassinations etc.
Slightly cynical here, but in today’s day and age, Buddhist philosophy and Gandhian ideology cannot work in toto – they will need to evolve, accommodate and adjust to changing times.
In the comment above, Mahinder queries, “why war has been justified in Mahabharata”.
I watched the movie “Alexandra the Great”, and his justification for (war) conquering the world was to bring his “civilized” Greek culture to the rest of the (uncivilized) world.
A Lion kills for food. When the Lion is not hungry, he will not kill. But humans can kill for ego.
With all the atomic, chemical weapons, it is possible to kill every human on this planet many times over. You may call me a pessimist, but believe this is a fact. With todays military arsenal, Doomsday is possible. As Gandhiji said, “An eye for an eye, will make the world one-eyed.” It is possible. These issues bother me.
Any optimists out there? Cinda says, ” To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women.” My question is how? Prayers help.
Wish you a very Happy Dipawali 2011 to you and your Family ….
Thanks & Regards
उजालों के ना जब तक आये पैग़ाम चिराग़ जलते रहें
मयस्सर हो ना रौशनी हर बाम चिराग़ जलते रहें ..
अँधेरे ख़ुद ही दामन ओद लें आकर शुआयों के ,
नूरानी जब तक ना हो हर गाम चिराग़ जलते रहें .
हमारी आँख में चमके चिराग़ अपनी मोहब्बत के ,
दिलों में प्यार के सुबह -ओ -शाम चिराग़ जलते रहें .
सजा लो लाख़ लड़ियाँ चमकीली दर -ओ -दीवारों पे ,
पर अपनी दहलीज़ पे घी के राम चिराग़ जलते रहें .
दोस्तों दिवाली मुबारक ,हो अदूं दिवाली मुबारक
चलों दे रिश्तों को नया आयाम चिराग जलते रहें
रौशनी जो भी दे “दीपक ” बस वो ही मशहूरियत पायें
ख़्याल हो ,ना किसी राह गुमनाम चिराग़ जलते रहें
Deepak Sharma
there are countries that always face war time.interstingly sierra leone, a country of north africa exports diamond called blood diamond to exclusively buy weapons.a sad commentary on our civilisation.
very true !
the war has to be expelled from one’s heart, mind and conscience for the peace in real terms to prevail over the world.. 🙂
To live in a world where people feel peace in their hearts and minds, each one of us needs to practice the art of feeling good, and that is what should be part of education, and not military training (“the opportunity to practice killing day and night”). It is a big cultural shift. Hopefully the movement has already started.
off topic.
A peaceful and enriching new year to you and yours.
thanks kedar
Just found that I have written a post on almost similar lines at my blog.
A few will find that interesting, a few may even relax a bit if they go to the end, but forgive my playful nature if you find something wrong: http://www.bigtamasha.com/2011/10/judge-not-so-that-ye-may-not-be-judged.html
Cinda says, ” To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women.” My question is how? Prayers help”
RajuK, it was a Zen Master who wrote that…Thich Nhat Hanh
Working on ourselves perhaps requires bringing our attention to our instincts, practicing breathing meditation, not judging the acts of others so much, being more patient, having faith in the process of life, exercising compassion and love towards one another…starting with the self first…and so many other ways as well…
Perhaps someone else can add to these possible ways of connecting with “peace” that is already within us…
Not easily done in this world as it is now…but together…we can reach this…
Aum,
Cinda
Violence cannot be found in bombs, and peace cannot be found in flowers. You have to find peace amidst any scenario. Do not wait for external factors. All beings act as per their nature and karmic disposition. Thich Nhat Hanh seems to be stuck in duality.
brahmastra 🙂 Thich too is in unity.
How can Thich be in unity when he refuses to accept the beauty of wars 🙂 Some of these buddhists are worse than christians and muslims. They cause bipolar disorder by propagating duality.
Hi after a long time 🙂 How are you Shekhar Ji…
Peace? followed by a question mark…in present age…
I think peace has gone beyond repair especially with every country in world fighting financial interdependence but at the same time doing business in arms and weapons so how can peace be there at all and I really doubt if in coming decades any developed country will be at peace. I still do not understand US of A over last 3-4 decades and before the collapse of USSR, it got everything that it needed for its weapons and now it tells other countries that you cannot have them…its really strange…sometimes I wonder it acts like a blue eyed boy of a stupid class teacher who goes out of class room and tells the monitor student to write names of kids who will chit chat…US talks of peace in Asian region and yet it sells arms to India and Pakistan and it uses the word ‘balance’
Nobody knows which country has what weapons and this is a phase where no other country will be able to know other country’s arms purchases and all that crap because every country has its own problems so its funny you know…to read peace word with country…
I do not think there would be peace with war….unless we need aliens and all the countries of the world pool all the weapons to destroy aliens…and thus start the making new weapons…peace is a stop gap…between other events….peace is also a stop gap between two passionate emotions… strangely its like this…if a man and women in a joint family co exist (still a concept in Indian homes) they would not fight with each other but will have enough time to fight with other family members…and just some time later, if they get separated and are by themselves they will end up fighting anyway….Peace…LOL
Since all is One, all is unity, Thich too is in unity 🙂
Shekhar,
Some time back – there was an American on your blog who wrote representing himself as the voice of the ‘ West’. And how they are right in dictating and warning the rest of the world , riding on a percieved sense of power.
You blocked my Response.
Reason I am bringing this up is , You probably felt my response would ascerbate the debate – you probably wanted to keep ‘peace’ on yout blog. So you were willing to condone , tolerate , subsist , or worse , agree and kow tow to Crap.
You have your reasons. People have theirs. Peace and Violence are driven by Images and Emotional Appeal , rather than any real long term sense of ‘ Good’.
It took violence and 50 Million deaths to defeat Italian Fascism , and German Nazism ( both European , aka Western constructs).
But many people believe , the British Brutality and Crimes against Humanity are the lesser of the 2 Evils. Hitler made Britain seem good , or was made to seem , after the Victors edited the Media , and dominated the Story , as Victors do.
Gandhi Preached Peace , whereas all his actions , perpetuated Violence of a different kind – because he was Selective. Indian revolutionaries were branded as arsonists while British and Muslim Brutality was legitimate.
The partition created more deaths than many WW2 fronts. India lost more land after WW2 , than any other country – and we were not even Independent ! Not that we are yet , anyway.
I digress.
Violence and Peace are eternal . What matters is the Purpose of Violence , and the Nature of Peace. The dividend of both cannot be divorced from the Purpose.
Peace.
Shekhar,
A welcome site to counter this pessmistic thread on peace is http://www.thebetterindia.com. I came across this site from one of your tweets.
As for peace, it is generally justified to go on war against evil, if that is the only option left (reference: Mahabharata).
As for weapons, they help to make a society stronger, to be able to defend peace, as well as there are side benefits of military research. This internet is one major example. Why ban explosives? Explosives can be used for mining too!
Constant vigil is the price we have to pay for our every breath. Accept it. War cannot be eliminated.
i kindly request your personal email id.., i want to communicate with you personally…please…..
thanks
Viswaprakash.V
Palakkad
Kerala
no comment .