“Whenever people say ‘we mustn’t be sentimental’ you can take it they are about to do something cruel. And if they add, ‘we must be realistic’ they mean they are going to make money out of it!” ~ Brigid Brophy
I had the privilege the other day of being invited to the inauguration of the members of the South African Peace Government. It was a most exciting day! It was not difficult to sense the genuineness, dedication and passion of this extraordinarily talented group people who have taken on the task of assisting and guiding our existing government with bringing peace to our land. We wish them speed and success on their path ahead.
It may be that for peace to really prevail, it will have to be adopted on all levels, as there is no getting away from the spiritual law which states that our outer world is a direct reflection of our inner world. This must include non-violence towards the Earth and all we share her with. It is a challenging task if you think about all the implications.
It demands that we practice impeccability in every area of our lives to the very best of our ability. To live a peaceful life, peaceful habits will need to be adopted, such as eating organic, vegetarian food, healing ourselves with remedies from nature, being aware of all our actions towards ourselves and others (animal, vegetable and mineral) building and running our homes in a manner that is not violent, from the cleaning products, right through to the type of energy that we use. Being an example to our children and teaching them about custodianship of the planet and peaceful lifestyles is essential right from the beginning of their lives…
“Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it to the caterpillar!” Bradley Miller
More than that, it demands that we become aware that our thoughts, actions and feelings create vibrational fields that ripple through the universe and create our worlds. Ultimately our lives hinge on our emotional response to specific events, and if we lack the knowledge and tools with which to manage these situations, chaos can prevail.
Generally, our western culture fails to nurture the emotional and spiritual needs of people. The young are especially vulnerable, and “war” prevails on many levels, starting in the schoolroom and the sports fields with never-ending competitions. Children are taught that they are “good” if they get good marks or if they win the game, and that is the ethos that runs through the majority of the schools… and we wonder why we have famines and wars in our world. Children are not being taught what they need to learn to function peacefully and consciously; they are actually being taught the opposite.
The government-regulated curriculum forces them to learn parrot fashion, stuff that has very little relevance to their day-to-day lives. This is forced into them via a fear-based system which is affects the development of their emotional skills and prevents them from becoming the balanced, caring humans we need to transform our world.
Why are we not teaching our children to feel and acknowledge their own and each others feelings? Why are we not teaching them to co-operate sensitively to the needs of each other and the planet? Why are we not teaching them to communicate and respond to nature?
Surely we should be teaching them the basics of building ecologically sound buildings, growing organic food in harmony with nature’s rhythms, celebrating and giving thanks for the seasonal changes and the abundance of nature and it’s gifts. The material “external” world comes first and our inner peace has been lost as we try to prove to others our worth via material gain or achievements in the academic or sports arenas.
If we ask ourselves why… there is no good reason. We have lost touch with who we really are and so our inner world is no longer at peace. This reflects on a micro scale in our day-to-day lives, and on a macro scale in wars between nations, and global warming and the violent weather patterns that go with it.
Perhaps it is time to balance the excessive male/left brained energy that has prevailed over the last few thousand years and embrace the feminine values of caring for and nurturing each other, the animals and the planet, taking responsibility for our behavior and actively working on our emotional responses to events.
As we create the peace and stillness from inside ourselves it will spread to our outer world… our families and then to the rest of the world. But we are not going to change unless we actively educate ourselves and then apply the newly acquired knowledge.
So what is needed, is to adopt an attitude of biophilia…”an innate feeling or caring for living form and systems, for nature.”
If we remember how privileged we are to be on this planet, we will make it our business to enjoy the journey and laugh more.