Building Peace: A Journey
Peace is not simply the absence of violence; it is the cultivation of understanding, insight, and compassion combined with action.
-Thich Nhat Hanh
What is peace? Ask that question and it may prompt little discussion. Instead replies are usually brief running the gamut from “a lack of war”, “having nothing to worry about”, and “it will never happen”. I’m not sure I know exactly what peace is but I’m a lot closer to it than I was a few years ago. For most of my professional career, I was committed to understanding and intervening in the causes and aftereffects of violence, or non-peace, often working with a people who were either victims or perpetrators of violence. It was exhausting. Part of the problem is although it is pretty easy to determine why we are aggressive towards each other intervening effectively is another story. I used to joke that if I ever chose to pursue another academic degree in would be a PhD in the Psychology of Evil. I am glad I chose not to.
Instead I kept reading, going to conferences, meeting with various groups, taking classes, and experienced a shift in paradigm. Instead of asking what causes violence I began to ask, what are the causes of peace? I came in contact with people who genuinely seemed to have achieved a degree of peace while maintaining a deep awareness and commitment to making the world a more peaceful place. Their presence was inspiring especially since some of them had experienced a great deal of suffering and seemed to have transcended it enabling them to make the commitment to not cause suffering in others. This is a critical piece of the process as if you are an angry “peace activist” problems generally arise. I actually began to believe that peace is possible and I could contribute to the process of creating peace. What I discovered is there are many people and organizations which are working towards peace and having a great deal of success that most are not aware of.
I am not sure we know what peace is or believe it is possible. If we don’t know what it is than how can we attain it? When I talk about peace there are many reactions. Some assume I am anti-war. I tell them I am not anti-anything. Others question my patriotism or call me a Liberal which gives me a chance open a dialogue with them based on developing a better understanding of each other. What I do know is it is a difficult topic for most. I have also come to the conclusion that we must begin to teach peace and create a culture where we have the opportunity to be exposed to the concept of peace and to discuss the practice of peace so it at least exists as an option. I do believe that peace begins with each one of us and the “Compassionate Communication Guidelines are an excellent place to start. We can achieve a more peaceful world one person, one act, one day at a time. We must also be gentle with ourselves. You don’t have to be Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. We all are at different places in our lives and there is no need to be perfect. It’s progress not perfection. Personally I still have a long way to go and I have begun it understand that if we take care of the present moment we can move closer to whatever goals we have set for ourselves.