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warring peace

There are two strange phenomena in our cognitive world. One is that we live so much in the past (or imaginary future) and the second is that we take our attitudes and beliefs for granted. We think that’s just the way things are. Or we were born with them. On the contrary, all your attitudes were learned, instilled in you as definitively as you would install some software in your computer. Have you ever noticed how one attitude can spark off another, even one quite contradictory? Sometimes if we hold an attitude strongly about some issue there can be a residue, or trace, of its polar opposite hidden somewhere in our psyche. It has to be there, otherwise we wouldn’t have the attitude in the first place. All thought is dualistic anyway, we can’t escape this, but the conscious person is aware that if she holds a strong belief around something there are other beliefs supporting this, some of them at variance.

For example, sometimes people channel warlike impulses into ‘peace movements’. Take an illustration. Ridding the world of all nuclear weapons forever, and making it a safe place for our children to grow up in is indeed a truly good cause. But many anti nuclear campaigners conduct their campaigns in a very aggressive manner. The war mind sometimes takes up residence in the peace camp.

Some people are anti war because they oppose some cause, because they’re against someone. When we have this other agenda which we’re often not even aware of, even if we’re not touting guns, we’re still at war. I am reminded of the quotation by Mother Teresa “I will never attend an anti-war rally. If you have a peace really, invite me.” (see wisdom quotes # 9 ). There is a subtle but important difference between being ‘pro-peace’ and being ‘anti-war’. So thirsty are we for peace that very often we pick up the sword to achieve it.

When we employ the war mind to achieve peace the result is more war. The intention is pure but the end result is that I get more of what I am trying to get rid of.

Nations at war
This is obvious on the world stage. When nations go to war to ‘liberate’ a state they end up leaving it in ruins (take Iraq as an example). Or the revolutionary who wants a better world for the poor, for the oppressed, through his struggles and campaigns ends up creating greater poverty, more oppression. This is not what people set out to do, it’s not that people are evil, that’s a lazy and disingenuous label too often used today. It’s simply that they get caught in the trap of believing struggle can bring peace.

But is it so obvious in our private world? Do we examine our thoughts enough, aware of the impact they may have on global events? What takes place within will inevitably appear without.

When we look in the world to find the thing that oppresses us, undoubtedly we will find it, because we will create it. Always. If instead, we look within we may find a solution that doesn’t seek to polarize, to marginalize, to force us to pitch our tent in one camp or another. It allows a higher authority to decide.

At a certain level of consciousness war is inevitable. Note I said at a certain level of consciousness, not at certain times or when the occasion demands it. We are reminded here of that famous piece from Ecclesiastics, usually pulled out at funerals, ‘there is a time for war and a time for peace’. It’s not so much advocating we go out and declare war on the neighbours, than reflecting philosophically on the reality of life, the passing seasons, and how people fight because that’s the level of consciousness they’re at. When they learn they seek peace.

Today we have a war on terrorism. A vague notion by today’s world powers about some nebulous ‘other’ out there wanting to spoil the party, which often isolates and demonized those from Arab countries or of the Islamic persuasion.

Fear is always the underlying factor.

What happens when we find the enemy and defeat it? Another one arises and takes its place. Again and again history has taught us this, take all the wars down the centuries, when every threat was put down another one rose to take its place. Today it’s global terrorism, tomorrow it will be something else. But it’s really the same war we are fighting. And it’s a war that’s taking place in our heads.

But it takes a huge amount of presence to realize this. And at times it seems impossible to do nothing. The Bosnian conflict just came into my mind. Do we just stand there and do nothing if someone, or group, is in trouble and needs our help? No. Our inherent humanity won’t let us do that. But as soon as we pick up a gun and go in we are just like the oppressor. There are varying levels of consciousness. The trials in the Hague now are a higher level of consciousness than the Nuremberg trials. That’s an improvement. It’s still a long way to go to Christ consciousness.

If you see yourself as being attacked, under siege, it seems natural to want to defend yourself. This sense of self under siege can spread to others. We see a little old lady being mugged, we want to jump in straight away and defend her with great vigor. The same with oppressed nations. When I see people being denied their rights (and this includes poverty), or countries inflicting gross injustice on their own citizens this elicits a rage in me that makes me want to do evil to the oppressor. It takes a high degree of consciousness to stand in one’s power in the face of this. I freely admit I do not always succeed! This is the level of consciousness that makes war more possible, seem attractive even. I remind myself it’s the ‘seeing yourself attacked’ that is the real problem. Often the most peaceful people go to war, fighting with tremendous courage for what they see as just causes.

When we condemn those who perpetuate war we are using the same mindset as those we condemn.

warring words

It is in our language that we often reveal this dichotomy in our thinking. (I speak about this in numerous places on the uss, the effect words have on our actions, in particular language and the body , relationship issues , attitude of gratitude ). For example, people say, ‘if we hadn’t stood up to the Nazis they would have taken over the world’. The keyword here is ‘stood up’. Equally peace activists will rally their supporters to come to a march to ‘fight for peace’, or ‘stand up to the aggressor’, all employing the same language of war that the ‘aggressor’ uses.

These words betray the thought that we are going to be attacked. They also imply the solution, that we must be manly, stand up, be tough. In other words that we become as that which we wish to overthrow. That is the fear. Collectively we create its external manifestation, in this case the Nazis, to confirm the fear. And yes, they would take over the world. Fear is pretty darn strong, and we are creating a lot of it today. But when we put down that threat something arose to take its place, the Cold War, the Middle East conflict, and so on. Now it’s global terrorism. How do we send an army out to defeat that?

You see what’s happening, fear, and a mind divided against itself will just create more struggle. Yes we can put it down, we can have our temporary successes, but it will always come back up again. The teleological end to this thinking, that by war we can achieve peace, is for someone to argue, in the face of some horrendous impending threat, that it would be better to ‘temporarily’ destroy all life on the planet and allow it to evolve, naturally, again. This is a totally, totally insane argument, but I wonder will any politician someday make it?

Interesting ?

war and peace

It is impossible to think outside the dualist mind. The concept war will bring up its binary opposite, as will peace. Peace holds within its concept the threat of war, the fear that its tranquillity can be broken, cast aside. War holds the eternal hope of a new and lasting dawn. It may be this hope, aching at a deep psychological level that drives people to war. The man of peace condemns them. Perhaps his fear had something to do with their inception. The two are inextricably linked. The solution is with you. Are you warring with yourself?

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