Creating Peace

Dona Nobis Pacem

2006-11-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

If there was ever a good reason to start writing on Creating Peace again, this was it.

What a wonderful idea to have peace floating around the blogsphere and hundreds or thousands of people all writing about world peace. What we focus on and notice, we create. I think if we focus on peace, ultimately we might just create a peaceful world.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

How can people writing about peace create it? We start a dialog. We start talking. We get to read other people's ideas. We start to understand that the concept of peace is bigger than any of us can really imagine. We start to think about it and focus on it.

We stop being women and men or people who live in a certain state or country and we just become humans talking about peace. We stop dividing. We stop looking at differences and start to see that one thing maybe we can all want is peace. Ultimately once we start looking at our common ground, there isn't anything we can't do.

I'm glad Mimi came up with this idea. What a small thing to start doing, but how important.

Working Together

2006-07-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

We had a garage sale ourselves several weeks ago. About two weeks ago I got around to calling the Salvation Army. They refused most of our stuff. We had two bikes, both of which needed to be cleaned up and one needed a new tire. We had a dining room table in fair to good condition. The table was beautifully refinished but the chairs were a bit dinged because we hadn't refinished them. Still the wood was solid and they were something that could be used for many years. We had a perfectly decent desk chair. Salvation Army wouldn't take them.

They said that the SA had had to dump too much stuff in the landfills and couldn't afford to keep taking everything. What I don't understand about this is the fact that this is a national organization. I realize that the people in my local neighborhood that are likely to visit my store, may not want this stuff. But what about other parts of the US. How is it that they don't have some place where they can sort of decide what areas need bicycles or tables? How is it that they don't seem to have a central area? Some areas do take these items, but not others.

This seems like this is a large organization that could work together better. I think that's a metaphor for what a lot of us go through. We each have things. But we can't always reach those people or places we need to. Instead of reaching out to others who are like minded or maybe don't even seem like minded to spread our influence or our abilities, we let them pass by and toss them out. We need to start using our resources, spiritual and physical.

Volunteer Work

2006-07-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

So I'm starting to write again. I am out there wondering how to spend my days. I have some part time work as an acupuncturist, but this still leaves me with a lot of time on my hands. I didn't mind at my home. I knew people. I need to get out and be part of this community.

I am wondering what sorts of charities there are that perhaps I could volunteer at. I'd love to do something with a peace group or peace activist but I don't really know where to start. If anyone has any ideas, that would be great. Links to websites where I can go out and check out the place are much appreciated.

House Cleaning.

2006-07-10T15:49:00.000-07:00

I of course have been having trouble getting back into writing. I think that a lot of it was being overwhelmed with stuff around the house.

Trouble getting done what you need to get done? Maybe you need your house cleaned. We often deny ourselves this luxuary and tell ourselves that we don't need it. I had mine cleaned last week and I'm busy picking things up, feel I have more clarity about stuff and starting to move forward in other areas of my life.

We all need nice, harmonious surroundings to find peace. Maybe we need to start with the foundation. If you think you need to clean your home and give yourself a hard time for more than a week because you haven't gotten it all done, then hire someone to come in. You'll be amazed at what more you can get done without worrying about the house.

What Are You Doing

2006-07-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

I am appalled at where my country is going. I feel like I should blog more but then I can't even think where to start. How do I maintain my peace in the face of this fear that lurks?

It's an interesting question. We must still find those ways that create peace for us--whether it is prayer, meditation, a circle or a walk in the woods. We also need to speak out.

As a child I often wondered how the entire country of Germany could be fooled by the man that Hitler was. How did he come to power? I know now. It wasn't that they all didn't see it. Those who did were quietly silenced in a muriad of different ways. The nation was divided. No doubt those who understood what was happening felt alone. Often they left their world to move to another country. Or they stayed quiet and helped as best they can.

The US hasn't not become this government but we are walking that road. The pundits accuse the NY Times of treason, yet they are supposed to be a free press. If a free press has to determine what will and will not make a government look good, then how free are they? If we don't have a free press, then how does anyone get to the truth of the matter? How does anyone make their own informed decision?

I used to dream of being a journalist until I grew old enough to realize I didn't have what it took to ask the hard questions. I've been a librarian. Free speech is an issue near and dear to my heart. A free country is obligated to offer access to a variety of information for everyone.

Our freedom of speech and of information is eroding. The question is, how far down this slippery slope will allow it to slide? When we will wake up and do something? Let's hope it's not too late.

This may not seem like a peaceful post. Sometimes we have to take action. Sometimes the only way to peace is looking at the issue and seeing it for what it is and not what we wish it were. At that point we can take the action that brings us the greatest peace.

Creating True Peace

2006-06-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

I saw this book, Creating True Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh. I haven't been very active blogging here lately but I thought perhaps reading it, I would be reinspired. He has a wonderful quote.

Words and thoughts concerning compassionate action that are not put into practice are like beautiful flowers that are colorful but have no fragrance.

An Inconvenient Truth

2006-06-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

I saw Al Gore's film this weekend. I wanted to see it and I was worried that it wouldn't be that interesting, that most points would already have been made. Certainly for those of us who have always been interested in the environmental movement, Gore doesn't make new points. He does, however, make interesting point to rebutt the arguments against doing something, anything, to stop global warming.

An Inconvenient Truth is a worthwhile movie to see. I hope everyone goes and listens.

A Quote

2006-05-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

I saw the movie The Interpreter on television last night. While it wasn't a great movie, there was one quote I quite liked.

"Vengence is a lazy man's grief."

A Gratful Moment

2006-05-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

I want to take this post to say thank you to a faceless stranger for being so honest. We had a garage sale this weekend. She was looking for yard stuff. I had a few pots that we hadn't gotten around to putting out so I went to our front porch and grabbed them. She liked them all and I sold them to her. One had a plastic bag in it and I thought, as it had been on the porch for awhile it was just some garbage that blew in there. So did she.

She took them home and found that there was about $20 of rolled coins in that bag. She came by the next day and double checked that we were the sale that had sold her the pots. She came by later that night to return our rolled coins.

I don't typically roll coins, but my partner does and he had moved them from the floor of his trunk and into the pot. It's unlikely we would ever have noticed the loss of the money. I am just touched that someone would go out of their way to be so honest about that. I wish I could do something more to thank this woman because I feel so honored that a person like this would walk into my life.

I tend to say something about change. If I had been her and looked before getting home I'd have returned the money. I'm not sure I'd have made a special trip to return it. It really makes me think. I'm grateful that she is a more honest person that I.

Routines

2006-05-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

I find that as my life is turned topsy turvy with a move that my greatest attachment is to my routine. I haven't blogged in around a week and I'm sort of forcing this on myself. I used to blog daily on Monday through Thursday with some Fridays and Sundays thrown in. I would look forward to it. Now I wonder what to write.

I wonder what my routine will look like in a month. As my work is slow as I rebuild my business, I wonder what my days will look like and how will I be productive? How will I "earn" my keep up here?

No routine, meditation is catch as catch can. I have not set aside time for it. In my impromptu world, walking has taken a big place because that gets me out of the house and away from the boxes that need to be unpacked! It gives me some time to think.

I used to love to read everyone's blog. Now I sort of force myself. There's so many other things to do but I hate to be "out of touch," yet I have lost touch with many of my favorites.

To be unattached should be to work well without routines, yet I have a hard time finding places for all that I want to do without one! Where does it all fit? Not having a routine does make me realize how attached to the very idea I am!

Walking

2006-05-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

I remember when I was young that my folks would walk around the neighborhood every evening. They knew the people who lived in the homes they passed because they talked and chatted. As I grew up, I grew up in a colder, wetter area. I walked on a treadmill.

Recently in the course of the prolonged move (will it ever end?) I sold my treadmill. There just wasn't room up here. My partner has an eliptical but there's not room to use it as we move boxes around and try and create space for two households in one house. So I walk the neighborhood.

I have met people who live here. I say hello to the people around me. I know, at least by sight several of the neighbors. If I go in the afternoon down one street there is a young mother who takes her child to a small park. In another direction there is an older couple who walk with their grandchild for a short ways.

I find that as I walk farther and into areas where there is more money and I pass the larger homes, that it is less interesting. No one is home. Perhaps I see the gardener but I don't see people in their homes. I don't see the man in his garage working on cabinetry (or something). I see only faceless windows and large garages and no people who live there. It occurs to me that perhaps this is what money does. We buy these fine houses and we are then tied to them with no time to enjoy our lives because they cost so much. Yet we need the space.

As I move and reevaluate what I want, I realize I would rather have a smaller house, loose more possessions than have to give up the time to spend with friends, with family, and even with my neighborhood.

Slowly Coming Back

2006-05-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

So I am slowly taking back my life from the moving process. It's surprising how upsetting it can be. I still don't feel very creative or that my mind is questioning the way I would like.

Here's a simple quote from the Dalai Lama, which is good for where my mind continues to be:

If you can, help others. If not, then at least refrain from hurting others.

What does it mean?

2006-04-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure it means anything. I keep having a dream in which I am driving down the wrong side of the road or the wrong way on a one way street. I trust my subconscious to tell me that some how in all these massive changes something isn't going the way it should.

I think it's probably the business end of things. I have a lot of trepidition about this. Having spoken about it many times to friends, it's really not the work itself or the person I will be working with, I think it's the style. It's not how I want to practice my profession. and I think that's troubling me.

I keep hoping I'll get moe clarity from my dreams, but I guess I will just have to trust my gut instinct and my judgement as far as I can in this one.

Still moving, so many of my great quote books are packed and the sites I find things are bookmarked on my computer and this isn't mine, so I haven't been posting much.

Attachment

2006-04-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

As I go through my move, I see those things that I am very attached to and need to stay in the back of a closet because I can't make myself let go of them. I recognize that I would probably be happier without these things but I love them. Most of them remind me of my family who is gone but others are just things that I like. It's hard to sort out what has to go and what has to stay.

While it is good to not be attached, we should look at those things we are attached to and recognize why they have such a hold on us.

The Fifth Sacred Thing

2006-04-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about this book for a few days so I thought I would write on it. Starhawk wrote a book called the The Fifth Sacred Thing many years ago. It's fiction and it's a favorite of mine. It is set in the near future where corporations control the price of water. We explore this world through the eyes of Bird and find out how people live in that world. The second part of the story involves Bird finding himself back at his home, in San Francisco. San Francisco is a utopia of sorts where people of all religions and races live together peacefully and coexist with the earth. Of course, those in the other areas of California have decided to annex this island of sanity to their insane world. As a pacifist, Starhawk put much thought into the idea of passive resistance and what might happen.

I'm not sure that her vision would come true in that pacifist response but it's a beautifully thought out tale of what might happen. Perhaps the resistance that these people worked out would work. I don't know. It's another option. I've been thinking about it a lot as we talk about the possibilities of another war.

I've purposely been a bit vague on the book. It's worth reading and Starhawk describes her world with far greater color than I could ever begin to describe it. Check it out.

Expecting Outcomes

2006-04-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

I am frequently suprised by the results I get doing acupuncture. Sometimes I get great results and other times almost nothing and it will be for the same problem. Each time I feel like I am loosing my touch, I need to step back and remind myself that I am not "doing anything" to this patient. I am merely allowing their body to heal. When I can step back and stop expecting that I will get results (and working too hard to get results sometimes) I find that my treatments work far more effectively.

I have listened to several other practitioners and some are of the mindset that they are doing something and they work very hard to make sure they get results. Others are like me. I might not heal every patient but I do make changes with each person. I try and remind myself that each patient gets what they need. There are people that I am completely frustrated by but they keep coming back to me long after I have suggested they might get better results from a collegue. I can only remind myself that we get what we need.

What we need is not always what we want. It's helpful to remind ourselves of this throughout life when we feel like we are not getting what we want. Perhaps we are getting what we need.

Tolerence

2006-04-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

If I preach tolerance then I should be tolerant. I should tolerate all those who are different, whether it be in religious belief, color of skin or lifestyle choices. What if the lifestyle choice they make is to be an intolerant bigot? Do I need to tolerate them? At what point do I stop tolerating them because they begin to hurt others?

This started in a discussion at Bring It On. My original comment got rather messed up and I think people were reading that I was arguing AGAINST tolerating gays and lesbians. I was actually trying to put forth the question of how far do I tolerate those who are intolerant? For simplicity, let’s call those who are intolerant bigots. Basically that’s what they are.

I can legislate their actions. Ethically I can demand that they ACT in a certain way. However, I can’t change their beliefs. I can try and educate them, but a person has to allow themselves to be educated or changed and if they don’t want to do that, I can’t force them to change a fundamental belief pattern. If I do, how am I different from the Conservative Christians who are trying to force me into their religion through legislating it and trying to make this a theocracy?

If a bigot speaks of his bigotry only to his friends and close family about his bigotry is it evil? Do I tolerate that? I guess if it’s not interfering in anyone’s life, I’m willing to tolerate this. After all, in all likelihood, no one who would be hurt by this behavior is likely to know it exists.

If this bigot speaks publicly, but not in a way to incite anger, is this okay? This would be the person who tells offensive jokes while walking down the street or perhaps on a cell phone in a public place or perhaps cracks a joke in a quiet restaurant so that the people at the next table can hear. If someone of the race or lifestyle that the person is joking about overhears these conversations, this could be hurtful and potentially harmful. However, the bigot can argue that he is exercising his right to free speech to tell a joke. Legally we can try and clean up our workplaces so that people don’t have to put up with that, but this is on the street or in a restaurant or at all Mall. Beyond telling this person that s/he is offensive, what can be done? If they don’t want to learn, how far do we tolerate?

The next step is publicly speaking about this. This might be the minister who teaches that certain lifestyle choices go against God’s will. Ministers have been saying this for years. But if he says it specifically about our sexual orientation, which becomes a bigoted statement, is that okay? He’s preaching his religious beliefs. How can we outlaw that? Certainly it becomes more harmful because he is encouraging others to act in a manner that is neither loving nor peaceful. He is teaching intolerance. How can I tolerate that but if it’s his church and they permit such speech, how can I put a stop to this speech?

If this bigot is on the radio, speaking hatefully, where his intolerance can be heard by millions, do I tolerate him? The station doesn’t seem to see what he is saying as intolerant. They perhaps argue free speech. How do I tolerate this? How do I work to stop this?

If this bigot knows it’s wrong to be a bigot and keeps it a secret is it okay? Perhaps he works with a secretive organization like the Ku Klux Klan and commits hate crimes. I can’t tolerate that but I have made it not okay for him to act publicly (where we can watch him) and so he acts in secret because I haven’t managed to change his mind about his beliefs.

Who is worse? Is it the bigot who speaks openly and commits their hate crimes openly or the person who does so in secret because they know that the public won’t tolerate their speech? How do we work on teaching tolerance and protecting those who have been labeled different over the years from feeling the pain of another group’s intolerance and keeping those who would perpetuate the problem from going under ground and perhaps exacerbating their actions?

How far do we tolerate those who are intolerant? Where do I become just as bigoted as they are in my intolerance of thier thoughts, speach and action?

On some level it's probably never okay. Any intolerance only feeds more. I guess my main question to ponder is where is the line where we take action? I don't think there is a set line and we must each act that point we see fit. It does come down that we do live in an imperfect world and our intention is as important as the outcome and each of us needs to think about that.

Happy Easter

2006-04-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Easter. While I write mostly from a Buddhist or Zen perspective, I was raised Lutheran and so offer these thoughts for this holiday.

In Romans Chapter 12, St. Paul writes, "It is by grace you are saved, through faith. It is not of yourselves. It is a gift of God."

What he is saying here is that Jesus died for our sins. We could never keep all of the law, but as God, Jesus was able to do that. Because he made the ultimate sacrifice, none of us has to try and live up to the law of the old testament. If we did, we'd all still be observing Passover, a very different holiday--and to those who are observing I wish you a good holiday as well.

Today in our world, we are often condemned as being un-Christian for a host of offenses, most of which are based in old testament law. Christianity is not about the law, but about Jesus Christ. Our savior was about peace and love. This is a universal religion. All the great spiritual leaders, including Buddha, teach that we are to love everyone and be at peace. If we could recognize that, we'd have a lot more peace in our world.

Not again

2006-04-12T22:39:00.000-07:00

I have been watching with fear the rhetoric on Iran. I am hoping that other peace lovers and activists will pick up this link which offers a general petition to sign to state that you do not want the US to attack Iran.

Further, call your congressmen and let them know that you do not favor another war. Let's let the people be heard this time.

Taking time for Fun

2006-04-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

My other blog is getting lots of hits now that I write from my kitten's point of view. It's not rocket science or changing the world, but it's fun.

I think we all need to find those silly things that we really like and have fun with it. I enjoy the community of cats that talk about their lives. Some are more interesting than others but you have to appreciate the creativity that goes into some of the posts.

Whatever fun is for each person, we need to remember to get our and get a healthy dose of it. Daily would be good but if we can't do daily fun, then we at least need to schedule some time during the week. Last winter I had a lot going on and while I still had stuff to come back to, I felt so much better after a day off for skiing. Fun clears our mind and lets us be children again. For a moment we let go of our worries and our shoulds and our have tos.. Fun gets us in touch with ourselves and what is important to us. Have fun and the sillier the better!

2006-04-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

I don't understand something. I was listening on the radio to someone talking about the whole concept of gay marriage. Some people are for it and others are against it. I don't understand the arguments made by those against it. They say one of the big reasons is that it means that their own heterosexual marriages are less sacred.

I don't understand how what someone else does affects what I do. If I make a vow, does someone else making a similar vow lessen the vow I took? If the other person doesn't keep their vow, how is mine changed? If they do not keep their vow, does this release me from mine?

If I get divorced as a heterosexual, does this lessen the sanctity of every other marriage? If it does not, how does the choice of the sex of my partner lessen the sanctity of any other marriage?

The point I am getting at is that an external measurement based on what other people do has nothing to do with the sanctity of any act. The sanctity is about what is inside ourselves. The argument that someone else making a life choice affecting the sacredness our life choice makes no sense. I guess this is why I don't understand this argument.

I believe that anything we see as sacred is sacred because of the awe and love we feel. If we have true love and compassion we begin to see the world as sacred and that all choices have a place and plan. We learn to accept them. In this way, everything we do is sacred and we honor those things that others do as sacred because we understand the meaning it brings to them. If we have no love or are cut off from that great wisdom and love, we might attempt to create something in our own image and that always falls short.

Peace in the Midst of Chaos

2006-04-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

As things have changed about the move, I am learning that adapting is part of what maintains peace I am very calm about the issues that I can let change and go with the flow but there are areas that have to be done and taken care of and those things I feel less peaceful about and more stressed about.

I think that we all hate to be torn in several directions and when one direction changes, if we can go with it, it's easy. It's only those things that feel set in time that are frustrating. Ah well... I will keep meditating and trying to remind myself that nothing in thie move is so important that it can't be changed.

Off and On Blogging

2006-04-05T18:31:00.000-07:00

Well as my life moves forward, I probably won't be blogging as much for the next month or so. I am in the process of relocating and I have the fortunate (or misfortune as the case may be) to be moving slowly. I am working part of the week in one city and part in another so I might not be able to write as frequently as I usually like to. I expect the chaos to last until the end of April.. well I konw with settling in that much of May will also feel chaotic but at least I hope to be in one place.

So to remind myself of this I am posting it. It came across a meditation mailing list I am on:

Peace does not mean to be in a place
where there is no noise, trouble or hard work.
It means to be in the midst of those things
and still be calm in your heart

Author unknown

The Dalai Lama Telegraph interview

2006-04-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

I got this little notice on an email list I subscribe to. I think it's worth thinking about.

Terrorists Must Be Treated Humanely, Dalai Lama Tells Telegraph

April 1 (Bloomberg) -- The Dalai Lama said terrorists must be treated humanely or terrorism will spread, warning that if Osama bin Laden were killed, ten more would spring up to take his place, the Daily Telegraph reported, citing an interview.

``If there is one Bin Laden killed today, soon there will be 10 Bin Ladens,'' the exiled Tibetan leader told the London- based newspaper.
``Ten Bin Ladens killed, the hatred is spread; 100 bombed, and 1,000 lose members of their families.''

``The new terrorism has been brewing for many years,'' he said. ``Much of it is caused by jealousy and frustration at the West because it looks so highly developed and successful on television,'' he was quoted as saying.

The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed revolt against Chinese troops that invaded the Himalayan territory nine years earlier.
Since he left, more than a million Tibetans have been killed by the Chinese because of their refusal to stop worshipping the Lord of Compassion, the Telegraph reported.

Westerners have become ``too self-absorbed,'' the Dalai Lama also said, according to the Telegraph. ``In the West, you have bigger homes, yet smaller families; you have endless conveniences, yet you never seem to have any time.''

``I don't think people have become more selfish, but their lives have become easier and that has spoilt them,'' he was quoted as saying.
``They have less resilience, they expect more, they constantly compare themselves to others and they have too much choice -- which brings no real freedom.''

The Chinese government considers Tibet to be a part of China.

(Daily Telegraph, 4-1, 17)

To contact the reporter on this story:
Saijel Kishan in London at skishan@bloomberg.net.

Leaning into what scares you

2006-03-29T20:16:00.000-08:00

Debbie Ford often talks about leaning into the emotions that make you uncomfortable. It's never "it will be all right" with her, but rather, "just feel that," "go with that feeling," if you are upset or angry. In order to come to terms and have peace with our feelings we often have to go with the feeling and let it take us where we need to go.

My skiing metaphor is to remember to do that when I ski. When I get on steeps that scare me, I remind myself to lean down into the slope--rather than holding myself back towards the supposed safety of the land. In actuality if I lean back and resist the slope, I'm going to ski faster and with less control than if I lean forward and over my skis and down the slope.

Having found that such a tactic works, I carry this over into my emotional life with the reminder to lean into my feelings. I then remind myself how well this works on the mountain and find that it's that much easier to go with. Next time a feeling scares you or bothers you in some way, remember to lean into the feeling. You'll find that you have more control over the pace of where that takes you and you'll probably have fewer bruises from the experience too!

Hate Talk

2006-03-28T17:46:00.000-08:00

I was listening to Air America this morning. They were talking about a pundit who said something very rude. I found it offensive that they even repeated it. I have to wonder, why do we listen to those who are rude? Why do we keep trying to make them listen to us? Sometimes it seems we only give them credibility. I don't mean that we have to allow them all the airwaves and sit back and shut up, but why do we attempt to make these people see reason? Is it not pride or hubris on our part to think that after everyone else that we will be the one to make them see reason?

I think a nice "How nice that you think that," and walk away and restate our case would be appropriate. I realize that they are yelling loudly and it would be nice if their mothers or fathers would set them aside for a time out, but does this mean that we have to yell more loudly. We can only keep working and keep speaking our truth. Let's not fall to their level and do we have to keep giving them more publicity?

There's a reason I've kept this vague. I don't want to give this person more publicity for saying hateful things. Let's settle down and talk about something that isn't so hateful for a change.

A bit Unusual

2006-03-27T13:34:00.000-08:00

Okay this post will be a bit unusual. Last weekend I watched that movie V for Vendetta. It was one of those choices that happened because nothing else looked interesting. I've been surpised not to see much about it on the blogs--even the entertainment ones.

We quite liked it. I found it interesting because V is obviously a terrorist, yet he's a sympathetic character. To watch the film, you sort of want him to succeed, even though that means blowing up a building. I think it's an interesting portrait of the individual versus the larger government.

It made me think about what do we fear the most: the men with bombs can only kill us but the government policing our thoughts can cause us to exist inside a box so small we have no authentic self beyond that which the government allows. We seem to fear death more yet, in the latter case aren't we selling our soul for existance? So why do we make that choice?

Everyone loves a Quote

2006-03-24T13:27:00.000-08:00

People always seem to respond well to quotations. It's a nice way to end the week when I don't feel I have any good insights.

Today's quote if from Martin Luther King:

The chain reaction of evil--wars producing more wars -- must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

A quote from Gandhi

2006-03-22T22:10:00.000-08:00

Today there is a nice quote from Gandhi

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.

Mindful Eating

2006-03-21T17:40:00.000-08:00

I got a note about a Center for Mindful Eating from a mailing list I am on. I thought it would be of interest. In our world, we so often want to loose weight but we are so out of touch with our own needs and wants that eat without thinking. What a wonderful mindfulness practice that will also help us with another subject that is often of concern--our weight!

Our Community

2006-03-20T18:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday there was a post at Bring it On about the three year anniversary of the Iraqi war. In the discussion, someone said something about not knowing anyone who was hurt by this and that there are people who play up the drama for their own political ends. A woman who posts there pointed out that she had been hurt by this war and told a bit more of her story.

It made me think about community and our connection to others. The internet is so often faceless and rather nameless. I don't know this woman other than by the name she uses online to post comments. She could live down the street from me and I'd never know. She could live thousands of miles from me. She is part of my community though. She's a fellow blogger and blog surfer and she comments on many of the same issues that I have commented on.

The internet may feel faceless but the people we "meet" and interact with online are people and we become a sort of community.

If anyone in our immediate community suffers, we should all look out for that person. We should work on helping. Compassion begins with those closest to us. This woman is part of my community because I frequent Bring It On. If you are reading my blog, then you are part of my community and by extension, hers. This woman is hurt by this war. Her family has been torn apart and maybe it's just a few months or perhaps years but each day she knows, there could be a call that will change her life forever.

The media has ignored the price of this war. The media has been ignoring it's impact. We are community and we know the impact. This woman's pain is our shared pain because she is part of our community. Next time you think that this war hasn't effected you, then think again. Your community has felt pain because of it. We are all connected... (no pun intended)

Quote from the Dalai Lama

2006-03-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

Here's a quote to start the week from the Dalai Lama

While engaging in material progess and taking care of physical well-being, we need to pay equal attention to devoloping peace of mind.

Have a good week

Quotes from Debbie Ford

2006-03-16T15:53:00.000-08:00

In this week's newsletter, Debbie Ford talks about a book that she is quoted in. There are some great quotes from her work and I think they are thought provoking enough to share here.

Many of us are frightened to look within ourselves, and fear has us put up walls so thick we no longer remember who we really are.

Our society nurtures the illusion that all the rewards go to the people who are perfect. But many of us are finding out that trying to be perfect is costly.

I especially like the second quote from Debbie. We work so hard on our perfection, yet I think it is all of our imperfections that make us so lovable and endearing to the people around us. I hope that we can find a way to look inside ourselves and embrace our imperfections and enjoy them.

Skiing Peacefully

2006-03-14T21:03:00.000-08:00

I love skiing. It's relaxing for me. I find that I enjoy it more alone. I love skiing with friends close to my level but most of them ski slightly better than I do and it is stressful to feel like I have to keep up. I wasn't feeling real well yesterday and so although I had fun today, I wasn't skiing my best. I was slow. That bothered me and my legs hurt because I was struggling and not in my best form.

Skiing reminds me that sometimes you have to let go and trust something other than yourself. I remind myself of that on some favorite hills. I know them so well that I just let go and my legs don't hurt and I don't fall and I don't go to fast. I am trusting my skis to do what they were designed to do and myself that I am up to the challenges ahead. It's when I try to hard that I work too hard and then I get tired to quickly and easily.

I learn a lot skiing and perhaps that's why I love it. It's a metaphor sometimes for how we can take life. It's a single person "sport." We can all win at this one. We just need to finish.

Exciting News in the blog sphere

2006-03-13T11:52:00.000-08:00

I've been up with a slight flu today and thinking I didn't feel like posting. I've had my tea and slept way more than I have in ages and I started surfing over at blog explosion. Lo and Behold I've seen on three different sites that Ken from Common Sense is running for Congress in his district in California.

As a big fan (see the last post), I'm just as excited as the others are and I'm encouraging all my readers to check out his site. As an independent, Ken is running a grass roots campaign and you don't have to live in his district to contribute.

Check it out here

Quoting another post

2006-03-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

I've quoted Ken Granlund of Common Sense before. He typically has such thoughtful and insightful posts. He's Friday's guest author at Bring It On and he has a wonderful post about Quid Pro Quo.

I'm quoting him here and mentioning it because the theme is that we get what we give. He's speaking from a political stance. I think we can always generalize what he is saying to other parts of our life--we do get what we put into it--however Ken writes a political blog so that's his focus. Enjoy and I hope he provokes as much thought from everyone reading this as he does for me.

A Perfect First?

2006-03-08T20:00:00.000-08:00

I am watching my soon to be former office mate in her search for the perfect person to fill my space when I move to another city. At first she thought she had found the perfect person. That didn't work out. Since then, though, there have been several other promising leads on people that might work out better for her in the long run than the first person.

I wonder how often we jump at what seems to be a perfect first chance and then hold onto that idea even after we know that it can't possibly work. We keep trying to make it work and become increasingly frustrated and unhappy. It's hard to break out and say no this doesn't feel as right for me as it did in the beginning and I have to change my mind. Still, I think sometimes we need to listen to that voice.

How often have we held on to a job because we didn't know what else to do? How often have we stayed in a relationship long after it should have ended because it was still serving one person in the relationship? I think we all do this from time to time and I have to admire my office mate in her ability to listen to her internal self and go with what seems right for her at the moment.

I know that it's a bit scary to not have someone renting those rooms, but at the same time I have no doubt that she will find the perfect person to rent from her.

Quiet Time

2006-03-06T21:27:00.000-08:00

I love to read. I love to read garbage, mindless stuff that doesn't mean anything. I love the delights of an otherwise boring woman solving murder mysteries because she's nosey--isn't that sort of an interesting juxtaposition of images?

At any rate things like this relax me. So I read one of these delightful little books this evening. I had the television on and the people were annoying me. I finished the book and put it down and watched and found myself getting annoyed with what was happening.

I have cats. The cats were all sitting on me, washing, napping, looking. Watching them, they relaxed me. The people on the television being annoying didn't matter. The cats were there. I remember reading that having pets lowers blood pressure. There is something meditative about watching a cat wash. They are so methodical and to them, at that moment, nothing else seems to matter.

So I become cat like in my watching, and sometimes pointing out the missed spots because in that moment, nothing else seems to matter either.

Truth and Confustion

2006-03-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

I went to the WAOMA meeting this weekend. WAOMA is the Washington Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Association. We got to hear a talk by Five Element Acupunturist Thea Elija.

Her theme was seeing the world through different paradigms. So often we have one paradigm that we view the world through. In the case of medicine, it is often through the traditional western medical model. Pain in the joints, then is arthritis and there is a certain progression and a certain way of treating. In Oriental Medicine, in one paradigm, there is pain in the joints and we don't care what the west says, we make our diagnosis that might be called bi syndrome and we treat how we treat.

Each paradigm has it's strengths and weaknesses. Ms. Elija points out that sometimes these paradigms can seem to be contradictory. In many cases, this causes us to decide that one paradigm is correct and the other wrong. In other cases, we sort of go with one paradigm and make that the stronger paradigm and then sort of fit the secondary paradigm into the cracks to give it a slight voice.

There could be a third path, says Ms. Elija. Perhaps, she suggests we don't go with either paradigm but let ourselves be with our confusion and with the contradiction and listen to the self inside and decide which is right in each instance. Perhaps, she says, we can't always know everything and perhaps we shouldn't even want to.

Embracing this mystery could be a way to peace. We are not surprised, for we know that each moment could bring surprise, or not. We understand the mystery of the world and know that we can never know (or control) our own role or part in it. How much more open we can become if we can sit with the confusion and just let it be.

Authentic Happiness

2006-03-02T18:08:00.000-08:00

I'm stealing the title from a site I found. Psychologist Dr. Martin Seligman believes that there is more to psychology than the study of what's wrong with our moods. Dr. Seligman has founded a branch of psychology called positive psychology. Instead of focusing on the negatives, Dr. Seligman's psychology studies positive emotional traits, character traits and postive institutions.

What a wonderful thing to study! What a wonderful way to put a positive spin on our personalities. By studying what makes something positive we can have a focus on how to create more positive feelings and interactions rather than trying to avoid the negative --and hope that that works.

Dr. Seligman works out of the University of Pennsylvannia and his website is Authentic Happiness. Check it out.

A few good reads in the Blogsphere

2006-02-28T12:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday and today I read two really good posts that make sense to share on this blog.

One is on what do you want to do when you grow up? posted here

The other is Martian's post on why he works for himself. For him it's about freedom to do the things he really loves doing.

Both have much food for thought and I hope you enjoy them.

Challenges

2006-02-27T19:18:00.000-08:00

Every time we are challenged by people who frustrate us or work that frustrates us or life in general, it helps sometimes to realize that if everything were easy we'd all be enlightened.

According to Debbie Ford, the gift of challenging people is that they are uniquely qualified to show us those parts of ourselves that we disowned. Do we just hate angry people? Then maybe we have an inner angry person that we need to own. Anger can be useful if channeled correctly. It's when it's ignored that it becomes a problem.

Are we frustrated with irresponsible people? Where are we irresponsible? How do we want to be less responsible and where can we let that come out in a safe manner?

What about people who are always late? Do we wish we could be late? Are we behind in things we need to do for ourselves?

Each of these traits is a "shadow trait." The term shadow was originally used by Carl Jung to include all those things we don't see in ourselves. Debbie Ford has written about this and "put new wine in old bottles," according to a forward in her book, Dark Side of the Light Chasers. I think it's a wonderful metaphor for what she does.

Noting that each frustrating trait is a part of our own shadow can be an excellent way to relax into those encounters with frustrating people. Where am I too impatient? Where do I need to stand up and say it's all about me? Do I sometimes judge people too harshly? How do these traits serve me? What am I afraid of if I just act like that?

Good questions aren't they? The answers are often difficult to come by so maybe we ought to thank those challenging people for the insight into ourselves that they give.

Harmony in Nature

2006-02-23T17:48:00.000-08:00

My surroundings are an extension of me and harmonious surroundings can calm my mind and my body and help me create peace. Just as realizing that I am part of my government, I am also part of nature around me. I am an extension.

Feng Shui is the ancient Asian art of "right placement" to help create more harmony in life. A feng shui practitioner does more than just interior design. They look at the shape of the house and the balance of elements and try and bring that into alignment. While there are many books with "rules" for feng shui, the one I liked best was a quote in a small book that reminded me I must love whatever I was putting into my environment and therefore if I wasn't drawn to the traditional symbols, I shouldn't use them but rather a symbol that made sense to me.

Peace is about harmony within ourselves. We can only do so much. If we can create a peaceful surrounding, we can go a bit farther into peace inside ourselves. There are many good sites to read up on feng shui and I am not a practioner. I do know the chi-doc and he's got a site that can help those who are looking for more information on feng shui.

Remember, our surroundings are an extension of who we are. If they are not harmonious and peaceful, how can we expect to be?

We the People

2006-02-22T19:23:00.000-08:00

I've been called a blog that has political observations and I want to talk about that issue. Creating peace is about creating peace inside ourselves first and letting that move throughout the world. I feel it's important to talk about political issues as in the US the government is BY the people. I, as a citizen of the US, along with everyone else who is also a citizen (by birth or naturalized) is the government. We can't all just go and sit in on meetings as that would be difficult, so we hold elections and allow other people to represent out interests.

Having compassion for all sentient beings is an important part of what creates peace inside of me. Alone I can help perhaps one other person. However, if I elect other like minded people who can create programs that are compassionate in nature, many more people can be assisted by that compassionate outreach. Certainly I can also (and do) choose to be involved in non-political organizations because of the service they offer to other sentient beings.

A government by the people, of which I am one, means the government is an extension of who I am. I need to be part of that and work on making it reflect who I am. I have to realize that I can't always get exactly what I want because the government, like the world, is made up of many other human beings who have different feelings and beliefs. The most important thing is to approach the compromises that are required with as much compassion as possible.

To not be involved in a government made up of the people of the nation is chosing to stand outside and not be part of your world. We all have an important place and a part to play in the world. We need to realize that we too should be reflected in the larger institutions. If we don't want to be reflected, then perhaps we need to look inside and find out why we are making that choice.

It is for these reasons that I believe it is important to take a stand in both national and world events and to respond with compassion. It's not always easy. Now, having talked about government, I'll be moving on to nature and our living spaces, but that's a blog article for another day.

14 Precepts of Thich Nhat Hanh

2006-02-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

After reading the blog I talked about yesterday, I found a link in her blog to this wonderful page on Thich Nhat Hanh. At the end of the brief biography are his 14 precept which I think are worth noting.

"Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. All systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.

Do not think that the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice non-attachment from views in order to be open to receive others' viewpoints. Truth is found in life and not merely in conceptual knowledge. Be ready to learn throughout our entire life and to observe reality in yourself and in the world at all times.

Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda, or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness.

Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. find ways to be with those who are suffering by all means, including personal contact and visits, images, sound. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world.

Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of you life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need.

Do not maintain anger or hatred. As soon as anger and hatred arise, practice the meditation on compassion in order to deeply understand the persons who have caused anger and hatred. Learn to look at other beings with the eyes of compassion.

Do not lose yourself in dispersion and in your surroundings. Learn to practice breathing in order to regain composure of body and mind, to practice mindfulness, and to develop concentration and understanding.

Do not utter words that can create discord and cause the community to break. Make every effort to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.

Do not say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest of to impress people. Do not utter words that cause diversion and hatred. Do not spread news that you do not know to be certain. Do not criticize or condemn things you are not sure of. Always speak truthfully and constructively. Have the courage to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten your own safety.

Do not use the Buddhist community for personal gain or profit, or transform your community into a political party. A religious community should, however, take a clear stand against oppression and injustice, and should strive to change the situation without engaging in partisan conflicts.

Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. Do not invest in companies that deprive others of their chance to life. Select a vocation which helps realize your ideal compassion.

Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means possible to protect life and to prevent war.

Possess nothing that should belong to others. Respect the property of others but prevent others from enriching themselves from human suffering or the suffering of other beings.

Do not mistreat your body. Learn to handle it with respect. Do not look on your body as only and instrument. Preserve vital energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realization of the Way. Sexual expression should not happen without love and commitment. In sexual relationships be aware of future suffering that may be caused. To preserve the happiness of others, respect the rights and commitments of others. Be fully aware of the responsibility of bringing new lives into the world. Meditate on the world into which you are bringing new beings.

Do not believe that I feel that I follow each and every of these precepts perfectly. I know I fail in many ways. None of us can fully fulfill any of these. However, I must work toward a goal. These are my goal. No words can replace practice, only practice can make the words.

"The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon."

Again this a webpage written about Thich Nhat Hanh.

More New Sites

2006-02-20T12:36:00.000-08:00

I found another site last week. I found it surfing blog explosion. It's been awhile since I've seen something really new that says, "Bookmark Me!" but this one did. I liked it because she's asking the same sorts of questions I do but her focus is general life improvement and I'm about creating peace.

Check out Inside First Mentoring. I found a nice link to a site quoting Thich Nhat Hanh. Nice surprise and a good place to quote all on it's own.

I hope that for most people this Monday is a day to get some rest and rejuvenation. I don't have the day off so I'm running because so many others DO have the day off! Still it's kind of fun. Enjoy.

What feels right?

2006-02-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

I am finding it interesting those things on which I trust my gut and how I tend to trust sources that are more intuitive than those that are "logical".

I am making a decision on working with a company. One company is very large and very solid and most people give them good marks. Everyone referred me to them. I worked with them and had a negative experience, though it was a different department then how I would be working with them now. I also interviewed a small company that aren't very well known. They gave me references which were good. I am inclined to go with the smaller company to try them out, though I worry that I am making a mistake because everyone knows this other company. My head keeps saying the other company is a known quality and I should go there. My heart says: take a risk and go with the small company. I, myself, run a small company and I know how hard it is to compete with a big competitor.

It's interesting to see what I trust and watch what goes through my mind as I attempt to make this decision.

I notice too that in other decisions, I am making them based less on what I know and more on what I feel. I had an acupuncture treatment today and the person has not treated me before but appreciated that I went with how something felt instead of letting the movement scare me. Sometimes knowing how things feel is important.

I'm sure I didn't make this point very well. In summary I am thinking back on my week and realizing how much I have let myself FEEL my way through life. I think we need to balance feeling our way through life and using our brains, but it's also important to know what feels right for each of us. We can't let ourselves be "afraid of the movement" so to speak. Next time it feels right, maybe the risk is worth taking.

Ask the Right Questions

2006-02-15T18:32:00.000-08:00

I read an article while I was away in Discover Magazine. It featured a man who has worked with a lot of alternative energy sources. He says that one reason he has these ideas is that he keeps asking questions.

He uses the idea of a drill. Why do we need a drill? To create a hole. So if we can't find a drill, is there another way to create a hole? If we don't have another way to create a hole, why do we need the hole? So you follow that down to the result you want to achieve and perhaps there's a creative answer.

A common worry for people is that they don't have enough money. We all think that if only we made more money we'd be fine. Other people just try and trim their budget and still worry about money. However, we can ask, ultimately, what is it we want from money? Is it the security of knowing that we won't starve or have to live in a shelter? If so, then perhaps we can work on other ways of creating security for ourselves. Certainly we can still pursue more money but if we look at the reasons behind our need for it, perhaps we can create a way to feel secure, rather than just amass large amounts of money. If we just collect money in the hopes that it will bring security, then no amount will ever create enough security for us. If we look at our need for security, we can often feel secure and safe with far less than we would have imagined.

Next time we are worring, perhaps we should look at what is behind the worry and not the small item that bothers us. We might be surprised at what is there. Sometimes the answers may not be apparent to us immediately. Meditation can help bring clarity. It's important to remember to look beyond the easy answer. Sometimes the result that can bring us the most peace is the answer to a completely different question.

Love and Attachment

2006-02-14T19:49:00.000-08:00

Love is a wonderful feeling. We never want that other person to leave us. If we allow ourselves to grow so fearful that they will leave us, we may undermine our own growth. We may not speak up for ourselves when our beloved acts poorly or insenstively. We may turn the other way when they act badly towards others. We may find ways to make excuses for them. We may find that we no longer have energy to do the things we love because we are so focused on making another happy. At some point, this need has ceased to be love but has become attachment.

Marc Epstein has a wonderful book on Desire and attachment. The Buddhist belief is that all attachment is bad. Yet, to have a loving close relationship, we need to have some level of attachment and caring. He takes this to an interesting concept of being attached and wanting the other, but understanding the space between us and our beloved and savoring that distance.

Epstein has been a profound writer on Buddhist philosophy from the perspective of a therapist and all his books have much food for thought. Today, on a day where everyone is recognizing love, perhaps the book most appropriate is Open to Desire, his book on embracing a "lust for life", and the attachment that comes from a committed, loving relationship.

Coming Back

2006-02-13T16:40:00.000-08:00

Coming back I found several things going on. I got several comments. Thanks for the visits. An interesting comment was from zen unbound who told me about a blog called blogmandu. Apparently they mentioned Creating Peace in there the other day. I want to thank them for that.

Blogmandu is a metablog with updates on English language discussion on blogs about Buddhism. I'm honored to be included in their watch list.

Rebecca over at Death and Taxes gave me a nice plug as well. I think that if I get to mentions over a weekend I'm gone, perhaps I ought to take more time off and just go have fun. Perhaps the universe wants me to ski daily rather than blog daily?

Finally, to something that gave me a laugh the other day. I had a comment from a woman that said my blog was on a list of blogs considered "in the wrong". Some right wing blogs were "in the right." The thing that made me laugh is that most of my favorite political left wing blogs (that are far more "wrong" than this!) were not listed. I think they all deserve a list:

Bring It On is my latest favorite with much political discussion from many different writers. If you've managed to miss this one and you have an interest in US politics, check it out.

The Bulldog Manifesto continues to be a favorite. There was a ski run called Bulldog and while I don't like blacks, I wanted to make a run down it just to tell the Bulldog I had. However, I was riding up with the ski patrol that time and they told me it was the hardest run there--and I'm a whimpy skier.

Common Sense has also grabbed my attention. I used to find that I didn't have the patience for Ken's posts as they are long and very well thought out and thought provoking. However, I've become rather addicted and look for new posts regularly.

I've also been enjoying The Upper Left. It has a lot of general posts about politics and he also has some commentary on political issues that affect the state of Washington.

Who Hijacked Our Country is another blog that I've been reading a lot lately. He's had some interesting discussion and commentary on there as well. As always, I often find good reading in the sidebar links to others!

Keep up the good work everyone.

Blogging break

2006-02-07T17:57:00.000-08:00

Acupuncturists know that the early spring is the time of "wood" and that signifies creativity and movement. Wood is fed by water, which is winter. In order to really crete, we must let our bodies rest and have down time.

While I have had days for the last few weeks of many ideas and thoughts, I haven't had any real insight into what to blog about creating peace--or on my other blogger blog. I think this is a great time to take a rest.

Have a good week and hopefully my self imposed computer rest will allow some of the craetive ideas and thoughts to flow.

A quote from the Dalia Lama

2006-02-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

Another quote from the Dalai Lama:

To minimize hatred is internal disarmament.

Coretta Scott King

2006-02-01T13:36:00.000-08:00

I wanted to mention and honor the passing of Coretta Scott King. I have always heard about her in conjunction with her husband, Martin Luther King Jr. Yet reading other posts honoring this woman yesterday and reading the articles they link to, I am amazed at what she has done on her own and in her own name.

It is sad sometimes to be a child while history is in the making. You are too young to understand at age five what the civil rights movement meant, yet you are so close to that history that by the time such information roles around 10 years later in high school history, the school year has ended and you hear only that there was, indeed, a civil rights movement.

Yahoo news finishes their story with the following quote from Coretta Scott King that seems appro for our times today:

"Many despair at all the evil and unrest and disorder in the world today," she preached, "but I see a new social order and I see the dawn of a new day."

Meaningless Middle Ground

2006-01-31T12:20:00.000-08:00

I got a comment on my "Competition to Be Right" article but then it was removed. I still got it as an email. The writer, who obviously did not want to be identified called "a middle ground" (ie compromise) meaningless.

I'd like to address the issue of "meaningless middle ground." The importance of the middle is that it includes everyone, not just half the country or less. It includes those people who don't even know that they have rights. It includes humanity as a connected whole. Middle ground requires an overview of compassion because it realizes that the needs of the many are just as important as the needs of the one.

We are blessed with the mental capacity to think and make decisions and come to conclusions on our own. We are morally obligated to work as community for the best for all. We do not all arrive at the same conclusions and see eye to eye. Some ideas are wonderful but there will never ever be a time when everyone agrees. If we see the middle ground as meaningless then we are essentially saying that the greater community of humanity is meaningless and only our needs are important.

The middle ground is often frustrating. We do not have the right to say it is our way and only our way. We are morally obligated to work for the improvement of everyone. We do this through compassionate service to all. We do this realizing that when everyone is feeling good and doing well, so will we. To cut ourselves off from the rest of humanity and to say their needs are meaningless and shouldn't count is like saying that the needs of our right arm or our left leg are meaningless and don't count.

Let's end with this meditation prayer: May all sentient beings find happiness and [more importantly to me] find the source of all happiness.

What we Have

2006-01-30T08:23:00.000-08:00

I realized something the other day. I was thinking about how much we have and how much we pay for other things and for people to do things for us. I was thinking about how my father had time to change his own oil on his car. My mother had time to sew clothing for us and to make dinner almost every night.

Today, instead of doing these things, we take our cars into the mechanic (because, even if we knew how and could, we no longer have the time to change our own oil). We hire someone to clean our homes (because we don't have time to do it). We go to restaurants to eat dinner and lunch and breakfast (because we don't have time to make it).

Certainly we work more than those of my parents generation. I am wondering though, where and how this cycle started. What does it do that we no longer do those chores that I suspect no one really liked any way but just pay someone else to do them? Does it give us more peace to do that or does it just create greater impatience with all the rest of the tasks and challenges that come our way that we don't want to deal with?

Competition to be Right

2006-01-26T18:47:00.000-08:00

I read a lot of blogs and a lot of those are political. Everyone has an opinion and every is certain that the are right. One thing I haven't read in any blog, no matter what political side it's on is a willingness to actually discuss how we can come to place of agreement.

I would like to put out there: if you are writing a blog from a certain point of view, liberal or conservative, can you actually realize that not everyone is going to agree with you? Can you actually set aside the thought of the way things "ought to be" and that everyone "ought to agree with you because you are right" for just a moment and think about the larger issue. What is it we have in common? What about this issue polarizes us and how can we both--both of us with opposing viewpoints--actually get what it is we need.

I am tired of reading about how if people don't like the US they should stop complaining and move. Quite honestly, one of the beauties of the US is that we don't have to move, because we are free to speak. However our speech should not be considered the be all end all of what is and is not correct.

I wrote a bit about this earlier after reading Ken's post on the party system and the way it's been sold and how we are polarized. I'd love to create some discussion on an issue that's pertinent to the US--say the death penalty just to be different or abortion if no one goes for that--where people from different sides can say what it is that they hope for from their point of view and where they are not intent on convincing the other side that they are correct but rather at working towards a middle ground where everyone can be slightly unhappy but no one looses.

Procrastination

2006-01-24T17:59:00.000-08:00

I realized something today. I had been putting off a task and then when I finished it, I felt very energized. I thought about how we procrastinate and how our mind tends to think of that task left undone. It's harder to meditate and concentrate on the moment becuase we know we have something that "should" be done. If we really "should" be dong it, then why don't we?

Having finally finished the task, I am amazed at how much energy I have. It's like I just drank a huge tub of cola drink! I'm not good with caffeine but that's how I felt. However this energy seemed real. It seemed positive. Think of the energy we waste worrying about the task that ought to be done or "should" be done and how much more we might have if we just went out and did the task in the first place.

Words from the Dalai Lama

2006-01-23T17:39:00.000-08:00

A few words from the Dalai Lama from in his Words of Wisdom cards.

Peaceful living is about trusting those on whom we depend and caring for those who depend on us.

Working together/working apart

2006-01-22T14:40:00.000-08:00

I've gotten a little overwhelmed with the non blogging life lately and haven't had a chance to comment here much. It's likely to stay that way for a another week or so, so I apologize to anyone who comes here regularly.

I have been reading. I wanted to comment on something that Ken Granlund pointed out over at Common Sense. He's got a great blog for anyone who hasn't visited. In one of his posts he points out that the two parties in the US have gotten so polarized that they have vilified the other. From the perspective of Creating Peace, I think it's an interesting point.

Let's take the original thought forms of these parties. Republicans were about a smaller government, staying close to tried and true principles and keeping the government small so that taxes were lower. The Democrats were for the common man, reforming things so that the common man who was down on his luck didn't end up on the street or the poor farm and for creating progams that ultimately created a larger government costing more.

Think about what these two philosophies could do side by side. Working together we could have people who wanted to protect those people in the country who were down on their luck. What did they need? Okay what's a cost effective way to see to it that these things were supplied? Maybe it wasn't at the grandiose program supplied by the democratic thinker, but perhaps it was done in a way that was feasible. Really, I think both sides working together from those philosophical notions (which were the definitions of the parties as I grew up) was the best of both worlds. I'm not sure things every happened so neatly but the concept of working together was there.

Instead, as Ken points out, we have gotten to a point where each party vilifies the other, suggesting that they have nothing to offer. You need to be Democrat or Repuclican on all issues no matter what because the other side is worse. Instead of working together for the betterment of all, they are squabbling like children on a playground. What exactly does this do? There are 6,000 missing people along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. More are homeless. Hundreds were trapped for days in a city without water. I think we've seen what the vilification of the other can do to our country. What's it doing to our world.

When we get our Ideal, what do we do?

2006-01-17T18:27:00.000-08:00

I'm a newbie skier, I admit it. I mean I do pretty well on the mountain but I've only been skiing about six years. I live in the Northwest which means that powder days are almost non-existent.

So today, for the first time, only the second time I've seen actual powder, we had what everyone can say was a powder day at Meadows. Nothing was groomed. I used the knowledge that you don't weight your toes so much on your skis when it's powder and skied from the backseat quite a lot and had to do several runs where the snow was flattened out to get a decent forward stance back! It hurt my legs too. I could feel the difference when I hit places that were flattened out and I could ski "normally."

Going up the lift, I mentioned my worries to several seasoned looking skiers, with their fat skis and obvious understanding of the powder conditions.

"Powder is hard," one said.

"Skiing powder is a lot of work," said another.

"It's not easy like groomed runs. Everyone talks about powder but you can tell those who are really good at it and those who aren't. It's not all it's cracked up to be."

So here I am, floating in the ski lift over pristine powder conditions, the snow falling lightly around us. I could have asked for sun rather than clouds, but other than that, today was undoubtedly a near perfect ski day. Conditions that I could only imagine would be ideal for all "real" skiers who knew what they were doing. I hoped to soon understand the thrill of conditions like this for myself.
Suddenly instead of raving about powder as they do in the magazines and apres ski, I am told that it's hard and it's a lot of work and it sounded like everyone would be just as happy with a sunny day on good groomers.

Everyone has ideals and their sort of ideal life. I wonder how many of us, confronted with that presumed ideal, would act the way the skiers I met acted? When confronted with our ideal, do we talk about the wonders and why it's perfect or do we only see the downside of how much work it actually is?

A thought For Today

2006-01-16T18:51:00.000-08:00

A thought for today is from Pema Chodron.

Don't Expect Applause

Chodron's commentary includes:

Don't count on receiving credit for you good deeds. Just do them anyway.

I think we should all do good deeds with this thought in mind.

Making a Difference

2006-01-15T18:57:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we think that one person can't make a difference. Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. One person. Making a difference.

From his "I have a dream" speech.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Power versus Powerless

2006-01-13T19:25:00.000-08:00

I know I've talked about powerlessness before but I think it's an important issue to remember. I was feeling powerless over an issue yesterday and I was angry and frustrated and in tears all because I couldn't make any sort of change. I was having to try and get my voice heard but everything seemed stuck for me at that point.

I can sit back and realize why I am frustrated and upset and while it might take the edge off that feeling, it doesn't always make it go away. I am struck by how we disempower people in the world though. If you are poor, what are your options? Such moments, which for me are just moments (or days or weeks), as I will get back to my level of empowerment and my ability to make changes in my world, cause me to realize why there is so much anger and frustration in the world. Imagine if I had to live my entire life that way, unempowered.

I think that anger and frustration should key our compassion for this is an individual who is no doubt feeling as if they have no power over their circumstances. Can we help? There's a good chance we can't, but maybe we can offer them compassion instead of being another obstacle. If they need to fight, let them fight with another person and perhaps we can walk away with our own peace in tact.

Zen Stories

2006-01-11T20:24:00.000-08:00

There is a site with many Zen stories. I have taken this one because I like the message for today.

One of master Gasan's monks visited the university in Tokyo. When he returned, he asked the master if he had ever read the Christian Bible. "No," Gasan replied, "Please read some of it to me." The monk opened the Bible to the Sermon on the Mount in St. Matthew, and began reading. After reading Christ's words about the lilies in the field, he paused. Master Gasan was silent for a long time. "Yes," he finally said, "Whoever uttered these words is an enlightened being. What you have read to me is the essence of everything I have been trying to teach you here!"

For more comentary on this story, you might want to check out this page.

Spiritual Unity

2006-01-10T18:09:00.000-08:00

I was talking to an acquaintance of mine the other day. He had it in his mind that a woman who called herself a Wiccan had put a spell on him and caused him untold misery, physical and mental over the years. He was feeling very much in a place where he was into blaming the other person. I mentioned that Wiccans normally didn't do that sort of thing because they believe in the three fold law, which means whatever you put out or onto someone else comes back to you in three.

I thought about that for awhile and realized something. Most people who find a religion for a true spiritual practice are searching to connect with a higher source or with something greater than themselves and ultimately, I guess that means to everything in the universe.

This brings me to an observation, how can anyone who is a true spiritual seeker consciously do harm to another living being? In fact, how do you even judge another person because each time we judge or make someone different from what we ourselves are, do we not work on dividing ourselves from another person or race? If we do, does this not set us back from our spiritual path?

So how then can people judge others, condemn them, refuse to listen to them and kill them all in the name of something that is a divine spiritual path? I use that generically for a reason. I think all spiritual paths are divine. I think they all work on bringing us closer to something beyond ourselves and can work on uniting. I think the message of how to do that has often gotten lost in the furor over who is right.

I think that as practitioners of whatever path we are on, we must remember that our actions speak to others. Our actions also speak to our heart. It is not just what we do to others but rather what we think and how we talk. Ultimately each divisive thought moves us backwards on the path to oneness that we seek. Just a thought for the day.

Something to Remember

2006-01-09T18:48:00.000-08:00

I have heard a couple of different people point this out and it's easy to forget. We become so polarized over our views that it becomes easy to judge others. We always need to remember no matter what our views are, most people do not set out to be evil.

I suspect that even sociopaths don't set out to be evil. They are just unable to understand and empathize with others and their wants and needs can get in the way of acting as if they are empathic and caring, as other expect them to.

Normal humans are much more likely to be driven by love and acceptance. People start down a path and they see the only way out or the best way out as something that others may deem unacceptable. Still, they are motivated by some of the same things we are.

It's so important to remember our common humanity in trying to create peace. It seems so hard when others are so willing to fight. However it helps if we can understand and embrace those who want to fight or argue by acknowledging that they have many of the same needs. Perhaps by recognizing those underlying needs we can then communicate in ways that are effective, instead of feeling we have to resort to name calling.

Words from the Dalai Lama

2006-01-05T19:51:00.000-08:00

I'm tired and grumpy, so I'll let the Dalai Lama speak, from his Words of Wisdom cards:

The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop oppposing positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful. This takes more than prayer or wishing. It requires deep analysis into the cause of harsh feelings like hatred and a conscious effort to shift one's perspective.

Fear and Change

2006-01-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

I've written a lot about change. I think change is scary. It does create fear and we often don't want to do it, even if we know we should. How many people have New Year's resolutions out there and are struggling?

When we think of each day, do we picture something new and different or do we think more in terms of our routine. Even if we picture our life differently, do we really find ourselves doing different things or have we settled into a routine that resembles the one with our old life, only perhaps with a partner that understands us or with more money or success?

It's hard to embrace true and meanful change. To really create peace in ourselves, first we need to embrace the fear that that those changes can bring about. Fear is a hard one to embrace and sit with. However even acknowledging the presence of fear can go a long ways toward neutralizing it and making it our friend.

Fear is normal when we are in an uncertain situation. Running from it will only make it worse. We need to work with it. Only then can we work with those really big changes that we are so often striving to make within our lives.

You catch more flies with honey

2006-01-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

Reading some more of Jimmy Carter's book Our Endangered Values, I have been reflecting on the use of military force by the United States. The United States used to have the value that force was used as a last resort. It was used to defend ourselves. Rather than defending ourselves, we have gone into Iraq and used an attack first method to meet a percieved threat.

Other nations are understandably threatened by this.

I am reminded of the saying that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. In other words, it is often easier to work with people, to understand them, perhaps flatter them but offer them some objective that benefits them (as well as you) and you are more likely to convince them that your action or objective is sound, rather than just bullying them until they go along.

Personally we need to remember that we should stop yelling and name calling and start pointing out how our objectives are helpful for the people who are in positions to assist us. We might find that this is more effective than trying to bully someone to our way of thinking--no matter if the force is passive agressive or verbally or physically actually agressive.

Diplomacy is a wonderful tool that isn't being used nearly enough.

Different Paths, Same Destination

2006-01-02T18:15:00.000-08:00

I'm reading Jimmy Carter's new book Endangered Values. It's a great read and I highly recommend it.

One of the things that made me think of this entry is that as Mr. Carter goes on to explain the reasons he believes and feels as he does on the various issues he tackles, I often find myself saying "NO! NO! That's so WRONG!" but as I continue to read and reach his conclusion, he is often at the same place I am.

I think this is an important point to reach. We don't all think or believe the same things. We don't act for the same reasons. However, we often come to the same conclusions about how we want to live our life and what we want from life.

Many people disagree with policians over a single issue. I'd probably have had a hard time with Mr. Carter because he's against abortion. However, his solutions are not to keep women from having them (as he sees that as a right upheld by Roe v. Wade) but to find out why women were choosing to have them and to create the things that would prevent this decision from occuring. He wants more reproductive education, more help for would be moms and healthcare for both the woman and her baby. Why? Because his research shows that most women choose abortion because they feel they don't have the resources to have a child. I'm all over that. I still think the woman ultimately has a right to choose but we might have fewer women with a need to make that choice, right?

I'm excited about his book because it reminds me to think beyond the simple. It reminds me to continue to look beyond the obvious solution.

New Year's Resolutions

2006-01-01T18:21:00.000-08:00

What a great time to talk about change. However I read a great post over at the Martian Anthropologist about resolutions and I think he gives some great ideas.

Overheard continued

2005-12-30T20:37:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed Cappa's refining my post with his comment on yesterday's post.

We take things to keep from feeling so that we can keep doing what we want no matter what sort of pain it generates.

It's an interesting way of avoiding change.

I think that's also reflected in the backlash against the left. There are problems. There would be problems if the left had any power in this country. However, we don't want to have to change and fix things. We like our lives and we don't want to have to work to change them and make them better. Instead of changing things to make things better for more people, we complain about those who bring it to our attention. This is rather like the young woman taking the pain pills. In her mind, the problem wasn't the what the pain signaled, but the pain itself. So get rid of the symptom (or mask it) and then the problem (potentially a pulled muscle, torn ligament, whatever) doesn't exist and so maybe it will really go away. Sadly, what happens is that the problem gets worse and then it's harder to fix.

Change is hard. Acting to encourage change is also hard. However, it's only be looking more closely at the symptoms of problems that we can fix them in a way to create peace. Avoiding them and ignoring them can only create anxiety.

Overheard at the Ski area

2005-12-29T18:28:00.000-08:00

I heard an interesting comment while in the restroom of the ski resort today. A woman was lacing her boots and saying, "I took a handfull of advil and I'm hoping that if I start hurting I won't feel it."

I think that's an apt statement about the state of our world. So many of us aren't out to prevent hurts and right wrongs, but merely deaden ourselves to the feelings of hurt.

We see this when we allow our government to cut funds earmarked for the elderly and for those going to school. We see this when people wait for days to be rescued from New Orleans. We see this any time anyone in our town cries for help, for food, for comfort and we see and go on with our lives rather than helping out. We don't have to save the world, but we have to recognize the pain of the world.

Deadening our feelings doesn't create peace. We simply become out of touch with what's going on and can't have any real empathy for anyone because we can't even feel our own feelings. We need to stop deadening our feelings. Only then can we come to a place of authenticity where we can create true peace in ourselves and our world.

What is Support

2005-12-27T21:29:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of talk about supporting our troops and our government. Supposedly, because the liberals don't always agree with the President, they are not supporting our government. When they speak out against the war, they are not supporting the troops.

To support someone means many things and it doesn't always require agreement. For instance, in a personal life, if I had a woman friend who was dating a man who was married. She's in love and she wants me to listen to her. I can do a couple of things. I can listen and say she's doing the right thing and that he'll probably leave his wife and it's wonderful. I can listen and say, ya know, this worries me. Here are the things that bother me about this situation. It's your life and you need to do what you have to do and I'm here but I can't just sit back and not say that I see problems with what you are choosing right now. I can also say: HELLO! What! I don't agree with that. Change what you are doing and do it my way or else.

Depending upon the sort of person we are, we could take any of the above behaviors as supportive behavior. One agrees with whatever the person does. One tells them what to do and gives out ultimatums and another offers support for the person, if not the action.

As children we all have imprints and dreams of what true support is about. We bring these ideas whenever we think of support. However each person gives support in their unique ways. I have outlined three major ways in which someone might offer support.

I think that people have tended to forget that there are many ways to be supportive. Many think that saying we shouldn't be at war means we don't support the troops, but that's not true. We may not support the decision that sent those men and women overseas, but we can still support them. As in the analogy above, we can support people in many different ways. This is true of our government. We can offer our opinions and criticisms and work for those things that we think need to be improved but criticising doesn't mean we don't support it.

Support. It's a big word and it isn't a synonym for agreement.

How do you spend Christmas?

2005-12-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

I know another Christmas post. Bored yet? It'll be over soon!

I was thinking today about a conversation I had years ago when I worked at a university that let us have a couple of days off around Christmas. The workers there and I were sitting at lunch talking about using our time off. Most of us were at least nominally Christian and were talking about presents and shopping and some were spending time with family. One woman was excited to see relatives she hadn't seen in awhile. Another was worried about the relatives that would be at her parent's house that year and the hassle of the holidays.

One of our collegues was Jewish and we knew that, so we just asked how she was spending her time off. She said quite simply, Well as you know, she was Jewish so she didn't celebrate Christmas so she and another Jewish woman thought they would go and visit kids in the oncology ward at the local children's hospital and see if they needed anything or just wanted to visit.

She wasn't trying to be ironic but I remember sitting there thinking what a perfect way to celebrate the spirit of the season and her phrasing was that "I'm Jewish, so I don't celebrate." I wonder what wonderful things would happen if we all decided to "not celebrate"?

To Merry Christmas or Not?

2005-12-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

This may be a long post but there’s much to say.

I was at my second job today, which entails selling books for one of our nation’s major retailers. A woman came in and asked for the most recently published book. I’m not certain which that is but referred her to our bestseller list. She happened to notice the book entitle the War on Christmas. She began to talk about how that was such a horrible thing going on in our country.

I have a couple of comments, that my bookseller self could not explain to her.

First, although my blog takes many notions from Buddhism, I am not strictly a Buddhist. I have been a pagan, but craved the intellectual, thought provoking words that Buddhism provided. I was raised Lutheran but Christianity never quite spoke to me the way paganism did. So I am a little of everything. I don’t have a problem with that as all traditions have beauty in their teachings and studying each helps one understand the others in greater depths.

I digress.

I am offended by the idea that retailers should have to say Merry Christmas as a Christian. To say that we are taking away the Christmas out of the holiday because your local retail employee wishes you a happy holiday instead of Merry Christmas is absurd. Shopping is not what Christmas is about. Do I really have to explain that one? So why do the employees selling people stuff, even though they may know they are most likely out Christmas shopping have to wish people a Merry Christmas? Is it so that corporate America can remind people that to show their devotion to a certain religion they should spend more money?

I’ll say it again: Christmas is not about shopping. Therefore, what your retail or grocery store clerk wishes you or doesn’t wish you shouldn’t matter.

I am offended by the idea that retailers should say Merry Christmas as a non-Christian. After all, who says that I celebrate? If I’m a store clerk and I’m celebrating the Winter Solstice but not Christmas, so I have to say Merry Christmas? Where is my freedom of religion? Just because my religion isn’t quite so popular does not make it any less valid than yours. Happy Chanukah. Happy Kwanza. Happy Solstice. Happy Festivus.

Finally, it’s Ken Grandlund’s fault that I started this. His blog has a great essay on hope and fear. It made me think that this so called War on Christmas is yet another way to spread fear. What an ironic coup. Christmas is the holiday about peace and love, which leaves no room for fear. This season, Christians are afraid that the invisible other wishes to take their faith from them (as if such a thing would be possible) and those who are not Christian are afraid that they won’t be allowed to worship as they choose either.

It’s time to remember that we can act from our fear or we can act from hope and love. This is the season of hope and love and peace. There shouldn’t be room for fear

Sit for Change

2005-12-21T12:44:00.000-08:00

Sit For Change brings together the practice of meditation with the promotion of peace, compassion and respect for human dignity.

Check out their website. The 10 day marathon meditation--join in as much as you'd like or sponsor someone who is sitting--begins today (Dec. 21, 2005) and goes through New Years.

I have not officially joined their meditation at this time so am not soliciting donations for myself. I just found out about their site yesterday and it's a bit fast for me to join up with things like that! They do have a general donation fund on their site.

Happy Solstice-

Why spy on peace activists?

2005-12-19T13:33:00.000-08:00

I've been reading about the NSA doing illegal wiretaps on the citizens of the United States at the behest of the White House. One group targetted were peace activists. Well, of course I have something to say as this could include my phone.

First, a note to any NSA agents assigned to my phone: I'm sorry I don't have more exciting phone calls.

Second, why spy on peace activists? Peace activists may not like what the president is doing. We don't agree. We might be stand out with signs in protest. We vote, typically against administrations who take us into war. We educate people about why peace is a better choice. Most peace activists want peace.

In general most peace activists are not trying to forcably take down the government of their country. They are not selling military secrets, even if they happen to know some. This does not, in general, promote peace.

Everyone is asking the questions about the constitutionality of this move. Everyone is asking how far will this administration go chipping away at our rights as citizens. The final question I want to have addressed is: is this administration and our government so out of touch with concept of peace that they are even afraid of those of us who talk about it?

What's Important

2005-12-15T18:04:00.000-08:00

I've been hearing a lot about the issue of saying Merry Christmas versus Happy Holidays. It seems to be taking up a lot of time for a lot of people on both sides. To say or not to say Merry Christmas and is it okay? I'm having a hard time getting behind the need for that one when there are other things going on in the world.

Doesn't it seem a bit silly to demand that people, who might work at your local retailer but actually worship in another fashion other than the fashion of Christianity, wish you a Merry Christmas with all that's going on in the world?

I mean, this year, we lost a city. Not a building. Not part of a city. We lost an entire city. There used to be a city on the gulf coast called New Orleans. Many people called this home. Many people will not be wished a Merry Christmas here-not because they don't believe, but because they aren't alive.

We are in a war. We're loosing men and women who are citizens of the United States over a war. Half the country has no idea why we are in the war. Half of us think we were lied to about the reasons. Shouldn't that be discussed?

Our country is broke. We are spending like there is no tomorrow and we continue to build up more debt.

The US has just executed another human being.

Our president wants to extend the patriot act, which allows the government to violate our personal privacy just because.

Umm those are issues off the top of my head. So why exactly are we worried about who says Merry Christmas?

I know this wasn't a peaceful post. It's easy to get distracted. Remember what's important and fight the fights that are important.

Apropos of?

2005-12-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what this apropos of but I felt a need to share. I was talking a very gentle man that I know. He was a soldier at one time in his life and served in the first Gulf War. As we sat talking the other day, he looked at me and said, "Killing someone is easy. It's living with yourself afterward that's hard."

There was such a profound and moving truth to those words as he said them, that I knew in that one sentence he had summed up a huge part of his journey to find innner peace.

He is a gentle man, as I know him. His experience has taught him that to save his own life, he could kill someone. His humanity shows in his understanding of the consequences of such an act, no matter what the reason.

Kurt Vonnegut

2005-12-12T12:06:00.000-08:00

Kurt Vonnegut has a book out called Man without a Country. I enjoyed glancing through it and hope to read it at a later time.

He still makes me laugh. He points out that the ten commandments were from Moses. What about writing the things Jesus said? You know, like the sermon on the mount.

Blessed are the peace lovers for they are the children of God

Maybe, he suggests, before cynically rejecting such a suggestion out of hand, we could print that in the pentagon?

So it goes, Kurt, so it goes.

Technology

2005-12-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

I was reading an article in SKI magazine today that sort of joked about how companies are making it easier and easier to keep your gear on you while skiing. Jackets have pockets for Ipods and cell phones.

The writer goes on to talk about how you used to have conversations on the chair lifts. You used to meet people apres ski in the restaurant and in the bar. Now people are talking on their cell phones to people who are not physically present. I went on a trip once with a woman who spent more time talking on the phone than she did talking to any of the people on the trip.

It used to be that mentally we might not be as connected to the people around us as we should be. Now not only are we unmindful, we are actively able to show how unmindful we are being--text messaging or talking or whatever to someone who is not there.

Maybe we need to rethink the whole technology thing. It is good to stay in touch with family and friends. However, sometimes it's important to be in touch with the people you are with. Peace comes from being in the moment. How well can you be in the moment if you are required to describe the moment to someone who is not there? Technology is good but let's remember to leave it at home sometimes so we can get away and just enjoy the people who can be with us.

Dowtime

2005-12-11T20:25:00.000-08:00

I might have posted something to this effect earlier, but it's something that gets me this time of year regularly. I found myself angry at my shower door for not working properly. It does this sometimes and it's something that I'll need to repair at some point but for now, it mostly works and mostly I have no trouble making it open and close. Not so this evening.

I found myself reflecting on the fact that this took a moment of time that I wanted to myself and didn't have. I have overbooked myself for many things this season and I have no time to look forward to having a few hours to just mindlessly surf, read or blog. Everything is crammed in. Instead of having an hour or so to think about what I want to write, I composed much of this in the shower and am writing it now. Last week I found myself cramming in several sessions of writing into one and then just editing them on days that I was too busy. I don't like working like that.

I have to realize that somethings will have to go this season. I may not want them to but there are other things that are more time sensitive. I need to remember how grumpy not slowing down makes me. This time it was just the shower door and I have no real personal attachment to the door. What happens if in a moment of stress I share that with another human being--either someone close to me personally or just someone in the wrong line in front of me at the wrong time? It doesn't create peace.

I know I don't need the time every day--at least not right now but I do need to know some time for myself is coming up and soon so I can get the stuff done that I want to get done. I need to rearrange.

Peace to everyone and remember that sometimes grumpiness is a reminder to take some time for yourself.

True to Yourself

2005-12-09T21:18:00.000-08:00

You can't have peace if you can't be true to who you are. You need to listen to your internal wisdom, no matter what it tells you.

I've been relearning this lesson lately. I have a bad feeling about a potential real estate purchase and I've finally decided to stop thinking that I am just bothered because this is new. I have spent some money educating myself. In fact, I've spend more than I would like and mostly what I have learned is that my gut is correct. I don't regret learning that as I might have wondered "what if" if I had just listened and walked away. There's still a way to potentially make this happen, but I find myself very uncomfortable.

I have finally decided just this evening that the nausea that I feel thinking about this is not worth it. There are other places for sale. I can find one of them and I will.

As everyone has been telling me, I need to listen to my gut. Peace comes from inside but if we draw in things into our lives that aren't in harmony with who we are, then we'll have more trouble accessing that still place inside ourselves where find peace.

Honesty

2005-12-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

Being honest with ourselves is hard. We can all be dishonest in a hundred small ways with ourselves and with others. Some of these things matter and others don't.

I was thinking about this other day when a woman in my office was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was talking about the process of telling her friends and family of the diagnosis. One woman said, "I need to call you back in a few minutes. I have to go have a good cry." Another told her: "I don't know what to say. I'm floored. Can I call you back?"

While this may not sound like people giving wonderful support in this time of bad news, I was astonished at how wonderfully honest these people were with my friend. It is easy to try and think of positive reassuring things to say in most cases.

It might have been much easier to think up pleasant platitudes about her diagnosis, but the fact is, even with the improved statistical survival rates, beating breast cancer is a kind of a bitch. There's surgery, the chemo can make you sick and that goes on for 3 months and often longer and potentially there's radiation. Then there can be reconstruction surgery. You're tired. You're scared. You feel sick lots of the time. Your hair may fall out. You feel ugly.

That's off the top of my head. Who can say a lot of upbeat stuff about that? My upbeat comment: Wow you're lucky to have such honest friends.

Inevitably the more honest her friends are, the more authentically they can connect with each other during this process. I also believe that what draw to ourselves shows us something about internal process. This woman must be incredibly honest. This may make things harder sometimes because honesty doesn't often look away from a problem. However, in the long run, by not avoiding a problem, she'll be stronger and more able to deal with it.

I have to look inside myself to see how honest am I in cases like that? How honest am I with myself and others?

Defining Liberalism

2005-12-07T10:22:00.000-08:00

This morning I was reading a book where I found a nice quote. I wanted to preface this quote by stating that I am a liberal. I wanted to look up the word liberal in the dictionary to define what I meant, as I don't particularly affiliate myself with any particular party. The Dems have gotten far too conservative in most things and not nearly interested enough in economics.

Based on some defnitions from my Webster's Dictionary, circa 1981, I am allowing myself to be side tracked.

First we have the noun.

liberal n: one who is liberal: as a: one who is open-minded and not strict in the observace of orthodox, traditional or established form or ways. b: cap a member or supporter of a liberal political party. c: an advocate or adherent of liberalism esp. in individual rights.

So how does the dictionary define liberalism?

c: a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of man and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties.

So why is this a bad word? Not everyone has to subscribe to a party line, but when exactly did it become "wrong" or bad to be a liberal? What is wrong with believing in the essential goodness of man?

Conservative by contrast doesn't mean anything bad either. It merely wants to adhear to traditional values.

However, in the US we've allowed ourselves to make each of these people "other." Instead of remembering that we may want progress in certain areas and tradition in other areas, we allow ourselves to become polarized about those who are and who are not like us. The political realm is a wonderful place to look at this polarization as it's come on in a fairly short span of time. How did we get so polarized? Why? What are our own reactions and assumptions about people with certain belief systems? Are their belief systems inherently wrong or do they have some merit for the person who believes them. How can we all work together to find compromises?

Finding peace means finding ways to work within a society that has many different viewpoints. It is not about erradicating the dissent, but rather about working with it to create a more vital and dynamic whole. Diversity strengthens us. Diversity includes everything we (liberal or conservative) don't like. Just something to think about.

A Great Blog

2005-12-01T17:20:00.000-08:00

The Complimenting Commentator wandered by my kitten blog the other day and gave me a nice compliment. He's come by both blogs in their early days (how do you find new blogs so quickly?) but I didn't really know how to follow the path to his blogs. I have long since learned that.

Under his "About Me", you see

I love to compliment people. Especially through comments.

He's working on getting a birthday list of bloggers so that everyone can compliment them on their blog. What a wonderful positive thing to be doing online! Everyone loves a good compliment on their blog, even if we think we aren't doing a whole lot. Let's all return the favor and tell him what a great job he's doing okay?

Racism Revisted

2005-12-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

So today is officially blogging against racism. I was thinking about this movie this week anyway and wanted to post about it. I this is a good time to mention it.

I also wanted to mention a wonderful film I saw the other day called Crash. It's on DVD and it's about racism, sort of.

The wonderful thing about this film is that in different ways almost everyone is racist. One of the people in the film that looks like he is most heroic in standing against racist, at the end, does the most racist thing of all. Each person in this film is a person compromised of some racial sterotypes and not others. Each of them also has redeeming qualities. It says a lot about how we are all racist but we make our judgements in different ways. We each have different lines that we cross or don't cross.

I highly recommend this film if you want to think. It's not a happy movie but it's a movie that you will keep thinking about long after it's finished.

What is Racism?

2005-12-01T17:02:00.000-08:00

I read online that tomorrow is a day to blog against racism. I'm not sure how I want to partake in that. I thought I'd post a definition of racism today:

Racism: (n) 1. a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race 2. racial prejudice or discrimination --racist (n)

This is from Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 1981.

So racism means that people are using race is the main way to prejudge other people. Everyone is terrified of being called racist and I am not saying that this sort of prejudice is appropriate. However is prejudging anyone by race any better than prejudging them because of their religion or the way they vote or the state that they are from?

Racism is not the only "ism" we battle in our world today. The main issue with all of the "isms" and what makes these issues a problem is that it is about prejudice. We are judging people as part of a group, not as individuals. Given our propensity to want to categorize people and things quickly and easily, we will always have certain prejudices, whether it be by the way someone wears their hair, their accent, or the color of their skin. Some of these prejudices are so offensive we hide them in the closet and refuse to let ourselves think that we would judge someone just because they are _________.

It's important to examine the way we prejudge people because as soon as we refuse to look at something, it becomes a problem. Its only after examining where our prejudice comes from that we can see it for what it is and stop making assumptions about another because of the group that they are from and start actually getting to know the other human beings around us.

Motion is movement

2005-11-30T19:21:00.000-08:00

We tend to think of internal peace as that place where we are calm and joyous, or at least I do. Maybe everyone else has a better handle on it. Peace really isn't that. It can't be that because emotion is natural. Emotion implies motion when you use the word in English. A book on acupuncture pointed this out.

Emotions move. They change. Look at small children. They can be laughing one minute, hurt and sad the next and then the next, who knows? Emotions change. It's only as we get older that we tend to hold on to certain emotions and therein lies our lack of peace. We try and hold onto emotions that we think of as good or at least useful. We try and deny those that don't feel good or that we've been shunned for feeling.

That calm feeling of being centered that we can get during meditation and sometimes just during the day is wonderful. We should honor that moment but not hang on to it. As it fades, it should be recognized that it's doing what all emotions do--it moves. Generally the emotions come back. Letting go can be hard, even if it's just that nice momentary feeling. We won't ever get it back quite the same way but it will return to us again and again if we allow ourselves to honor and recognize that calm peacefulness in whatever guise it appears.

I've written about energy movement and feeling the full range of our emotions in the past. I think this time of the year to speak about it again as this is a stressful season and it's easy to loose the ties to our own internal peacefulness.

Words from His Holiness the Dalai Lama

2005-11-29T17:31:00.000-08:00

Today's post is a quote from the Dalai Lama in his Words of Wisdom

Compassion can heal not only inner anger, but the world's violence.

Personal and Community Responsibility

2005-11-28T19:21:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about this post for most of the day. I think this is a tough issue. For a lot of people it probably comes up more this time of year because of family responsibilities that happen around the holidays.

During other times, our families may request our presence but it's a rare occassion when we have the obligation to visit that we might have during the winter holiday season. Often we are torn by several family demands and we try and juggle all of them.

While being true to ourselves and finding that inner peace does require that we stand up for our needs and learn to say no sometimes, we need to remember we are not an island. We are connected to others and as we seek to form healthier bonds, we need to realize that bonds of family are hard to break. Certainly in the cases of physical abuse and even particularly severe emotional abuse, we may actually need to break those bonds, but in the case of just disliking our family and being uncomfortable around them, we may need to rethink our pattern.

It's a time to think of the bonds we form with others and why we form them. Do we think of these relationships as expendable or do we think of them as something that will evolve and change as we evolve and change? Is our family really so difficult that we can't be thankful that we have them? If so, can we recognize the problems of our family of origin within ourselves and see how that may have made us the person we are? Can we perhaps bless the challenges we had growing up?

This is a tough time to remain at our best and most peaceful. Demands come at us, not only from family and beloved friends but from co workers, Churches, the community and our inner sense of what works for us this season. We have to stop and think of what works for us but then we have to realize that our decisions have an impact on others. We need to figure out how to make our needs known in ways that can honor the needs of another, and, if needed, allow room for discussion and compromise.

This season brings a lot of expectation (and attachment) to how things should be. When things are not that way people are often disappointed. We can't please everyone. Perhaps we can't even please ourselves with all the conflicting demands. Maybe in letting go of the expectation that anyone (even ourselves) will be pleased we can release some of the stress of this time of year and so when it is finally over, we can get back to our real lives a bit faster and with greater peace.

Not Enough

2005-11-27T17:11:00.000-08:00

I was sadden to hear on the news this long weekend that food banks are having shortages. Donations are down and they are hurting because the various food banks sent so much food to help the victims of the Hurricane Katrina.

This is a good time to remember that the world is about "us", all of us and not just "me and mine." When we stop thinking about what's good for me, personally, and good for all of us as humans, we start looking at the world a little differently. Food donation has always been an "easy" way for people to help out. Certainly there are many who have a need this year.

Thanksgiving and the Gift of Abundance

2005-11-23T15:43:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow in the United States, it's Thanksgiving. This is a time when traditionally we are to give thanks for all that we have. In actuality, many of us are over eating and some even testing the boundaries of gluttony as they eat more than their fill. We no longer wish people a Happy Thanksgiving but rather a Happy Turkey Day, though I doubt many turkeys are all that happy.

Thanksgiving was a time when the early settlers where sharing their abundance. They were pleased to have survived the year and were sharing their harvest. Our nation continues to be a rich nation in many ways, though there is growing poverty in this nation.

Many people have little, if anything, to share and struggle to survive on the streets, having fallen through the cracks of social programs and private centers set up to help. Others have more than enough material wealth but are drowning in a sea of lonliness and alienation.

As we each go off to spend the day in our own manner, whether helping out at a shelter or spending time with family and friends or running off to the local ski resort for a few turns, let's remember to ponder the ways we can share our abundance. Perhaps we don't have the material goods to offer to help another, but we can take the time to listen. We can speak our truth when we see others suffering. If we have material abundance, perhaps we can give. We can give items that we no longer love. Coats and blankets can be as important as money and food at the shelters in the winter. We can give money and we can give our time. When we are exhausted and feel we have no more to give, maybe we can find one more smile.

What gifts can we offer to those who are not so blessed?

Not Enough Time

2005-11-22T22:03:00.000-08:00

I feel hurried tonight. I've had a busy day and I just want to post so that I can say I did and then run off and maybe try and meditate. Yet my mind is racing and I have no idea what to say.

I'm posting that train of thought as I consider that taking time before allowing myself the sleep that I crave will help settle that scattered spirit. Getting much of what needed to be done gives a sense of satisfaction but the fact that it's late and the laundry is still not complete just makes me feel hurried and harried and certainly not very peaceful.

In an ideal world I could stop to reflect on the wonderful things that are falling into my life right now and be thankful, but because of the hurry with the Thanksgiving Holiday coming, I feel like I have to put that off for another day. Ironic, huh? Still as I write in this blog, something that I really enjoy and, let's face it, I am an addict, I can say I wish I had more time to slow down and savor those wonderful things in my life.

Time. It's the most precious thing. How many times do we each spend days like I did today, running from one thing to another, feeling unable to take time out to savor the moment in mindfulness? How do we get ourselves into this trap? It seems like it happens more and more. Is there really that much more to do or do we expect ourselves to accomplish more and more in the same amount of time? I wonder about that.

For now, I have a bit of time before the laundry finishes and I can put it away and go to bed, to sit and reflect and be thankful for the changes taking place in my life right now and watch them unfold. Tomorrow I might be a bit tired, but there looks to be a bit more time to just rest. Besides, tonight I should meet my needs in the now and let tomorrow worry about itself.

Going with the Flow

2005-11-21T16:11:00.000-08:00

I am in the process of making a major real estate purchase. I do watch astrology and I know that right now mercury is retrograde. For those who don't know astrology, mercury retrograde tends to be a time when misunderstanding occur and miscommunication seems to happen more frequently than at other times during the year.

I've had several reversals and things that are being changed about the transaction during this process. Lots of paperwork has been late and there have been several misunderstandings that were easily cleared up. It is in my nature to want things to go smoothly but fortunately I had this astrological warning and so everytime something comes up that means a major change in thinking, I remind myself that things don't usually go as smoothly with mercury retrograde and just go with it. When it goes direct the right thing will show up.

I should remind myself of this more often, as I have this trust that the flow will bring me to the right purchase in a way that I am not often inclined to believe. I think this is wonderful. I wish I could package my current attitude for the future, but perhaps I can at least look back and remember this particular lesson of mercury retrograde.

Expectations and Attachments

2005-11-18T19:34:00.000-08:00

My office was burglarized the other day. The person who broke in only took the cash and that was less than $150, so we didn't loose much but our sense of peace and safety.

It's interesting how difficult it is to bring that back. I think this goes back to something I spoke about earlier about expectations. When we have an expectation that isn't met, we are frustrated and that brings about a lack of personal peace. So here we had this expectation that our building was safe and that people shouldn't take stuff that doesn't belong to them and that wasn't met. So now we are trying to find out what the boundaries are of what we can expect.

However I wonder if it's better to have no expectations. I mean if we expect to be burlarized every few years or something and that we can't stop them, then we are setting ourselves up for a burglary from time to time. This is not to say we would be disappointed if it didn't happen but we might act in ways that would make our office easier to victimize. If we expect that it will never happen, then we are hurt and upset if it does. With no expectations of the outcome, then at least we are open to never being burglarized again but also are prepared if the event does occur.

We are working on some new security measures. We have been using the mantra of we can't stop someone who really wants to break in but we can make our office as undesirable as possible (for a theif). We'll also be doing an energetic clearing when we can get together. The holidays coming up make that a bit more difficult than we would like but with any luck the group can gather.

It's tough to work on not having expectations but I think expectations are just another word for attachment. We expect an outcome and so we are attached to that outcome even if we shouldn't be. I guess I need to work on what my expectations are if I expect... err.. hope to overcome my attachments!

A quote from Goethe (via Debbie Ford)

2005-11-17T17:17:00.000-08:00

In her newsletter this week, Debbie Ford quotes Goethe. I think it's a wonderful quote and I'll use a bit of it here:

I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the deciding element.
It is my personal approach that creates the climate.
It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
I posses tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous.
I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.
I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated,
And a person is humanized or dehumanized.
If we treat people as they are we make them worse.
If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.

Goethe

Hope and Cynicism

2005-11-16T12:39:00.000-08:00

I heard a radio advertisement while driving the other day. It was for a Church. Their advertising was that if we were tired of cynicism, then we could try hope, which they would provide.

I liked their marketing.

It seems like we often do feel very cynical lately. What can we do to change things? It seems like the problems facing the world are too big for just one person. When we think that and believe it, we loose hope and become cynics.

It's time to bring back hope. Realistic hope, not false hope, but hope is important all the same. We need to keep hoping for things to be better than they are and taking action to create those changes. It seem like it's a feeble attempt in the face of overwhelming problems and disasters but it's important to keep hope and to keep working and doing what needs to be done.

Today, let's all remember what it is to hope.

Words from His Holiness

2005-11-15T14:17:00.000-08:00

Okay as I am feeling uncreative this afternoon, I thought I'd just use a quote from His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

Every person has the same potential for inner tranquility, but negative forces such as fear, suspicion, selfishness and self-hatred can destroy inner peace.