September 21st

Today is International Day of Peace.

Not much really to celebrate.

We live in complex times, with all sorts of violence, conflicts, and war in many parts of the world. A moment when millions of people prepare for World War III. If such a war were to occur, and I hope it does not, most probably than not, it would be a nuclear war with devastating impacts on people and the planet. Einstein said that if a nuclear war happened, the next one would be fought with stones and sticks.

Today, it takes just one second to get finance and material resources to go to war, and it takes decades to get resources to construct, strengthen, and sustain peace.

The traditional paradigms of peace have totally failed us: ‘economic aid’ for those at war, as if economic progress were the only condition to peace and security (as if a more developed country was a safe bet to peace and security!); ‘negotiations’ while most of those negotiating have never self-realized peace and, thus, they are only capable of stopping the fighting for a few days; and ‘more arms’ to the countries in any given political block to threaten other countries outside that block.

We witness an arms race of major proportions. Almost impossible to stop now.

The multilateral system is weak and outdated, and we witness how certain countries do not follow international agreements and the globally agreed consensus, treaties, agreements…!

The moment has come to search for new and innovative solutions for world peace. I propose that we start by focusing on the BEING, INTER-BEING, and INTER-WE of peace:

1. The BEING is related to the self-realization of inner peace as a state of being and not a thing.
2. The INTER-BEING of peace refers to collective peace with “the other”: human beings, sentient beings, and nature.
3. The INTER-WE is the collective peace we have to create and nurture with those who are close to us, and who have crossed our karmic path in this lifetime.

Thus, peace has an individual and a collective attribute we have to care for.

Because of the collective nature of peace, we not only have to self-realize the state of peace individually but, simultaneously, commit ourselves to the creation of a peaceful society; a peaceful planet. Both are necessary at the same time, because “inner peace” is the most solid foundation of “world peace”, and “collective peace” is the major influencer of our personal state of “inner peace”.

Attaining inner peace demands the self-realization of other states of being (virtues), including love, compassion, solidarity, mutuality, justice, cooperation, forgiveness, truth, etc.

The path towards peace also demands:

That we progressively eliminate the duality between individual and collective reality (consciousness), as we are One.
That we eliminate the duality between the ‘Being’ and the ‘Having’. ‘Having’ more is not tantamount to ‘Being’ more.
That we get rid of the immense number of ‘secondary identities’ we adopt for ourselves, like color, social status, relative wealth, profession, gender, nationality, and many more. Today, these feed our personal and social ego, and are the many causes of separation, dispute, and conflicts among human beings.

Separation destroys peace.

But, to me, not all is lost.

Peace is attainable.

We should have hope for a peaceful world everywhere. We should begin the path to peace through meditation, silence, yoga, and all the spiritual instruments available to us today. We should spend time elevating our state of consciousness through service (SEVA) and doing merits (BOON) for which we do not need anything but our commitment to you and to the other.

There will be no peace—individual or world peace–without healing ourselves and healing nature.

Healing is an act of total mutuality. To heal ourselves, we need to heal sentient beings and nature. It is impossible to be healed if nature is ill, and vice versa.

Furthermore, the most powerful source of healing is silence. The magic spiritual sequence is: silence is a source of healing, healing is a condition for inner peace, and inner peace is the most powerful foundation of world peace.

We are distracted.

We are not committed.

Our minds behave like a monkey’s mind. We go here, there, and everywhere without a specific direction.

Our minds are not refined enough, and our consciousness is not high enough, to come to the states of awareness, full awareness (mindfulness), concentration, and wisdom for peace.

This is the virtuous path to be followed right now. The first step is to move from distraction to awareness. Then, from awareness to mindfulness, and so on.

The quality of the path from distraction to wisdom is governed by “calmness” and “inner peace”.

Also, it is calmness that determines the goodness of our vision, intent, language, action, behavior, and effort.

There is a need to establish peace economics, peace politics, and peace social institutions.

Based on Lama Gangchen Tulku Rimpoche’s teachings, let us repeat a million times:

Dawn in peace
Dawn of peace
Dawn for peace

Morning in peace
Morning of peace
Morning for peace

Noon in peace
Noon of peace
Noon for peace

Afternoon in peace
Afternoon of peace
Afternoon for peace

Evening in peace
Evening of peace
Evening for peace

Night in peace
Night of peace
Night for peace

Dreams in peace
Dreams of peace
Dreams for peace

Peace with everything
Everything with peace

Continue with the same structure, focusing on:

Water, earth, fire, wind, and space
Animals, birds, insects, mountains, forests, trees, rivers, lakes, and oceans
Galaxies, stars, planet Earth, continents, your continent, your country, your city, your neighborhood, and citizens
Education, health, nutrition, housing, and food
Body, mind, soul, and speech.
Economics, politics, social institutions, culture, spirituality

World peace is our shared responsibility.

Be aware that we have only a common shared destiny.

Wishing you inner peace now and forever.

In peace, in service for humanity

Alfredo Sfeir-Younis

Dzambling Cho Tab Khen