There will be no global peace unless we first heal the planet.

Our planet is shaken by social, economic and political violence. Hunger, poverty, repression and military conflicts are the characteristics of our time. Those who want to end violence engage in heated debates about new technologies, increased production and consumption, better military strategies, and more sophisticated lethal weapons to end violence and achieve peace. It is as if by doing more, buying more and threatening more we can achieve peace. Peace is seen as a product, a result, a material result of these wars against hunger, crime and violence.

Just as the world trembled, so are we, human beings. We are often sick, angry and frustrated. We are also at war within ourselves. To cure that malaise, most of the debate often centers on simply curing the individual. There is no doubt that many people are sick and need healing. The central focus is how to cure and heal our body and mind from our various illnesses. And, in recent years, we have seen hundreds of videos, books and magazines on bookstore shelves giving advice on how to lose weight, look more beautiful, control our anger and reduce stress and anxiety. Most of the advice can be summarized in two main points: one, the individual can be cured by isolation from the world and, two, whatever makes us sick can be cured by buying more pills, performing surgeries, and generating more income to buy health. deals. that promise physical health and tranquility. Mainly curative medicine.

These policies that promise individual and collective health and world peace are not working. We are not healthy and the world is tired of violence. Furthermore, promises of peace seem as distant, unattainable and unrealistic as ever.

These promises of individual and global peace are not working because they are based on false assumptions about the reality of both the individual and the world in which such diseases and violence occur. At the core of our existence, the absence of inner and outer peace is the result of absolute ignorance and blatant disregard for the fundamental spiritual laws that pertain to the individual, the relationship between individuals, and the relationship between individuals and their environment. Let’s reconsider these premises.

Peace is not an alternative option to war and violence. It is not simply “another” option or a conditional choice among many possible alternatives. Peace is our destiny. It is our only destiny.

Peace is a state of being. Peace is an inner state and an integral quality of our being. Peace is an essential expression of our human nature. The true nature of the individual is embedded in peace, and peace is embedded in human nature.

No level of material well-being can bring peace. Peace is not something material. No one will be able to buy peace in supermarkets. Peace will not be the result of more war and violence; It is a contradiction in the objectives and in the most subtle and central levels of our existence. Peace will also not be achieved by building physical walls, expanding armies, or distributing more weapons to achieve a balance of power.

Perhaps it is important to note that peace is not just a word. As such, we must not only advocate for peace, but we must achieve it ourselves. In the end what really matters is that we are peace and not just that we defend its existence. A true defense must be integrated into our own experiences of inner and outer peace. Otherwise, simply advocating to promote peace will not produce the right results.

Peace is a complex process that involves both personal and collective human transformation. Personal transformation and collective transformation are interdependent and both take place within the world, operating within the context of our environment, not separate from it or outside of it. Individual transformation and global peace cannot occur in isolation and outside the context of our global environment.

Experiencing inner peace requires a new relationship with others and the world. Our relationship with others occurs within the space of our environment. Our environment not only frames and shapes our relationships with ourselves and others, but also provides the resources, lessons, constraints, and rewards to harm or enrich our relationships. What people generally call “world” is what we call environment. That is the ecological, economic, social, political, human, spiritual and subtle terrain in which human beings relate to each other in that way.

Alfredo Sfeir-Younis

DZAMBLING CHO TAB KHEN