Personal Campaigns for Peace
Creating “Weapons of Mass Construction” through body, speech and mind
What does peace mean to you? How do you practice it?
In times of war, we are challenged to find ways to maintain inner peace. Some of us are called to rally for world peace as well.
Yet, how do we practice peace on an everyday level? As Buddhists, we know that peace begins with our own minds. We must face our inner wars, before we can face outer wars. We must create peace in our own hearts, in order to rally for peace on the planet.
And it is our everyday actions, everyday practices on a daily consistent basis that create little ripples, that eventually grow into waves of peace. For just as war starts with little ripples of resentment, so does peace grow with each successive action. These become our weapons of mass construction.
War among nations becomes a clarion call, a focal point, for peaceful action. It forces us to evaluate and come together. Up until the US-led war in Iraq, never before had so many millions of people in the history of the world come together to call for peace, to stand for the legitimacy of peace, and rally for peace.
World peace is more than just a Christmas song, it is an idea whose time has come.
Whether or not there is a war raging in the world, we all have a responsibility to create “Zones of Peace” in our own lives. Everyday. In every way.
In the following pages, we offer some Buddhist perspectives on peace in action. You may or may not agree. Either way, the decision to create peace in your own life is yours.