Monday, September 18, 2006

Peace Day Activities


"Every move we make in fear of the next war in fact hastens it."
-Gregory Bateson

Considering my previous Kafkaesque ranting on this blog, and the above Bateson quote, I have decided to focus on some of the more positive work being done, that we can all join into, on fostering peace in the world. With International Peace Day on September 21--only two days away--there could be no better time.

The above link will take you to the Canadian site for activities on International peace day across the country, as well as links to activities in other nations. Aside from the grownup activities indicated on the site that one can participate in, one of my favourite ways of joining in is the Kids for Peace activities, and it is still not too late for schools, teachers, parents and children to mobilize to join in (if you can act quickly!). From taking a minute for peace, colouring peace printouts, planting a tree for peace, to pinwheels for peace, there are many suggestions you could try. Anyone can organize participation in Kids for Peace at any scale.

I recently participated in the Vancouver wing of the global Earthdance events last weekend, which happen every year, and provide a happy warm up to International Peace day. I attended the dance in Ceperly Park (inside Stanley Park) with my daughter Roxanna, and also went to the screening of Fire on the Mountain and the psyonic yoga class on Sunday evening with my friend Cedar.

I was quite suprised that there were not more people out at Earthdance on Saturday afternoon as this was a family friendly and FREE event on a beautiful sunny day. Nevertheless, a mix of people, from Gap shoppers, to hippies, hipsters and colourful scallywags enjoyed the DJs, drumming, first nations dancing and didgeridoo playing while we were there. Although we couldn't stay long, Roxanna and I enjoyed ourselves while we were there listening to the music,
dancing, and people watching. This was my first time attending, and as long as I'm in town, wont be my last.



The Earthdance events on Sunday evening were held at the Aboriginal Friendship Center on Hastings Street, made possible by our personable facilitator, Sobey. The film, Fire on the Mountain (presented by Black Cat Cinema), on Sunday was an inspiring documentary about a gathering of shamans and other indigenous spiritual leaders and H.H. the Dalai Lama, who were all invited by Lama Denys Teundroup to the Karma Ling Buddhist retreat center in France (pictured above and source from above link). If you can get your hands on a copy of this video, do so, as it was both informative and inspiring. After the film, two first nations elders, Marie and Dora, gave short talks and led our group on an impromtu Cree chant and circle dance. It didn't take a rocket scientist to look at the smiling and respectful young faces in the room to see that real changes in aboriginal relations were blossoming all around. I did not expect this part of the evening, but it meant more to me than I can say because I have Cree ancestry on my mother's side of the family (too far back to declare status, but close enough to make me feel status in my heart).

The last part of the Sunday evening Earthdance event was an introduction to Psyonic Yoga led by yogini, Alia Gunnlaugson
, assisted by Michael Riel, with music provided by DJ Jay Michael. Although I know the concept of blending trance dance, music and yoga may sound a little far out to many, the marriage is a natural one if you consider that the foundations of dance have indigenous roots to trance music in many global traditions. I suppose those connections are a little easier to see if you've been exposed to such traditions, as I was when I visited Haiti as a child and stood gawking at amazing voodoo dance and ceremonies, albeit watered down tourist versions. At any rate, I tremendously enjoyed the psyonic experience of moving from floor to standing yoga postures, to movement and into free dance, as did the other participants at the session. Wow and Whee! A++ to psyonic yoga! If you want to try it out for yourself, there are email links to Alia for more information on upcoming sessions on the above Psyonic Yoga link page.

Finally, of course world peace doesn't happen in one day, and the links I've provided in this blog are just the tip of the iceberg. If you would like to participate in other positive efforts for peace you may want to consider joining the work of zen monk Cheri Huber who works for peace in many ways, from daily peace quotes to international peace and poverty work. Cheri's vision, in accordance with the introductory Bateson quote to this blog is positive, "for peace. Not against anyone or anything." Cheri also has a portal to a virtual peace center, interestingly linked to a Christian monk, Saint Francis of Assisi (who coincidentally was the patron saint I chose for my confirmation when I was still a practicing Catholic). But before you go there I suggest you get a nice cup of chai and get ready to have a nice cozy read. In addition, I've signed up in the past for Cheri's email classes, which are a convenient way to practice meditation on your own time, if you, like me, are busy and have a hectic schedule. I noticed that Cheri has had to cancel the classes due to low sign up, so if you are interested, I suggest you contact her organization and let her know you are interested.

"One of the things we have talked about concerning the preparation for the new century is how to handle our garbage. Because during this twentieth century we have produced a lot of garbage, a lot of suffering. We have created a lot of war, created a lot of suffering, a lot of discrimination, a lot of death. If we don't know how to take care of that garbage, the twenty-first century will not be pleasant."
--Thich Nhat Hanh, 1996


I would also like to refer you to a transcription of a darma talk by the venerable Thich Nhat Hanh called The Art of Healing Ourselves, from which the prophetic above quote was taken. Thich Nhat Hanh is an internationally renown worker towards peace, nominated by none other than Martin Luthor King Jr. for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967 for his work towards peace in his war ravaged homeland of Vietnam, and his international peace efforts as well. I find that although actually doing peaceful things out in the world manifests peace, such literature often lights the inner fire that makes such work posssible.

Finally, I leave you with a link to a project by Michael O'Callaghan, of Global Vision, which I have just stumbled upon called: When Dreams Become Real. I haven't gone through it yet, but it looks interestesting, so I invite you to check it out with me and share what you think.




If you want to send me comments or be added to my mailing list for new posts, you can contact me at chere DOT isabella AT-SIGN hotmail DOT com. Email is chopped up to fend against automatic web crawlers, so you have to write it the normal way like a.b@c.d . Alternatively, you can post a comment by clicking on the link below. Please feel free to forward the link to this blog to others who you feel may be interested.

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