As I listened, I thought to myself that “peacing” is a verb. We assume that the polar opposites are war and peace. I do not think this is true. There will be no war in Cuba any time soon, or a war in North Korea (unless they start it). The goal is not just the cessation of conflict and hate. The goal is a generalized perception of an alternative to war that is BETTER than war.
War meets many needs, not least as an answer to boredom, unexpressed anger, the need for power, and sex (through rape; still common even now in many African countries).
What is needed is the capacity to build deep, qualitative joy. THAT is the opposite of war. I look at U2, and they just want something to stop. That something seems pointless, and of course in many respects it is, but not for the participants. They all get something.
For war to end, all human beings must know how to be happy without struggle, without needing power over others. They must learn to self generate happiness.
I have said before and will say again that for me personally, what has worked best is the Tibetan discipline of Kum Nye, which teaches the ability to feel and express emotions. Most of us are quite atrophied in this regard. For me personally, at times, I feel a tremendous power swell through me, a light that is contagious, that is in my view clearly from God. It is the power to spark power in others, to help them see, to help them grow, to help them return to a light they have forgotten. It is a power I use for my own happiness, but one that shares itself. It grows, it amplifies.
Tonight I saw my first zombie “parade”, or rather the aftermath. All these young people, with cut clothes, and fake blood on them. I even saw an actually pregnant woman (she had on a halter top, and her belly was plainly showing) with a bloody gash down the middle, as if the baby had been taken.
I know all this is intended in fun. You get with your friends, and zombify your self, and groan down the streets. Yet, everything which attracts us contains us. I may make that a bon mot, actually.
And what is contained in zombies? Death, of course; the loss of free will and responsibility; and membership in a group.
Life in our modern world is so confusing. I have reason to believe I understand, as an example, economics, but it has taken years, and I am very intelligent. For the illiterate, how to choose between Romney and Obama, and neither of the above? Job security is scarce, and most under-30’s are working bad jobs. And we are always presented with the real possibility of some sort of apocalypse. I just watched Soderberg’s “Contagion” last night. It could happen. Nobody denies it.
Iran could EMP us. And over time it seems to many the Chinese will become the dominant world power (I personally very much doubt this, but it is an argument that is not without merit). Whatever is going to happen, we DON’T know what it will be. Surprise seems inevitable.
Given all this uncertainty, would it not be easier to be dead mentally? Is this not what the Grateful Dead evoked: a drug stoked vacation from life?
What all these people are lacking is the capacity to recognize, cognitively, all these problems, and STILL be able to find peace of mind and active happiness. “There have always been wars and rumors of wars”. I tell myself this periodically, and the fact is it is true.
Few random thoughts. Stupidly long day, and now time for my preferred analgesic.