Walk for Peace

For those who were not watching Bhikkhu Pannakara and The Walk for Peace where he led his monks from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington DC – they carried no protest signs nor did they post accusations on the internet. They walked peacefully through heat, rain and snow and encountered those along the way who called them the devil and other unkind words. The response from the monks was “May you and all beings be well, happy and at peace. Throughout this entire 2300-mile walk, they maintained a peaceful presence and were greeted by the larger community with love, flowers and gratefulness.

We all want peace, not just for the world but for ourselves personally. Yet, as can be seen on internet podcasters and news media, there continues to be a focus on divisiveness, anger and fear. To that, I would like to share something from Caroline Myss PHD, Author and teacher. She speaks of the tribal influence that has an impact on our individual and collective lives. Her focus on this subject is ALL IS ONE. Meaning, we are all connected. I am speaking here as I often do, about the collective consciousness and how our individual input to it is creating positive or negative manifestations in world issues.
Caroline gives an example of the economic crash of 1929 that created the Great Depression. There was a theme that developed from the response of the population, and that theme was that they saw themselves as “crippled” by the economic disaster. As a result of this collective feeling and attitude, speaking of the power of our thoughts and words, was the polio epidemic that began in the 1930’s and was a mirror of the “crippled” spirit of the people. This response of being crippled led to the election of a president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was crippled from the polio virus.

Although I don’t know of anyone who wants a war, it was World War II that turned the tide so to speak. From a weak nation feeling victimized by loss, we rallied into a collective consciousness that resulted in job increases leading to prosperity, pride in our country, and a greater feeling of power and honor. Through this great change in the collective focus toward pride and support of the country, there was a sense of being economically “on its feet again.” And as the power of our input to the collective consciousness manifests, Jonas Salk discovered the vaccine for polio in the early 1950’s.

Every time we post negative pointing or victimization, we are supporting that very thing because that focus feeding the collective consciousness creates more of what we are pointing to. The universe will always give us more of what we are focused on. So, if it is peace we really want, consider what the Venerable Pannakara and his monks did, Walk and Talk for Peace. If we must spread our feelings, then let it be about what we really want, not what we don’t want.

We too can walk and talk for peace. We don’t need signs or an entourage to do our walk. Decide to put our hearts and minds toward that peace we want so much and be about life in that vibration.

May you and all beings be well, happy and at peace.