“Those that are working for peace often talk about how much change we need in the world; that the way to work towards peace is to change things. I ask you, are those that work for change the peace makers or the peace destroyers?”
Ven. Master Sheng Yen of the Taiwanese Buddhist Monastery, Darma Drum Mountain, asked this question to a group of 70 youth from around the world. This question stuck with me throughout the time I was at Dharma Drum Mountain, as I have often thought about changing things in my work as an activist. As we were driving home past the yellow, orange and red trees that paint the landscape, it occurred to me that our world is constantly changing. Part of life on earth is understanding that there is constant evolution. Perhaps the Master Sheng Yen was suggesting that those that struggle to alter life in a way that fights against the cycles that keep our earth in balance – balance that exists even while life constantly evolves – are the peace destroyers.
Ultimately, I believe that those that are working towards sustainability, in the U.S. and internationally, are working to build peace, with the earth and with the other people and species that we share it with. This question does challenge me to consider how this relates to our approach to addressing climate change in the U.S. and other “developed countries.” What do you think? Are we being critical enough of our “solutions” climate change? Do windmills, solar panels, compact florescent light bulbs, and hybrid vehicles really balance our civilization with our earth? I do believe that they bring us towards balance, but my concern is that we are so concerned about the urgency of this issue that we are not giving ourselves the time to be thorough with our solutions.
Many of the youth at the Peace Building Retreat went on to participate in the UN Global Youth Leadership Summit this week in New York City. You can read about what happened at this summit here: http://www.unyouthsummit.org/gallery.asp?page=GalleryDiaries
I have to admit, I am not used to writing about spirituality or religion in a public forum, but much of the retreat was focused on this and it would seem an injustice to not share this part of the experience. Organized by the Global Peace Initiative of Women, the retreat was led by Taiwanese Buddhist monk, and Thai Buddhist monk, an Indian Hindu, a Palestinian Muslim, a Cherokee Chief, a Muslim American, and two American Christians. It was an interfaith retreat with cultures and religions from around the world present. Having not participated in an interfaith conference or retreat before, I was amazed by how much trust and love inherently, automatically, existed when faith was given a voice and a space to be heard. While I have been privileged to be a part of some amazing conferences and coalition building meetings, I have not participated in an environmental or climate change conference or meeting where this level of trust, acceptance and openness to each other existed in the room. And none of these conferences created a space for dialogue or faith or spirituality. Why has this space not existed in the environmental or climate change movements? Should it?
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Thank you for sharing these deep thoughts, Kassie. I know that my work is an activist is greatly influenced by my spirituality as a Hindu, and I feel that we do need to create the space to reflect upon why we do the work we do. Whether we are motivated by religion or spirituality or something else all together, we need to take the time to forge these bonds of solidarity through dialogue.
A world powered by renewable energy is only truly sustainable insofar as it challenges us to reflect on how we should relate to nature, our fellow human beings and the world around us. Will our overall mindsets remain unchanged, or will we usher in a new transformative ethic of sustainability? I’m hopeful for the latter and I look forward to creating that kind of ethic with you!
“And we will continue to transform minds — one world at a time.”
Kassie, this is a beautiful piece, asking challenging and needed questions. What are our motives? Where is the space for sharing? What are we doing in this global community? But more importantly, How are we doing it?
My mother always taught me, “Shadia, it’s not what you do but, how you do it.” Somewhere along the way, I had misplaced that powerful lesson, until I was hanging out with one of this years Yoshiyama Awardees, who reminded me of that. If we are not moving from a place of love, and understanding and I don’t just mean “I absolutely love what I am doing!” and “I completely understand, I know what you are talking about. That is great!” I mean doing what you do with agape, with sincere love and understanding, we won’t change anything, our revolution will be fruitless. Even if something is out of our experience- ie environmental racism- we can still be open, hear one another, and put our hearts to the best of our ability where their’s have been.
I think we need to continue to reflect on what we are doing? why we are doing? and How we are doing it?
Thank You Kassie so much for this!