Peaceful themes....

[Julie Smith]

Harrison wrote:

"And the synchronisity rolls on... this morning I started work on what
could be a book and certainly some extended notes to myself with the
title, The Practice of Peace. I think that is what we all do."

Harrison, your phrase, "the practice of peace" has been rolling around
in me since you first used it several weeks ago.  Your phrase has taken
me on two journeys.

The first journey you propelled me into is the idea of nonresistance.
Not nonviolent resistance, but nonresistance. The distinction between
resistance and nonviolent resistance has intrigued me for a long time,
but not enough to do any kind of research. Your phrase got me thinking
of it again. I found that I couldn't move forward in my thinking about
peace until I had explored nonresistance.

I couldn't think of any historical examples of nonresistance, and didn't
know if there was a philosophy of nonresistance, so I went to the web to
see what I might find.  Not surprisingly, I found references to the New
Testament, specifically the Sermon on the Mount.  What a magnificent
example of nonresistance that is.

And then I found something that DID surprise me.  I found Aikido.  I
learned that Morihei Ueshiba (1883 - 1969), the founder of Aikido, came
to his art through a spiritual quest. It's amazing to me that I knew of
him primarily as a martial arts master, when really he should be known
for his spirituality. Some of his thoughts have been compiled into a
book titled The Art of Peace. There are many lovely passages. Here is
one that seems fitting here:

"To practice properly the Art of Peace, you must:
Calm the spirit and return to the source.
Cleanse the body and spirit by removing all malice, selfishness and
desire.
Be ever-grateful for the gifts received from the universe, your family,
Mother Nature, and your fellow human beings."

And this:

"The Art of Peace is the principle of nonresistance.  Because it is
nonresistant, it is victorious from the beginning.  Those with evil
intentions or contentious thoughts are instantly vanquished.  The Art of
Peace is invincible because it contends with nothing."

My second journey around the phrase "the practice of peace" came to me
unbidden. I picked up a book called The Art of Spiritual Healing by Joel
S. Goldsmith.  This one turned out to be another gem.  Goldsmith
describes spiritual healing emanating from his ability to raise his
consciousness into the spiritual realm, a realm where disease and
discord do not exist.  To the extent he was able to do so and the other
person was able to receive the higher consciousness, healing happened.

I started wondering if that's what you're talking about when you're
"holding space" for a group.  And I wonder whether doing Open Space in
this way, with this higher level of consciousness, is exactly what
Goldsmith was talking about.  Perhaps the only difference is the focus
of your work.  Goldsmith devoted his life to being a conduit for healing
individuals, and it seems you have devoted yours to being a conduit for
a similar kind of healing for groups (with the happy byproduct that the
individuals in those groups are also positively impacted by the
experience.)

Just random thoughts as the sun shines so brightly overhead....

Julie

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