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GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE

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Question: Does meditation contribute to nonviolence and a culture of peace? CPNN article: PIPE (Paz interior - paz exterior): Promoviendo paz a través de la med
CPNN Administrator
Posted: Dec. 31 1999,17:00

This discussion question applies to the following articles:

PIPE (Paz interior - paz exterior): Promoviendo paz a través de la med
Peace in Peace out: Sustainable peace through meditation
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David Adams
Posted: Oct. 21 2013,18:40

According to my experience, meditation does not necessarily contribute to nonviolence and a culture of peace.

It is a tool that can be used in many ways.  No doubt for some it helps them manage their lives so that they can promote nonviolence and a culture of peace.

But I have seen it be very destructive.  First, we should note that many sects that use and advocate meditation are quite violent.  Why, you may ask, are there so few Buddhists in India?  I have been told by friends in that country that they were chased out centuries ago because of the wars that they engaged in.  And today, the Buddhists in Sri Lanka and Myanmar are notorious for their violence.  You may ask about the Dalai Lama who preaches nonviolence and practices meditation.  But it turns out that his organization has been for many decades linked to CIA violence designed to destabilize the government of China.  And recently the Dalai Lama was quoted as promoting the violent separatist cause in Mongolia.  See the Al Jazeera article, The Dalai Lama's seditious mantra.  To site another example, the Buddhist sect Soka Gakkai, which promotes the culture of peace and nonviolence, also has a political party in Japan which has often joined militaristic political alliances.

Of course, this does not mean that all Buddhists promote the culture of war.  Some are prominent and consistent promoters of the culture of peace. But I am not convinced that it comes from their meditation.

But that is not all.  If peace activists do not allow themselves to be motivated by anger against injustice, they may become passive enablers of that injustice.  Heed the words of Martin Luther King: "Nonviolent resistance is not a method for cowards:  it does resist . . . Gandhi often said that if cowardice is the only alternative to violence, it is better to fight . . .  while the nonviolent resister is passive in the sense tht he is not physically aggressive toward his opponent, his mind and emotions are always active, constantly seeking to persuade the opponent that he is wrong."   It seems to me that this is not "inner peace" but more like "inner torment."

A similar statement can be made about resistance to the culture of war.  If one does not recognize and struggle against the culture of war, it is the equivalent of accepting it.  I have known peace activists who did great work at one point in their lives and then retreated into passive meditation, abandoning the work that they had begun.

I hope other readers will join in this dialogue so that we can have a full discussion of the matter since the question comes up frequently.
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Kiki Chauvin
Posted: Oct. 26 2013,08:21

(After this french version, see below to read it in English )

MEDITATION : UN LEURRE POUR LA CULTURE DE LA PAIX. ?

Je suis assez d’accord avec le commentaire précédant. Je trouve en effet, qu’il y a de plus en plus de demandes, de plus en plus d’engouement pour la méditation, comme si elle était devenue le remède miracle à tous nos maux !

Je ne pense pas du tout que la méditation soit un remède à quoi que ce soit ; je crois plutôt que c’est un outil qui peut avoir des effets complètement opposés, selon son usage et son application dans le monde. Car pour agir vers l’extérieur, il faut de l’action, or la méditation est passive ; gymnastique immobile, spirituelle, ou simplement intimiste, elle reste , au mieux et par une autodiscipline généreuse, un levier à la prise de conscience. Elle s’exprime comme un monologue profondément intériorisé qui reste au niveau individuel.

Sans doute, peut-elle être un excellent outils pour qui veut apprendre  à canaliser ses émotions, se contrôler, se connaître pour dépasser ses limites …ce que j’appellerais de façon plus profane,  " travailler sur soi ".

Et là où je suis sceptique, c’est dans l’idée souvent exprimée, que la méditation EST ‘la paix’ !  Paix individuelle, sans doute, mais est-elle garante d’une paix durable, telle que nous la concevons dans ‘la culture de paix’ en alternative à notre vieille culture de guerre dans laquelle nous vivons ? Je n'y crois pas et cela me semble même un peu naïf, car comment la méditation pourrait-elle encourager à  passer à l’acte  puisque elle agit par confusion entre "sérénité" et "paix" ! Ainsi, dans cette sérénité, ce bien être ressenti , la nonchalance à l’engagement s’installe, mettant un frein ( inconscient ?), évitant ainsi un engagement politique citoyen. Dans ce cas, la méditation a un effet contraire, elle paralyse en donnant bonne conscience !

Ainsi, je crois que  simplement méditer, ou prier, est une fuite de la réalité au profit d’un "parfait" abstrait et fade, sans autre couleur ni relief que ceux de notre propre Ego !

C’est aussi la différence que je fais entre charité et solidarité, compassion et empathie ; les premiers sont statiques, les seconds sont dynamiques. C’est également pour cela que je crois à l’utilité de la colère qui est la réaction naturelle face à l’injustice.

La méditation  comme "travail sur soi" n’est pas suffisante si elle n’est pas le stater d’une action collective ; car réfléchir par introspection doit permettre de se comprendre  pour mieux se corriger afin d’agir avec lucidité , efficacité et gestion des risques, donc d’agir avec courage.

Travailler sur soi, oui, mais pour mieux travailler "avec et pour le Monde" !
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Kiki Chauvin
Posted: Oct. 27 2013,05:40

I agree with the preceding comment.

I find, indeed that there is more and more demand for meditation, as if it has become a wonderful cure for all our troubles.  But I do not think that meditation is a remedy.  I believe rather that it is a tool that can have completely different effects, according to its use and application in the real world.

To have an effect on the real world, it is necessary to act.  But meditation is passive; it is a gymnastic that is motionless, spiritual,  simply pertaining to the self.  At best  it it is a good self-discipline, a lever towards self-awareness.  It is expressed as a monologue profoundly interiorized that remains at the level of the individual.

Doubtless, it can be an excellent tool for those who want to learn how to channel and control their emotions, to understand them and to know their limits.  This is what I call "working on yourself."

What I am skeptical about is the idea, often expressed, that meditation IS "peace."  No doubt it may be peace for the individual, but is it a guarantee of a durable peace in the sense of "culture of peace" as an alternative to the ancient culture of war in which we live?  I doubt it. And it seems to me somewhat naive to think so.  I don't see that it encourages action.  Instead, I see a confusion between "serenity" and "peace."  In  the case of serenity, one becomes detached from the real world, which puts a brake, conscious or unconscious, on the necessary political engagement of the individual citizen.  In this case, meditation has a contrary effect.  It paralyzes while giving a good feeling. In this case, I see meditation, like prayer, to be a flight from reality in the search for an abstract perfection, without any color or texture except that of one's own ego.

This is the same distinction that I see between charity and solidarity, between compassion and empathy.  The first are static, while the second are dynamic.  Along the same lines, I consider that anger is useful when it is the natural reaction in the face of injustice.

Meditation as "working on yourself" may be useful, but it is not enough if it does not lead to collective action.  Instead, we should use introspection to understand and correct ourselves so that we act with lucidity and efficiency, knowing full well the risks involved, in other words, acting with courage.

Work on yourself - yes! - but in order to work better with and for the world.
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