What is the Art of Peace?

[silent thunder]

this question keeps manifesting on my thought pond.

 

In my youth , in my mind... and for some decades in action, I was ready or readying my self to engage something to fight against, to prove my self.  I was eager to see battle against anything I considered to be an evil thing, not only in order to prove my worth, my ability and my value; but to make the world a better place by engaging evil opponents and utterly destroy them to eradicate evil, or die in the attempt.

 

Now, I will spend every available essential ounce of energy I have, to prevent, or minimize violence and when the violence, if it must manifest through greatest need is done... I have no ability to heap justified punisment on the perpetrator.

 

All I want is to try and heal both the perpetrator and the victim.

 

So much is made on the Art of War. 

I have the tools of war, the weapons and I have learned how to wield them and I find at their core, is weakness and fear and the same uninformed and vengeful nature that my youth was so seemingly hungry for...

 

What I now sense in the very vibrations of the atoms in my body and the essential vibration of my thoughts and emotions is that my hunger was a hunger to confront the nature of violence and reveal the truth for me, which is that violence is... failure, however necessary it may seem in the moment.

 

So what are the Arts of Peace? 

What is the Dao of Peace?

How is peace manifested and cultivated?

 

How do we realize that opposites are complimentary aspects of one whole... not separate 'things'?

 

 

 

 

 

[sagebrush]

I can only respond that the view from here is a bit odd.

 

albeit fantasy, dream , reality, wishful thinking, anger, fill in the blank............................................

 

failure is fear is

and then sometimes not.

 

finding ways to interact and be kind

communicating

 

I may find something nice to say and you might cringe---

but I am going to do it

and you may reject it.

 

 

 

:-)

Edited March 13, 2017 by sagebrush

[Stosh]

"Humility before the Greater Tao" encourages peace, 

 

Consider,

that what we do comes to an end ,

that being too much of a pussycat encourages use as a punching-bag,

and living by the sword ends with a sword.

 

also , we dont really know all the ramifications of the actions we take,

cause and effect ripple out from an action to far far away. 

 

Also , that which we are able to do ,

is really the ramification of the circumstances we find ourselves in , 

decisions made a long time in the past ,

lay of the land in the present ,

physical parameters of what we have to work with. 

 

We entertain the illusions that we are movers and shakers . 

that we can 'make the world a better place' 

we will leave a legacy , 

we made our own way , doing it our way. 

Frankly that's really highly overstated

 

humbly recognizing this, we might scale back on some efforts 

live and enjoy what comes our way, or let it be that others don't do as we want 

that its raining instead of sunny etc and blah bla bla

 

See the humility part , ebb and flow of the tide

takin it easy 

[Stosh]

When I see that guy, Im gonna kick his ass for contradicting me.

[MooNiNite]

In my youth , in my mind... and for some decades in action, I was ready or readying my self to engage something to fight against, to prove my self.  I was eager to see battle against anything I considered to be an evil thing, not only in order to prove my worth, my ability and my value; but to make the world a better place by engaging evil opponents and utterly destroy them to eradicate evil, or die in the attempt.

 

 

Sometimes the battle, and the war, and the value, proving one's self, creates peace externally and internally.

 

The way.

 

Edited March 10, 2017 by MooNiNite

[Prasanna]

The art of peace is what true spirituality is all about. What are the elements that destroys peace of any individual? It is the Ego and selfish desires of the Mind. The mind has selfish desires, likes and dislikes, impulsiveness, emotions like a anger, lust, greed, jealousy, envy, pretense, pride, ostentation, etc.

How to develop peace within ourselves? It is taught by a spiritual philosophy called Vedanta. Vedanta prescribes the systematic way by which one can learn the truths and realities of life, achieve the ultimate purpose of this human birth and human existence called Self Realization. The following steps are prescribed by Vedanta to achieve peace.

1. Fixation of a higher selfless ideal like Self Realization
2. Follow through the set ideal with dedication, perseverance and consistency of purpose till the ideal is achieved 
3. Taking up spiritual practices of Karma Yoga (selfless service and sacrifice, performance of daily and special duties without result orientation or without expectation of fruits of action) for the physical body, Bhakthi Yoga (Universal love, Non hatred for all the beings of the world, revelling in the welfare of every being, having gratitude towards the Divine Providence, spiritual personalities, wise and noble benefactors, etc. for the gift of life) for the Mind and Gnana Yoga (Discrimination of the real from the unreal, Waking up at Brahma Muhurtha (Early morning 4.00 A.M to 6.00 A.M) to study, reflect, contemplate and meditate on the subject of Vedanta or spiritual subjects, Practice introspection about the day's activities before going to bed in the evening for less than 10 Minutes without analyzing the actions) for the Intellect.

[thelerner]

There is the low lying fruit; not taking offense when no offense is intended.  A little higher is not taking intended slights personally.  Then there's being outright insulted and realizing, it don't mean nothing. 

 

Morihei Ueshiba quoted above created an art where at the higher levels you receive an attack without hurting the attacker.  In one book he's asked 'What is the relationship between defender and attacker?', he replied 'It is as parent to child'.  Pretty high level stuff that needs great equanimity, strength and skill to achieve.  

 

Part of the personal art of peace is valuing your peace as so important that you don't give it away for trivialities.  There's a cartoons showing someone frantically typing away on there computer, the moon in the window shows its late out.  The caption is 'Someone on the Internet is wrong and needs my correction'.

 

The best rule for peace on forums is state your peace/piece then walk away.  Your body of writing is your reputation, not what others say.  Write your truth and generally don't get tangled up, especially once an argument has circled around, both sides are hardened and things are getting personal.  Walk away, you will not win; you're feeding the ego and giving away your peace. 

[Michael Sternbach]

The following movie scene struck me (pun unintended) as a demonstration of a martial arts application that does achieve its defensive purpose, yet leaves the possibility of eventual reconciliation open as there is no serious damage done to the aggressors. It also shows the principle of redirecting the opponents' force against themselves.

 

But most of all, it illustrates that only acting from a place of superiority allows one to go easy on an attacker. It is not possible (without self-sacrifice) from a relatively weak position.

 

Watch from 2:30 on.

 

[Aetherous]

Is peace separable from conflict? "Peace" is in a sense defined as being not-war/not-violence/not-conflict...it's one side of a coin.

Can we have peace without fighting, in the case of enemies seeking to destroy us? When we're pacifists, some will look at us as weak and take advantage of that opportunity...in some cases, taking everything from us. All people have the capacity for becoming good, but not all people do good.

Is it not necessary to defend oneself against this? Doesn't that sometimes mean that our enemies need to be crushed into oblivion, so that they don't rise up and strike again?

I suppose if we're at the level of Ueshiba, we might be able to not harm the enemy while subduing their attack. The question is - does it work in our reality? I think defending ourselves and our loved ones against attacks takes precedence over a losing strategy.

 

Let's think of dualism...war and peace is a dualistic way of thinking. What if we master both arts simultaneously, rather than being averse to one? It is a truism that when our enemies are stopped (if we've had enemies who are unreasonably attacking us), there is peace. Perhaps the art of war is really the art of peace...it brings it about. Perhaps the art of peace brings about the necessity for the art of war.

All good people love peace, and hate destruction and conflict...but I think part of an art of peace involves not leaving an opening for our downfall. Not everyone follows our way of peace...not everyone is still good.

[Michael Sternbach]

The highest art is not to get into a conflict in the first place. As Shotokan founder Gichin Funakoshi said, to get into one means one has offered an opening.

 

The second highest art is to resolve an existing conflict without fighting. For instance, on some occassions, I have been able to discourage a would-be attacker just by looking into his eyes and talking to him calmly. Radiating confidence helped. In one case, I literally saw the drunk aggressor losing all his fighting spirit - he eventually wished me a nice evening and walked away.

 

In other situations, showing a degree of compliance might be best. How many fights start over trivialties? It's simply not worth injuring somebody, or get injured yourself, over a parking lot...

 

Imo, peaceful conflict resolution should be a part of martial arts training. The ability to physically defend yourself is mostly a back-up.

 

The wise one who knows how to nourish life with the Nature Tao,

When he travels, will not encounter fierce animals such as wild buffalos and tigers.

When he is engaged in the battlefield, will not be harmed by the weapons.

The horns of the wild buffalos are powerless against him.

The weapons are of no avail towards him.

Why is this so?

It is because the wise one follows the great Tao and cultivates himself accordingly.

Hence, a man of Tao will not perish.

Tao te ching, ch. 50

[thelerner]

In our reality, maybe not, depends on the situation.  Still its all about having options.  The stronger and more aware you are, the more options you may have.  I was taught, being good doesn't mean being stupid.  If you have to fight, fight (and win). 

 

Heck I'm thinking of ordering a Salt Gun.  A co2 pistol that shoots balls of salt very hard that explode into a tear gas like substance.   Not the perfect weapon, but non-lethal.  Why, options.  Good to have them.  Trust in God, keep the salt balls dry. 

[Aetherous]

Heck I'm thinking of ordering a Salt Gun.  A co2 pistol that shoots balls of salt very hard that explode into a tear gas like substance.   Not the perfect weapon, but non-lethal.  Why, options.  Good to have them.  Trust in God, keep the salt balls dry. 

I just checked that out...seems like a great idea for defense, if it's legal to use in one's locale. Pretty hefty thing to carry...but good.

[z00se]

Let's think of dualism...war and peace is a dualistic way of thinking. What if we master both arts simultaneously, rather than being averse to one? It is a truism that when our enemies are stopped (if we've had enemies who are unreasonably attacking us), there is peace. Perhaps the art of war is really the art of peace...it brings it about. Perhaps the art of peace brings about the necessity for the art of war.

 

All good people love peace, and hate destruction and conflict...but I think part of an art of peace involves not leaving an opening for our downfall. Not everyone follows our way of peace...not everyone is still good.

 

 

I agree 100% . And I'd say of all the people half are good, and in truth, they're only good half of the time..... as are the bad ones. That is, after considering the delayed destruction the good people cause and the new opportunities the bad people create.

 

 

There is the low lying fruit; not taking offense when no offense is intended.  A little higher is not taking intended slights personally.  Then there's being outright insulted and realizing, it don't mean nothing. 

 

Morihei Ueshiba quoted above created an art where at the higher levels you receive an attack without hurting the attacker.  In one book he's asked 'What is the relationship between defender and attacker?', he replied 'It is as parent to child'.  Pretty high level stuff that needs great equanimity, strength and skill to achieve.  

 

 

I think the art of peace is a long winded and good for old folks. The meek will inherit the earth, but only when the strong let them. So they both get it 50% of the time, the strong had to fight, the meek didn't. Like fighting? Take it. Dislike fighting, then you'll have to wait your turn.

 

I think it no surprise that it's the OLD wise "master" saying that peace is the best way, and everyone should follow the way of peace and love, when it means the old geezer gets a greater slice of the pie sooner by convincing you to give him his share in exchange for that warm fuzzy feeling you'll get in your heart. The master, standing frail insists they are so spiritual that they "want for nothing" but can't stop trying their best to 'enlighten' you and convert you.

 

Likewise the warriors arguments that we are at war so that we can have peace makes perfect sense when trying to convince the old wise "master" that they do infact want the same things..... but what is in dispute is the pie, or everything but the pie .... which then leads back to the pie   (depending on who's side you listen to).

 

So what then causes peace or war? A desire to change. The desire of the warriors to escape the misery of constant death and immediate suffering, or the desire of the peacemakers to escape the impending doom of ALL that draws ever near due to an increasing scarcity of resources triggering a slowly increasing global suffering.

 

So then we can sit and be, enjoying the fruits (and dealing with the sufferings) of both peace and war, without either being overbearing and causing too much pain. But then this perfection becomes too boring and change is initiated once again as the left wingers become greedy and want more for everybody, and the right wingers become more selfish and want more for themselves.

 

The adapt spiritualist's arguments and ways of discussing things are so cunning, yet still contain a thread of truth that the attempted convertee can relate and under the continuous bombardment of sneaky and cunning promises, the heavy truthful person begins to convert. They then spend years battling with their inner belief system under faith of the good intensioned spiritualist, until one day it clicks, yet the grass was no greener on the other side. At this point with the years of wisdom gained their physical prowess has been lost and yes, this spiritual path now seems right... However was it right for them before when physically in their prime? perhaps not.

 

 

The highest art is not to get into a conflict in the first place. As Shotokan founder Gichin Funakoshi said, to get into one means one has offered an opening.

 

The second highest art is to resolve an existing conflict without fighting. For instance, on some occassions, I have been able to discourage a would-be attacker just by looking into his eyes and talking to him calmly. Radiating confidence helped. In one case, I literally saw the drunk aggressor losing all his fighting spirit - he eventually wished me a nice evening and walked away.

 

In other situations, showing a degree of compliance might be best. How many fights start over trivialties? It's simply not worth injuring somebody, or get injured yourself, over a parking lot...

 

Imo, peaceful conflict resolution should be a part of martial arts training. The ability to physically defend yourself is mostly a back-up.

 

 

Tao te ching, ch. 50

 

But conflict is necessary and a part of life. To not get into conflict is only to delay conflict or move the conflict to somewhere else.

 

Being able to physically or emotionally defend yourself shouldn't be a back-up. Equally one should not rely on physically or emotionally attacking another person when it's not needed.

 

It may simply not be worth injuring somebody over a parking lot for one day, but what happens if you have to walk from down the road to work because somebody takes your parking spot day after day? No? How about when they start taking more of your resources... how far do you go before you defend? ... or how little must one care for their resources before you can morally take them? You may console yourself that the walk from down the street does you good, that you can more easily learn to become a breatharian when your lunch money is stolen... but where does it end. It ends until you get pushed into another job (perhaps better or worse) or you push back.

 

There is a time for peace, a time for war, and a time for doing nothing. That's a truth and twisting it in any which way won't change that truth.

[silent thunder]

It sure does seem that violence is inherent in the system.  Life is predatory. 

Even the predators are eaten by the tiniest of bugs when their time is done.

And plants predate upon each other for space in the soil and sunshine.

Don't give me the whole... I eat vegetarian.  Life feeds on life.  It seems inescapable.

Unless you have attained Breatharianism.

 

We are all the descendents of super-nova explosions.  Literally our greatest grandmother was the most violent explosion we as humans have observed.  So for me the question isn't that we will ever abolish violence.  But how to foster the art of peace in spite of the nature of... nature.

 

But to glorify fighting is nauseating to me.  Unthinkable to me any longer.  Violence is failure, although at times, absolutely necessary.  Yet to revel in it... to glorify it the way our culture does.  Ask most soldiers what they want... they want peace... to go home.  Yet peace at the cost of violence is a shill game and a failure. 

 

I've always appreciated George Carlin's take on this topic:  "Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity... or burning sandwiches for hunger."

 

verse 31 has always resonated for me on this topic.

It speaks of the need to preserve life and protect ourselves, yet the spirit in which we engage in that... is crucial to me.

 

31

Weapons: tools of pain,
used for violence and fear,
Sages abhor them.

Yet in direst need
and if compelled will use them,
with utmost restraint.

Peace, highest value.
When the peace has been shattered
who can be content?

Glory in fighting?
Those who delight in killing
do not know true self.

Your foes not demons.
Simple beings like yourself.
Sage desires no harm.

No victory dance
victory by force, no joy
how rejoice in this?

Sage battles gravely
with sorrow, and compassion
like tending a grave.

 

 

 

 

 

[liminal_luke]

Some thoughts...

 

The Art of Peace is largely about recognizing our resistance to what is.  How can we be at peace if we`re fighting against reality? This doesn`t mean that we can`t work for change, only that any such work will be built upon a foundation of tranquility.  

 

Peace is a surprisingly unpopular mindset.  It`s always there if we want it, but we keep pushing it away.

 

My two cents...

 

(PS.  I disagree with some other posters in this thread, and my first impulse is to write about how wrong they are.  Debate can be good, but the impulse to fight -- the addictive pull of conflict -- is not. For now, I`ll resist.)

Edited March 13, 2017 by liminal_luke

[z00se]

But to glorify fighting is nauseating to me.  Unthinkable to me any longer.  Violence is failure, although at times, absolutely necessary.  Yet to revel in it... to glorify it the way our culture does.  Ask most soldiers what they want... they want peace... to go home.  Yet peace at the cost of violence is a shill game and a failure. 

 

I've always appreciated George Carlin's take on this topic:  "Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity... or burning sandwiches for hunger."

 

 

I'm not sure it's glorified, apart from perhaps in movies (mainly American it seems). In real life nobody likes violence. It's like killing prey. I frequently spearfish, kill fish, gut then eat them. I make sure i eat all the fish (my chinese wife even boils the heads to make soup sometimes), or use the left overs for burley for the next dive. I remember seeing lots of fish and crabs in 2's, obviously with their partners, and killing one definitely does make me feel a little uncomfortable. But i bring the fish/crabs home to my family, we eat and enjoy them and the uncomfortable feeling is short lived.

 

There was a time when i felt uncomfortable about sticking up for myself too. I would get trodden on into the ground because I was too nice. The problem was, when enough was enough, I had to make such a huge outburst to be heard and then i was the bad guy. It's better to keep these things in check. Little fights, small amounts of violence and everything runs smooth. Try to escape violence and it ends up catching up with us.

 

Why do you feel violence is a failure?

 

Some thoughts...

 

The Art of Peace is largely about recognizing our resistance to what is.  How can we be at peace if we`re fighting against reality? This doesn`t mean that we can`t work for change, only that any such work will be built upon a foundation of tranquility.  

 

Peace is a surprisingly unpopular mindset.  It`s always there if we want it, but we keep pushing it away.

 

My two cents...

 

(PS.  I disagree with some other posters in this thread, and my first impulse is to write about how wrong they are.  Debate can be good, but the impulse to fight -- the addictive pull of conflict -- is not. For now, I`ll resist.)

 

I agree with all of that

 

Resist and rest for when a good opportunity arises

[cold]

Peace is built upon a foundation of respect.

Personal respect, followed by respect for others.

Peace will follow...

[Aetherous]

Just had a thought...which is really a question:

Is the strong aversion to violence (such as for self defense or defending others) a natural human response, or a learned response?

[C T]

Just had a thought...which is really a question:

 

Is the strong aversion to violence (such as for self defense or defending others) a natural human response, or a learned response?

It is worth pondering whether or not self defence and neutralising a threat to another's well-being can be classified as 'violent'. 

[cold]

Nature vs Nurture.

[Stosh]

Dao only sees ,movement. A man decides what it means.

[Stosh]

What is the geography of a mind?