Always 2 wars, never 1 (Peace Class)

Friends, this is the talk I gave last week presented here edited by Wisdom Quarterly:

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The War of Opinions

Should I write DC a strongly-worded letter?

When we are belligerent and violent, there are always two wars happening simultaneously, the War of Bombs and the War of Opinions.

 

The War of Bombs requires the War of Opinions as its fuel. If we end the War of Opinions, we simultaneously end the War of Bombs.

 

Is this what John Lennon and Yoko Ono meant?

We are all responsible for the War of Opinions, so we can end it at any time. The way we end the War of Opinions is by thinking then saying this: "Whatever opinion you hold, I have compassion for you, and whatever opinion I hold, I have compassion for myself."

 

If we choose these mental positions, we will never have to agree with each other to see the end of belligerence, violence, war, disputes, arguments, and doing harm.

First we disagree then we go to war

(Maron in the Garage) I can no longer talk to my Trump voter friends

 

Talking is easy; doing is a little harder.

The true cause of violence is not disagreement; it is how we think about each other and feel about each other when we disagree with each other.

 

Violence can only happen if it is acceptable for us to withhold compassion from those with whom we disagree. This is the cause of war.

 

Our differences of opinion do not cause violence. What causes violence is that we are willing to withhold compassion from others, any others, because of their opinions.

Jewish Pres. Bernie wants war

(The Financial Express) Independent/Democratic presidential candidate

Bernie Sanders declares political war against Trump and U.S. oligarchs

 

As soon as we become unwilling to withhold compassion from anyone, we will see the end of violence, immediately, at that exact moment.

 

When our compassion ends nowhere, there will be peace on earth.

 

Opinions (holding views)

It's you, Bibi. - No, Donny, you're the War Prez

We are taught to use the opinions of others to justify withholding compassion from them.

• Views (Buddhism)

There is only one reason to withhold compassion from anyone: to actively build more violence on this planet. That's what our withheld compassion does.

 

If we are trying to accomplish something other than that by withholding compassion, then we are using the wrong tool. If we want to build peace, the tool that will build it is compassion-for-all.

Bob Dylan "The Times They Are a-Changin'"

 

These times

Peace Class meets Wednesdays on Zoom at 6:00 pm (PT) Zoom ID: 821 5047 2713. 

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It's a dog's life these days.

The trouble with these times [is that they aren't a-changin' enough] is that many are trying to build peace by withholding compassion from those who disagree with them. That action builds war. So they are trying to build peace with that which only builds war.

 

That is like saying, "I'd like to build a house to sleep in, a good strong dwelling, so I'm going to build it out of water." [What do we think we are, fish, mermaids, aquatic plants?]

Man builds Water House, uses wood

(President Chay) I built a [waterproof] house and filled it with water

 

Now if we could just nail into sheet water.

Water is useful for many things, but we can't cut it into blocks and build shelters with it. [What if we freeze it first? Igloo ice, sure, but this is water we're talking about, not permafrost ice in the arctic.]

 

Our misunderstandings are so basic to our belief system that we do not see that we are trying to build a house with something we cannot build a house with. That's how elemental our misunderstandings are. But that's also how powerful our opportunities are.

 

All we need to do is say, "Now that I can see that I've been trying to build a house with blocks of water, let me try again, but with blocks of wood, and see what happens." Voila: a beautiful, solid house.

A house made of water would not be nearly so nice or durable...or livable at all.

 

Not by hatred but by...this is an eternal law.

And so it is with peace. We can say, "Let me try using compassion-for-all to build peace, and see if that works any better than withholding compassion." And it will work every time. That is an eternal and universal law.

One can't build walls with wet fluid water; one can't build true and lasting peace with hatred of the people who disagree with us.

 

I had a water house once, called the Sea

Our hatred builds something: It builds more of the Era of Belligerence.

It does not build peace in the world. It also does not build peace for us personally — in our day-to-day experience, our family and circle of friends, our workplace and our minds/hearts.

 

What builds peace for us, in our personal experience, is to say this: "I disagree with that point of view yet still have compassion for the person who holds it."

 

That builds the kind of deep peace that makes it easier for us to do everything we have to do throughout the day. It makes it easier to be a parent, easier to be a friend, easier to be a whatever.

Buddhist/Shinto real "mermaid" from Japan: Ningyo-no-zu (Bunka 2, 1805)

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A war brings these forces to our attention, but they are always at play, in smaller ways, within our lives. Disagreements break out in the home and the workplace. And we always make more peace for ourselves when we feel and think this:

 

"I disagree with the way my boss (spouse, child, friend, whoever) sees this situation. Still, I hold deep compassion for this person."

The War of Bombs

Pentagon lies, manipulates U.S. press

(The Young Turks) Leaked documents reveal hidden U.S. deployment to Iran for Israel

DIMMU BORGIR "Puritania" (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

That'll teach 'em to disagree with us, eh, John?

The War of Bombs requires the War of Opinions to exist. Without our War of Opinions, their War of Bombs will very quickly lose steam and peter out.

 

A fire requires fuel -- such as wood and oxygen, plus certain conditions, like heat and the absence of rain.

 

War is a Racket. Just ask Fatty Fatpants

Similarly, the fire of war requires certain conditions to ignite and burn and grow.

Remove the War of Opinions and, no matter how many lit matches are thrown onto the fire of war, it will not ignite.

 

Compassion-for-all is like soaking fuel used in the fire of war. No matter how many flames are dropped on wet wood, it won't catch on fire. Our compassion-for-all ends this war and every war.

 

I serve my king with no question, Sir. - Good boy

When our compassion ends nowhere, there will be peace on earth. When our compassion goes everywhere, there is no ready fuel for war.

 

What will happen when we start to pair compassion-for-all with whatever opinion (view) we hold?

 

Could we eat our way to peace, Will Tuttle?

What will happen is that we will spend more time in our Peace Mind, which is the higher portion of our consciousness. And when we do this, we'll see new solutions—solutions that already exist, except that we cannot see them yet because they can only be seen from the more loving portion of consciousness.

 

When we have compassion for others, we free them from our hatred, vitriol, animosity, belligerence, so they visit their Peace Minds more often, too.

 

Republican gals love soldiers who kill for God.

And when we are all in our Peace Minds, new solutions will be so easy to see that we almost won't be able to comprehend how we ever stayed at war or disagreeing for so long.

 

Solutions to our problems already exist. Whether we can see them yet depends on our perspective. Where are we placing conscious attention in our own consciousness? Is it our Peace Mind?

 

It's not that this conflict, or any conflict, is based on an unsolvable problem. It's that we cannot yet see a solution that will resolve this issue from our current perspective.

 

Move our perspective, and the preexisting solution becomes apparent.

 

What's the one thing we can do to serve the world? We can learn to transition our own perspective upwards so we can see more solutions and bring more innovations to humanity.

 

What's another thing we can do? We can pair compassion with everything we think and feel. Compassion can be added to any thought, like this:

 

"I greatly disagree with what that leader has done, and I have compassion for everyone who lives in that country, even for the leader herself," or "I think that's a terrible thing to do, and I have compassion for the person who has done it." Just add one in.

I love you, Yoko. - STFU, John. (Peace❤️Truth)

No consensus of opinion needs to be reached to end the War of Opinions. We can end war without a single opinion ever changing.

 

We end it by adding our compassion-for-everyone to any opinion we have.

 

That ends the war, because now it's not a War of Opinions that we're seated within—it's simply a landscape of opinions that are allowed to exist.

 

It's not a War of Opinions when there is compassion-for-all present. Now it's a community of unique human individuals who compassionately respect each other. We came here to be unique.

 

We did not come here to create a consensus of opinion. We came here to be in a vibrant (lively and diverse) community of original thinkers, coexisting, more than tolerating but appreciating differences.

Peace Class, free, Wednesdays on Zoom

We came here to learn how to do that in peace.

 

What makes that possible is this phrase: Regardless of how we see things, we have compassion for one another. That choice-of-thought builds the kind of peace we came here to build.

In peace, Mandy

• Zoom link to join Peace Class
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• Mandy Kahn (PRS.org), edited by Dhr. Seven (ed.), Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

Mexico says, 'Get out' to gringos

(Tio Liberal) "Out with you gringos!" Mexicans expel Americans and destroy their businesses

Mexico trounces USA in soccer

(TYT Sports) Mexico's win sends USA fans into a full-blown meltdown

• American Cash Jordan, possibly a flag-waving MAGA Trump fan, inserts insensitive commentary about neighboring Mexico, which is protesting gentrification and displacement. This is when a population drives up prices for locals, forcing them to relocate (be displaced). Rents have shot up 47% due to American behavior.

Told you something BIG was coming and now it's here... (Richard Wolff)

Islam explains 'Big Bang' as act of God

Oh my God, Miriam, can you believe how they dress their girls? - We mustn't judge, Khadija!

The Big Bang problem for atheists: What Hawking and Tyson get wrong | God’s Cosmos

Muslim graffiti over Hunza Buddhist petroglyphs

(Basira Education) This video challenges the [Western] materialist view of the universe by using the [supposed] "Big Bang" as evidence for God's existence [that God being Allah, the One and Only true God, with only one messenger, peace be upon him, the Prophet Mohammed, with only one true revelation of His will and His orders for how to live].

Shaykh [Sheikh] Hamza Karamali explains that the "Big Bang" marks the beginning of the universe, making it impossible for materialism to explain its origins without invoking some [pre-existing] thing beyond physical matter and time.

• Science: Is our universe a black hole? New cosmological model challenges the Big Bang
• What does it mean to be human?

Khilji destroys Buddhist Nalanda

He contrasts this with the views of [wheelchair scientist] Stephen Hawking and [gatekeeper mouthpiece] Neil deGrasse Tyson, arguing that their denial of a pre-Big Bang cause overlooks the need for a immaterial, timeless creator — God [or an impersonal ground or source].

The Big Bang, once rejected by materialists, now serves as overwhelming scientific evidence for a finite universe that points to a divine creator.

To learn more about a "Why Islam is True" course, go here: whyislamistrue.com/course. To learn more about Basira's classical curriculum in a modern context click here: basiraeducation.org.

Why listen to a Muslim or learn about Islam?

Why do Jews hate Muslims?

Salam alaykum. A Buddhist website giving Islam a forum? But they're monotheistic Abrahamic fanatics!

Wisdom Quarterly is interested in all faiths and practices, explanations and views, particularly those we disagree with, so we listen without necessarily expecting to be listened to in return. Why?

In the future, when peace reigns in the world, one can only hope that it will not be because we all agree but rather because we have all learned to respect, enjoy, and celebrate differences.

The Buddha originated the famous simile of the elephant, which like the Aesop Fables (rooted in the Jataka) gained so much popularity people use it without realizing who came up with it: A group of blind men are asked what an elephant looks like. So depending on their sense of touch, they feel a portion of the elephant and extrapolate a global view. The one who feels a leg describes the elephant as a column. The one who feels an ear describes the elephant as a supple palm. The one who feels the trunk describes the elephant as a snake, and so on. Each, going on limited information, proceeds to form a wrong view about the whole.

All of their views combined might get us somewhere, but instead they are with each other: "How can you say a supple palm when this is a post?" "How can you say post, when this is a snake?" and so on.

One of the best classes to take in college is comparative religion. If they were presented fairly and accurately, we might be drawn to the best religion for us, rather than all being baptized by fire into Scientism. Lots of students would surely become agnostics, and a few might become militant atheists and even fewer pantheists and animists. Who's right?

This is a question of epistemology (the philosophy of determining what qualifies as proof and knowledge), which is very ontological (concerned with being). Go, Socrates! The unexamined life is not worth living, which seems to be what our Western hedonism (pleasure above everything else) seems to really be about. In any case, we already hear the anti-Islam view by its most articulate critic on YouTube.

• Basira Education (video), 9/20/24; Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Shauna Schwartz (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Black Nazi exposed by porn; Trumpy Cat

NC candidate Mark Robinson exposed as a homophobic enjoyer of kinky porn and self-described 'Black Nazi,' and Trump reunites with Rudy Giuliani

Do you have any touch up dye on you, Rudy?

(The Daily Show) Sept. 19, 2024: Ronny Chieng on the Black MAGA North Carolina Republican busted for posting weird comments on a porn site he was presumably masturbating to, Rudy Giuliani’s frightening performance at Trump’s Long Island rally, and the shocking truth behind JD Vance's cat eating stories. Plus, Troy Iwata joins with the inside scoop on one missing feline. #DailyShow #NorthCarolina #MarkRobinson #CNN

• Oops, Trump returns to North Carolina without Lt. Gov. Mark 'Black Nazi' Robinson, one of his top in-state supporters

Trump claims to get “bigger crowds than Elvis,” hasn’t read wife Melania’s new [likely ghostwritten] tell-all book about life in the White House, and JD Vance has sex with couches, according to Kimmel's constituents

Men for men: Vote Republican.

(Jimmy Kimmel Live) Sept. 19, 2024: #KimmelPolls have been rolling out over the past few days and they all say different things, Trump went on Fox News' Gutfeld to scream about the debate being rigged against him, he was in Uniondale, New York, last night where he bragged about calling Melania to tell her about the size of his crowd, he said he has bigger crowds than Elvis, Melania’s new book is coming out and she has been releasing little videos with riddles to unfold like her nude modeling, Trump admitted that he hasn’t read Melania’s book yet, Rudy Giuliani was at the rally as well to support Trump, JD Vance and Donny keep doubling down on this pet eating fib, Jimmy talks to some constituents in the audience to hear about things they have to report, a young mayor from the Sunshine State unwittingly provides us with a new edition of “This Week in Florida,” and Three Ridiculous Questions with Chris Hemsworth at a bar.

• Ice Age study challenges what we know about teenagers and what age they used to hit puberty
• Ronny Chieng, The Daily Show; Jimmy Kimmel, 9/19/24; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Texas unveils giant 'monkey god' statue

Hindu Lord Hanuman as a white monkey with blue eyes, friend of Ganesha (pinterest)

Mahayana Buddhist monks and nuns among Hindu parishioners at Sunday's Pran Pratishtha ceremony, during unveiling of 90-foot statue of Lord Hanuman (Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple)

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Monkeys are fun-loving and inquisitive mammals

Astonishing photographs of a 90-foot statue of the Hindu God Lord Hanuman — the third largest statue in the U.S.A. — have been obtained by Newsweek, following the unveiling ceremony in Texas.

The monument, known as the Statue of Union, stands at the Sri Ashta Lakshmi Temple in Sugar Land, Texas. Lord Hanuman is depicted as human, but with the head and tail of a monkey, as is customary.

• Huge half-monkey half-human statue in Texas sparks Christian conservative backlash (Newsweek)

Lord Hanuman namaste (Singapore)

The statue is holding both hands palm forward (mudra) and the end of the tail is twisted above the head, creating a halo effect.

Hanuman is a Hindu god known for his power, courage, and selfless service. He is also a symbol of power and celibacy.

The statue's unveiling on Sunday marks rapidly changing religious demographics in the U.S., with surveys showing a decline in the proportion of Americans who identify as Christian and a rise in those who say they are "nothing in particular" (the NONEs) or belong to religions which are followed by a minority in the U.S.

Some Darwinists worship a monkey man forbear

Speaking to Newsweek Ranganath Kandala, joint secretary of the Ashtalakshmi Temple, confirmed the statue is 90-foot-tall and said it was inaugurated in a Pran Pratishtha ceremony on August 18, celebrating it as a living embodiment of the deity. USA's new 'third tallest' statue

• These are 10 of the great Hindu temples to visit in the USA

The breathing life into the statue ceremony

Most famous American Hindu Julia Roberts

The Sanskrit word pratiṣṭhā, which in general usage means "placement" of a murti (embodied solid object), is translated by Apte as "the consecration of a vessel or dwelling" [3].

The adjective pratiṣṭha means "installed" [4]. Prana means "life force, breath, spirit." The phrase Prana Pratishtha is a ritual that means "placing the breath-of-life into the image to establish it" [WQ] or "bringing life to the temple" [2].

It is also referred to as murti sthapana (image placement inside the temple). Traditionally, this was the step when the eye of the murti was sculpted open [2], inside the inner sanctuary (garbhagriha, the Purusha space) of a Hindu temple.

Young Hindu sadhvi priestess

This ritual typically involves a devotional ritual (puja) and the chanting of Sanskrit mantras as the deity is moved from outside into the center place.

It includes inviting the deity to become a resident guest of the temple, bathing and cleansing it, similar to welcoming a revered guest after a long journey.

This is followed by dressing and seating the deity in a place of comfort, with the image's face oriented towards the east (signifying the sunrise), followed by a Nyasa ceremony with hymns (act of touching different parts of the murti, symbolizing the presence of various gods as sensory organs:

• Indra [Sakka] as the hand,
• Brahma as the heart,
• Surya [Sol, Helios] as the eyes, etc.) [1].

The Hindu priest recites specific mantras and performs rituals to infuse the idol with the animating life force or "holy spirit" (prana).

During this process, the deity descends into the idol, making it a living representation [5]. After the infusion of prana, the deity is considered blessed and consecrated.

Devotees often seek the deity's blessings at this point. The ritual also includes the spraying of scented water and flowers, with the Chaksu͡unmilan ceremony (Sanskrit chakshu unmilan, "opening of the divine eye"), marking the high point of the ritual [6]. The image is then considered fully consecrated. More

• James Bickerton, Newsweek.com via MSN.com, 8/22/24; CC Liu, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Disgusting police activity: beating, murder

(KCAL News) July 29, 2024: Video shows [abusive] LAPD officer punching handcuffed Black man [abusing him under color of authority] in South Los Angeles. The unnamed officer from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has been removed from field duty after punching a helpless man being detained with another armed officer on video [and is being considered for felony charges unless those who decide whether or not to charge him, his colleagues in the LAPD, find an excuse for the punch, show him the video, provide him no cost legal advice, coach him on what to say, take his statement only after consideration, reconsideration, and multiple opinions to form an airtight rationalization and justification that will stand up in any possible subsequent investigation or attempted civil litigation]. The video shows him punching the Black man he handcuffed after a simple traffic stop he allowed to escalate in his impatience and mistreatment of an uncharged citizen who is presumed innocent even if charged. He has not been suspended, fired, relieved of duty, or given anything worse than a cush assignment behind a desk indoors in an air conditioned office.

Renewed call for police reform after violent [implicitly biased] cop shoots woman who called 911 in the face in her home

Killer Kussin' Kop: "I'll f*cking shoot you right in your f*cking face." *BAM!*

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(CBS News) July 27, 2024: This morning, there are renewed calls for police reform after a deputy shot and killed an Illinois woman who called 911 about a possible intruder in her home. The deputy, who has since been fired, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges. And new scrutiny has unveiled his checkered past.

• Veterans for Peace
• Code Pink: Women for Peace
• American Civil Liberties Union

ABOUT: "CBS Saturday Morning" co-hosts Jeff Glor, Michelle Miller, and Dana Jacobson deliver two hours of original reporting and breaking news, as well as profiles of leading figures in culture and the arts. Watch "CBS Saturday Morning" at 7:00 am ET on CBS and 8:00 am ET on the CBS News app.

• KCAL News July 29, 2024; CBS News, July 27, 2024; Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Mandy Kahn: Peace Reflections (free class)

Mandy Kahn (mandykahn.com), March 13, 2024, edited by Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Please join Mandy Kahn Wednesday nights at 6:00 pm (Pacific) for Peace Class. Simply click the link to attend; no signup is required.

• Join Zoom Meeting us02web.zoom.us/j/84439689810?pwd=SVo2a3hsRVA1RWY5UW42YW1SaGJhdz09 Meeting ID: 844 3968 9810 Passcode: 495948

The following is the text of the talk delivered during last week's class:

THE SEEDS OF WAR, THE SEEDS OF PEACE

What does war sound like, when it is beginning? It sounds like the phrase "those people." Those people. Those people that did not vote the way I did.

Those people who aren't like me. Those people who are wrong-headed. Those people “over there.” That's the beginning of war.

Why? Because that kind of judgment, in a way that blurs people into one lump, a group, rather than encountering each individual with an open mind — that's fuel necessary for war. So the next war, the war that hasn't begun yet — how do we know where it is? How do we find that seed?

The seed is the phrase "those people." The seed is the act of lumping people and pre-judging them critically and harshly at a distance. It is that harshness of judgment, it is that hardness of thought, that is the beginning of war, long before it is a hardness of action.

We know that we are stepping away from the cycle of belligerence when we no longer find ourselves saying the phrase "those people" with judgment. This is because instead, what we hear in our own minds are phrases like, "I hold openness now." "I look forward to meeting that individual person and experiencing their uniqueness."

When we encounter the world individual by individual, with an open mind, we see reasons for compassion everywhere, and our natural compassion effortlessly steps forward. When we stand in front of one person, with our eyes open, with openness in the self, that is when we will see the thing in them that brings forth our natural compassion.

So what does the beginning of the end of all wars look like? It looks like individuals who hold openness rather than hardness. There is an openness to learning about each other. There is no fixed idea about others “at a distance.” There is openness to the person who is present, and compassion for those at a distance.

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If the phrase "those people" is the genesis of war, the counterbalance is this: I see you. I witness you with an open mind. I witness you with an open heart.

Notice that this is directed at one person; this phrase does not lump people together. Only when we are far from people, and we lump them with a phrase like "those people," can we forget the compassion that is natural to us.

At a distance, we tend to abstract people. We don't witness their humanity, because they aren't there. And in their absence, we abstract them. Only at a distance, where we judge people abstractly with phrases like "I've heard those people are like this" and “I saw on TV that those people are like that," do we step away from an experience of our own true selfhood, our own compassion.

We are, under everything else, beings of peace. Compassion is what is most natural to us. When we allow a mental abstraction, which is what an idea of “those people” is, in contrast to an experience of one unique person, we lose ourselves.

We forget ourselves. The phrase "those people" indicates that we are in the place of the lower mind, where we can have abstraction and extrapolation and assumptions.

On the other hand, when I stand before a person with an open mind, I witness them, and I put myself in a position to experience my higher mind, my authentic self. I put myself in a position to experience that which I am, which is a being of peace.

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What does world peace look like when it starts to arrive? It looks like a little bit more openness in the minds of a few more people.

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When we encounter the phrase “those people” paired with harsh judgment, we can simply balance that out with its opposite: an open and compassionate attitude towards one person.

We might choose to employ the phrase, "I am willing to witness this person's humanity. I am open to discovering the unique qualities of this individual. I am open."

It might be more comfortable to think of war happening “over there” — in another country, perhaps — than to realize that the seeds of war begin in day-to-day life, in how we think of each other, how we speak to each other in the marketplace.

But that's where war begins, and it's also where peace begins. Knowing this empowers the individual. You are the point of power when it comes to new war, the next war, because you are the one who decides what you think, and you get to choose how you will think about others, and about yourself.

You get to choose, and war cannot begin without enough people thinking in the way that war requires — thinking in phrases like “those people.” Without enough people willing to think in “those people” terms, war cannot begin.

So you, the individual, with your free and independent mind, with the ability to choose your own thoughts, are at the point of power. And when I say war, I do not only mean war between countries. I also mean belligerence in general. We are the point of power. We seed what is first in our thoughts, and then in our words, and in our ways of relating with others.

When no one is looking, when you are alone with your thoughts, you can seed peace. When you are asked to group people together in harsh judgment, you can make another choice. You can think, I'm open to witnessing each individual's humanity. You can think, I carry compassion for all beings. You can think, I am a place of compassion and a being of peace.

You can think these things, and when you do, war cannot begin in you. When you fill with compassion, and then flow what you are into the collective consciousness, what you are will balance out the seeds of war that are there, so they cannot begin to sprout.

Whether war begins is simply a matter of what our collective consciousness is primarily comprised of. You are an important contributor to that collective consciousness, and so you are a major factor in what is there. You build what is there with your thoughts. You get to choose what you think.

When you see many around you speaking one way, you can speak another way: you can speak the seeds of peace. When you see many encouragements to think of people as groups rather than individuals, you can think in the way that seeds peace: you can think with compassion, and with an openness to the individual.

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The point of power is always the self. We step out of our power when we say, “I want them to change what they are doing over there.”

We step into our power when we say, I choose to think compassionate thoughts now, and when I do so, I affect what is happening here and what is happening everywhere, including over there.

I am a great contributor, with my thoughts and with my actions. I choose compassionate thoughts now, and I choose compassionate actions now.

War cannot begin without the consent of many. We consent with our thoughts. We must consent by lumping people together, and by being willing to judge harshly.

If enough of us are not willing to give that consent, war cannot begin. If too many of us say, I carry compassion for all beings, there is not enough energy to grow the seeds of war into the experience of war. It takes the consent of many to do so.

Your seeds of peace build a world in which there is never the ability to gather enough consent for war. You seed peace in your thoughts—in your private moments. You seed peace by how you think of others. Think of them with compassion and you build a world in which war cannot begin. (mandykahn.com, PRS.org)

• Peace Class every Wednesday w/ Mandy Kahn (Zoom)