" ONENESS " AND "PEACE"

 

Ahmedabad slum children to spread Gandhi's message in US Washington, April 27 (IANS) Sixteen children from the slums of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, will tour the United States from May 6 to June 16 to spread Mahatma Gandhi's message of "Oneness" through a 90 minute dance-drama. Called "Ekatva" (Oneness), the show sharing a "message of love, inspiration, and a call to action: to push the world closer to oneness and peace" will be staged in Chicago, Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Austin, Atlanta and Montclair and New Jersey. "Ekatva" was inspired by a similar project called "Ekta" (Unity), which was created in 2000 by Manav Sadhna, a nonprofit based at the Mahatma Gandhi Ashram, and teachers from the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, the organisers said. In keeping with the mission of Manav Sadhna, the children "will not only perform in the US, but also work with other nonprofits, serve the underprivileged in the area, help clean parts of the city, work to connect different religions, and uplift the spirit of humanity." "It sounds like a large task for small people - but I have learned every day in working with these children, that they are not 'small' in any way -they are capable of so much," said "Ekatva" director Nimesh Patel, a Wharton Business School graduate and former hip-hop artist. Patel has become a full-time volunteer for the past two and half years to lead these children and the vision of the "Ekatva" experiment. The performance is directed and choreographed by Mallika Sarabhai and the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts. A wide range of international organizations including Project Ahimsa have contributed to supporting the "Ekatva" tour and performance.      LET PUT OUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR "PEACE" AND PREVENT "26/11" ETC, ALWAYS, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.   WHAT IS PEACE AND HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE IT?     * Peace is not merely the absence of war and hatred (negative peace / cold war) but also the presence of cooperation, compassion and worldwide justice (positive peace / hot peace).   * Freedom and Peace. What is the relationship between these two conditions? Can you have one without the other?   * "Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and under a just God, can not long retain it." - Abraham Lincoln   * "It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people." - Martin Luther King, Jr.   * The means we use to reach our ends are extremely important. Hopefully your "means" are kindness-centered and non-destructive. Often (maybe always) being kind is more important than proving you are right. When it is critical that you prove your point, remember to intertwine wisdom with kindness.   * What is war? It is a state of hostility between nations (or within nations; or within individuals) characterised by fighting, destruction and bloodshed. Wars are often caused by real/perceived injustice, hatred, poverty, and the desire for power.   * What is perhaps the best way to prevent war? Conflict prevention and Conflict resolution/transformation requires that we eliminate the nature of the hostilities and attempt to create harmony and equality between the various parties. Restorative justice implies that the perceived injustices must be resolved through either negotiation, mediation, arbitration, community conferencing, community meditation, negotiated rulemaking, collaborative/international law, or as a last resort, military action. Trauma recovery / Indentity renewal can help prevent war torn areas from falling back into further fighting. Youth development strategies can help our future adults from repeating the mistakes we have made that have lead us to war. Philosophy suggests that nations that have found peace should help less peaceful nations by sharing knowledge, food and other resources. Our conscience tells us that we should treat others the way we want to be treated, with dignity  and respect.   * How can we achieve Peace on Earth? First and utmost, we must find it within ourselves. By sharing our inner peace with others, peace will spread. By raising our children properly and teaching them to respect and love their neighbors (didn't someone say this before? :) they will learn the joy of peace. The peace process should be a predominantly preventative measure (A gram of prevention is worth a kilogram of cure). [conflict identification & prevention tips] Peace should likely start as a grassroots movement, thereby creating a "trickle-up" process. Not only can we teach others about peace but we can suggest alternatives to governments and political candidates that continue to advocate war as the main solution to civil and international conflict. Along the way, some form of world "Planning and Lawmaking" committee probably needs to be established that includes all nations. One nation's problems are problems for all of us. We must learn to see  ourselves as one small planet and not be so concerned with our nationality, race or religion. When it comes right down to it we are all human, and we should work together for human rights and justice for all. Shouldn't we?! Think what we could accomplish if we all worked together to create a true world economy. We could end starvation, reduce poverty, create jobs and work towards common goals such as worldwide justice, peace education, pollution control and planet management.   * Finding peace is not just about learning how to obtain it, but also learning how to hold onto it without slipping back to angry ways.   * If you want to achieve Peace, do not talk only to your friends, talk to your enemies.   * Links to interesting peace related papers - Peace & Non-violence, World Peace is a Possibility, The Nature of Peace and Its Implications for Peace Education , Education For Peace   * Blessed are the peacemakers (those actively working to reconcile alienated persons) for they shall be called the children of God.   * An eye for an eye just makes for a world full of blind people.   * World peace (in our lifetime) may not mean that evil goes away, rather that good so overwhelms evil that evil cannot ruin the peace shared between all peaceloving beings.   * There has been a book written titled "The Art of War". When will we see a book with the title "The Art of Peace"?     * The farther we are from peace is proportional to our distance from happiness. The closer we are to hatred is proportional to our distance to ill-fortune.   * Evil is not conquered by just power (power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely) but rather evil is conquered by love and wisdom because through the combination of these two qualities, evil becomes exposed. Love is also very powerful .)   LET US ALL FIRST FIND PEACE WITHIN OURSELVES - THE INNER PEACE - THEN SHARE IT WITH ALL   PEACE GIVES US HEALTH, WEALTH AND HAPPINESS