Jihad

"The original meaning of the Muslim word "jihad" is to face one's own demons.  This is the holy war.  Without the ability to face our own demons, we often seek revenge rather than feel what is ours to feel.  For vengeance is a powerful distraction from accepting the legitimate suffering that arises from the wheel of life; an acceptance that can make kindred spirits us all, if we let it."  Mark Nepo

At the end of the talk someone from the audience
asked the Dalai Lama, "Why didn't you fight back against
the Chinese?" The Dalai Lama looked down, swung his feet
just a bit, then looked back up at us and said with a gentle smile, "Well, war is obsolete, you know " Then, after a few moments,
his face grave, he said, "Of course the mind can rationalize
fighting back...but the heart, the heart would never understand.
Then you would be divided in yourself, the heart and the mind,
and the war would be inside you."

Holy Fallout

We are often in battle.
So often defending every side of the fort,
It may seem, all alone.

Sit down, my dear,
Take a few deep breaths,
Think about a loyal friend.
Where is your music,
Your pet,
a brush?

Surely one who has lasted as long as you
Knows some avenue or place inside
That can give a sweet respite.

If you cannot slay your panic,
Them say within
As convincingly as you can,
"It is all God's will!"

Now pick up your life again.
Let whatever is out there
Come charging in,
Laugh and spit into the air,
There could be a holy fallout.

Throw those ladders like tiny match sticks
With "just" phantoms upon them
Who might be trying to scale your heart.

Your love has an eloquent tone.
The sky and I want to hear it!
If you still feel helpless
Give our battle cry again

Hafiz
Has shouted it a myriad times,

"It is all, It is all the Beloved's will!"

What is that luminous rain I see
All around you in the future
Sweeping in from the east plain?

It looks like, O it looks like
Holy Fallout
Filling your mouth and plams
With Joy!

Hafiz.

Peacemaking

“We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapon arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds--our own prejudices, fears and ignorance...To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women.” --Thich Nhat Hanh

Peace

"Peace doesn't require two people; it requires only one. It has to be you. The problem begins there and ends there."  Byron Katie

War

"All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers." (Francois de Fenelon)

A Stong Heart

"A strong heart is not a heart that has a strong armor and a sword.  A strong heart is a happy heart.  A strong heart is a joyous heart.  It is heart that can dance when you are completely free.  Only when you have that openness can you see that darkness and not be absorbed by it, but you can absorb it.  Only when you have that joy and happiness can you go to the heart of darkness.  Sometimes the heart of darkness is Congo and sometimes the heart of darkness is inside you and you can accept it and it's with joy and happiness that you can actually dance with it and absorb it into you.

Get off the warrior's horse, take the armor off.  That's not how we're gonna win the fight.  We're gonna win the fight with our own joy and our own happiness and our own beauty.  To do that you need to walk the warrior's path of breaking your own silence and you'll have to have the courage and the resilience to do it. 

It's not about saving the world.  It's about saving us." Zalnab Salbi

Women in the World Statistics

"90% of modern world casualties are civilian, 75% of which are women and children.  80% of the 43 million refuges  in the world are women and children and that's just in war.  As we speak now 2/3 of the most impoverished in the world are women.  70% of the world farmers are women.  They produce 60% of the food and 90% of the most staple food like rice and beans and maze.  They earn 10% of the income and they only own only 2% of the land.  As we speak now only 3% of the decision-makers in the media are women, in this country.   Only 2.2% of Peace Agreements are signed  by women."  Zalnab Salbi, founder of Women for Women International

"Like the women of Liberia, we broke the barriers of religion, race, ethnicity, status and we stepped out and redeemed out time.  We broke all the barriers that patriarchy has set in front of us and we said "War is nonsense.  Peace is what we want.  We will take it if you don't give it to us."  We can never, ever redeem our time if we continue to wait for the men to give it to us.  Is it in your home?  Is it in your community?  It is time for us to break the barriers that separate us.  It's time for us to bind together.  Hold on to that thing that binds us, even though patriarchy wants us to ignore it. If you don't know what I'm talking about when you go to take a bath, find another woman to stand  by you.  The thing that unites us is our Womanhood.  It moves beyond child, it moves beyond tribe, it moves beyond culture, it moves beyond everything.  As women, we need to hold together.  As women, we need to redeem our time.  As women we need to take it back.  As in the 60's and 70's.  As women, we need to be more radical.  There is nothing wrong with stepping out there and saying we are claiming our space.  Why are there still issues of discrimination?  You need to take it!  The men will not give it because it is shifting the status quo.  You need to take it. "  Lehmay  Gbowee