Photo by McKay Savage: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckaysavage/

The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the
most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself
to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to
too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything
is to succumb to violence….

The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his work for peace.
It destroys his own inner capacity for peace.
It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work, because it kills the
root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.

~Thomas Merton

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We often think about activism and peacework in grand terms.

We think it means we have to stop an entire war, save the planet from global warming, eliminate racism. Free Tibet, Save the Redwoods, End Poverty. That’s a big agenda. No wonder we’re exhausted.

I invite you to consider this: two of the most common sources of destruction and violence are actually much closer to home, rooted in our own psyches. These are:

1) The tendency to hold tightly to fixed ideas

2) The compulsion to speed and rushing

I’m not saying anything dramatically new here… teachers from the Buddha himself to His Holiness the Dalai Lama say this much better than I could. But it’s such a good teaching that it bears remembering.

The first, holding tightly to fixed ideas, comes our way almost every waking moment. Any time we insist that our way is the right way and refuse to consider other possibilities, any time that we close our mind to new ways of being or thinking, we are falling into this trap.

The second, the compulsion to rush and speed, causes harm in more ways than we are probably aware of. The movie “Changing Lanes” (2002, with Ben Affleck and Samuel Jackson) was a great parable on the karma generated by unwholesome actions that are so often fueled by speed.  Thomas Merton also spoke eloquently on this affliction in the quote I used at the top of this post.

What would it be like to consider that every moment, every interaction, is an opportunity for reversing the karma of those tendencies, and for potent peacemaking? And to consider that these apparently small actions can add up to make a significant difference in the world?

In that spirit, I offer this batch of peacemaking practices for you to try, specially blended to help you slow down and expand your mind and heart (without drugs!):

1. Observe Shabbat, the Jewish practice of stopping on the seventh day, of being in stillness and rest. You don’t necessarily have to do it on Saturday, but try it for one day each week and see what happens. Shut off your computer, don’t spend any money, don’t turn on the TV on that day. Instead, soak up the beauty of what’s all around you — your family and loved ones, the quiet spaces inside your own mind, and the earth itself.

2. Designate one day to walk (or take the bus or the train) rather than drive your car. Notice how the pace of your life changes. What else happens?

3. Have a conversation with someone outside of your social and economic class. Practice deep listening to really understand the world they live in, what moves them, what challenges them. By the way, this one goes well with practice number 2… I really believe that my own life was shaped by the experience of taking buses in the Los Angeles area when I was growing up. I was continually exposed to folks from all backgrounds of life and loved hearing their stories.

4. Consider a long-held grievance you have against someone and, just for today, let it go. Grant emotional amnesty to that person.

5. If you drive a car, allow someone to cut in front of you in traffic without going into a hissy fit. Just practice following your breath and let the annoyance/anger rise and fall away without acting on it.

6. Watch yourself closely as you note ideas of scarcity of resources arising. If you’re feeling anxiety about money, or about the amount of love in your life, or any other significant resource, take a deep breath and practice trusting that there is enough for everyone, that all will be well.

7. Meditate. Meditation is the ultimate act of nonviolence. When you are sitting still, you are living in low impact on the world, and you are regulating your own mind and body to operate in a more sustainable way.

What would you add to this list?

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