COME OUT, CONNECT AND BE HEARD 

8th Annual Friends for Peace Day, Saturday October 2, 2010, in City Hall, 10.00am – 4.00pm 

Peace, Social Justice and Planetary Care in Action
Ottawa City Hall

All photos by Barbara A. White, www.thenatureofottawa.com

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Peace Prayer Day Speech, October 4, 2003 

Ian Prattis

I want to talk to you about our children and the kind of future we are creating for them. Do we teach them peace? Or through neglect do we allow violence to flood their minds so they learn war? Even worse, do they live out our own personal wars expressed through our violent attitudes, speech and actions towards them? I ask every adult here, particularly men, and in our country to deal with their internal wars so that only the best in us is passed on to our children, not the worst in terms of violence.

As a noble contrast, we experience peace together at this Peace Prayer Day at Alumni Park, Carleton University in the City of Ottawa. We come together to celebrate peace - First Nations, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs, Sufis and Hindus. Peace, environmental and meditation groups from all traditions. All walks of life, all colors, all ages. Our determination to be peace and courage to stand for it, no matter what, creates the energy and power for change. The pouring rain has not deterred us as we provide a beginning anew for our city. It represents the tears of the world that we can take care of by being resolute examples of peace. We are bridges across the boundaries that separate, a microcosm of the world in harmony and at peace. This is all very wonderful, but how does it translate into action?

The first step is already clear - we must deal with our internal wars, hatreds and fears. How do we do this? We stop running and hiding behind addictions and busyness. We stop, look deeply into the eyes of our children and make a commitment to face our internal demons and transform them by stepping on to the path of compassion, whatever the tradition. Not by transmitting our wars to the children of the world. We need community for this, to support us in sacred ceremony, meditation and creative spirituality so that we raise our consciousness and refine our speech, attitudes and actions. We show our children the way to peace by learning to be it. By our example we send a very strong message of encouragement to our children.

Let us be clear about the world we have created for our children. Since 9/11 the level of hate and violence globally has increased dramatically. America has used excessive violence to suppress violence. This is not the correct way to proceed and America must wake up to this. During the Vietnam war the US search and destroy campaign succeeded only in creating more communists, with the resulting reality that the present regime in Vietnam is a communist one. In Afghanistan and Iraq, US military force has succeeded in creating more terrorists. The shock and awe campaign of bombing Iraq has repercussions that reach right back into the heart of America. There is no "them" and "us". We either learn to live peacefully or we all suffer and die together.

All violence is injustice and we have to teach our children the truth about war. Not about winners and losers, but about the long term suffering on both sides. A desperate statistic, however, is that America goes to war every 18 months, supported by a misguided American public believing in a false sense of patriotism. The truth is that America has yet to recover from the wounds of the Korean War, and certainly not from the suffering of the Vietnam War. To hide the fear and insecurity that runs through America, the industrial-military-imperialist complex of America rushes to war. This must stop and it is only citizens of the world standing together for peace and saying "No to War" that will stop it.

But the hatred grows, the suffering increases. What can we do as individuals to change this? We uproot the violence and war within ourselves. To prevent war we nurture non- violence. We practice meditation and prayer in daily life to transform the poisons within ourselves and within our nation. Doing this in our family, in our community produces positive feedback loops throughout our society and government - which is ultimately accountable to each one of us. We just have to realize this and make it so. 

We enter into true peace negotiations by learning the methods of deep listening, respectful communication, understanding and peace. The art of deep listening enables us to listen to the suffering within our nation, then to the suffering within nations we are in conflict with. In this way we create bridges of understanding across the cultural and religious boundaries that separate. We create peace by knowing that compassion is the antidote to violence and hatred. This is the remedy for our troubled times. Compassion, however, has to be generated in our heart by first of all taking care of our internal wars and violence. Then we are able to touch the depth of compassion, strength and clarity within us and take wise action. These actions are taken to the political and economic infrastructures that surround and often oppress us. It also means letting go of our ego, of our individual agendas and finding the middle way to represent the collective, thereby becoming an Ambassador for Peace.

We must also make peace with Mother Earth. If we injure Mother Earth, we injure ourselves. Our civilization has caused such deep harm to the earth that we humans may soon become an endangered species, so we must change our ways. George Bush and Tony Blair have been looking for Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. They ignore their civilizations' creation of the biggest weapon of mass destruction - Global Warming. This is created by our collective greed, produced by our industrial processes and consumerist madness. The result is damage to Mother Earth. This summer's unprecedented heat wave in Europe killed 10,000 people in France, 6,000 in Italy. 3,000 died in the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre in New York. I do not diminish that tragedy but point out that the rising sea levels produced by Global Warming will kill millions, displacing millions more. What could the 200 billion dollars recently spent on war have done to alleviate Global Warming? I leave the reader to assess the priorities here. We must change our ways and make peace with Mother Earth, otherwise we will not survive. Our collective greed, mindless consumerism, industrial pollution and government irresponsibility must change. We must also rescue the UN from the devastating effects of US and UK indifference to the one world body that can make a difference. Our Peace Prayer Day is squarely in support of UN peace processes and not in support of the violent excesses of the US.

As an Ambassador of Peace we champion the cause of Mother Earth, the cause of non-violent relationships in political and global affairs. This means our leaders have to be trained in the art of deep listening and stopping before contemplating violent action. We must make it clear to our political and corporate leaders that business as usual is not an option. As an Ambassador of Peace we speak out to corporate and political leaders - but not as individuals but as representatives of groups, coalitions and nations. As we go deeper spiritually, we can take care of our internal wars as we realize that everything interconnects. We do not neglect the political and economic infrastructures that frame our lives. We hold them to account, we influence them with our clarity, wisdom and courage. We consume carefully, rejecting the mindlessness of an uncaring consumer society. We act as Ambassadors for Peace and make it safe for children not yet born for seven generations into the future. This is a teaching from Native American wisdom. The actions we take now are shaping the possibilities for future generations.

Today we presented Peace Awards to three outstanding local citizens, whose work for peace stands as an example to all of us gathered here. They have transformed people and communities with their wisdom, love and compassion. They are examples of "Being Peace." Our thanks to you Grandfather William Commanda spiritual leader of the Algonquin Nation; to Sr. Jean Goulet of the Catholic Archdiocese and to Michael Monner the editor of Tone Magazine. 

So here is our challenge. Today, Ocotber 4, 2003, in the pouring rain and thunder storms at Alumni Park, Carleton University in the City of Ottawa - we have experienced peace, a deep peace shared between many traditions, cultures and religions. As such we represent the diversity of the world - an example of what can be. This experience, however, evaporates into nothingness if we do not translate it into action. Begin the work on yourselves today, so that your attitudes, speech and actions become an example to your children, friends and communities. Take the practical steps to make peace with Mother Earth in terms of what you consume and support. Then represent your community, in coalition with other communities, to political and corporate leaders so they know the general public means business. But if we want them to change their ways - we first of all have to change our ways. Show clearly that we are choosing peace and harmony within ourselves, within our communities and with Mother Earth. Today's experience asks that of us. We can do it. Together. We are supported. We can overcome. We are Ambassadors of 

Peace after all.
October 4, 2003

Ian is a poet, scholar, peace and environmental activist. As a Professor of Anthropology and Religion he teaches courses on Ecology, Symbols, Globalisation and Consciousness. As a meditation teacher he encourages people to find their true nature, so that humanity and the world may be renewed. Ian is an ordained Dharmacharya in the Engaged Buddhist tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, giving dharma talks coast to coast in Canada and the US while also conducting retreats in India, Europe, North and South America. He has trained with Masters in Buddhist, Vedic and Shamanic traditions. The meditation teacher is not separate from the professor or the global citizen. He has formed a coalition of meditation, peace and environmental groups to work for peace. It has a website with posters, vision statements, guidelines and press releases freely available to any community wishing to use the material.