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International Day of Peace
Today is the UN International Day of Peace, dedicated to strengthening the ideals of peace.
My walk with Alberto from Rome to Jerusalem was dedicated to peace.
My every pursuit in the 25 years after - both outer and inner - has been dedicated to peace.
I have met with inspiring individuals dedicated to building a culture of peace and nonviolence, and participated in countless events and meditations for peace.
What I have come to appreciate is that the peace I so desired had nothing to do with how the world defines peace.
Gandhi and Martin Luther King came closest by turning the focus inwards, by reminding us that peace begins within, that we must remain steadfast in peace and love even while others choose conflict or violence.
Gandhi’s philosophy of satyagraha - this soul-force or truth-force - this active, non-violent resistance to “evil” and injustice, of using inner spiritual strength and truth to appeal to the conscience of an opponent rather than inflicting physical harm in order to create peace… is powerful indeed, and one that I subscribed to for many years.
But here is what I have realized, especially in the last years with my studies of A Course in Miracles.
The very idea of individuals who are peaceful and others who are not… keeps separation alive.
It does not recognize the inherent unity of all creation beyond forms and bodies.
The belief that I (as Mony, for example) am doing all the right things to heal the conflicts within me and working on projects for peace, while there are others who will never do so… keeps separation alive.
It keeps me looking at images of individuals who are doing the “right” things and others who are not.
The fear that if I don’t do something to stop the “evil” and “injustices” of the world and their perpetrators... if I don’t resist or protest or fight to stop their actions... keeps separation alive.
I may feel good that my protests are having an effect on one conflict, but then another conflict appears in my world and I’m left wondering:
Why is the world not changing?
Why do I keep seeing conflict?
Why do I keep seeing aggressors and victims?
When will this stop?
It is at this level that I am working.
I only move into action if or when I am called to do so.
If I will not question the validity of the belief that there are good people and bad people, I will keep seeing examples of “good” and “bad” playing out before me.
If I will not question the validity of the belief that there are people who will never change because they are X (selfish, arrogant, deviant, abusive, power-hungry, etc.), then I will keep seeing examples of people and these attributes playing out before me.
I may believe I am none of those things, and will never be “that” kind of person because “I” am good…
But because I believe that it is POSSIBLE that “others” CAN be those things, then I will absolutely see images of those beliefs in my world.
This is the thought system of separation.
The world that I call “real” provides images to prove these thoughts real.
It is but a mirror.
I am not saying that I consciously think of a particular event and then manifest the event. No.
I am saying something much deeper.
The mind (a tiny part of the Great Mind that I share with creation and its Creator) has accepted as true the idea of separation: the idea that I am separate from my Source, separate from my brothers, separate from Love.
But that idea - being false and impossible - nevertheless uses the creative power of mind to fabricate a world of images and forms that represent ideas of separation that I accept as true such as:
I am a body. Limited, small, born to die, hopefully without suffering too much. Death, however, is inevitable. It is real.
Suffering exists. It is real.
I am vulnerable. I can be attacked. My loved ones can be attacked or hurt. I must defend myself.
I can lose. I can be sick. I am a victim.
And a plethora of ideas that I simply accept as true, but that belong to the thought system of separation.
That is the world that I see and call real:
shadows, mirages, moving pictures (that look quite convincing!) that represent the beliefs, judgments, expectations and grievances that Mony has accepted as true.
They show Mony’s guilt, shame, trauma, memories, and past that she won’t let go of.
They keep her looking outwards, blaming others, and not looking inwards at her thoughts.
The images are not the cause. They are the effect of the ideas she has accepted as true.
That’s why the images are not real, and never seem to have an end.
The cause has not been healed.
It’s like being in a dream.
A dream feels incredibly real when we are in it, but are we not relieved when we wake up?
A virtual reality game feels very real when we are in it, but do we not laugh when we take off the visor and gloves?
But we do not question THIS dream that we are calling “my life” and “my world”.
What if we did?
What if we truly considered the idea that the world we call real is a dream, and that we are the dreamer?
Would that not create the opening through which another interpretation could enter our awareness?
We are not bodies, separated from one another, with “my” thoughts in “my” brain, separated from “your” thoughts in “your” brain.
We are One Self.
Spirit. Light. Love. Joy. Peace. Whole. Complete. Undivided. Impossible to
divide. Eternally joined. Created as such by a Creator Who IS Whole, Complete, Unified.
We are the loving Extension of that Source. His Creations. Like Him-Her in every attribute.
We are His. Hers. We belong to Him-Her-It. All of creation belongs to Him.
We are His blessed Thought eternally radiating out in joyous emanation.
We exist in and for one another, joyously creating together to celebrate our oneness, our holiness, our innocence, our perfection, our purity… as God created us.
This is what brings peace.
This is the Peace we have forgotten.
The dream we are experiencing is the idea that it can be otherwise.
This is the Unified Peace we are called to remember.
This is the only journey we need ever make while we continue to believe we exist in bodies, in time and space… while we continue to believe that conflict, suffering, struggle and death are real and inevitable.
We, however, do not know how to wake ourselves up from this dream.
We don’t know how to correct the idea of separation by ourselves.
We are the dreamer who has accepted the idea of separation. And every dreamer believes in the validity of their dream.
But we have a Guide.
He has already corrected all errors, and patiently awaits our turning towards Him to receive them.
If we are just a tiny bit willing to listen to His Voice, to feel His Love and Presence, He will guide us to the path and teachings that will gently awaken us, and return to our awareness the Peace we never left and the Love we eternally are.
“The peace of God is shining in you now, and from your heart extends around the world.
²It pauses to caress each living thing, and leaves a blessing with it that remains forever and forever.
³What it gives must be eternal.
⁴It removes all thoughts of the ephemeral and valueless.
⁵It brings renewal to all tired hearts, and lights all vision as it passes by.
⁶All of its gifts are given everyone, and everyone unites in giving thanks to you who give, and you who have received.
(ACIM, W-188.3:1-6)
Peace to all, ✨️🙏🏽✨️
Mony
P.S. The necklace is a gift from Alberto! 🥰 🕊
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