Ahimsa, January 6, 2008

Jan 6, 2008


Holy Mystery
As we join together this morning in the light of your presence,
we are reminded that we are all one in the divine heart.
May this longing for oneness transform our world.
May our hearts be opened, in the very depths where we find you, God,
May our hearts be open to the glorious expression of your love found in all our religions and spiritual traditions.
You speak to us, Holy Mystery, in this diversity, and we are enriched and humbled by the breadth and depth of your Words.
May our gathering together this morning signify our hopes for the harmony of our planet, the alleviation of suffering, food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, and respect for the poor. May this flame be a testimony of our willingness to struggle together toward the peace of inclusiveness, loving all and embracing all in the family of creation.
Amen.


Literally speaking, ahimsa means non-violence.
But to me it has much higher, infinitely higher meaning.
It means that you may not offend anybody; you may not harbor uncharitable thought, even in connection with those who you consider your enemies.
To one who follows this doctrine, there are no enemies.
A man who believes in the efficacy of this doctrine finds in the ultimate stage, when he is about to reach the goal,
the whole world at his feet.
If you express your love- Ahimsa-in such a manner that it impresses itself indelibly upon your so called enemy,
he must return that love.
Gandhi


The human capacity for peace – ahimsa – is a capacity affecting every domain of our lives. And so it must be in all of these domains that we explore the dimensions of ahimsa, and hear the voices, which are voices of ahimsa.
http://www.ahimsaberkeley.org/index.php?page=voices-of-ahimsa

There is within us, in even the brightest, most lighthearted among us, a fundamental ‘dis-ease’ that acts like an unquenchable fire that renders the vast majority of us incapable of, in this life, of ever coming to full peace. This desire lies in the marrow of our bones, the deep regions of our soul. All great literature, poetry, art, philosophy, psychology, and religion tries to name and analyze this longing. We are seldom in direct touch with it. And, indeed, the modern world seems set on preventing us from getting in touch with it by covering it with an unending phantasmagoria of entertainment, obsessions, and distractions of every sort. But the longing is there, built into us like a jack in the box that presses for release. That is the hidden hunger that is within all of us. The San people of the Kalahari Desert refer to it as the “Deep Hunger” which is even deeper than the physical hunger of the stomach.
Huston Smith

St. Thomas Aquinas
I have a cause
We need those don’t we?
Otherwise the darkness and the cold get in
and everything starts
to ache.
My soul has a purpose, it is
to love;
if I
do not fulfill
my heart’s vocation
I suffer.

Louder than yelling ...
BY LOOLWA KHAZZOOMSpecial to The ExaminerAFTER THE DOUBLE suicide bombing in Tel Aviv twoweeks ago, all I wanted to do was hide out in my apartment and keep a lowprofile.I was wondering once again if all the heartacheand terror were worth living in Israel. But then a close friend, EliyahuMcLean, a fellow Lowell High School alum and peace activist, e-mailed meabout an Arab-Jewish peace walk after the attack.When he told me that a bus full of Arab teenagerswas coming from the North to join this walk, I felt deeply touched. In myexperience, Arab-Jewish peace events were attended almostexclusively by Jews. I felt inspired that the youths were risking their ownsafety to come to Tel Aviv right after an attack against Israel, to stand sideby side with Jews and condemn the violence. If they could do it, so could I.As I arrived, I noticed an old man with a longwhite kafia to the right, two women with veils to the left, and a large groupof youths in between, speaking Arabic. I wanted to cry from the sense ofsolidarity.A meditation gong rang out to bring all the participants to silence. It rang out again, and we began a four-hour walk fromYaffo through Tel Aviv.Friday afternoons are full of pre-Sabbath hustleand bustle. The contrast between our single-file quiet line and thenoise around us was startling, causing an external and internal impact.Everywhere we went, people asked, "What's thisabout?" We handed them fliers with a full text explaining the walk's mission-- to unite Arabs and Jews as human beings, promoting tolerance andnonviolence. Some people just stood and watched, clearly touched. Others droppedwhat they were doing and joined our walk.Inside, I felt a growing sense of calm. I felt connected to and strengthened by the silent walkers before and after me. I felt that our love for each other as human beings was stronger than all the hatred in the region.Others seemed to share my feeling. "A lot of times in the past," an Arab youth later told me, "when I came to Tel Aviv, people made unpleasant remarks at me as an Arab. I got very upset about that. But now, the people on these walks are always with me in my heart. So I don't pay attention to other people's comments anymore."Against the backdrop of extreme levels of daily violence, the silent expression of human love may be the loudest, most powerful force around


Eternal wellspring of Peace –
May we be drenched with the longing for peace
That we may give ourselves over to peace
Until the earth overflows with peace
As living waters overflow with the seas.
Marcia Falk



Psalm 131 translated by Stephen Mitchell

Lord, my mind is not noisy with desires,
and my heart has satisfied its longing,
I do not care about religion
or anything that is not you.
I have soothed and quieted my soul,
like a child at its mother’s breast.
My soul is as peaceful as a child
sleeping in its mother’s arms.
Amen