A Perspective On What’s Unfolding In Gaza

As I read and hear what is unfolding in and relating to Gaza, I notice myself feeling both sad and frustrated, hoping that soon we’ll learn and reach a level of consciousness and emotional maturity that recognises that vengeance and retribution are not the answer to peace. Violence and war simply beget more violence, war and trauma. More darkness cannot drive out the dark, only light can do that.

What has recently happened and is happening in Israel-Palestine is merely a surface-level symptom, the effect, of an underlying root cause humanity is deeply plagued by: separation consciousness, the root cause of all our problems, the belief that we are separate from one another.

And acting from a place of reactivity to recent events will only get us more lost and entrapped in the highly-charged surface-level eruptions and chaos we’re witnessing, of blaming and shaming, of taking sides, of who’s right and who’s wrong, of who’s the victim and who’s the perpetrator, etc. The result? A vicious and never-ending cycle of vengeance and war. An eye for an eye until the whole world is blind.

What’s needed is compassion. Empathy. Understanding. Forgiveness. Reassurance. Collaboration. Needs-based negotiation, acknowledging and working toward meeting the needs of all concerned. A recognition and embodiment of universal brotherhood and sisterhood. The realisation that what I do to another, I do to myself and what I fail to do for another, I fail to do for myself, and then acting from this premise, this truth.

This is the real, hard and uncomfortable work that’s needed and required from all of us (blaming, pulling a trigger or dropping bombs are easy), individually and collectively, that will get us to where we say we want to go (a state and place of peace, harmony, wellbeing?). This calls for reaching deep within the Self and letting go of any and all attachment to that which stands in the way of realising this Oneness and reverence for all life, whether it be thoughts, feelings, beliefs, dogmas, doctrines, fears or judgments.

I wonder (and invite you along with me), what becomes possible if we see and approach what is happening as an invitation for each of us to step up and become the antidote to the problem, the embodiment of the solution, i.e., peace, compassion, empathy, understanding, acceptance and harmony (in thought, word, feeling and action, right here, right now in your life, in the seemingly small and unrelated of acts)?

The choice and vibration of peace and war exist within each and every one of us, in how we choose to engage and respond to ourselves and our bodies, our loved ones, strangers and non-human beings. We make peace when we are kind and caring to ourselves and our bodies. We make peace when we walk away or listen with compassion and seek to understand (those who want to argue, hold differing beliefs or cut us off in traffic). We make peace when we learn to live and let live.

The vibration of peace is the same (and affects the whole) no matter how small or large the choice or act. The same is true of violence and war.

In every situation, we are given the opportunity to empower either peace or war. During times of tribulation, peace and calm must come from somewhere; let it be you and me. By making peaceful choices. By engaging in activities that bring you and others peace. By embodying and radiating peace everywhere you go.

May all beings know peace.