Peace now and beyond Christmas

THE PEACE envoy, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, was in Jamaica this past week. The Art of Living presentation saw Gurudev being welcomed on stage by the group HUMBLE as they sang Bob Marley’s One Love, One Heart.

It was a beautiful, nonjudgmental, inspiring, life affirming experience characterised by positive vibrational frequency. By their fruit, you shall know them.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar lost no time in teaching the importance of balance and the fact that opposite values exist. He noted that emotional stability comes when you accept the realities of life. It was also most timely that he cautioned the expectant audience to always check self re slipping into self-doubt. One of the increasingly common things we hear these days is that many of our young people live with self-doubt.

It was also refreshing to hear his much-needed celebration of empathy. He observed that even businesses have employed empathy as part of their lingua. Communication has broken down and there is a lack of understanding in many human societies.

It is this man on a positive mission for humanity who is also being condemned by some Christians and pastors on the local scene who have decided that by so doing, their righteousness and love for Jesus is being declared.

In 1981 he went into a time of silence in Shimoga, India. He experienced a revelation of the Sudharshan Kriya, “the most powerful breathing technique that relieves stress and promotes emotional, and mental, and physical well-being”. His mission of teaching, enlightening, and helping others led to the birth of the Art of Living. Although he was born in poverty, he has used his platform of spirituality and wisdom to advance care and prosperity for others.

A most valuable message at this time of our brains being on the go through our omnipresent devices and social media platforms, is living in the present moment. No wonder so many are given to perfunctory ways of being rather than mindful engagement with reality. If ever there was a time, we needed his reminder on the three most important things it is now. The three most important things are communication, communication, and communication. Our communication with self and nature is often found wanting.

All of this is about the art of living. Hence his noting that life is like a tree. Its roots should be old, and the buds should be new. This is the art of living.

In the meantime, Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon said an overhaul of the way education is delivered is needed. She declared, “We have to completely rethink it, and I feel very strongly about that. When you look at even our children in our primary schools and our prep schools and the exams they have to do at the end, they are stressed. There are parents who choose to take their children out of extracurricular activities so that they’ll focus on school but there is much more to the holistic development of a person and our education system has to be geared towards that.”

I am looking forward to the rethinking process. Even more importantly, I am looking forward to the character-building curriculum and culture informed by meditation and self-work at all levels of the education system. May we envision and strategically plan a programme that sees this investment first in our educators, administrative, support, and ancillary staff, in preparation for the facilitating of our children.

Let us move beyond just talking about conflict resolution; zero tolerance re bullying; and gender sensitivity in school. Let us do the work. May our places tasked with doing rehabilitative work, invest the effort and time in treating staff and residents with meditation.

A free event led by an envoy of peace and characterised by an abundance of wisdom does not draw great crowds. Anyway, we all want peace, and many in Jamaica speak about the need for peace.

Instead of quarrels about the date of Christmas and the ugliness and wars in the world, just imagine if we truly lived what we often repeat about letting there be peace on earth and letting it begin with me. This Christmas, we will again hear greetings of “peace on earth, goodwill to everyone” informed by the greeting of the angels in the nativity story. Some questions to think about though are: How am I being an agent of peace and light and love? How am I addressing the baggage of life’s pain within myself? How am I becoming a cleaner, healthier, safer person who shares light and love with others?

Jesus the Christ and Prince of Peace, invites us to Christ consciousness that enlightens, inspires, and mediates compassion for all. An important reminder this Christmas and in preparation for 2025, is that no number of alleluias and wonderful music and singing will lead us to realising a better world for all. Wisdom and understanding are inseparable from the self-work realised in meditation. That deeper awareness of self is too often missing from much of what obtains in our religious arrogance and pride.

“Let peace begin with me. Let this be the moment now.” Two important invitations to be grasped here. Peace begins with everyone. The moment requires mindfulness. That moment is always now.

May your moment now be the start of many such moments. May peace begin with you and me as we each deliberately enter another level of awareness while at rest. This is meditation that informs wisdom and understanding. This is light.

Shalom, ubuntu, namaste

Fr Sean Major-Campbell JP, is an Anglican priest and advocate for human dignity and human rights. Send feedback to seanmajorcampbell@yahoo.com or columns@gleanerjm.com.