The place of peace studies.

 

Everything that we do involves peace. To study is to seek understanding for a greater knowledge of what is taking place. This knowledge is a step towards peace. Every school and program of study that exists seeks understanding, which is a component of peace. In essence, every school is a study of peace. Which is why most peace programs are interdisciplinary.

The formal labelling of peace and conflict studies is noted to have been started by Johan Galtung. However, it is my view that peace is the foundation of very relationship and the main pursuit of knowledge. With that view, peace and conflict is the sole purpose/goal for any educational institution, society and person.  Also, it is important to understand that each of us are engaged in the task of peace each day. It has been that way from the beginning of time. That is why peace and conflict education has been part of everyday life from the very beginning of life.

To have a program of peace under any other discipline is putting the cart before the horse. Peace is not a component of philosophy or psychology or politics or law.  In fact, all of those are components of peace. Each of those are avenues that we use to obtain peace. Most of the time, all of them are utilized on a daily basis for peace to have even the slimmest of success.

Take economics for example. Peace has been understood as perfect balance, which is zero. To have peace in economics there can be no constant growth because that is out of balance. This does not mean that there is no wealth accumulated. It means that there is equal distribution of input and output. To have more on either side is out of balance. The same scenario plays out with all other components of peace.

This balance is the calm resolve needed to obtain peace. In order to have that balance, each of us must study their own personal balance.

Peace in everyday life

 

Peace in everyday life

Peace is not for the faint of heart. To ensure peace, you have to work every second of life, there is no vacation or time out, unless you are sleeping. For most, it is a goal to have your life and/or the world be in a better place at the end of the day than it was when you woke up. How that day goes is unknown. So, each day as you wake up, there is a mystery of what will happen. That mystery can be a good thing, a bad thing or a bland thing. A peaceful person understands that each reality needs to be met with a sense of calm resolve.

For example, the day begins and you spill stuff on yourself. Your clothes are in need of changing and you catch a hang nail that rips a good chunk of skin off. Of course you bleed on the new clothing you just put on. A few mad minutes of rushing to prepare to get out the door and you slip in the puddle of stuff you had spilled earlier on yourself. The day is now a basket case of shite. How do you stop from “losing your mind”? Then there are those that have other people such as family involved while all the above takes place. How do you keep from “losing it” on them as well. You still have to contend with everyone else and the rest of the world. That is the struggle of every second to have peace.

Meditation, yoga and other strategies are popular to help with coping in times of stress. There is no doubt that the mental work to focus in such times is not easy. As the cliché states, life does not get easier, you just get better at managing yourself during such moments. In such situations each person must find what works for them to ensure they act with calm resolve.

Keep in mind that there are no time outs or vacations from peace. Even as you take your yoga sessions or meditations you are working to manage your own peace. Now the tricky part comes when your style of peace is not what is shared by another person standing in front of you. Peace needs to evolve for both. This will ramp up the intensity of work to ensure peace.

As the intensity increases, the need to work towards peace also increases. This is where many see those who advocate for peace as being weak. Such a perception is as far away from the truth as a perception can get. To be peaceful in such situation takes great skill and courage.

There will be perceptions of giving in at times yet the calm resolve will allow you to see the longer play. Of course the reality of insanity needs to be kept in check. For example a person is rushing at you with the intent to destroy you. A completely peaceful person would be able to understand that destruction of self is an absolute anyway so how can both people engage in peace? For most of us, self preservation is paramount and the insane person must “lose” in this circumstance. This reality is what is known as war.

We have not figured out how to live without war yet and we may never figure it out. At this moment in time, the world has slipped in the stuff that was spilled on its clothes earlier as the dog barks, the children cry, the phone is ringing and the bus you take to work just went by. Oh yeah, that hang nail is still aching and bleeding. Have a nice day.