International Day of Peace

On Sat Sep 21, International Day of Peace, local Plum Village sanghas in Israel will be offering a Peace Walk at 5pm local time. We invite you to join online for a simultaneous session of sitting meditation, chanting and walking meditation lead by Blue Cliff Monastery.

Practice peace at home

Wherever you are in the world, we invite you to take some time to cultivate your own energy of peace this coming Saturday 21st September, to contribute our collective energy to International Peace Day. Our peaceful presence and practice are concrete ways we can continue to support our spiritual brothers and sisters in Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan, and all war-torn lands worldwide.

Some ideas for how you can practice: 

Enjoy walking in mindfulness in nature, with every step offering the energy of peace to the Earth, to all beings, and to places and people caught up in violence.Offer a chant, song or prayer, to light up with the energy of peace and compassion in yourself and in the world.Find somewhere peaceful to sit for 10 or 20 minutes. We have some peace-themed meditations in the Plum Village App. Write a peace note to make peace with someone you love and with whom you’ve had difficulty lately.Make a vow to commit to one daily practice to cultivate the energy of peace and nonviolence in your daily life actions of thinking, speaking and acting. 

Practice online with us

Here in Plum Village, France, we’ll be sending our energy to support a special Peace Walk in Israel, organized by the Plum Village Sangha in Jerusalem at 5 PM local time.Blue Cliff Monastery will hold an online session of sitting, chanting, and walking meditation at the same time as the Peace Walk in Israel — 10 AM NY time. We will recite the Sutra on Transforming Violence and Fear and the Discourse on Love, dedicating our steps to peace in the Middle East and worldwide.Deer Park Monastery California, we will be sending peaceful energy during our sitting and walking meditation sessions .

Thank you for your practice and support so that together we may generate the energies of understanding, peace, and compassion to help embrace and transform the suffering of violence and war. 

A Poem for Peace

Light a candle

tonight
and
every night

please

bear witness
to
the suffering

and
to that
which will
ensue

the climate chaos
violence

here
now

to
the birds
bees
butterflies
animals
plants
fungi
and tiny creatures
yet unseen

as
they
disappear

and to us humans
as
we continue
to run
hide
deny
distract

delude
and
destroy

each other
and
this beautiful world
given to us

a gift
that
we just…

took

Light a candle

tonight
and
every night

please

bear witness
to our grief
at what
and who
we each
and all
treasured
and loved
and
have already
lost

and to our rage

and
regret…

it did not have to be
this way

Light a candle

tonight
and
every night

for those
in fear

seeking
safety
shelter
food
future

for those we
harm
turn our back on
use
abuse
brutalize
bomb
extract
and
throw away

not knowing
that
when we
cut off their humanity
we also cut off
ours

and our ability to feel
anything
even
joy…

Light a candle
tonight
and
every night

please

for all those
who
each in their way
big
and small
shine the light of
love
and
compassion

who
speak up
step up
show up
reach out…

act
protect
and
create

bear witness
to
their
caring
courage
creativity
commitment

and know
that
this too…

is you

Light a candle

tonight
and
every night

and…

when we each

all

place our candles
in our windows
and
open our eyes
and look
and see…

we will know
we
are not alone

or separate

and that
the
lights
that we see
also
shine
from within

glimmering
reflecting
connecting

beacons…

illuminating
our path

as together
we
find
our way

on
this

New Day

© Judith Myerson 2023 — Permission granted to reproduce and distribute widely

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