International Day of Peace

On Saturday Sep 21, International Day of Peace, the Plum Village sangha in Jerusalem will be offering a Peace Walk at 5pm local time. We invite you to send the energy of peace and healing to Israel and Palestine at the same time. You’re also welcome to join a simultaneous session of sitting meditation, chanting and walking meditation led by Blue Cliff Monastery online.

Practice peace at home

Wherever you are in the world this coming Saturday 21st September, we invite you to take some time to cultivate your own energy of peace, 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 Jerusalem, 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