Dear Thầy, to raise awareness and stop the violence and war in the world, do you think that we as a Sangha could organize—or should organize—to even to the extent of using civil disobedience and acting, act as a human shield to raise awareness and to stop the murder and the violence?

Respected Thầy, dear Sangha, the question is that in order to—an effort to—try to stop violence and war in the world, should the Sangha organize to the extent of civil disobedience, to use our bodies as the human shield to help reduce the violence and war in the world.

I think the better way is to set an example for people to follow. You create a community of peace, of brotherhood, sisterhood. And your community embodies true peace, true brotherhood. You consume in such a way that can protect the ecosystem. You speak in a way, you listen in a way that there will be no division and anger in your community. You live simply and yet you are happy. I think these things are a very drastic way of peacemaking. Because you show them an example that happiness is possible without a lot of money, a lot of weapons, a lot of things that people think to be crucial for their survival. Your community embodies good health. Health for yourself and health for the world. You live in such a way that proves a future to be possible. You set an example.

And then other people come and observe your community and learn. They have been running after fame, power, money, sensual pleasures, but they are not happy. These things may harm the body, the mind, the environment, and create a lot of anger and violence in society. So when they see the way you live, they wake up and they change. And your way of life, your community is a kind of Dharma talk to them. With such a community, you can practice peace education. You can go to many places and tell people in a very concrete way that there is a way to be happy and there is not need to cause violence and anger and craving in the world. And you have created another community like that. And you have created dozens of communities like that. In fact, in Plum Village we are trying to do just that. You know?

We begin with one community of mindful living. And then we help setting up another one, another one, another one, and we organize retreats and practice centers, and people who come to us, they learn the way of peace. They learn the way of simple, mindful living, and they go back and set up Sanghas, a group of people. and thousands of Sanghas have been established by our practitioners and that continues to spread. And that way is entirely non-violent. We don't have to die in order to get the message across. We have to be alive in order to continue. You see?

You can go to the prison and protest and things like that, but protesting is not the best way. Even if you are very strong in your protest, you cannot help them transform their fear, their anger, their craving. It's not by protesting that we can remove the anger, the fear, the craving in them. It is by loving speech and deep listening and showing the way in a very nice way that can help them wake up and take up another way, rather than to follow the ancient way full of violence and division and discrimination. So this is a real action, not something passive at all.

So community building, living according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, practicing mindful consumption, creating happy communities, families, and help other people to do the same. I think that's the way to promote world peace. You learn how to write a love letter rather than a letter of protest. Suppose you write to your congressman, your president, and if you can only write a letter of protest, they will not change. But if you can write a letter of love, you say that, "Dear Mr. President, Dear Mr. Senator, I know that you have a lot of difficulties, a lot of suffering. We know that. And you want to realize your dream for your country, for your people, but you cannot do that. We understand."

And you have something to suggest. In your letter, you promote, you help him or her to recognize that there is a fear in him, anger in him, craving in him, and that prevents him from realizing his dream. And then when he reads that letter, he can profit from your wisdom, your insight, and he transforms. If you only know how to write a letter of protest, that will not have the same effect. So learn to write a love letter and have someone understand himself and change, that is peaceful.