NEWSLETTER - CANADIAN CENTRES FOR TEACHING PEACE 18 MAY 2006

 

 

 

This 'newsletter' is being sent out as a new feature to provide regular updates to interested people about current additions to the Canadian Centres for Teaching Peace web site.

  

The Canadian Peace Initiative (“CPI”) is a process to simply provide the venues, support and guidance to ‘Open Space to Open Minds to Peace’.  The  CPI process is open, transparent, patient and committed, drawing people from all walks of life, freeing them from their stasis and mobilizing them.  All members of the Culture of Peace movement have to be leaders in their own right, drawing on their own potential and inner strengths, galvanizing, inspiring and energizing the peace movement.  Everyone is a peace leader and peace educator.  Every day we must take ownership of ourselves and our relationships: we can do anything we set our minds and hearts to; we do no harm, expect and demand no harm be done to us or others; no one is better than another;  we are critical thinkers, finding our own truths; education is our best investment and information our most important resource.   Building a healthy culture is about building healthy relationships – we can do that.   As we take ownership of peace others will follow – because it will be uplifting and empowering, it will be infectious, and lead to sudden, massive, cultural change.                                 (As in all things peaceful, this enlightening statement is the result of many contributors and supporters.  The CPI process has led to the Canadian Culture of Peace Program http://www.cultureofpeace.ca )  

 

Upcoming Events http://www.peace.ca/upcoming.htm :

 

July 13 – 16, 2006 - The 2006 Transformative Learning Centre Summer Institute is offering a course: African Values, Peace and Reconciliation.  Africa is all too often portrayed in a one-dimensional way as a continent of victims, poverty and continual warfare. In this course we will attempt to gain a more complete picture of the situation and to appreciate the transformative potential that exists. Looking at Africa from an Afrocentric, rather than a Eurocentric perspective, we will examine what has been lost in the historical and contemporary context of slavery, colonialism and economic globalization.  Africa has a rich store of values, attitudes and practices conducive to peace and reconciliation. We will critically examine these traditional ideas to look at how they can be integrated with useful modern practices to make a contribution to a peaceful world. Consistent with the subject matter, the class will make use of practices often excluded from the dominant discourse, for example story-telling, proverbs and music. TLC Summer Institute 2006 The Transformative Learning Centre’s 2006 Summer Institute is part of the ongoing tradition over the past several years. The Summer Institute courses are designed to appeal to people in the community as well as in the university; practitioners as well as academics. The diversity of student perspectives makes for a very rich learning experience. Enrolment: To guarantee consideration of your application, email your completed form to tlcentre@oise.utoronto.ca or mail a hard copy of your application by May 31st. Late applications will be considered only if space is available. Courses are twenty hours each.  Download registration form in MS Word format Tuition: One course: CAD$ 150 / US$ 130, Two courses: CAD$ 270 / US$ 240, Three course: CAD$ 400 / US$ 350. Payments: Payment must be made in cash or by cheque or money order, in Canadian funds drawn on a Canadian bank or in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank, payable to "Transformative Learning Centre (OISE/UT)."  Refunds: Cancellation after May 31st are subject to a non-refundable administrative fee of CAD$30. For International participants: Please be aware that a visa may be required; see Canada Citizenship and Immigration web site http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.html .. We will be happy to send you a letter of invitation to help with obtaining your travel documents.  All courses will be conducted in English. We regret that we are not able to offer any financial assistance for travel and accommodation, and we encourage you to seek your own funding, should this be needed.  For more information and to submit your application form and/or payment contact: Summer Institute, 2006, Transformative Learning Centre, Department of Adult Education and Community Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 252 Bloor St. West, Toronto, ON  M5S 1V6 Canada; Phone 1 (416) 923-6641 ext. 2595, Fax: 1 (416) 926-4749; tlcentre@oise.utoronto.ca          http://tlc.oise.utoronto.ca/

 

Problem Identification Topics http://www.peace.ca/problem.htm :

 

Uninspiring and Shocking Quotes http://www.peace.ca/uninspiringquotes.htm :

 

 

Who's Who (World Level) http://www.peace.ca/whoswho.htm :

 
Emuna Eilat - Dear Friends, The first worldwide centre for BELIEF, PEACE and UNITY is being established in a 3-dimensional star. You can visit our website at www.emunaeilat.com to see what we are doing and what we are all about.  In light and love, Emuna Eilat

 

Val Hilliker  - Calgary’s only full time professional ventriloquist, Val Hilliker, presents variety of empowerment programs through the Virtues Project TM. All teaching is accomplished through positive reinforcement and the awesome power of ventriloquism. Val's dedication to Character Education shines in these two shows, Success and Chillin with Val. Follow up workshops are also available.  www.valhilliker.com ; 403-874-5713 Val@valhilliker.com ..  Peace Begins with Education.  The Virtues Project TM Celebrate your community of caring!  For Grades K-12.  Val's character education shows teach: Peaceful hands, ears, eyes and mouth through the language of Virtues!  It's all about emphasizing the positive to eliminate the negative. In the last year alone over 50,000 students and teachers all over North America have seen the shows.  Val has been invited to Japan to perform from Kobe to Tokyo in October 2006.  The chill skills and the Chillin ideas teach students to be accountable for their actions and reactions to social circumstances.  Here are the two shows being offered at this time:

"Success" is for Kindergarten - Grade 4 and teaches the value of believing in yourself and the Chill skills.

"Chillin With Val" is for - Grade 5 - Grade 12. It teaches the value of speaking in virtues and helpful sayings though the use of the magic drawing board.

Each show plays to a maximum recommended audience size of 150 students.  The shows are 45 minutes to 50 minutes in length. Follow up workshops, (SEE), are available for these two shows. Please book them within a month after the show.  More about Val and her shows can be viewed on her web address at
http://www.valhilliker.com/

then follow the link to school shows.

 

 

Who's Who (Community Level) http://www.peace.ca/whoswhocomm.htm  :

 

Information Resources (Individual Level) http://www.peace.ca/info.htm :

The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the hidden dimensions of your life, By Deepak Chopra.  ISBN 1-4000-9834-3.  Published by Three Rivers Press, 2004.  Every life is a book of secrets, ready to be opened. The secret of perfect love is found there, along with the secrets of healing, compassion, faith, and the most elusive one of all: who we really are. We are still mysteries to ourselves, despite the proximity of these answers, and what we most long to know remains lodged deep inside.  We all want to know how to find a soul mate, what career would be most fulfilling, how to live a life with meaning, and how to teach our children well. We are looking for a personal breakthrough, a turning point, a revelation that brings with it new meaning. The Book of Secrets--a crystalline distillation of insights and wisdom accumulated over the lifetime of one of the great spiritual thinkers of our time--provides an exquisite new tool for achieving just that.  Because answers to the questions at the center of life are counterintuitive, they are often hidden from view, sequestered from our everyday gaze. In his ongoing quest to elevate our experience, bestselling author Deepak Chopra has isolated fifteen secrets that drive the narrative of this inspiring book--and of our lives. From "The World Is in You" and "What You Seek, You Already Are" to "Evil Is Not Your Enemy" and "You Are Truly Free When You Are Not a Person," The Book of Secrets is rich with insights, a priceless treasure that can transport us beyond change to transformation, and from there to a sacred place where we can savor the nectar of enlightenment.  "The Book of Secrets is the finest and most profound of Deepak Chopra’s books to date. Want the answers to the secrets of life? Let me recommend that you start right here." -- Ken Wilber, author of A Brief History of Everything.  5 star must reading.    [This link provides a summary of what I highlighted during my read of this excellent book -- I recommend it on my Top-ten List of Peace resources. My purpose in providing them is to interest you, the reader, and hope that you will obtain and read the complete work.  To properly understand the highlights, you need to read the book to put them in the proper context.]  http://www.peace.ca/bookofsecrets.htm

“The Breakthrough Experience: A Revolutionary New Approach to Personal Transformation” by Dr, John F. Demartini.  ISBN 1-56170-885-2.  Published By Hay House Inc. May 2002.  263 pages.  This book is an extremely real and practical manual for understanding why we live the way we do, and how to transform our lives into our highest vision. You will learn a formula to manifest your dreams, discover the secrets of opening your heart beyond anything you have imagined, find out how to increase love and appreciation for every aspect of your life, receive profound insights on how to create more fulfilling and caring relationships, reawaken your birthright as a true genius, transcend the fears and illusions surrounding the myth of death, and reconnect with your true mission and purpose on Earth. That is all true, but mainly, this book will deeply touch and inspire you with respect to your own greatness and potential—and the magnificence of every single human soul. This is not just a book, it is what the title implies—an Experience—and it is impossible to go through it without being moved, challenged, and changed. 5 star must reading.   [This link provides a summary of what I highlighted during my read of this excellent book -- I recommend it on my Top-ten List of Peace resources. My purpose in providing them is to interest you, the reader, and hope that you will obtain and read the complete work.  To properly understand the highlights, you need to read the book to put them in the proper context. http://www.peace.ca/breakthroughexperience.htm ]

“The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A practical guide to the fulfillment of your dreams.”  by Deepak Chopra.  ISBN 1-878424-11-4.  Published by Amber-Allen Publishing & New World Library 1994.  112 pages.  This is a book you will cherish for a lifetime, for within its pages are the secrets to making all your dreams come true. Deepak Chopra distills the essence of his teachings into seven simple yet powerful principles that can easily be applied to create success in all areas of your life. Based on natural laws which govern all of creation, this book shatters the myth that success is the result of hardwork, exacting plans, or driving ambition. Deepak Chopra offers a life-altering perspective on the attainment of success: Once we understand our true nature & learn to live in harmony with natural law, a sense of well-being, good health, fulfilling relationships, energy & enthusiasm for life & material abundance will spring forth easily & effortlessly. Filled with timeless wisdom & practical steps you can apply right away, this is a book you will want to read & refer to again & again.  .   [This link provides a summary of what I highlighted during my read of this excellent book -- I recommend it on my Top-ten List of Peace resources. My purpose in providing them is to interest you, the reader, and hope that you will obtain and read the complete work.  To properly understand the highlights, you need to read the book to put them in the proper context. http://www.peace.ca/spirituallaws.htm ]

 

I Need Your Love: Is that true?: The Search For Love, Approval, And Happiness, By Byron Katie.  ISBN 1-4000-5107-X.  Published by Harmony Books.  - In Loving What Is, bestselling author Byron Katie introduced thousands of people to her simple and profound method of finding happiness through questioning the mind. Now, I Need Your Love—Is That True? examines a universal, age-old source of anxiety: our relationships with others. In this groundbreaking book, Katie helps you question everything you have been taught to do to gain love and approval. In doing this, you discover how to find genuine love and connection.  The usual advice offered in self-help books and reinforced by our culture advocates a stressful, all-consuming quest for love and approval. We are advised to learn self-marketing and manipulative skills—how to attract, impress, seduce, and often pretend to be something we aren’t. This approach doesn’t work. It leaves millions of walking wounded—those who, having failed to find love or appreciation, blame themselves and conclude that they are unworthy of love. I Need Your Love—Is That True? helps you illuminate every area in your life where you seem to lack what you long for most—the love of your spouse, the respect of your child, a lover’s tenderness, or the esteem of your boss. Through its penetrating inquiry, you will quickly discover the falseness of the accepted ways of seeking love and approval, and also of the mythology that equates love with need. Using the method in this book, you will inquire into painful beliefs that you’ve based your whole life on—and be delighted to see them evaporate. Katie shows you how unraveling the knots in the search for love, approval, and appreciation brings real love and puts you in charge of your own happiness.  “Everyone agrees that love is wonderful, except when it’s terrible. People spend their whole lives tantalized by love—seeking it, trying to hold on to it, or trying to get over it. Not far behind love, as major preoccupations, come approval and appreciation. From childhood on, most people spend much of their energy in a relentless pursuit of these things, trying out different methods to be noticed, to please, to impress, and to win other people’s love, thinking that’s just the way life is. This effort can become so constant and unquestioned that we barely notice it anymore.  This book takes a close look at what works and what doesn’t in the quest for love and approval. It will help you find a way to be happier in love and more effective in all your relationships. What you learn here will bring fulfillment to all kinds of relationships, including romantic love, dating, marriage, work, and friendship.” —Byron Katie.  5 star must reading.   [The following is what I highlighted during my read of this excellent book -- I recommend it on my Top-ten List of Peace resources.  My purpose in providing them is to interest you, the reader, and hope that you will obtain and read the complete work.  To properly understand the highlights, you need to read the book to put them in the proper context.  B.S.] http://www.peace.ca/isthattrue.htm

The Greatest Miracle in the World, By Og Mandino.  ISBN 0-553-34157-X.  Published by Bantam Books, 1975 - this entertaining little book describes the four laws of happiness and success: 

  • Count your blessings
  • Proclaim your rarity
  • Go another mile
  • Use wisely your power of choice
  • And one more, to fulfill the other four. Do all things with love…love for yourself, love for all others, and love for G.O.D. (“Grand Organizational Design/Designer”).

You Are the Greatest Miracle in The World.  [This link provides a summary of what I highlighted during my read of this excellent book -- I recommend it on my Top-ten List of Peace resources.  My purpose in providing them is to interest you, the reader, and hope that you will obtain and read the complete work.  To properly understand the highlights, you need to read the book to put them in the proper context.] http://www.peace.ca/greatestmiracle.htm

A Force More Powerful Game - "Can a computer game teach how to fight real-world adversaries? dictators, military occupiers and corrupt rulers, using methods that have succeeded in actual conflicts? not with laser rays or AK47s, but with non-military strategies and nonviolent weapons? Such a game, A Force More Powerful (AFMP), is now available. A unique collaboration of experts on nonviolent conflict working with veteran game designers has developed a simulation game that teaches the strategy of nonviolent conflict. A dozen scenarios, inspired by recent history, include conflicts against dictators, occupiers, colonizers and corrupt regimes, as well as struggles to secure the political and human rights of ethnic and racial minorities and women. A Force More Powerful is the first and only game to teach the waging of conflict using nonviolent methods. Destined for use by activists and leaders of nonviolent resistance and opposition movements, the game will also educate the media and general public on the potential of nonviolent action and serve as a simulation tool for academic studies of nonviolent resistance." taken from http://www.afmpgame.com/ .  Please visit www.afmpgame.com for more information.

 

"Plan B 2.0, Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble" by Lester R. Brown, 2006; Earth Policy Institute, W. W. Norton & company, New York.  You can also download the chapters free from:  http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB2/Contents.htm

 

Transformative Practice: New Paths to Leadership, by Dr. Sue McGregor, makes the argument that individuals, organizations, and entire professions must evolve and adapt if they are to effectively serve humanity and the common good within an increasingly imbalanced and volatile global environment. To achieve this evolution, transformative professionals are tasked with creating nothing less than a profound paradigm shift within their own practice and among the wider community that will extend outward to positively impact all of human society on many levels.  This new, transformative style of leadership will require change in pedagogy and professional development. Evidence will manifest itself through education at all levels, in refocused policy involvement, in new approaches to private and public enterprise, in civil society involvement, and in personal growth and reflection.  McGregor’s innovative, ambitious focus centers around the five themes of paradigm shifts, leadership, educational pedagogy, philosophical growth, and globalization. The resulting vision calls for a new, globally responsive model of professional practice that is dynamic and evolving, full of rich, reflective communication, replete with innovative practice, and guided by clear, farreaching goals.  http://www.consultmcgregor.com/

 

"Boys of Few Words: Raising Our Sons to Communicate and Connect" by Adam Cox, PhD (Guilford 2006), about the social and emotional development of boys, in your community.  We need to raise this generation of boys to become socially conscious, empathic leaders. Mary Pipher, PhD, says this "book is important, insightful, and timely.  His [Dr. Cox's] ideas about helping boys of all ages will be useful to parent, to teachers, and indeed to all of us who have a stake in boys' emotional health--which is, in fact, everyone."  For more information, you can check out the author's website at:

http://www.dradamcox.com/

Proposals/Solutions http://www.peace.ca/proposal.htm :

Inspiring Quotes http://www.peace.ca/inspiringquotations.htm :

"Man has reached out and touched the moon.  Puisse ce haut fait permettre à l'homme de redécouvrir la terre et d'y trouver la paix.." (May that high accomplishment allow man to rediscover the earth and there, find peace).  -Honourable P.M. Pierre Elliott Trudeau

 

“I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

Messages >From Your Angels (and probably good advice to any peace educators and peace builders, generally – Peace begins within us)
Shanti: the Angel of Peace, brings you new tranquility, and a smoother road ahead.  You have been through turmoil, and your soul is tired.  Your mind craves peace and quiet, and I am here to help you with that desire.  I will give you new opportunities to spend time alone, where you can relax your mind and heart.  I will bring tranquility to your soul so that you can mirror the peace of mind that is your true Divine nature.  Like the angels, you are able to hover within the eye of any hurricanes that may swirl around you right now.  Through breath and intention, you can stay centered no matter what’s happening in your life.  This inner foundation of peace has a powerful healing effect.  Your outer life soon reflects your inner peacefulness.  Smooth roads are ahead for you, and the worst is behind you now.  A peaceful outcome to this situation is assured.
Rosetta: You have a gift for working with young people, and your Divine purpose involves helping, teaching, or parenting children.  Children respond to your open-hearted nature.  You are also charmed by their straight-forward honesty, laughter, and innocence.  In many ways, they engage and heal your own inner child.  You seek to give these children that which you desired when you were young.  You also feel an inner calling to improve the lives of children, and you may wonder about the best way to proceed.  I am with you as a guardian angel who delights in bringing you new opportunities to help children.  All you need to do is notice the young people whom I bring into your orbit.  Be your delightful self with these children, and the rest will take care of itself.  As soon as you’re ready for an increased role, please say the word to me, and I will increase the number of lives you touch.  Please be assured that I understand your temperament and will only bring you to situations that match your passions, talents, and interests.   You are a blessing to children everywhere.
Michael: I am with you, giving you the courage to make life changes that will help you work on your Divine life purpose.  I have come to you because you asked G.O.D. for safety and protection, and because you asked about your life purpose.  Since you are a lightworker, I am overseeing the fruition of your Divine life purpose.  You have been a lightworker for a long time, and you have felt different from others, isolated at times.  Be assured that you have never been alone, and that you never will be alone.  When you feel pushed to make a change at work or at home, that may be my influence, encouraging you to make your life’s purpose a high priority.  I can rearrange your schedule and support you in other ways to make your path smooth and harmonious.  Simply ask me, and it is done.  I will also help you feel safe and comfortable during your life’s changes.
Azure: Your desired outcome will occur in the very near future.  Have patience and faith, and don’t try to force it to happen.  Yes, you will receive your wish.  However, Divine timing means that patience and positive visualization are needed right now.  Ask me to help buoy your faith so that you don’t slip into negativity.  You can speed up the process of answered prayers by having more faith in their inevitability.  Conversely, doubts or worries about ‘how’ your prayers will be answer ’how’ of answered prayers is up to the Divine wisdom of the Creator.  Although you may feel urgency or even panic about your prayers, please trust that we angels are working nonstop behind the scenes to help you.  Keep surrendering and releasing these worries and fears to G.O.D. and the angels.  The more that you can stay centered in faith, the more easily we can assist you.
Gabrielle: You have an important life purpose involving communication and the arts.  Please don’t allow insecurities to hold you back.  I will help you.  I am with you as one of your guardian angels.  You may wonder why an archangel is with you.  I help many people simultaneously, and you are among them.  I help those whose life purpose is in the arts or communication.  I will help you polish and trust in your natural talents.  Then I will open doors for you to express those talents in a way that will help others.  What I need from you in return is honesty and cooperation.  Tell me about your fears, your hopes, your confusion, your insecurities, and your dreams.  Ask me to help you.  And then, please walk through the doors of opportunity that I open for you.  I am on your side completely!  My function is to be your coach, and as such, I may prod you along.  Please know that I am only pushing you because I know that you need a little boost from above.

 

THE WISDOM I AM LIVING

By Bob Stewart

 

 

Higher Purpose - work for the welfare of the whole world, by significantly reducing the human cost of direct and indirect violence through peace education, raising social intelligence, true wisdom and self actualization throughout the world.

 

Communion – communicate and develop relationships with everyone else in the world, to notify the world’s farthest reaches of the purpose and intention (above).

 

Awareness – listen to understand, everything that impinges on the purpose (above).  Meditate on it, adapt, remain flexible, respond accordingly.

 

Acceptance – There are no enemies.  Understand my values and others’ values, and communicate with myself and others accordingly.  I am a genius and they are also.  Recognize every one as equally important and interdependent..

 

Creativity – think thoughts never thought before, ‘dance’ in a way never seen before.  Continue to solve the peace ‘problem’ every day, in creative new ways.

 

Being – obey the universal cycle of rest and activity.  Live a balanced life.  Sleep on it.  Meditate on it.  Develop routines and cycles.  Live the Nature of Peace, and Peace of Nature.

 

Efficiency – work smarter, not harder.  Prioritize.  Seek value, including profit in what is done.  Benefits must significantly exceed all costs.  Stop doing things that are not significant contributors to the purpose.

 

Bonding – know that we are all fundamentally the same.  There are no outcasts.  Extend the hand of friendship to all.

 

Giving – give and receive automatically, without expectation, without hoarding.  Give students of peace your time.

 

Immortality – pass on your knowledge, experience and talents to others – and become immortal by leaving a legacy of peace education that will keep on giving when you pass on to another plain.  Be remembered.

 

Exercise: write your own "Wisdoms" page.

 


See the following new reports posted on our web site:

 What We've Lost: George W. Bush and the Price of Torture, by William Pfaff - The most important reason for the tension that exists between the United States and most of the rest of the democratic world is that American claims about the threat of terrorism seem grossly exaggerated. … There is a very good reason why the Bush administration does not recognize international law. They do not want the same fate as those who took similar actions during WWII. … American policy on Iraq is condemned abroad by most of the democracies, in part for the practical reason that this policy has manufactured terrorism and nationalist resistance to the United States and its allies inside Iraq and so far has succeeded only in escalating the crisis between the Western powers and Islamic society. …  Foreign observers are disturbed that American elites seem unable to understand this.  To them, and certainly to an American, the most dismaying aspect of the Bush Administration's conduct has been its installation of torture as integral to American military and clandestine operations, a part of the administration's repudiation of those portions of international law and American treaty obligations that it considers irreconcilable with absolute U.S. national sovereignty, or as obstacles to national policy. This was displayed from the beginning.  The administration's hostility to the U.N. and to other international institutions, as well as to the constraints of international law, reflects a long tradition on the right wing of the Republican Party, going back to the Republican isolationism of the years between the two world wars. It may be deplorable, but it is no great surprise.  http://www.peace.ca/torturesprice.htm  

Rotary's Seven Paths to Peace - I can not tell you how happy I was to learn of such a wonderful publication.  Rotary’s Mission is to “help build goodwill and peace in the world”.  The Rotary International  publication "Seven Paths to Peace" is as relevant today as it was when it was written in 1959.  In fact, I was amazed at the wisdom contained in this book published 45 years ago.  I have been doing a lot of research into peacebuilding and peace education over the past 9 years (a passion that was ignited in me by Rotary) and I learned a lot from the book, particularly from a Rotary point of view.  It is very important for me to understand the history, current perspective and future path Rotary is following to peace.  I think this is important for all Rotarians to understand – this is a ‘must read’ for anyone genuinely interested in Rotary.  It is also recommended to non-Rotarians interested in building peace.  The book is available online by clicking on the link.

  • Also - now available in Portuguese with many thanks to Rotarian Márcia Gama of Recife (Boa Viagem), Brazil "Sete Caminhos Para A Paz" (in Microsoft Word), and in HTML.

·         Also - now available in French with many thanks to Rotarians Michel Alexandre and Einar Thrap-Olsen, Charter President RC Gordes, France, D-1760 "Sept Chemins vers la paix" (in Microsoft Word), and in HTML.


 

Questions? contact Bob Stewart at stewartr@peace.ca

We are supporting and/or hosting 2 major upcoming events:

  •  June 23 – 28, 2006 - World Peace Forum - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, will promote partnerships between cities and the anti-war and peace communities to build the transnational and intercultural capacity to communicate, coordinate, and act on a global scale to end wars, and create a world of peace, justice and sustainability. For more information: World Peace Forum, 420-550 West 6th Ave. , Vancouver BC , Canada V5Z 1A1 ; Telephone: 1(604) 687-3223; Facsimile: 1 (604) 687-3277; email admin@worldpeaceforum.ca ; web site http://www.worldpeaceforum.ca  
  •  June 26-30, 2006  INTERNATIONAL PEACE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION (IPRA) 21st Bi-Annual World Conference, "Patterns of Conflict, Paths to Peace"- University of Calgary , Alberta , Canada .  Understand the opportunity and feasibility of Sustainable Peace Building , including the nature of deep-rooted conflict and its correlative violence, and seek to design the construction of such a peace.  For more information, please contact: Larry J. Fisk, PhD, Chair, Organizing Committee, IPRA 2006 Conference, E-mail: larry.fisk@shaw.ca ; Phone/fax: (403) 210-3184 or the IPRA office, attention: Michelle McCann, parhad@ucalgary.ca .  Further information can be found at:  http://www.ipra2006.com/

Bob Stewart will be a Guest Speaker at both events, speaking on the Evolving Canadian Peace Education Strategy, the Canadian Culture of Peace Program and how Peace Leaders/Educators can improve their success.

 

 

 A Message to Our Readers:

 

It has been some months since our last Newsletter.  I have been taking a sabbatical for a period of reflection on how I can better serve the Peace Community (by working smarter, not harder J )..  In the process, I have been undergoing a significant personal transformation – a journey that I will be pleased to share with you over the next few months. 

 

In the process of seeking peace, we are likely to give ourselves anxiety, pain and even depression – your mind can become a war zone.  Stress is the signal that it’s time to question your own thinking.    Seeking peace is how you lose the awareness of peace.  But you can only lose the awareness of it, not the state.  That’s not an option, because peace is what we all are.  Look around you and you will find peace in many ways, if you look hard enough – celebrate them.  The spiritual secret that applies here is this: what you seek, you already are.

 

The U.N. Culture of Peace Program calls for the transformation of all institutions from a culture of violence to a Culture of Peace and Non-violence.  The first ‘institution’ that must go through this transformation is ourselves.  As Gandhi instructed us, “be the change you seek in the world”.  In a sense, our old selves (our selves raised in a culture of violence and reflecting it) must die in order that our new selves - our selves living a Culture of Peace and Non-violence – may be born.  We must truly be “Renaissance Men and Women”.  I suspect many of you are also labouring with your rebirth.  Each of us has to find the actual experience of peace and calmness on our own. The secret for doing that is to free the mind. When it is free, the mind settles down. It gives up its restlessness and becomes a channel for peace.  As the UNESCO motto proclaims, “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.”  This applies to us as well as “them”.

 

I invite you to join me in this personal transformation.  A major goal over the next period will be to strengthen our section of the www.peace.ca web site on Building Peace at the Individual Level.  I will share with you some of the key books that I am reading, and their highlights.  They include:

 

 

I fully believe that the people who need the most peace education are peace educators, peace leaders and peacebuilders.  One of our major goals at Canadian Centres for Teaching Peace is to help with the necessary personal transformations – to accelerate the personal growth and wisdom of all peace educators, leaders and builders, by supplying helpful information.  Since everyone is a potential peace educator, leader and builder – this means engaging everyone.  It truly takes an astronomical vision to make a global difference.

 

I am very grateful that I have found my purpose in life: peace education.  We all have our own unique talents to bring to peace education – I am pleased to bring my unique leadership, management and business talents to bear on this most worthwhile cause.  By teaching peace and wisdom, our students can transform their lives and make a difference teaching peace and wisdom.

 

Today, start to act as if your influence extends everywhere – you should know that it does.

 

Happy transformations, and remain centered no matter what happens,

Bob Stewart

 

Email from Bob Stewart, Rotary Club of Okotoks, Alberta, Canada (D5360)

http://www.peace.ca     email:  stewartr@peace.ca

 (Parkwood Rotary Club)  Home Page

 World Peace and Understanding