Yes, dear Joan,"we all need love and encouragement and reminders about what really matters" and to me you are a very precious spiritual friend and your writings often are a true refuge, a lantern in the sometimes very dark places my mind goes to.
Beautifully expressed and I really like the Open Path page. When I read about his vision of Israelis and Palestinians living in peace, my first reaction was a cynical shrug. I know how hard it has been for me to let go of some petty grudges and I saw the weight of history on both Palestinians and Israelis. But then I thought about our 2016 visit to Israel and the people we met who expressed such kindness and clarity of thought. My impression of the citizens in general, was that they conducted themselves with an admirable dignity despite living on a knife edge of insecurity that Americans, until recently, would have found unimaginable There actually are many people there who are devoted to peaceful resolution. On one of our final days, we went to the top of a hill above Nablus where the Samaritans, a small ethnicity who have acted as liaisons between Jews and Muslims. The leader of the Samaritans that we met was straight out of Dr. Seuss, a tall guy wearing a long robe and a fez. His demeanor was so kind and so peaceful that we all came away with an amazing warmth in our hears and big smiles on our faces. Things do seem particularly dark these days, but there is also, as you write, the light of awareness that keeps love alive.
Beautiful! I love your account of the Samaritan leader. And I know there are many people on both sides of this conflict who want peace and who have worked for peace.
Some years ago, I supported the idea of a secular one-state democracy in which Jews and Palestinians would share One Land and live together in peace. As time went by, this seemed more and more impossible. And I've recently found myself thinking and believing that no one can really negotiate with either Hamas or the extreme right-wing Israeli government now in power--and yet, they did manage to negotiate a few days of cease-fire with an exchange of hostages and prisoners, and reading about Pir Elias's meeting with the Hamas leader gives me a different sense of possibility.
I realize how easily I believe my thoughts and stories, which can often tend in such situations toward cynical doubt and what passes for "hardcore realism." (Doom and gloom, hopelessness). Encountering Pir Elias's writings opened a door in my heart that had closed, and made me look anew at how I want to respond to this situation in Gaza.
The truth is, we don't know what's possible, but at least I don't want to approach the situation going forward in some of the ways I have in the past--buying into the old stories.
I don’t know enough about the region to have an opinion on the one state vs two state solution. A lawyer, Danny Seideman whose issue is the destabilization caused by settlement. He’s long been in favor of a two state solution spoke to us of his feeling that Palestinians and Israelis living parallel separate lives was stabilizing. I’m including the short talk he gave to us
I didn't actually share Pir Elias's writings in order to promote the one state solution, but more to share the spirit of what he was offering, the spirit of love rather than division, and also the humanity of the Hamas leader with whom he spoke, and the sense of possibility, however dim it might seem.
And in my response to your comment, in speaking of a door in my heart opening, it may not have been clear, but I wasn't meaning specifically the one-state solution, but again, something more about the spirit behind what we say and do, and the openness to possibilities that we so easily close down with our thinking and then believing our thoughts.
I don't know what the solution is, if there even is one. And I don't see it as my job in this life to figure that out. But I do see it as my job to come from love and openness, as I tried to express in the post, and not from cynicism, anger, divisiveness, despair, hopelessness, and so on. That was my take-away from reading Pir Elias and what I hoped to convey.
Thank you, Manuel. Thich Nhat Hanh is a great example of someone doing the seemingly impossible, cultivating inner and outer peace and finding non-violent ways of resolving conflicts.
Yes, dear Joan,"we all need love and encouragement and reminders about what really matters" and to me you are a very precious spiritual friend and your writings often are a true refuge, a lantern in the sometimes very dark places my mind goes to.
Thank you, dear Marina. You are also a precious spiritual friend. 🙏❤️
Love You, Joan
Love you, too!
Beautifully expressed and I really like the Open Path page. When I read about his vision of Israelis and Palestinians living in peace, my first reaction was a cynical shrug. I know how hard it has been for me to let go of some petty grudges and I saw the weight of history on both Palestinians and Israelis. But then I thought about our 2016 visit to Israel and the people we met who expressed such kindness and clarity of thought. My impression of the citizens in general, was that they conducted themselves with an admirable dignity despite living on a knife edge of insecurity that Americans, until recently, would have found unimaginable There actually are many people there who are devoted to peaceful resolution. On one of our final days, we went to the top of a hill above Nablus where the Samaritans, a small ethnicity who have acted as liaisons between Jews and Muslims. The leader of the Samaritans that we met was straight out of Dr. Seuss, a tall guy wearing a long robe and a fez. His demeanor was so kind and so peaceful that we all came away with an amazing warmth in our hears and big smiles on our faces. Things do seem particularly dark these days, but there is also, as you write, the light of awareness that keeps love alive.
Beautiful! I love your account of the Samaritan leader. And I know there are many people on both sides of this conflict who want peace and who have worked for peace.
Some years ago, I supported the idea of a secular one-state democracy in which Jews and Palestinians would share One Land and live together in peace. As time went by, this seemed more and more impossible. And I've recently found myself thinking and believing that no one can really negotiate with either Hamas or the extreme right-wing Israeli government now in power--and yet, they did manage to negotiate a few days of cease-fire with an exchange of hostages and prisoners, and reading about Pir Elias's meeting with the Hamas leader gives me a different sense of possibility.
I realize how easily I believe my thoughts and stories, which can often tend in such situations toward cynical doubt and what passes for "hardcore realism." (Doom and gloom, hopelessness). Encountering Pir Elias's writings opened a door in my heart that had closed, and made me look anew at how I want to respond to this situation in Gaza.
The truth is, we don't know what's possible, but at least I don't want to approach the situation going forward in some of the ways I have in the past--buying into the old stories.
Thank you for being here.
I don’t know enough about the region to have an opinion on the one state vs two state solution. A lawyer, Danny Seideman whose issue is the destabilization caused by settlement. He’s long been in favor of a two state solution spoke to us of his feeling that Palestinians and Israelis living parallel separate lives was stabilizing. I’m including the short talk he gave to us
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TErHkEaY_Yw
I didn't actually share Pir Elias's writings in order to promote the one state solution, but more to share the spirit of what he was offering, the spirit of love rather than division, and also the humanity of the Hamas leader with whom he spoke, and the sense of possibility, however dim it might seem.
And in my response to your comment, in speaking of a door in my heart opening, it may not have been clear, but I wasn't meaning specifically the one-state solution, but again, something more about the spirit behind what we say and do, and the openness to possibilities that we so easily close down with our thinking and then believing our thoughts.
I don't know what the solution is, if there even is one. And I don't see it as my job in this life to figure that out. But I do see it as my job to come from love and openness, as I tried to express in the post, and not from cynicism, anger, divisiveness, despair, hopelessness, and so on. That was my take-away from reading Pir Elias and what I hoped to convey.
I see and totally agree.
O am very grateful for your writings an for you way of putting it. It remind me Thich Nahtt Hahn: the truth has no owner, thank you, Manuel
Thank you, Manuel. Thich Nhat Hanh is a great example of someone doing the seemingly impossible, cultivating inner and outer peace and finding non-violent ways of resolving conflicts.
I love your writings, beautiful, wise and insightful Joan. May we all take them to heart and embody them in our everyday lives ♥️
Thanks, Pat. Much Love and gratitude to you. 🙏❤️
As usual right on target. Love your posts. Dark Light says it all. Much love to you. Thank you.
Thank you Joan❤️
https://greendharmatreasury.org/2023/11/01/gaza-catastrophe/