by Stefan Schindler
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Kindly join me in appreciating that The Life Experience School and Peace Abbey “family,” near and far, belong to an unofficial organization – Seth would call it an Unfoundation – called Shanti Sena. Shanti Sena means Peace Army. It was founded by Mahatma Gandhi in India in the 1920s.
John and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and The Beatles – unofficially and unknowingly, but with great determination – joined Shanti Sena in the 1960s.
So did Jane Fonda, Joan Baez, and Yoko Ono. So did Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky, Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama. And Paul Newman, James Baldwin, Joni Mitchell, and Muhammad Ali.
Today, their life and legacy is carried forth by Greta Thunberg, Victor Wallis, Vandana Shiva, and so many others, recalling the courage of conscience of Mother Jones, Emma Goldman, Dorothy Day, Helen Keller, Mark Twain, Thomas Merton, and Oscar Romero.
In this sense, then, we – as honored members of the Engaging Peace community and supporters of positive peace – are all students for a democratic society; indeed, for a global village of ecological sanity and egalitarian harmony.
T. S. Eliot ends his poetic masterpiece, “The Wasteland,” with … “Shantih shantih shantih.” And thus, I salute you. For you are bodhisattvas and kalyanamittas.
A bodhisattva is committed to a life of learning and service; and, therefore, to the active practice of “positive peace-making,” rooted in ahimsa (non-violence). Kalyanamitta means: “virtuous friend” and “spiritual companion.”
Let us recognize that the dream that never dies also grows. And let us remember that the dream was never over, because John never ceased to IMAGINE.
Therefore, let us keep the faith, and daily water the seeds of peace with our commitment to justice and universal brother-sisterhood.
The Shanti Sena does indeed endure. And together, with a reverence for Mother Earth and the sacred spark that grew us in the womb, we are – Yes, we are! – creating a Rainbow Bridge to The Peaceable Queendom.
Said the sage: “The reward for service is increased opportunity to serve.”
Om Shanti Om.
Don Stefan
PS: Here is the link to the Peace Abbey website: www.peaceabbey.org.
The Peace Abbey grew out of The Life Experience School. Together, they house The National Registry for Conscientious Objection; present The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award to individuals who embody the spirit of Shanti Sena; promote vegetarianism and animal rights; still hope to have the Memorial Stone for Unknown Civilians Killed in War planted in Arlington National Cemetery; and maintain The Pacifist Memorial Peace Park (in Sherborn), at the center of which is a nine-foot statue of Gandhi, fanning out from which are brick walls displaying bronze plaques in honor of those peacemakers who have received the Courage of Conscience and Champion of Peace awards.
Now, here is the link to a short, thrilling, video-tribute to The Life Experience School and Peace Abbey, created by film-makers at The Radiance Project. ………………………………………………………………………………….
Stefan Schindler is a philosopher, teacher, and poet. He is co-author with Lewis Randa, the founder of The Life Experience School and Peace Abbey, of The National Registry for Conscientious Objection. Stefan is a frequent contributor to Engaging Peace; a Board Member of The Life Experience School and Peace Abbey; author of The Courage of Conscience Awards for John Lennon and Howard Zinn; and author of Space is Grace, Discoursing with the Gods, The Tao of Socrates, and America’s Indochina Holocaust. His newest book – Buddha’s Political Philosophy – will be published later this year.