Shadow River
February 17th, 2007
In the eloquent book, “The Unconquerable World,” author Jonathan Schell traces the grim and brutal history of warfare. A core notion of the book is that war has become non-winnable in the settling of disputes.
Due to the evolution of nuclear weapons and the mutual annihilation inherent in their use, the reliance of politics on violent means throughout the centuries is called into question. While tracking the evolution of violence, Schell reveals a simultaneous force, moving in counterpoint to the martial system; a tradition of non-violence, born of the world’s spiritual traditions.
Like a sort of “shadow” river, flowing beneath the turbulent surface of the historical ocean, this force has been more persistent than we might suppose.
Indeed, our United States constitution was created from tributaries that tapped the ancient river of peaceful means. Its principles form a cauldron within which we are scorched in the flames of our mistakes, yet blessed with the freedom to correct ourselves.
Most of us sense that violence, as a means to settle our differences, has run its course. We sense, urgently, that in order to supersede global disasters, we must learn to think and act differently.
Enlightened leaders claim that the age-old dream of a peaceful world begins with individuals.
They implore us to look into the mirror–into our hearts–and be honest about what we see. They invite us to live in the moment, to stay awake; to ask ourselves if our methods are working or not working; to notice when our passions need tempering; to ask who or what needs more love from us; to open to the admission that, in the deepest strata of life’s mysteries, the others are us and we are they.
To engage this awareness in good faith and to act upon it, we are taught, is to empower the ancient river–to help one another in constructing new reality from old dreams.
Enormous threat bears enormous potential. Will our world mind blow open the gates…and move with that river, where missiles are rendered obsolete? Where the true battle for freedom finds its authentic locale, in hearts and souls?
In the murky waters of a darkened age, may our mistakes be revealed, and may we learn to hasten the slow dawn of expanding light.
by Barbara Bowen
Artist and Creative Consultant
www.GatewaysCoaching.com
Brooklyn, New York
