Why Meditation is Sacred Activism for Peacemaking

There is a great wave of peace building momentum on the planet. Yes, I know it’s hard to believe given the chaotic and perilous times we live in. Yet, there are so many signs that people around the globe want to develop inner peace, and see it linked to creating a more harmonious future for all of us.

There are many ways to be part of this by engaging in what I call sacred activism for peacemaking. It can include personal practices of meditation, prayer, ceremony, and ritual focused on fostering inner peace. It can be any inner work done to heal the wounds we carry—our own wounds or those of our ancestors. In outer actions, it can manifest as harnessing our passion to be of service to others and the planet with our unique gifts, knowledge, and wisdom, even while we are anchored in some kind of inner practice that keeps our focus heart-centered.

Meditation in a variety of forms is expanding around the world as just one example of how people are tuning in, according to this article.

• 200-500 million worldwide meditate

• 14% of Americans have meditated at least once (36 million people)

• 10 times more children used meditation in 2017 than they did in 2012

• In the last 10 years, the number of US adults practicing meditation has tripled

• Up to 6% of the global population meditate

In 2014, The Pew Research Center published a study that estimates the number of regular meditators globally as far higher—40%. They also noted that the use of meditation cuts across religious, spiritual and secular domains. In other words, meditation is no longer considered merely “New Age” or “woo-woo” or even religious. It is becoming mainstream.

If we consider the estimate that it only takes 3% of a given population to make a dramatic shift in consciousness, it means that we are already over the tipping point with the number of people meditating around the globe! So, even while it seems as if the planet is going to hell in a handbasket, consider the positive implications of these statistics for the future and even the present.

A very dear friend of mine who is a sacred activist for peacemaking and who, as a teenager and young adult, lived in Beirut during the War in Lebanon, says that even in the midst of all that violence, he met and worked with so many “noble-hearted” people. People who may have had to take up arms to defend themselves, but who at the same time refused to fall into the bloody fog of war with its narrative of revenge and hatred. Or who valiantly resisted engaging in violence.

No matter their story, he said, they kept their hearts open and only used force when absolutely necessary. Even when there is war afoot, even when we are in the middle of a war zone, we can contribute to building a great wave of peace. Maybe a war will end sooner. Maybe a young man will not join a gang. Maybe seven generations from now, humanity will live in peace and harmony with one another and with Mother Earth. The outcome remains in the Great Mystery.

In the field of Transpersonal Psychology, there is a recognition that we are all interconnected. Just as a butterfly flapping her wings in one tiny corner of the planet can have an effect on the other side of the world, every action and breath of love and light matters.

Take a seat at the Great Table of Compassion and dream forth with your sisters and brothers a new earth of collaboration, creativity and concord! It is right at our fingertips!