Dear Reader,
Yesterday a dear friend and I walked together through central London in the sunshine, in freedom, with a crowd of of 300,000 or more people coming together to stand against war, to support the Palestinian people’s right to live freely. It was peaceful, moving, sobering and deeply uplifting at the same time. Jewish people and Muslim people were walking side by side, in peace and safety. It seemed so fitting that we were marching to stop the bombing of Gaza on Armistice Day, which means, to stand still arms, to cease-fire.
Yesterday reminded me of when me, Lucy and her Dad walked through these same streets with over 1.5 million people to say “Not in Our Name” to the deluded, war-mongering western leaders who were trying to convince us of their plan to go to war in Iraq. Arundhati Roy called that day in February 2003 “perhaps the biggest display of public morality in the world”. For those protests were worldwide, they even held a protest in Antarctica! When we gather together in crowds for peace, for social justice and environmental justice… we see the fullness, the compassion, the goodness in the heart of humanity. This kind of peaceful, heart-centred protest is a bittersweet balm for our troubled souls. It gives us hope in the dark.
Ironically, the only threat to the Cenotaph yesterday was from a drug-and-alcohol-fueled far-right nationalist group, around 100 strong, who attacked the police protecting the area with “extreme violence”. Ironic, because it is the increased power of far-right politicians in the Israeli government whose actions led up to the horrendous, brutal attacks by Hamas on Israel, which instigated the indiscriminate and relentless bombing of Gaza.
The far-right stands for division. Yet, our human nature is peaceful.
Our physical bodies, annamayakosha, can only function as they should when we can access states of calm. Peace is encoded into our nervous system, to reach our full potential we need to live in peace.
When humans are healthy and whole we strive to create this balance, peace and harmony for ourselves and our communities. This is how the vast majority of humans on our planet wish to live and the events yesterday really proved that.
May peace, peace, peace be everywhere…
Om shanti, shanti, shanti
With love and good wishes, Julia xxx
Humanity's Wisdom