The well-known Peace Symbol was designed in 1958. This year is its 50th birthday.

Wikipedia says, “This forked symbol was designed for the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War (DAC) and was adopted as its badge by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in Britain, and originally was used by the British nuclear disarmament movement. It was later generalized to become an international icon for the 1960s anti-war movement, and was also adopted by the counterculture of the time.   Read more...

Toen ik twintig jaar geleden ging mediteren, had ik daarover regelmatig discussies met mijn vader. Hij geloofde er namelijk geen bal van dat er meer tussen hemel en aarde was dan het oog kon zien of het oor kon horen. ‘Meten is weten’ was zijn adagium. ‘Als ik het niet kan zien, bestaat het ook niet’ en ‘eerst zien, dan geloven’ waren andere favorieten.

Mijn vader is natuurlijk niet de enige die zo denkt. De rationele, ‘wetenschappelijke’ benadering van de realiteit heeft de hele westerse wereld in haar greep en is stilaan de nieuwe religie geworden. Het is de manier waarop wij de wereld om ons heen benaderen, de manier waarop wij naar de dingen kijken. Het heeft enige tijd geduurd eer ik door kreeg dat deze benadering van de realiteit net zo bekrompen en beperkend is als welke andere geloofsovertuiging dan ook.   Read more...

Op de dag dat Jurriaan Kamp en Max Christern mij vroegen om een wekelijkse blog voor Ode te gaan schrijven, las ik dat het internet in 2010 vol zal zijn. Heb ik weer! Mijn carrière is nog niet begonnen, of hij is al bijna ten einde. AT&T – met 14 miljoen klanten een van de grootste internetaanbieders in de Verenigde Staten – liet op een congres in Londen weten dat het internet in 2010 krakend tot stilstand zal komen door de stortvloed van video’s, foto’s, websites, blogs... En daar ga ik nu dus ook aan meedoen.

Ik beloof u zo min mogelijk woorden te gebruiken. Het doel van mijn blogs is tenslotte om mensen te inspireren zichzelf terug te vinden en eigenlijk is elk woord van een ander dan teveel. Vooral ook omdat ik daarmee het volstrekt absurde idee blijf voeden dat er iemand zou zijn die in staat is om jou naar jezelf te leiden. Ik ben er al een tijdje achter dat verlichting geen proces is, maar een knop. Een besluit.   Read more...

When we talk about HIV and AIDS, more often than not it’s about the incredible numbers of who’ve died or who are now infected with the disease.

We think of the pandemic in somewhat monolithic terms. But the pandemic is in fact a series of epidemics, which affect people and the communities in which they live in different ways.   Read more...

Practice makes perfect, we all know this. What it has meant to me as a spiritual counselor for the past twenty-five years is that I look constantly for things that make for conscious spiritual praxis. One came to me the other day.

What if every time you received, read, wrote, deleted or sent an email, you first said aloud to yourself, “Peace?”   Read more...

Ted has been my friend for well over thirty years. But curiously, I have never met him. I get a very gentle magazine called “Fellowship in Prayer”, and once long ago they asked if subscribers would like to correspond with prisoners. Of course, I said yes. And that is how Ted and I got connected.

I have never asked my friend what he did to land himself in prison. I felt it was not important unless he wanted to tell me. He never has. And I respect his privacy and dignity in this matter. So, Ted and I relate on more hope-filled dimensions than the mistakes of the past.   Read more...

I saw a great movie yesterday (again). The peaceful warrior. For those who don't know it, it's about a student athlete preparing for the Olympics qualifiers. He is just like most people, a thinker, restless and plagued by ambition and the fear of not being able to reach his goals. He finds a master in the gas station clerk, which he calls Socrates because he won't tell him his name. He shows him the way of living in the here and now, beyond the thoughts and feelings that trouble us and blind us. The gymnast is still quite rebellious and challenges Socrates ideas.   Read more...

Okay, I admit it, I’m up past my eyeballs in a new computer and things are not going as swimmingly as promised. Let’s leave brands and operating systems out of this equation. My situation prompted a question for me.

Does technology foster peace?   Read more...

"Are you looking for peace and harmony on the Internet? Enter Seiwa-en where you can experience such quietude. This garden is a project of the Missouri Botanical Gardens, designed by 'Koichi Kawana, M.F.A, Ph.D., a native of Japan and Principal Architecture Associate and lecturer in Japanese art, architecture and landscape design at the University of California, Los Angeles. Kawana Sensei not only designed Seiwa-en but also supervised its construction and development until his death in 1990. Here's your opportunity to experience this 'wet strolling garden' in the solitude of your home and maybe even develop a few ideas of your own for recreating a similar masterpiece in your own backyard!"   Read more...

Until the current global grain shortage the issue of hunger had largely slipped from the rich world’s consciousness. But the food crisis being reported in our papers and on our televisions isn’t a strange blip that will go away. It’s a reminder that hunger is a real and persistent issue for the billion people worldwide who live on less than a dollar a day.

Malnutrition in mothers and their young children will claim 3.5 million lives this year and millions more will survive but fail to thrive because of chronic food shortages.   Read more...