PEACE Peace is one of the most desirable fruits of salvation in all the world's religions. We begin with passages describing the fruit of inner peace. The peace that comes with reaching Ultimate Reality brings tranquility to the heart and clarity to the mind. It is the absence of passions, desires, anxieties, and wandering thoughts; the heart becomes cool and content. Nirvana is often translated 'Peace.' Islam and Christianity both praise the peace and tranquility that come to the soul that is firm in faith. The soul of the saint has been likened to a deep pond whose surface remains undisturbed by waves despite the many currents or streams that flow into it. A second group of passages describe the peace of God that brings harmony among people and nations. Outward peace is emphasized in the Abrahamic faiths, for whom the work of God has a social and historical dimension. The love of God breaks down the walls of hostility between people, and thus becomes the foundation for their lasting peace. Yet peace in this social and political sense is not only given by God; it must also be built by the efforts of human beings. Those who are blessed with inner peace have the responsibility to become peacemakers, reconciling conflict. | Sacred Words For Peace 
“We have, for the first time in history, easy access to all of the world's great religions. Examine the many great traditions — from Christianity to Buddhism, Islam to Taoism, Paganism to Neoplatonism — and you are struck by two items: there are an enormous number of differences between them, and a handful of striking similarities” Ken Wilber Project Description In reply to recent world events, we are organizing a local/nationwide/worldwide day/week on which people of different religious traditions can read similar passages related to peace from their different holy books and perhaps visit each other's gathering place to do so together. The goal is to see the similarity across the different religions and to begin healing the wounds inflicted by those falsely exaggerating the differences. The specific form of this event would be decided by participating groups. It might be as simple as having a religious leader go to our website SACRED WORDS FOR PEACE.org to access peace-related messages from several holy books and read them to his or her congregation that day; or, read the passages during services that week; or, clergy of different faiths might invite each other to read at their respective services, for example, a priest or minister being invited to a mosque or synagogue to read a few passages from the Bible while the imam or rabbi reads similar passages from the Quran or Torah. Or, a congregation may want to invite members of different traditions to visit their gathering place to read from the sacred texts together. We are also planning a social networking activity using the same messages. We will suggest that people go to the website, download the messages, and email them to others in their personal network. We are asking like-minded organizations to endorse the event, to publicize it to their members, and to suggest peace-related passages from their sacred text, if it is a religious organization. Please post passages using the Share Your Wisdom blog on the website. Thanks very much. For more information, please contact Richard O’Neill, Ph.D. at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Institute for Decision Excellence And Leadership, 750 East Adams St., Syracuse, N.Y. 13210. (315) 464-3120. oneillr@upstate.edu. If we
have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.  PEACE Peace is one of the most desirable fruits of salvation in all the world's religions. We begin with passages describing the fruit of inner peace. The peace that comes with reaching Ultimate Reality brings tranquility to the heart and clarity to the mind. It is the absence of passions, desires, anxieties, and wandering thoughts; the heart becomes cool and content. Nirvana is often translated 'Peace.' Islam and Christianity both praise the peace and tranquility that come to the soul that is firm in faith. The soul of the saint has been likened to a deep pond whose surface remains undisturbed by waves despite the many currents or streams that flow into it. A second group of passages describe the peace of God that brings harmony among people and nations. Outward peace is emphasized in the Abrahamic faiths, for whom the work of God has a social and historical dimension. The love of God breaks down the walls of hostility between people, and thus becomes the foundation for their lasting peace. Yet peace in this social and political sense is not only given by God; it must also be built by the efforts of human beings. Those who are blessed with inner peace have the responsibility to become peacemakers, reconciling conflict. |
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do
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