It has often been noted that the World Dreams Peace Bridge, comprised as it
is of people from all around the globe, might be seen as a microcosm of the
macrocosm, that how we deal with world crises on the Peace Bridge reflects
into the larger world. At the end of December, faced with the execution of
Iraq's former President, Saddam Hussein, Peace Bridge members talked about
the meaning of this event. This article represents only a fraction of what
was said. The end of the year also brought a few dreams, some featuring
former Peace Bridge member May Tung, which might serve to light the way
toward peace.
December 30, 2006
Ilkin-Turkey
I woke up with a very bad feeling at just before sunrise. Seems like now, we
can forget every little hope of peace in the area. Every human, who ever
he/she is even Saddam was under the protection of International Human Rights
Laws. Now, we can say "goodbye" to them too. It makes me really sorry not
being able to say "happy new year". No need to make any prediction to see it
will not be a happy one at least for the people of this area.
I don't even wonder anymore if sometime there will be any action to take
Bush to international courts for his crimes against humanity.
Saddam Hussein executed in Iraq
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6218485.stm
Jody-United States
Dear Ilkin,
I woke up with bad feelings too and I heard the news late last night that
Saddam was executed. I join you in the conviction that execution of a human
being, no matter how bad he/she is and whatever the crimes, is another
crime. Unlike you I still hope we can evolve as a species to a new common
view of humanity and ethics that supports International Human Rights Laws
and even deeper a common commitment to non-violence and compassion. We are
not there as a whole world, we are not there in many nations, not only the
US government. But we are there as many people, ourselves included, who
agree in better principles and try to live them and change policies in these
more humane and just directions.
I have a heavy heavy heart about the future in your part of the world too
Ilkin. But it is not separate from our part of the world really: that's why
I, here in a pleasant neighborhood in another country wake up just as you do
with heavy heart. You are right, it will not be a happy new year for most of
your part of the world.
And, I want you to know that I had a similar thought about Bush: why is he
not on trial for crimes against humanity? When or could he ever be on trial?
I would like him to be brought to trial, he and his cohort and to be made
accountable for all the deaths and suffering that has come from his wrong
and falsity based decisions. But even he I would not want to see executed.
I fear that the need to take revenge in order to right wrongs creeps into
all of our hearts. I wish for something else: that we evolve together to a
common humanity that sees this does not break the cycle of violence and
suffering. Only facing reality directly, calling for justice tempered with
forgiveness and most of all deep deep compassion for the confused, often
evil doing acts of our species will lead to true transformation.
I want to share with you a quote from an activist Catholic Bishop, Oscar
Romero, who was assassinated for his speaking out against injustice in his
country. A friend sent me this quote last night and I have been meditating
on it since:
"If you need hope, you're courting despair, and if you court despair you
will stop working. So try to wean yourself from this need to have hope. Try
to have faith instead, to do what you can, and stop worrying about whether
or not you're effective....Worry about what is possible for you to do, which
is always greater than you imagine." Oscar Romero
I don't know if I agree about this view of hope or not. I do agree about not
taking time to worry about being effective and I do agree that what is
needed is to continue to act out of faith in what we know to be true and
represents our core values. Ilkin, I see you and frankly myself and others
we know, acting in this way. Your beautiful action of helping the several
refugees from Iraq that you recently wrote about and urging us again to take
action to do and give whatever we can for aid....these are actions that
proceed from your core beliefs. There is no holding back, no wondering if
the outcome will be hopeful or not. You just do it. So do I.
Dear friend, this is my New Year's greeting to you: take comfort in knowing
you are not alone as one who holds her truth and acts from it without
attachment to success or happiness of outcome. This is the steel in our
spines, this is the adamantine unbreakable diamond in the Self from which
new worlds can be built.
My love to you and your family and your part of the world from mine.
Jody
Ali-Iraq
Dear Friends...
I feel ashamed of what the pigs had committed early morning today...It is
the first day of the holy Eid Al ADHA. the holy Pilgrims sacrifice to Allah
and pray and Muslims all over the world celebrate these days....but that is
not the case for the pigs of the green zone.....as they are just pigs and
their master ordered them to do it now,
I would like you to know that all Arab nations and almost most Islamic
nations condemned the execution that was carried out today..
You probably know that many other cases against him is there in the tribunal
and they want him dead before he testify any more information as that will
embarrass the Black house administration...
Jean-United States
Dear Ali and dear Ilkin,
I hardly know how to reply to the messages you have sent, or to the travesty
of justice that took place last night.
I wondered, as I always do, what I could have done to change or prevent this
situation. Having been associated for a while with the delivery of abuse and
torture has sensitized me immeasurably to my belief in the power of human
consciousness. I prayed, of course. I lit a candle. I meditated. And I was
well aware that a martyr was being created.
But I continue to believe that nothing happens in the world that I cannot in
some way affect or change, and that we are all in this thing together.
I want to mention that it hurts to hear my people called pigs. That was a
bit of a surprise to me, since I have called them that myself. And Ilkin,
even though this is a terrible, dark event, I still believe there is room
for hope...and room for a blessed New Year and Eid.
Love to all,
Jean
Ali-Iraq
Dear Ilkin...and all..
Iraqis used to get a bonus or a surprise gift at every holy occasion..for
example a pardon or release some of the political prisoners...etc
Look the difference we experience now....
That happened in the past when governments were real people not pigs and
when they are loyal to their country not to the evil power brought them...I
my self and I believe many Iraqis and all Arab and Muslims get the message
out of that execution..
But...I guess they did not calculated the response that will be most
unexpected..
More hate and disrespect to the pigs at the Black house..
That is a proof that the policy makers do not take into consideration our
holy days or our feelings and from now on I will not buy any American brand
and will start a campaign to sanction American products as it is simply
imported from an out law country and governed by jungle law....am I right?
American regime only export death and death squads.....and the problem is
that those fucken liar at the black house claim that they try to implement
democracy in our nations..
What a big lie...Iraq is a good example for their evil plans and
products...death, sectarian divisions...no security rape..murders....a
country governed by death squads and the pigs at the green zone support them
with money and cover..
Thanks Mr. Bush for these Christmas and new year gifts. Please condemn his
evil acts as I think he has gone too far. Now we pray to Allah to take
revenge !
Kathy-Australia
Dear Ali especially:
I am very very sorry for all the devastation to your country and very very
sorry to hear of Saddam Hussein's execution. An execution is barbarous. I
agree totally with the quote Olivia appended to her note I lit a candle last
night, and prayed. Richard Dicker of the Human Rights Watch best summed up
my sentiment:
"The test of a government's commitment to human rights is measured by the
way it treats its worst offenders."
AND we all know that it is the US who orchestrated this pseudo trial and
execution.
I wonder if Bush considers that others could see him as committing "crimes
against humanity"? I wonder if Bush could consider that he could be executed
- just if the power balance was different.
I wonder - I'm so sorry.
Kathy
Kotaro-Japan
Dear Ali,
As my Menieres disease getting better I can focus my viewpoint (the point
where our eyes focus), I would like to write some.
First of all, it seems insulting pigs including other animals to use as the
symbol of wicked people. Pigs never prepare to murder, to rape...in short,
to begin the war and the occupation. Only the Human beings, like me and you,
have the ability to. And only Human beings wishes revenge or have the
courage to cut off the chain of this unceasing killing each other.
In the second place comes a question what Iraqi people are going to do for
the peace in Iraq. If there are many activities, are they depend on the
anger against the U.S.A. or western culture? I am not any kind of
representative of Japanese. I am personally suspicious about the logic of
super power country, U.S.A. toward other countries. Recently I want to shut
my ears when I hear the words, Justice, Humanity, Glory, God, and so on.
These words have been disgraced their proper meanings.
Thirdly, the internal incidents might be getting worse and worse. The
puppetized government in your country does not have any wisdom or power to
settle down the conflicts, it is clear. But other very important problems
are not clear. How and when U.S. armies should retreat? What or who will
have the wisdom to settle down internal murders, destructions?
Dearest Ali, do you think it might be much better if U.S. troops retreat
immediately? If so, what will happen in the poor The government without the
background? Is there any solution to build up the government by rigid
election by all Iraqi people now? How and who will calm down the bloody
incidents between sects?(I am not saying the both side of the sects are
attacking each other.)
Honestly speaking, I have no vision of the next year of Iraqi people, and am
only wishing the real peace will visit to the hearts of every people first,
not only in Iraq but also other countries in the World including the human
being in the Black house that you call so.
May eternal light will keep shinning in your heart,
Kotaro
Ilkin-Turkey
Dear Ali; (better to change the topic because I am afraid this is what is
going to happen)
I know I can only look with an outsider's eyes, I didn't lived what you and
all your loved ones experienced in that hell. But please be calm and
logical. There are so many questions behind this event which all will see in
time. Today, I thought that there wasn't any leaders in Iraq's history who
died with normal health reasons for the last century. I wonder if Taliban
and other leaders of today are aware of this or what they think their future
will be. I wrote many times; "freedom, democracy cant be imported or
exported", I can add "cant be bought or sold" too. As it wouldn't differ
very much I you/ me/ all would use/ buy any American products or not...Yes;
"Bush is the enemy" but not only yours or mine etc but also "his own
people".. It is not the "American workers/ people" who is the enemy but the
regime.
America didn't begin to export death squads today or only to Iraq but to all
the world beginning from the Vietnam. Than I can ask; "Where were you all,
all those time?". "Where were your minds when they support, fuel Saddam,
Pinochet, Suharto and all others with all kinds of arms?". "Where were you
thinking Saddam get the chemical weapons he used at Halepce; from you, me or
US?". "Iraqis where were your minds when the invasion begun?". "Muslims
where were your minds when you were serving US as the armies against than
USSR around so famous Green Crescedent?". "What are you doing Iranians?".. I
can ask so many questions...
If we didn't get any lessons from the history, put it aside and look today
and future. Not only Iraq but all the area is turning to "fields of
revenge". That is the most dangerous thing and what they want to put in our
minds. It is hard to explain our friends from other areas why/ how this
execution can have such an effect, why it is so belittling over the people.
Many of them may not understand what the role "honor" plays in the lives and
understanding, what "vendetta/ feud" can create in the lives of the Middle
Eastern people. But it is sure the "regimes and their puppets" know it very
well. There is not only religious divisions but also divisions in religions,
there is not only countries, nations but also tribes, ethnicities and so
many more I am not able to tell in this little mail...
No my friend; we shouldn't pray Allah for "revenge" but for mind, logic and
knowledge & power to use them. To stand against any outsider and build our
"own" freedoms and democracies. Prevent them to create "fields of revenges"
they wanted on these lands. Real people of America also aware of this and
not enemies.
I still want to wish "happy new year" at least to the children, to the young
ones not to live all these in their future...
Jeremy-South Korea
What if we were faced with a clear hypothetical question? If this man
(Sadaam, Bush or another) lived, another million people, children and women,
mostly, would die, and if he died that million could live, would you still
oppose the execution?
What if a malaria mosquito was about to bite my child, and go on to bite all
the members of my family and community, would I kill it? Of course.
One would think I would naturally follow the crowd on the Peace Train. But
here my mind is not made up.
Ali-Iraq
Dear Jodie and other friends..
I do appreciate your standpoint..I know well it is not the sum of
contribution offered, however small, or may be just symbolic, but it is the
will, the intentions and the sincere feelings that every one on the bridge
share with us, and it is really heart to heart encounters.
However...I always think that it is my duty to convey whatever necessary to
you all to make you imagine in a better way ,the magnitude of damage and the
depth of human suffering .....
And then the dreams
Valley-Dallas
I wanted to wish you a wonderful holiday and new year and let you in on the
dreams I was gifted from May on Christmas. On a whim, I decided to fly to
San Francisco to visit my brother for Christmas. The night before my
departure I had this short, sweet dream:
May Tung appears in my dream and she has prepared a feast of Chinese Dim Sum
in my honor.
On Christmas Eve I arrived in San Fran and that night I dreamt of her again,
but this time it was a very complex dream and difficult to put into words. I
was being shown some kind of grid or configuration of shapes that were
representing some form of predestination. Something that was set in time and
space but had not yet happened in waking life.
I don't know what the specifics were about this predestination, or if she
was just showing me how it works but it felt a very enlightening experience.
I felt her presence all the while there in her home town, and I was
surprised she chose to visit me in my dreams to welcome me with such honor
and open arms. Such a jewel she is!
Jody-Cincinnati
Here is the dream about which I've been musing deeply:
My Solstice dream from December 22, 2006:
I see three birds, three doves, very beautiful. They are very unique doves,
each of these three doves is of black and white coloration and more strange,
each dove has a small pouch at its breast in which it carries a baby bird.
Like marsupial doves!
There is a network or grid-like curtain over the whole area where these
birds are, a cage or aviary, and yet there is no visible sign of
confinement. On the net there is a repeating motif or pattern, which is
clear in the dream but I can't quite remember on waking. Nearby stands a man
named Ron M. who is the Director of Regional Planning for our county in
Ohio. His presence cues me to think of a network wide planning effort. Then
it occurs to me that these are the black and white doves of peace and the
network and planning is for a unified peace planning effort, one that would
carry on with the next generation, baby birds, which are carried outwardly,
at the breast as the young develop, just near the heart, as an infant or a
baby kangaroo might be carried in a front pack to look out on the world.
End of Dream.
On waking I reflect that the black and white seem like the union of
opposites, good and evil, light and dark as one. And that peacemaking is
just that: no exclusion of the dark, rather a union that creates a
generative third new possibility. And, the three doves of peace might refer
to three great spiritual traditions struggling with one another: Judaism,
Christianity and Islam. But in the dream they are together, not at odds,
rather held in a common space with an overall network or pattern which
defines their abode and contains them. To the planning part of the dream I
connect a waking life experience and recent invitation from two Jewish women
friends of mine who have been very involved in interfaith dialogue and have
been approached by NCCJ (National Conference of Christians and Jews) which
has now become an organization for interfaith dialogue called Bridges. (yes
Bridges!) The invitation was to become involved in visioning a World Peace
Conference in Cincinnati OH in 2007. Yes, we can dream of it! And my dream
feels like direction to me to explore this possibility with these women and
others of the three religious traditions mentioned and others who are quite
serious about such an effort.
I share this with you at this end of the year as my gift and connection to
all of us who are living BRIDGES of peace, peace which is a journey, a space
that seems to be an impossible dream, and yet is vividly real to all of us
and others we touch.
Carrying the baby bird of peace like at infant at the heart,
Jody
Anyhow: I got myself involved in the planetary dreaming on Dec 22, and I
would like to share the most prominent gift I received from it, which will
hopefully bring some light for others too. Almost every detail escaped me,
but this one thing stood out: I was shown/informed that each one of us is
like the hexagon in a beehive, in the way we are all connected to make up
the whole. This impacts me so much, because it is a beautiful picture of
interconnectedness and how integral each of us are to the whole. I think
this picture speaks volumes!
May the new year bring multitudes of new blessings for you all! And more
emails from me, yahoo!
Joy-California
A sequel to Jody's dream and Kathy's comments thereon?
I dreamed my sister and I drew pencil drawings of our dreams both on one
page, linked at their upper inner corners by curving shapes that almost
touched. "It's a boat," she said. "It's the moon," I said - "but it's also a
boat." Then I narrated in a voice so charged with dramatic energy it woke
me:
"The full moon comes riding over the land and touches the sun. Guan Yin,
Kundun and Siefai meet!"
The bit about the boat and the moon relate to something personal but could
also relate to the larger story, the serial group dream here. I know Guan
Yin is a Mandarin Chinese name for the Goddess of Compassion and Kundun is a
title for the Dalai Lama translated as "Presence." I don't know what Siefai
is - that's my attempt at a phonetic spelling - my first impression on
waking was of a reference to something regarding Kaballah (Jewish mysticism)
of which I've read very little but had occasion to think of yesterday -
"sefer" the Hebrew for book; "sefirot" in the plural or "sefirah" singular,
a term that is intentionally obscure according to the book I have here but
relating to the emanations of God and the central symbolism of Kaballah. Any
other clues, anyone?
As the full moon rises when the sun is setting, if it rides over the land to
touch the sun, then East meets West -imagine that!
Joy
|
