Swanwick Star Issue No. 5 (2012)
Walk for Peace
Peace. I sympathised with the organizer’s message, but wasn’t sure what could be achieved through a march, aside from getting a conversation going, so I decided to use his event as a ‘springboard’ to find out how changes are made. To stay true to the common theme of K Talks of the past and in an attempt to answer one of his most pertinent questions for our times, I once again asked: “Is it possible for a human being to transform oneself (the World, etc.) outwardly, (without changing) inwardly?” I joined forces with another Meetup group that focused on the works of Eckhart Tolle, as the organizer had access to a small theatre in his building. He named our event ‘Walk The Talk’, which promised to “take us on a journey through our community and beyond to find out how changes come about”.
About ten familiar faces (including that of other organizer and I, Grace from our group, five members of the other one, and two Pearson College residents, who I brought down from the Island with me) met for the Vancouver Walk for Peace at Kits Beach, waited until a crowd of about one thousand gathered, and walked and danced to the soulful Carnival Band music and the honking of supportive drivers across Burrard bridge to Sunset Beach near Stanley Park. This was the thirty year anniversary of the original Vancouver Walk for Peace that Joseph Roberts organized to protest against nukes and promote a sense of unity in our community. I felt excited, a little emotional, and even kind of united with people present. I could not stay for the show, I was inspired to create a special event on Change because of Common Ground’s gathering called ‘Walk for Peace’ which included speeches by First Nations representatives, Joseph, and others, as well as music (the highlight of which was a 6 year old singer!), as I had grabbed the wrong DVD when leaving home that morning and had to retrieve the right one for our gathering.
We were very lucky to get most of the people, who signed up for the event, to show up to the Talk. I was even luckier to be allowed by the head of security into the building where the event was being held, as for a minute he was not going to take me to the group, who was waiting for me… for K, rather! I got there just after the Eckhart Tolle showing on the topic of change and we watched the wonderful talk by K on the same matter. It was a rare occurrence, but in this particular talk, he actually answered the question about how changes come about, as opposed to just leaving the audience to find out for themselves. K. said that true lasting change comes only when one sees the truth about what he feels needs to be changed, that is, one must find out if it really does need to be changed in the first place, having given it your complete attention. So, when this seeing of truth happens, it is not the same thing as when the mind understands, as the ‘seeing’ itself changes you and this is what learning actually looks like. He warned us when responding to the next question, however, that when one sees the truth, but attempts to carry on as though he hasn’t, the truth acts as a poison. The example given to explain this was the story about two brothers, who were robbers, walking down the town square and seeing a preacher speaking. The one brother immediately covered his ears, but the second one heard the preacher say that it was wrong to steal. So, even though both brothers continued robbing others, only the second one suffered because he knew in his heart what the preacher said was true.
After this we had five minutes of silence and then shared our feelings and thoughts about the day with each other. This was great, as many people truly opened up about their experiences! The girl from Pearson, named Doris, who has been doing some work with the garden at Swanwick, said that her favourite part of the day was the 5 minute silence. Usha, an instructor from Brockwood and Banglore mentioned how unusual it was for her to meet truly caring people in Canada, who asked her if she was waiting to join the Talk when she arrived at the cafe. Another person said that it felt so wonderful being there with us, but wondered how one could ‘bottle up’ that feeling to keep things from getting overwhelmingly stressful in ‘real’ life. Her question reminded me of the one I read in K’s book I had with me, called ‘Can Humanity Change?’ Q: “After having listened to you eagerly for so many years, we find ourselves exactly where we were. Is this all we can expect?” K: “You are listening in order to achieve a particular state, a place where you will find everlasting happiness, permanent bliss. But as I said before, there is no arriving, there is only the movement of learning – and that is the beauty of life… You want to arrive, not only in your business, but also in everything you do; so you are dissatisfied, frustrated, and miserable. There is no place at which to arrive: there is just this movement of learning, which becomes painful only when there is accumulation. A mind that listens with complete attention will never look for a result, because it is constantly unfolding; like a river it is always in movement… there is no perpetuation of a self, of a ‘me’ that is seeking to achieve an end”. I agree. You?
– Aleyona
