Peace In

Saturday the 31st of March there was a massive peace in at Trafalgar Square London. Thousands of people crowded the square, sitting on matts and blankets and rucksacks which filled the square itself, the steps, and the top piazza.  People stood and leaned on the fountains and spilled out to the very edges of the space.  We gathered quietly and chatted ever so nicely to those around us, squishing together and making room for all.  It was a beautiful vibe, and our leader was the venerable Thich Nhat Hanh.  


It began with 30 minutes of silence punctuated by a sparse playing of a giant gong. Many of us closed our eyes and all of us sank deep within.  I sat with my mantra and warmth flooded my body even in the freezing weather.  Thich then began to speak. He gave a teaching on relationships which sums up into four main points.  We say these to ourselves, to our lovers, and peace then flows.


1.  I am here with you, like a beautiful flower opening.
2.  You are here with me, and I am so happy.
3.  You are suffering, and I am here with you.
4.  I am suffering, please be here with me.


He explained how we are often able to state one or two of these and this is a good thing.  When we are not able to state all four of them however a relationship disintegrates, looses its depth, wanders away from itself.  
When I contemplate these four mantras I realise that the teachings enfold within them a profound commitment to honesty, vulnerability, and sharing.  As new love emerges within new earth we must necessarily learn to navigate fantastic intimacies.  These dances between our dense selves, the lives and bodies we inhabit in this momentary form, are ever so delicate and intricate.  As we fill out our evolutionary make up we dance also with more subtle energies, connecting to our lovers across dimensions.  Without a grounding in simple communications which reflect the fragility of the human heart how can we possibly go to these spaces in total harmony?  


In the Mevlevi tradition lovers are all beings who appreciate the practice.  The semazens themselves whirl for peace, for illumination and a massive cracking open. Those who come to feel the love and power, who witness and share, give energy, are the lovers.  We say that the hearts of lovers are never truly separated.  Time space distance death, none of this can act upon the united hearts of lovers.  
The bible states that love is not jealous, not covetous, unbound...love is gentle, love is kind...love never dies.  Universal love, the breath of life from source creation, is possible inside our intimacies.  Indeed, the movement of universal love inside of our lives is what we all desire, even if we are too small to go ahead and admit it, the goodies and the baddies alike.  


Love is our human birthright...and as Thich Nhat Hanh so eloquently stated, our responsibility.  This all leads me to conclude that Love is not something one possesses....we can only open to it, like a beautiful flower, and be present to it, in all of its filth and glory. Immense gratitude and thanksgiving to all of you who love and share intimacy with me in so many joyous ways!  Bouncing it right back to you in a fluid wave of grace :) 


And in a final thought, this was indeed a pro-test.  An action against the hostile way consumerism has taught us to "love" and a proposal for new love which can flourish within the systems we now seek to create.  Peace is possible.....

The monks sang to us the mantras after the teaching, in flowering ripples of beauty..