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It\'s too bad the peace group always thinks that doing things like standing silently in the park or having a candle light vigil are enough. They tend to do that and then they feel absolved from having to do anything substantial. Is this the best we can expect. Standing silently in the park?

It's too bad anonymous readers always think that doing things like leaving disparaging comments is enough. They tend to do that and then feel absolved from participating in a conversation with their real name in a substantial way. Is this the best we can expect? Throwing verbal grenades at people willing to stand silently in the park?

The Civil war was sooo stupid !

Julie arranged for a gathering in Cliff Vista park. see:

http://www.ojaipost.com/2007/05/full_moon_synergy.shtml

not about more Consumerism or US Government or Christianity ... rather for those whose focus is enabling women and healing the world ...

and all our sacred relations.

Sometimes, doing something, like standing in the park during a moment of silence, may seem to others as actually doing nothing or doing something insignificant.

It was gatherings like these that brought freedom, and created the largest democracy in the world, that is still free: India.

It was gatherings like these that saved thousands of lives in the United States by hastening the end of a contrived war: Vietnam.

It will be gatherings like these that will hasten the end of another contrived war: Iraq.

Such silent gatherings Broadcast a mood, a conviction, a resolve that in time our louder compatriots hear and act on them. This is done, for it is affective, effecting change with out 'substantial' harm to all.

Some need to participate, rather than stay at home and continue the 'substantial' harm to their sofas and their keyboards.

It's not a matter of either/or but of both. Standing for love and justice is the start. You have to stand up before taking other steps. Anon has a point insofar as there is more to be done than passively standing. Standing up in a vigil is one thing and standing up to the council and the powers that be is another. Standing up and speaking truth to power at council meetings face to face and jawbone to jawbone takes additional study and courage. Both are good; it's a progressive development.

Buying things is an activity that is killing our world !

thanks to all!

indeed, bringing about Peace is a many-faceted endeavor. i always cringe when people deride any of the more "passive" activities, when they don't know (nor take the time to find out) what OTHER activities the same participants are/were involved in. it's likely that just last week they were marching in the street somewhere. it's likely that just last night they were raising their voice in a town hall or City council meeting. it's likely that tomorrow morning they'll call both their Senators about an issue that's important to them.

for those who believe in the value and power of energy/global consciousness/prayer, standing together in silence ...knowing that many others around the planet are doing the same thing...is a very connective experience. and since all life is interconnected, that's nothing to sniff at.

Yes ! prayer ... but not in the name of the fraud Jesus or the un-holy bible !

om namah shiva ...

Dear Friends

Its so simple to say it`s okay,
everything is going to be fine when
it`s not happening to you.

It`s so simple to dismiss others
due to the busy-ness of your time.
Busy-ness about this and that
that you are always in a swirl.

It`s so simple to disregard one`s own feelings
in the course of the day,
rushing around to fulfill other people`s
schedules and goals.

it`s so simple to give another being
the time of the day,
By just listening and being yourself.

It`s so simple to give a smile, a hug,
to say a kind word,just by this
one can touch another`s heart.

it`s so simple just by taking
time and breathing deeply
one can avoid so much chaos

It`s so simple, giving one permission
to just be in the moment.

Beautifully said. Does being in the moment equate to being in love?

Jason, your use of the term "fraud Jesus" fails to distinguish "mythic" Jesus from "historical" Jesus. I personally believe that the Jesus of the gospel was fictional history but that does not make it fraudulent unless shysters engage in that practice. A little more nuance is needed in these emotionally charged areas but I appreciate your bringing up the subject. Likewise, with your "unholy bible." Of course, there are unholy parts of the bible, like God telling "his people" to kill the other people, including women, children and animals. But there are also holy parts about love and mercy, etc.

I've been reading all this with some interest. I think standing for a moment in silence against the war in general and the Iraq war in particular is a fine thing. I'm not one given to a lot of prayer, but I agree with you. At the same time, I understand the frustration that was expressed by the first anonymous poster in this thread.

Another poster likened the proposed silent standing in Libbey Park to Gandhi's demonstrations in India that finally sent the British packing. I'm having a little more trouble making that connection. Gandhi, and the people of India courageous enough to join him, directly challenged the power structure of the British in India. They did it peacefully, but it was done strategically to force the British to show their brutality and to expose their paper tiger nature. Those demonstrators put their bodies, indeed their lives, on the line and walked directly into soldiers who had truncheons raised and ready. Martin Luther King engaged in the same type of peaceful direct action in Birmingham, Alabama. The children of Birmingham, in a strategic move aimed at showing the injustice and brutality of segregation in the South, marched and were arrested en-mass. There was the threat of great bodily injury or even death, and the nation saw as fire hoses and dogs were aimed at them. as planned and hoped by Dr. King and his cohorts, the demonstrations 43 years ago ended up breaking the back of segregation.

Respectfully, I don't really think a group, however large, of relatively privileged people standing silently in Libbey Park on Mother's Day can be compared to the above examples of true Satyagrah. In fact the proposition that simply praying or wishing that the war would stop is enough or in any way sufficient is absurd if your true goal is to have an effect on the status quo. Because the Iraq war is mostly about the control of commodities like oil, perhaps the silent standing women should stand and block commerce or even traffic. Imagine if women all over the country shut down interstate commerce for a day. Sure lots of them would be arrested and perhaps even beaten by overzealous police, but it would be a bit of direct action that might have an effect.

we are all now becoming caretakers of this = Earth =

well stated, Sean!

i feel also the frustration of the first Anonymous, and i hear often your frustration with a lack of direct action...the kind that involves risk. this, it is clear, is not that kind of action.

i am reminded of my own relationship with vigils: i am usually there about 25% for the message, the visibility, the public display to my neighbors...the other 75% is for me. selfish? of course. 3/4 of the reason i'm there is to re-energize mySELF, to reconnect with the other folks in my community who are thinking and living and acting the same ways i do, and with similar motivations. that's important for MYself, and gives me the energy to go on to the risk-taking actions. this, perhaps, is THAT kind of gathering.

I so appreciate Evan's comments about Vigils. I often ask myself why I no longer stand in them these past few years. Is it because people feel called to take different actions at different points in their Life? I'm grateful to the people who take time to participate in these gatherings. I think they have an important cumulative effect. Everything is Connected. Everything!

Help me out here.

I always thought the point of a vigil was to bear witness to an event that one cannot influence - because it has already happened, or because it is beyond human agency. A vigil expresses that its participants have seen what happened and will not forget.

For example, a vigil for the victims of Hiroshima. A vigil for the innocent Afghan civilians our military bombed yesterday (and the day before, and before).

Is that where we are with the Bush regime? These daily, hourly crimes are beyond human agency to stop? We can simply bear witness to their awful effect?

Is that the message we want to send? Are we already at the stage of nuclear fallout? Or are we at the point when the evildoers have their finger on the button - and can still be stopped?

Back in the 60's I thought that Peace Vigil's were a way to stand up and be counted that you were publicly protesting the war.

The number of military deaths while Bush has been in office now is around 3,351 , how long will the insanity continue ! True, it is still not as many as when Clinton was in office (4,417) but it is still more than it should be !

For the above Anonymous commenter in clarification of your misleading statement: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/02/21/colon/index.html?source=rss

at Julie Tumamait's suggestion, we are meeting 1pm Sunday in Vista Bluff park. haven't heard from her yet if she will stay for more than a prayer. I will be staying for an hour to facilitate a dialog on the coming days of winding back the consumerism and winding up the harmony with all peoples, all our relations, all sacred nature.

all gentle Earth-healing spirits welcomed.

for the returning divine feminine.

Mitakuye Oyasin

I prefer to stand next to the fountain in Libbey Park. It's my favorite Ojai energy spot. I'll be with those in spirit who gather at Cluff Vista.

i'm so glad to be seeing that some men plan on participating...if i have/had one hangup about this action, it's that it doesnt overtly invite any masculine (not to be confused with aggressive) energy, or for men to come and connect with their socially neglected feminine energy.

i'm glad also that there is such diverse interest and perspective on the function and experience of vigils! how fortunate that they dont have a homogeneous meaning!

Millennium, you remind me about a tiny point i've been meaning to make about inclusion and marketing a peaceful, connected culture in a way that people can feel comfortable approaching and relating to. i remember when i first started hearing the term/word "Namaste". i had no idea what it meant, nor did i know how to respond to it, because i had tricked myself into believing that i was on the outside of some cultural/spiritual club where these terms are common. so it was a long while before i asked someone i trusted, and discovered its beautiful meaning. our english language confounds me with its tendency to be soul-less, and so i do enjoy borrowing and adopting terms and words from other, more expressive languages. BUT, i have become convinced that to use such terms in a way that helps others to connect to what we mean and become comfortable trying them out for themselves, perhaps we would be well served to provide some explanation so that people dont trick themselves into thinking that we are evolved beyond or above them.

so, can you please explain to me what "Mitakuye Oyasin" means?

whoops, the above comment is mine...forgot to put in my name.

Mitakuye Oyasin ... a Lakota, Dakota, Native American term for "all my relations" or "all my sacred relations."

it has become the most common blessing amongst most of the Native North American tribes in recent years.

that is -- all my sisters and brothers -- the birds and fish and mammals and trees and flowers and reptiles and amphibians -- and wind and water and fire and stone. spirits and ancestors.

when we live in love and respect for all our relations, we then lead the healthiest and happiest and most awakened of lives. of harmony.

mitakuye oyasin ...

for all our relations ...

this is our path,
this is our purpose,
this is our enlightenment ...