In my morning meditation, I asked myself why we still are warring at this point in human history. How is it possible that somebody still can believe problems and differences can be solved by killing each other?
The image of Athena came to my mind. The goddess of war and wisdom. Of art and techné. Inconciliable opposites? Absurd pairs?
No. We humans learn through crises. A Greek word that means "crack" - an opening.
The concept of learning through a painful experience is common in many cultures. Even the Buddhist one. Differently from the book's religions, Buddhism and the Ancient Greeks do not worship suffering. It is not the goal; it is a process of liberation that comes from understanding (and not, as many get it wrong, from getting rid of the flow of life!).
So, Athena teaches us how to find wisdom that comes from war, considering that we are still not free from this way of learning. WWII showed humanity that we cannot accept a madness that privileges a "pure race" and kills millions. It also taught that there is no "social equality" when a dictator massacres his own people in millions - including Ukrainians. Humanity made a step further into wisdom. No, it did not become wise, but better.
The madness of the Ukraine invasion is not as successful as the autocrat madman in the Kremlin fantasized. Also, in terms of support from the populists worldwide. Very soon, the Russian people will oppose it. Even the soldiers will ask themselves why they have to kill brothers and sisters. And die for the personal greed of a mob boss that reduced beautiful Russia to his personal feud. This war and the brave - and painful - resistance of the people of Ukraine will give us, hopefully in time, more wisdom. We hope it will end as better as it is possible. It is time to find a global way to live on this planet together.
Conflicts will ever exist. The way to solve them has to change.
Thank you, Vince, for your article. Few of us know what it truly means to be a soldier... one who holds a weapon in their hands, confronting their internal struggle to follow the "orders" they have received to kill others. We all must learn to heed a higher command - from Life HerSelf. When soldiers refuse to listen to the senseless, putting their weapons aside and begin to speak with those with whom the "conflict" is imagined to be against, things will change. Our enemies are greed, arrogance, violence and apathy.
Women and children are always the first victims - as their sons, husband, fathers, brothers, lovers, and friends leave their homes and lands to do the bidding of those…
You encourage me, Vince! Thank you for your thoughts, which also show that giving up can never be an option. I wish us all to use the current opportunity to continue learning and growing. ☮️🕊 Anne
Dear Vince Thank you very much for your touching thoughts and for sharing them with us. Yes, Mother Earth gives birth to life and every seed that grows in her is so much wiser and carries an incredible amount of information, beyond my imagination. So let's earth lovers stand together and sow as many seeds as we can for a future of conflict that can be resolved in a respectful and non-destructive way. Much love and sincerely! Bridget
Thank you for your precious thoughts! Yea, let’s make this moment worth it in that we learn and grow. We are so easy to kill and think that that is real power. But every seed has more power in that it is able to birth Life. Nothing can hold back Spring to come. May we all plant thousands of flowers as an answer to war.