The challenge

The world is in a difficult place today, to say the least.

So much pain and suffering born of prejudice and hatred; so much violence between divided groups of people; too little care and compassion for the basic needs of every human being; and such enormous difficulty for the world to work together on solving these problems.

When looked at this way, it is a bleak picture. And to see this real human suffering happening every day, on our own shores or in distant parts of the world; to feel like things are getting worse and that we’re powerless to stem the tide; to try and confront the full scope and magnitude of our inhumanity to each other?

It’s asking a lot to live under such conditions and maintain an overall sense of hope. Feelings of cynicism, pessimism and jadedness are an understandable response when faced with a shared fate that feels inescapable, driven by the core problem of a divided humanity that seems unsolvable.

I don’t think there’s one “right” or “wrong” way to bear witness to the human suffering in the world and try to integrate a response to it in our daily lives. We each have to come to terms with it for ourselves, decide if we’re in a position to do something, and if we are, figure out what can be done.

The root cause

If someone is hungry then we give them food. That’s an immediate and effective response; but if that’s all we ever do then we’re not getting at what caused the hunger in the first place. A person not having enough to eat is a symptom of a larger problem.

So we can then look at the underlying causes of hunger by trying to address things like poverty, geopolitical conflict, climate change, housing insecurity and economic instability. And there are many shining examples of excellent work being done in these areas that are reducing hunger for millions of people.

But these issues have their own underlying causes, which if left unchecked will continue to create these problems without end. And on it goes; causes upon causes, with the resulting pain and suffering of the world at the end of the chain. But what’s at the beginning?

I think when the origins of most human suffering are traced back in this way, we find that the ultimate root cause is a lack of shared humanity: the treatment of others, especially from groups different than our own, as not having intrinsic value. Because when we cut our connections to others, compassion disappears; and when that’s gone, the pain and suffering of others doesn’t matter anymore.

We have more than enough food to feed the entire world multiple times over every day. Hunger is not a resource or distribution problem: it’s a compassion problem. Collectively, we don’t yet care enough about others to want to meet everyone’s basic needs.

We are living in an era of humanity where selfishness, tribalism and divisions dominate; where wars and other terrible conflicts of unspeakable violence are the natural outcome. So this lack of shared humanity needs to be addressed at the root, in addition to treating the symptoms of suffering that result from it.

From inner peace

Without seeing evidence to the contrary, it can seem like selfishness and tribalism are unchangeable parts of human nature that we’ll be living with forever. So I’ll submit what may feel like a radical proposition: we can each actively cultivate and promote a collective feeling of shared humanity; millions are already doing this today; and it’s by doing so that we’ll create a future of lasting unity among all people.

There are available today what I would call “pathways to peace.” Whether classified as spiritual or religious, contemplative or introspective, or something else altogether: these are open invitations to explore and evaluate different ways of opening the door to an entirely new landscape of possibility within ourselves, through a direct personal experience of deep inner stillness, and the oneness of all life.

It’s the prospect for a wholly new dimension of experience, fostering connection through expansive feelings of love and peace. And direct personal experience is essential because it’s difficult to create and share unity without first feeling the truth of it for ourselves. As Tony Nader says, “love is the highest and most unifying expression of the value of oneness; but what is missing is to know it on the deep level of our being.”

This is what I think “to change the world, change yourself” means; why the Dalai Lama says “world peace must develop from inner peace.” Where amplifying the feelings we discover within creates ripple effects in the collective consciousness of the world, radiating outwards, inviting and encouraging other hearts to vibrate in a shared resonance.

To world peace

And so inner peace leads to world peace when hearts become progressively brighter beacons in the world, conduits drawing from a shared wellspring of inspiration, working collectively through acts of intention, and expressed individually through lives of ever-expanding kindness, compassion and love.

It’s hard to fully embrace such an approach based on lofty ideals alone. Pathways to peace provide the missing piece of personal experience by uncovering a profound depth of feeling, a reservoir to draw upon that infuses our thoughts, actions and consciousness. We become the instruments to create the world we aspire to see.

The path that works best for me is Heartfulness Meditation, a free and simple daily practice to connect deeply with the heart. There are various paths to choose from with different methods and beliefs, united by the aspiration to bring forth a world of universal harmony and understanding among all people. This is the future we can create together. May we all discover our pathways to peace.

Peter Demling lives in Amherst and practices at the Heartfulness Meditation Center on Rte 116 in Sunderland.