A Walk for Peace
Behavioral Health Within Our Communities
Recently, the 19 monks who belong to the Sangha Buddhist monastic order walked through our community on their journey, A Walk for Peace. They walk in order to accentuate the power of mindfulness, and to illustrate the value of practicing inner peace in everyday life.
Unfortunately, there were some who misunderstood their purpose. Some may have thought they were representing a religion. For over two thousand years, the monks have never taught a religion. Instead, they practice the example of a man named Buddha. They do not worship Buddha; they practice a way of life that was best practiced by him. A monk that is probably best known in our modern time is the Dalai (pronounced “Dolly”) Lama.
Similarly, spiritual Christians and spiritual Muslims also practice their spirituality in the same way—striving to achieve peace in a complex world through compassion, love, kindness, peaceful dialogue, and universal understanding. A state of being that comes from within.
Mindfulness, emotions, and self-control
The monks devote themselves to training the mind to always be still and stable. They devote their lives to learning how to express more from the thoughtfulness of your heart. This practice does not exclude sadness or anger, nor does it deny any emotions. Instead, this training teaches one not to be consumed by emotions.
Their way of this discipline is by repetition of proper breathing techniques in order to explore the balance between rational thoughts of the mind and the intuition of the heart. The reward is not only inner peace but also inner wisdom.
Building healthier communities
When one considers the spirituality of life, not just the religion which one practices, we become more capable to bridge beyond the chains and fetters that binds us to the confusion and complexity of adversity. When we, as individuals, accept diversity instead of adversity, we come to better terms with ourselves, our family, our neighborhoods and the world beyond.
We learn to respect the wisdom and knowledge each person brings to the table, in order to better the social and spiritual environments we dwell in.
Most importantly, all of this lends itself to improving mental health and behavioral health as well. It helps us to better understand and manage stress and emotion, to become more open minded and less intensely reactive. We begin to develop practices which go beyond just our personal self. We become more considerate and respectful of life itself.
We can also begin to accomplish positive social connections, bring down the high rate of crimes such as domestic and verbal violence, child abuse, bullying, theft and murder in our neighborhoods. Our environments will begin to thrive in wholesome mental wellness and stability.
Mindfulness and meditation offer a purposeful approach to reducing issues like youth gun violence. It encourages calm under pressure, self-awareness and purpose in life, helps replace negative emotions with positive ones, fosters openness to change, and provides guidance for building safer, stronger communities. These are necessary strategies which youth must apply in order for them to navigate the transitional situations of adolescence.
Mindfulness and meditation are worthy of inspection and dialogue. They go a very long way in helping doctors and social workers with behavioral disorders in our homes, schools and communities. They certainly go a long way in helping law enforcement officers keep the peace. Because a mentally healthy community is surely a more law-abiding community.
Ancient roots of mindfulness
Finally, let us not forget that written in the ancient Egyptian texts, found in the tomb of Seti I, who was Pharaoh of the 19th dynasty over 3,000 years ago, were instructions on how important spiritual enlightenment, emotional balance and physical health were to this great civilization.
The hieroglyphs found in his tomb spoke of meditation practices, focusing on conscious self-awareness as a way to achieve unity with the divine. Mindfulness was named Kemetic Meditations by the Ancient Egyptians. A term that also meant “clear and keen intellect”. This is often translated in connection with Thoth, the Ancient Egyptian scientist of wisdom and recording.
It is written in the hieroglyphs that the Ancient Egyptians believed the heart was the center of thought, emotion and memory. In fact, they focus very keenly on maintaining a very intricate balance between the heart and the mind. They also practiced breathing techniques and proper posture to “take in” the divine energy that circulates throughout our universe.
Closing thoughts
Finally, whether you understand the monks’ Walk for Peace or not, our nation should stay open to actions that support healing, mental health, and safer communities.
Otherwise, as the author Dennis William Hauck states in his book, The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal Transformation:
“Psychologically, if we do not reject old habits and beliefs when confronted with the possibility of a better way of being, we will end up imprisoned by a tyrannical ego complex which will perpetrate any illusion just to keep control.”
More next time.
We share this universe together, let's make the best of it.....