Dear Friends,

Have you ever been caught within the steady gaze of a very young child as it looks out upon the world? It is an unblinking stare that is surprisingly objective and without judgement. It is qualified by an exquisite simplicity that is perhaps closer to the wisdom of a great seer than to any ordinary mortal. There is a quality of acceptance without assumption and a penetrating awareness that sees without any judgement. Communication with such a child is direct and open; there are no agendas to protect, no worldly identities to bolster and no demands to address apart from the basic needs of the physical body when it prompts with too powerful a discomfort to be ignored - and even then these will fade, if neglected, under the overpowering context of complete acceptance of the milieu in which the child finds itself.

Such is the view from a mountaintop under a clear sky across endless vistas of life and being … and then the world draws its veils across, like mist and clouds, reducing visibility to the limitations of the adult context into which our worldly "upbringing" takes us. Is it the distant memory of this cherished vastness that so wounds our heart when we see young (innocent) children harmed by the blind and ignorant acts of adults who have become sick with fear, loneliness and separation from too long an immersion in the fog and narrowness of the "valley of the shadow of death"? A story from Chapter 41 of "The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ" tells of the wisdom of a child:

So often our fears focus our attention on that which is inimical to the free flow of that "Life more abundant" of which the Christ taught, reminding us of the trust and wisdom of our childhood before we encounter and absorb worldly knowledge. This worldly knowledge can be used either to express the wisdom of the greater life or to demonstrate its worldly limitations. Amongst these limitations perhaps the most imprisoning is the idea of property rather than stewardship, of separate ownership rather than of the right of all beings, all life, to have existence within the divine intention. It is this sense of personal ownership (especially when hard-won or conditioned by privilege) of things, ideals, cultural patterns and behaviours, of all that bolsters a worldly identity, which stands in the way of soul intention and life.

The New Testament story of the rich young man presenting to go through the eye of the needle defines the challenge of the way of return to the Father. Having passed through the innocence of childhood and the knowledge of youth, the young man (the young humanity, perhaps) has the opportunity to transcend the riches gleaned from both individual and group life and enter into a fuller Life and a greater identity. We come into the world with such capacity to express divine intention and to create the world that is meant to be and for which we long. The Master, Djwhal Khul, clarifies:

Thus we may interpret Peace differently at each stage of the developing human understanding while we journey towards its essential truth, eventually to be known and expressed through us. There is always more. There is always greater knowing. The only real "authority" is Life and its essential truth. So many authoritative statements borrow that authority with incomplete understanding; so much "inspiration" is received as though there is no more to be known and as though it were the final and definitive answer. Yet Life flows on bringing more and still more illumination, understanding and expanding awareness.

And we already know so much about peace-building. Why do we still subscribe to combating symptoms rather than healing causes? Even demonstrators for peace can be violent in their desperation as they try to introduce the new with the failed methods of the past. How do we grow if we keep reacting destructively? What is the wound in the human heart that is yet to be healed? The challenge and the restorative lies in a fresh approach to bringing in a new culture of peace.

The 20th and early 21st centuries have demonstrated the appalling nature of genocide. How much more clarification do we need of what is not before we turn all our life energies behind what is? So many great souls have shown us what is possible - Ghandi, Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, and so many others down the ages. We are all responsible for the trend of human destiny - each unit wherever it finds its place within that great flood, each one, is humanity in microcosm and therefore is that which humanity is destined to reveal. Every life is Life itself in miniature reflection. Then, as soon as we accept everyone's right to exist, a whole flow on of considerations opens. If everyone has a right to exist then each has a right to all that existence requires - healing from a sense of separateness and other diseases of the mind, emotions, and body, and the meeting of essential needs.

The new civilisation is being born. Its keynote is "Peace and Goodwill to all men". Peace IS and its realisation is inevitable. It is the desire and need of all men and the will-to-good of the soul of humanity. Those who promote war are caught in the death throes of the outgoing order as Life expresses ever more fully and abundantly in its great simplicity - as of a little child. Let us therefore nurture with loving care this fledgling Culture of Peace.

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The Festival in Leo will be celebrated at a meditation meeting at 8 pm on Wednesday, 9 August, at the YWCA, 5-11 Wentworth Avenue, Sydney. The keynote for reflection is: I am That and That am I.

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International Day of Peace, Thursday 21st September
A 24 hour Peace Vigil will be maintained by representatives of many spiritual traditions with prayer, meditation, song, chant and presentation, from midnight to midnight, in Victoria Park, Broadway. All are welcome to join in at any time throughout the day.