So today I am posting something with a lot of
sadness, grief and some trepidation as well. As we look at all
the brutality and slaughter
happening all over the world,
but right now, of course, our attention
is focused on what's happening
in the Middle East. Before that,
it was Ukraine and Russia. That conflict
is still going on. And every day, innocent people, women and children and innocent
civilians who have no interests in
violence are being slaughtered,
murdered, raped. And we look on
helplessly. The reason
I share this video with trepidation and a little bit
of anxiety is, no matter what
you're saying, you know, in times
of conflict, war, somebody is going
to be enraged. Okay. So no matter what I say, someone
will be enraged in the world,
particularly those who feel
that they are innocent victims of this collective madness or insanity. So today,
I would like to actually dissect it
a little bit with you. And I would love
your feedback. Dissect the anatomy
of recycled trauma and war
and violence, and then also make
an offer to everyone
who is interested from the Chopra
Foundation to help you, you individually
right now to have more peace
in your life, in your family, in
your relationships, in your ecosystem,
hopefully in your community,
and ultimately maybe help create that
critical mass for a more peaceful,
just, sustainable, healthier
and joyful world. All those things
are inseparably linked
to each other Peace, social,
economic, racial, justice, sustainability, biological
sustainability, sustainability
of our planet, and ultimately
our health and our capacity
for joy, which is the
only thing that actually will be the cure. A pandemic of joy
is the only cure for a more peaceful, just sustainable, healthier
and joyful world. So before I share my
thoughts with you, I'd also like
to invite you to become part
of the mailing list on ChopraFoundation.org
www.ChopraFoundation.org - And if you join
the email list, we can help you become
a peace facilitator in your life. That means
in your ecosystem. Peace in you, peace
in your family, peace
in your community, and hopefully contributing to
peace in the world. And we'd love
to help you do that. So if you're
interested, please join the mailing list
and mention that you're
interested in becoming
a peace facilitator and ultimately a certified peace
ambassador. Okay,
now let's dissect this anatomy
of violence a little bit today. Ever since
we've been hunter-gatherers
as humans, we've been violent. Violence is built
into the ecosystem of life. Predator and victim
are part of the food chain
and have been always in animals, but only humans engage in violence, not just because
they want to eat. They engage
in violence over property
rights, engage in violence over
religion, engage in violence over ideology, engage in violence over money, engage
in violence over ideas that we feel are right and
others are wrong, and today engage in violence
more than ever in the name
of religion or God. And that has been recycling since
hunter-gatherer times. All our movies
are about violence, all our history is about war, all our entertainment
are about, you know, who's the winner,
who's the loser? Star Wars one, Star Wars
two, on and on. Even as we go into exploring
intergalactic space and other planets, they're already
thinking about, you know,
how we'll fight for rights on other planets. This is our
collective insanity. So, first of all, let's dissect this
anatomy of violence. It always begins
with trauma and it doesn't
matter who inflicts
the trauma first, but trauma is always
traced back to the experience
of trauma. So every predator or every perpetrator also thinks, at least
in their mind, that they are
a victim and victim
and perpetrator are entangled
in the recycling of trauma
and violence that never
seems to stop. Is there a way out? Okay, so let's dissect this
a little bit. Trauma leads to anger. Anger leads
to hostility. Hostility
is the desire for revenge, and hostility leads to inflammation
in the body-mind. And that hostility
leads to the recycling
of trauma. Again, if you have a little bit of a conscience,
then there's a part of
you who recognizes that this is a never
ending cycle, that the only way
for us to feel safe in our families, in our personal and personal life, in our community,
the only way to feel safe is
an authentic peace. And that authentic
peace has actually never happened
throughout history. So as we venture into new territory, let us explore this
anatomy. Trauma leads
to anger, leads to hostility, leads to recycling
of trauma. And if you have
a conscience, then it also leads a little bit
somewhere to a feeling
of guilt, shame and disgust. And ultimately that leads to the
depletion of energy that we call
depression. And depression,
stress, trauma, inflammation
in our body-mind collectively then continues
to recycle trauma. So it's not a
question of who started it first, because victim
and perpetrator are entangled in a
never-ending cycle. And every
perpetrator also feels that
they are the victim. Is there a way out? And the only way out
is to first recognize
that peace, authentic peace,
is the only thing that will make us
feel safe. Authentic peace
is the only thing that will not only make us
feel safe, but will bring prosperity
to everyone and will bring
health to everyone and will bring ultimately a sustainable
planet. Those things are
inseparable Peace, justice,
sustainability, health and the
experience of joy. So if you want
to engage in being a peace facilitator
and ultimately be a certified peace
ambassador from the Chopra
Foundation, we are here
to serve you. And what we will do is first explore how to reduce
inflammation in the body-mind
as an individual, then slowly
expand that to our families,
to our communities, and to the world
by being the change we want
to see in the world. And this will
require some patience, but
it will also require an intense desire
on our part to be healthy and sane and change the course of history. Because
history is not going to help us. You know,
I mentioned recently in some video that when
I discovered my wife had thalassemia
minor 1970, I did research
and found that a belt of thalassemia
existed along the exact
Army's that Alexander the Great took from Macedonia
to Greece all the way
to India. And so one of my wife's ancestors
was certainly the victim
of violence and probably raped by a Greek soldier on a village woman. And that's
the only way I can trace the genetic imprint
of thalassemia minor in my wife
and my children. So this has been
going on for thousands
of years, and even the genetic
imprints of that violence
are there from before
the birth of Christ. And now we know
all this epigenetic recycling
of violence also, and how the trauma of the Holocaust caused epigenetic changes
in descendants who now have
diabetes and metabolic
syndrome and inflammation
and chronic disease and increased
susceptibility to all kinds of health problems, including
Alzheimer's, diabetes,
even cancer and autoimmune
illness, it's all connected. So if we take the
approach that mental and physical
well-being are important
for all of us, then there is
possibility of peace. And we also know that there are techniques for
conflict resolution that actually work in small groups, but there's
no reason why they shouldn't work in
larger groups. But at this moment,
I don't think it's possible for us
to trust leaders or politicians or special interest
groups. Even as the wars go on
in the Middle East, in Ukraine
and elsewhere, the stocks and assets and, you know, the money that weapons dealers and weapons companies
and manufacturers have, it's
all going up right now, and it's all karmically stained blood money. There are people
who are making money over murder and rape and pillage and war
and terrorism. And, you know,
taking sides is not going to
help. It's only
going to recycle. And there'll be
special interest groups
in the health lobby in the weapons lobby, who will make a lot of money as a result and maybe
feel some guilt, but they'll move on. So I just want to conclude with this idea. Can we,
indeed, create a critical mass for a more peaceful,
just, sustainable, healthier
and joyful world by being the change we want
to see in the world? So I conclude this message by saying what I said
a long time ago, that there is no way
to peace. Peace is the way. These thoughts
were inspired by His Holiness the Dalai Lama,
who was also a good friend of mine and has been
the victim of violence. His community has been the victim
of violence, but he continues to be an ambassador
for peace. If enough of us
do that, we could probably
make a difference. Let me know
your thoughts and God bless and may
peace be with you.
