I have gone on Many walks and protests and marches in my time and I have seen how my involvement has evolved. As a teenager and in my 20’s I was jam-packed Full of utter passion and injustice and rage at the world and was wildly convinced I could make a difference. It was all anti war marches and anti this and anti that and the next thing. I saw quickly that anti Anything actually doesn’t work. You are Only fueling that particular fire with more of the very energy you are trying so desperately to change: More Hate, More Conflict, More Violence, just with a sugar coated wrapping of appearing to do the right moral thing, aka utter BS. I learnt Years ago instead of being anti war for example I changed it so I am Utterly Pro PEACE and walk with That energy.
I’ve taken part in similar marches over the last few years but in the interim period between the last time I marches and this date, Another 35,000 Elephants have been murdered.
THIRTY FIVE THOUSAND ELEPHANTS KILLED!!!!!
That’s the same number as the Entire population of a local town such as Falkirk! It gives me chills.
Every 15 minutes an Elephant is killed. Now they are using helicopter gun ships and mowing down herds and using chainsaws to remove the ivory. This industry is now worth 4.5 Billion Dollars!!!
Every 9 hours a Rhino is slaughtered. Rhinos have roamed the earth for about 13 MILLION years, then Homo Sapiens came along and now there has been sustained devastation to the point that the Western Black Rhino for example has been declared Extinct.
And of course the plight of the canned farming industry recently came to the attention of the world with the cruel mindless slaughter of a magnificent Lion. There is also the part associated with the hunt where tourists get to cuddle baby cubs that have actually been removed from their mothers shortly after birth. Yes they are incredibly cute but the tourist demand is causing such problems.
I will NOT stand by and do Nothing. NOR will I buy into all the hate and fear and violence.
I went along to the March on my own. I walked Mindfully, Peacefully and Silently. I had no banners or placards or clothing with messages on. I just brought myself. (In the image I am at the back of this part of the group.)
I walked, noticing Any place in my heart where I felt hatred and violence towards the perpetrators and the people who buy Any ivory products or partake in Big Game hunting etc. I felt the passion, anger and rage in the people around me. I Kept coming back to my breath, to my body, to the experience of the present moment. I used my eyes open meditation techniques, particularly the technique based on Compassion. I kept doing the Compassion technique over and over and over.
I felt the energy of Lord Ganesh and how he is associated with removing obstacles. What obstacles are there to all those involved in all the levels of violence to wake them up so they STOP their practices and Awakening their hearts? How can we help them Remember that we are ALL Divine creatures and this is not a way to treat the majesty of creation. I kept visualising the hearts of Everyone opening and blossoming – Even the hearts that are so very tightly closed and shut down and behind bars and armour, Especially those hearts.
(And of course I think about ALL the other places where So much trauma is happening, not just these specific creatures. I have been once more following what is happening in Taiji cove with the dolphins for example. And then yet more horrendous shooting in America and all the ongoing Civil Wars and trauma across the world with humans killing one another.) How can we not get caught up in all the pain and suffering that just feels All around us sometimes?
How can we co-create a world where there is no need for news channels to pump out doom and gloom every 15 minutes because we have eradicated all these situations.
How can our visions of a PEACEFUL Gaia come into existence, how can we manifest PEACE?
These are not easy issues, and it is not easy to find a simple answer but Still we can not give up hope, we can not stop. Just because some of the BIG issues we face may not be stopped or fixed in my lifetime, doesn’t mean I won’t try Whatever I can to step forward in the right direction at least.
I have a few ideas of actions I can take at a local individual level and the first step I can do is keep with my meditation practice. Remove All barriers to LOVE. Rest in Silence as much as I can. Surrender everything up to Divinity and let that energy move through me as I offer myself in Service with no preference of how that manifests or looks.
It is irrelevant if I “win” or “loose” in all the various campaigns I am involved in, I will show up and play my part and I won’t sit on the sidelines of this life and regret that I could have done more.
May ALL Sentient Beings be at PEACE.