Contents
ABOUT THE BOOK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ALSO BY DEEPAK CHOPRA
TITLE PAGE
DEDICATION
PRAISE
EPIGRAPH
WAR ENDS TODAY
THE WAY OF PEACE
THE SPECTER OF THEM
BEYOND TOXIC NATIONALISM
THE MYTH OF SECURITY
DIABOLICAL CREATIVITY
THE POLITICS OF THE SOUL
(STILL) MAD AS HELL
WHY DOES GOD WANT WAR?
THE METAPHYSICS OF TERROR
THE BODY AT PEACE
OUR BEST HOPE
EPILOGUE
APPENDIX
NOTES
WHAT CAN I DO?
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
COPYRIGHT
Deepak Chopra, MD, has established a distinguished career as a writer, lecturer and physician. He is the bestselling author of many books, including Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, How to Know God and The Book of Secrets, and is the founder of the Chopra Center in Carlsbad, California.
Deepak Chopra and The Chopra Center for Well Being at La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad, California, offer a wide range of seminars, products and educational programmes, worldwide. The Chopra Center offers revitalizing mind/body programmes, as well as day spa services. Guests can come to rejuvenate, expand knowledge or obtain a medical consultation.
For information on meditation classes, health and well-being courses, instructor certification programmes, or local classes in your area, contact The Chopra Center for Well Being at La Costa Resort and Spa, 2013 Costa Del Mar Road, Carlsbad, CA 92009, USA. By telephone: 001-888-424-6772, or 001-760-931-7566. For a virtual tour of the Center, visit the Internet website at www.chopra.com.
If you live in Europe and would like more information on workshops, lectures or other programmes about Dr. Deepak Chopra or to order any of his books, tapes or products, please contact: Contours, 44 Fordbridge Road, Ashford, Middlesex, TW15 2SJ (tel: +44 (0) 208 564 7033; fax +44 (0) 208 897 3807; email info@spiritualityworks.com; website: www.spiritualityworks.com).
If you live in Australia and would like more information on workshops, lectures, or programmes presented by Dr. Deepak Chopra, please contact What’s On The Planet Pty Ltd, PO Box 161, Brighton Le Sands, NSW 2216, Australia, or email deepak@the planet.com.au.
Deepak Chopra’s new book takes its title from a famous quotation: ‘There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.’ Mere variations on the theme of conflict will never get us where we want to go. We must take an evolutionary leap into a new way of being.
According to Dr Chopra, war is a deeply ingrained habit that needs to be replaced. And beyond that, ‘If the way of peace is to succeed, it must offer a substitute for everything war now offers.’ More than this, Chopra contends that the majority of people have already evolved beyond war. The way of peace is the next step in their journey of personal growth. War is an outlet for fear, a stage for the enactment of courage and heroism, a display of machismo, and the contest of good versus evil. Peace Is the Way shows how each of us can end our need for these things.
This stimulating new book offers a seven-step programme for changing the reader’s consciousness. War ends with one person at a time, Chopra argues, and if enough people expand their awareness, we will reach critical mass, at which point the entire consciousness of the planet can shift away from war forever.
Inspiring, thoughtful, timely and skilfully-crafted, Peace Is the Way is reminiscent of How to Know God in its scope and vision for the future of the world.
‘I absolutely agree with Dr Chopra’s view that “if we want to change the world, we have to begin by changing ourselves.”’ -The Dalai Lama
Creating Health
Return of the Rishi
Quantum Healing
Perfect Health
Unconditional Life
Ageless Body, Timeless Mind
Journey Into Healing
Creating Affluence
Perfect Weight
Restful Sleep
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
The Return of Merlin
Boundless Energy
Perfect Digestion
The Way of the Wizard
Overcoming Addictions
Raid on the Inarticulate
The Path to Love
The Seven Spiritual Laws for Parents
The Love Poems of Rumi
(edited by Deepak Chopra; translated by Deepak and Fereydoun Kia)
Healing the Heart
Everyday Immortality
The Lords of the Light
On the Shores of Eternity
How to Know God
The Soul in Love
The Chopra Center Herbal Handbook
(with coauthor David Simon)
Grow Younger, Live Longer
(with coauthor David Simon)
The Deeper Wound
The Chopra Center Cookbook
(coauthored by David Simon and Leanne Backer)
The Angel Is Near
The Daughters of Joy
Golf for Enlightenment
Soulmate
SynchroDestiny
The Book of Secrets
Fire in the Heart
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga
(with coauthor David Simon)
Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives
The following is a pamphlet outlining the weekly program for peacemakers that appears in “The Way of Peace,” page 7. It’s offered here as reference for anyone interested in becoming part of a community of consciousness. The same materials can be downloaded from www.chopra.com, where it appears in printable form under News from Deepak.
War is the plague that human beings bring upon themselves. It is also a plague we might be able to end. On any given day since you and I were born, some part of the world has been at war; in 2003 the total number of open conflicts was thirty. In the twentieth century at least 108 million people died in wars. Of the twenty largest military budgets on earth, fourteen belong to developing countries. The United States spends more on its military than the next sixteen countries combined.
That war is the major problem in the world is undeniable.
The need for a new idea is just as undeniable.
The new idea is to bring peace one person at a time until the world reaches a critical mass of peacemakers instead of warmakers.
There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.
MAHATMA GANDHI
Peace movements have tried three ways for bringing war to an end:
Activism, the approach of putting political pressure on governments that wage war. Activism involves protests and public demonstrations, lobbying and political commitment. Almost every war creates some kind of peace movement opposed to it.
Why has it failed?
Because the protesters are not heard.
Because they are worn down by frustration and resistance.
Because they are far outnumbered by the war interests in society.
Because their idealism turns to anger and violence.
Activism has left us with the ironic picture of outraged peacemakers who wind up contributing to the total sum of violence in the world.
The second approach is humanitarianism, the approach of helping the victims of war. Bringing relief to victims is an act of kindness and compassion. As embodied by the International Red Cross, this effort is ongoing and attracts thousands of volunteers worldwide. Every nation on earth approves of humanitarianism.
Why has it failed?
Because humanitarians are wildly outnumbered by soldiers and warmakers.
Because of finances. The International Red Cross annual budget of $1.8 billion dollars is a tiny fraction of military budgets around the world.
Because the same countries that wage war also conduct humanitarian efforts, keeping the two activities very separate.
Because humanitarians show up on the scene after the war has already begun.
The third approach is personal transformation, the approach of ending war one person at a time. The prevailing idea is that war begins in each human heart and can only end there. The religious tradition of praying for peace is the closest most people will ever come to ending war in their own hearts. Most people have actually never heard of this approach.
Why has it failed?
Because nobody has really tried it.
Can you be the change that you wish to see in the world?
MAHATMA GANDHI
The approach of personal transformation is the idea of the future for ending war. It depends on the only advantage that people of peace have over warmakers: sheer numbers. If enough people in the world transformed themselves into peacemakers, war could end. The leading idea here is critical mass. It took a critical mass of human beings to embrace electricity and fossil fuels, to teach evolution and adopt every major religion. When the time is right and enough people participate, critical mass can change the world.
Can it end war?
There is precedent to believe that it might. The ancient Indian ideal of Ahimsa, or nonviolence, gave Gandhi his guiding principle of reverence for life. In every spiritual tradition it is believed that peace must exist in one’s heart before it can exist in the outer world.
Personal transformation deserves a chance.
When a person is established in nonviolence,
those in his vicinity cease to feel hostility.
PATANJALI, ANCIENT INDIAN SAGE
The program for peacemakers asks you to follow a specific practice every day, each one centered on the theme of peace.
Sunday: Being for Peace
Monday: Thinking for Peace
Tuesday: Feeling for Peace
Wednesday: Speaking for Peace
Thursday: Acting for Peace
Friday: Creating for Peace
Saturday: Sharing for Peace
Our hope is that you will create peace on every level of your life. Each practice takes only a few minutes. You can be as private or outspoken as you wish. But those around you will know that you are for peace, not just through good intentions but by the way you conduct your life on a daily basis.
Today, take five minutes to meditate for peace. Sit quietly with your eyes closed. Put your attention on your heart and inwardly repeat these four words: Peace, Harmony, Laughter, Love. Allow these words to radiate from your heart’s stillness into your body.
As you end your meditation, say to yourself, Today I will relinquish all resentments and grievances. Bring into your mind anyone against whom you have a grievance and let it go. Send that person your forgiveness.
Thinking has power when it is backed by intention. Today, introduce the intention of peace in your thoughts. Take a few moments of silence, then repeat this ancient prayer:
Let me be loved, let me be happy, let me be peaceful.
Let my friends be happy, loved, and peaceful.
Let my perceived enemies be happy, loved, and peaceful.
Let all beings be happy, loved, and peaceful.
Let the whole world experience these things.
If at any time during the day you are overshadowed by fear or anger, repeat these intentions. Use this prayer to get back on center.
This is the day to experience the emotions of peace. The emotions of peace are compassion, understanding, and love.
Compassion is the feeling of shared suffering. When you feel someone else’s suffering, there is the birth of understanding.
Understanding is the knowledge that suffering is shared by everyone. When you understand that you aren’t alone in your suffering, there is the birth of love.
When there is love there is the opportunity for peace.
As your practice, observe a stranger some time during your day. Silently say to yourself, This person is just like me. Like me, this person has experienced joy and sorrow, despair and hope, fear and love. Like me, this person has people in his or her life who deeply care and love him or her. Like me, this person’s life is impermanent and will one day end. This person’s peace is as important as my peace. I want peace, harmony, laughter, and love in his or her life and the life of all beings.
Today, the purpose of speaking is to create happiness in the listener. Have this intention: Today every word I utter will be chosen consciously. I will refrain from complaints, condemnation, and criticism.
Your practice is to do at least one of the following:
Tell someone how much you appreciate them.
Express genuine gratitude to those who have helped and loved you.
Offer healing or nurturing words to someone who needs them.
Show respect to someone whose respect you value.
If you find that you are reacting negatively to anyone, in a way that isn’t peaceful, refrain from speaking and keep silent. Wait to speak until you feel centered and calm, and then speak with respect.
Today is the day to help someone in need: a child, a sick person, an older or frail person. Help can take many forms. Tell yourself, Today I will bring a smile to a stranger’s face. If someone acts in a hurtful way to me or someone else, I will respond with a gesture of loving kindness. I will send an anonymous gift to someone, however small. I will offer help without asking for gratitude or recognition.
Today, come up with at least one creative idea to resolve a conflict, either in your personal life or your family circle or among friends. If you can, try and create an idea that applies to your community, the nation, or the whole world. You may change an old habit that isn’t working, look at someone a new way, offer words you never offered before, or think of an activity that brings people together in good feeling and laughter.
Secondly, invite a family member or friend to come up with one creative idea of this kind on his or her own. Creativity feels best when you are the one thinking up the new idea or approach. Make it known that you accept and enjoy creativity. Be loose and easy. Let the ideas flow and try out anything that has appeal. The purpose here is to bond, because only when you bond with others can there be mutual trust. When you trust, there is no need for hidden hostility and suspicion—the two great enemies of peace.
Today, share your practice of peacemaking with two people. Give them this booklet and invite them to begin the daily practice. As more of us participate in this sharing, our practice will expand into a critical mass.
Today, joyfully celebrate your own peace consciousness with at least one other peace-conscious person. Connect either through e-mail or phone.
Share your experience of growing peace.
Share your gratitude that someone else is as serious about peace as you are.
Share your ideas for helping the world move closer to critical mass.
Do whatever you can, in small or large ways, to assist anyone who wants to become a peacemaker.
Now you know the program. If you transform yourself into a peacemaker, you won’t become an activist marching in the streets. You will not be anti anything. No money is required. All you are asked to do is to go within and dedicate yourself to peace.
It just might work.
Even if you don’t immediately see a decline in violence around the world, you will know in your heart that you have dedicated your own life to peace.
But the single best reason to become a peacemaker is that every other approach has failed.
We don’t know what number the critical mass is—the best we can hope is to bring about change by personal transformation. Isn’t it worth a few moments of your day to end thirty wars around the world and perhaps every future war that is certain to break out?
Right now there are 21.3 million soldiers serving in armies around the world. Can’t we recruit a peace brigade ten times larger?
A hundred times larger?
The effort begins now, with you.
Our task together is to form a peace movement that isn’t an antiwar movement. The difference is crucial, because every movement founded to be “anti” has led in the end to resistance, opposition, and violence. I can only speak as one person, but my ideal of a peace movement is based on one of the three S-words: Satsang. Satsang means sharing your consciousness with other people. It can begin with something as simple as holding a discussion group once a week, an open forum in which everyone gets a chance to speak about their own desire for peace.
The next step might be a “peace cell,” a group of ten people who want to further peace through the seven-step program outlined in this book. To that end, I’ve included a pamphlet on page 241 entitled “The Program for Peacemakers” that can be downloaded from the Internet and circulated to anyone who might want to be part of a peace cell.
Finally, as consciousness grows, you might want to join a global community of peace cells. A special website, www.peaceisthewayglobalcommunity.org, has been set up to list each peace cell and provide links for them to have Satsang around the world.
I would love to see my ideal become a reality, but the whole point of a peace movement is to participate according to your ideal. Peace is a vision, and visions must grow on their own, following one’s inner desires. Right now the vision is a spark, but somewhere, sometime, the spark will catch flame. I can’t say when that moment will be—it could be with you. I hope so, because I know with certainty that there is no stronger community than the invisible one created by people inspired by their own highest purpose.
Peter Guzzardi, my skillful editor: you are both my critic and one of my best friends;
Shaye, Julie, Julia, Tina, Tara, Brian, Jenny, Sarah, and the rest of my family at Harmony: you have been loving, gracious, and tolerant since the beginning of my career;
Roberto Savio and Arsenio Rodriguez, you have made the Alliance for the New Humanity something to be proud of;
Rita, Mallika, Gotham, Sumant, Candice, and my darling Tara and Leela: you make everything worthwhile and sacred;
Carolyn Rangel, Felicia Rangel, and Janice Crawford in my office: your dedication and hard work make everything possible;
And finally, thanks to my family at the Chopra Center, who translate my words into a practice that makes a difference in people’s lives.
The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.
Abu Ghraib prison, 183, 221
adrenaline, 205
Afghanistan, 175, 208
Africa, 51, 58
Age of Exploration, 22
aggression, male, 199–200
aging process, 206
AIDS, 51, 71
Albanians, 123–24
American identity
criticism of, 52
falsehoods about, 53–55
features of, 55–56
illusions and realities of, 57–58
implications about, 52
American Revolution, 57–58
anger, chemistry of, 127–30
anger, releasing
ceasing to fixate on old hurt, 136–37
finding a new identity, 141
finding deeper sense of self, 138–40
finding new ways to be happy, 131–32
gaining a new vision, 137–38
learning to forgive, 132–35
not depending on others, 136–37
overview of, 130–31
animal nature, in humans, 100–103, 199–200
anti-Semitism, 90–91, 147–49
apathy, ending, 220–21
Arafat, Yasser, 174, 190, 194
Armstrong, Eugene, 169–70
atom bombs, 3, 78, 84
Baba, Meher, 216, 236
Basayev, Shamil, 64
belief systems, 197–98
belligerent actions, ceasing, 195
Berlin Wall, 9, 21
Bernardo, Francesco, 74–76
Beslan attack, 63–64, 85, 87, 154–55
bin Laden, Osama, 64, 85, 173
Blake, William, 91
Bloom, Paul, 113
bombs, 3, 73, 78, 84
Bosnia, 216
Boykin, William, 176–77
brain chemistry, 103–7, 199–200, 206
breakthroughs, 21
breast cancer, 104
Buddha, 3, 95, 122, 165
Bush administration, 56, 90, 155, 170
Cambodia, 99–100
capitalism, 49–50, 84–85, 86
Cavafy, Constantine, 44–46
Chechnya, 63–64, 187, 220
Chile, 50
Civil War, 124, 197–98
Civilization and Its Discontents (Freud), 203–4
Clinton, William, 190, 223
Cold War, 84, 187
combat fatigue, 206
Communism, 11, 50, 84, 176, 198
compassion, practicing, 26–27
conflict resolution
acknowledging fear, 200–201
avoiding talk about ideology, 199–200
believing in forgiveness, 193–94
ceasing belligerent actions, 194
not passing judgments, 196–97
peaceful methods for, 193–94
recognize perceived injustice, 193
recognizing opposing values, 195–96
showing respect for opponent, 192–93
studies of, 191
conflicts, personal, 27, 222–25
Confucius, 165
consciousness
absolute, achieving, 232
fundamentals of, 118–22
leaps in, 5–6
consciousness, new world
building blocks for, 17
emotions for, 20
environmental compassion for, 21–22
evolutionary process, 97
intentions for, 20
relationships and, 21
seven practices for, 24–28
shift required for, 16–17
thoughts and beliefs for, 19–20
turning points and breakthroughs for, 21
vision for, 22
words which define, 18–19
cortisol, 205
creativity, practicing, 27
crime rates, 66
Czechoslovakia, 161
D-Day, 31–32
Darwin, Charles, 101, 151, 202
Declaration of Principles, 190
democracy, myths about, 53
Democratic National Convention, 82
denial, unmasking, 219–20
depleted uranium (DU), 80–81
determinism, 101–02, 203
diplomacy, 189–91
disillusion, total, 236
domestic violence, 37, 222
Dresden, destruction of, 193
DU weapons, 79–81
dualism, 47–48
Eichmann, Adolf, 180–83
Einstein, Albert, 52
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 93
emotional bonding, 194
emotions, experiencing, 25–26
emotions, power of, 20
enemies
common beliefs about, 31
dehumanizing, 31–32
false beliefs about, 32–33
showing respect for, 192–93
us-versus-them mentality about, 34
viewed as aggressors, 35
viewed as believing in false God, 35–36
viewed as crazy, 36
viewed as deserving violence, 37–38
viewed as evil, 34
viewed as hating us, 36–37
England, 198
environment, compassion for, 21–22
epiphanies, 235
evangelism, 12, 178
evolution, physical evidence of, 101–2
Fahrenheit 9/11, 145–47, 205
faith healing, 211
false identity, confronting, 39–43
Fascism, 90
fatwa, 79, 173
fear, confronting, 198
Final Solution, 181
Florida hurricanes, 97–98
The Fog of War (McNamara), 196
forgiveness, 133–35, 193–94
France, 57–58, 60, 163, 198
Franciscan order, 73
free market system, 49–50, 84–85, 86
French Revolution, 57–58
Freud, Sigmund, 150, 202
Fromm, Erich, 52
Gandhi, Mahatma, 3, 7, 71, 161
gay marriage, 197
Germany, 9, 21, 33, 52, 193
Giuliani, Rudolf, 154
God
stage 1: chaos, conflict, war, 153–56
stage 2: law, order, achievement, 156–58
stage 3: harmony, nurturing, inwardness, 158–60
stage 4: insight, conscious growth, witnessing, 160–62
stage 5: creativity, discovery, innovation, 162–64
stage 6: vision, compassion, love, 164–66
stage 7: unity, being, eternity, 166–67
viewed as anti-war, 148–53
viewed as pro-war, 146–48
views on war, making sense of, 167–68
Grozny, destruction of, 64
Guantanamo Bay, 169–70
Gulf War, 80, 81
Gulf War Syndrome, 81
gun lobby, 73
Halliburton, 82
happiness, permitting, 131–33
Havel, Vaclav, 161, 229
healing process
ceasing to fixate on old hurt, 138–39
finding a new identity, 143–44
finding deeper sense of self, 141–43
finding new ways to be happy, 133–35
gaining a new vision, 140–41
learning to forgive, 135–37
not depending on others, 139–40
overview of, 132–33
Hiroshima, 193
Hitler, Adolf, 147–48, 182
Holocaust, 37–38, 147–48, 179–82, 221, 230
hope
brings about realization, 232–35
changes victim’s situation, 226–30
ends silent suffering, 225–27
faces up to conflicts, 222–25
false, examining, 216–18
inspires end to apathy, 220–22
lack of, 215
principles of, 215–19
therapeutic effects of, 211–13
treating violence with, 214–16
unmasks denial, 219–20
Hope Against Hope (Mandelstam), 187
Hubble telescope, 79
Hugo, Victor, 226
humanity, trends in, 9–10
Huna, 107
hurricanes, 97–98
Hussein, Saddam, 56, 60, 129, 169, 174
Id, primitive drives of, 203
identity, changes in, 141–42
identity, false, confronting, 39–43
ideology, conflicts about, 197–98
immune system, 207–08, 235
India, 71, 121, 157, 160, 235
injustice, perceived, 193
intentions, power of, 20
intentions, practicing, 25
Iraq War
cynicism about, 145–46
effect on Shiite and Sunni hostilities, 55
effect on U.S.approval ratings, 54
as symbol of American dominance, 84
U.S. casualties from, 1
U.S.’s stated purposes for, 129–30
Irgun, 174
Islamic fundamentalism, 64, 177
Islamists, radical, 34, 36, 44
Israel, 173–74, 192
James, Henry, 49
Japan, 193
Al-Jazeera, 86–87, 252
Jerusalem, 192
Jesus, 122, 165
jihadists, 169, 172, 177, 178
judgments, forming, 196
Jung, Carl, 150
kahunas, 107
Kamikaze pilots, 172
Kerry, John, 82
Khmer Rouge guerillas, 99–100
kindness, practicing, 26–27
Kissinger, Henry, 192, 195
Koran, the, 85
Kuwait, 56
Lao-Tze, 166
Larry King Show, 143–44
Les Miserables (Hugo), 225
Lincoln, Abraham, 161, 181
Mandela, Nelson, 3, 71
Mandelstam, Nadezhda, 187–88
Mandelstam, Osip, 187–88
Manu, 156–57
marriage, 197
Maya, 75–76
McNamara, Robert S., 196
meditation, 24–25
Middle Ages, 86
military strength, myths about, 82–88
Miller, Alice, 225, 226
Millgram, Stanley, 182–83, 184
Mohammed, 165
money, myths about, 73–78
Monsta, 215
Moore, Michael, 145–46
Mother Teresa, 3, 65
MRI imaging, 207
Muslim beliefs and ideals, 85–87
Muslim Brotherhood, 173
Nagasaki, 193
National Socialism, 52
neurology, 103–4
neutron bombs, 3, 73
New Age values, 9–10
New Testament, 85
new world order
building blocks of, 17
emotions for, 20
environmental compassion for, 21–22
goals of, 15–16
intentions for, 20
relationships and, 21
seven practices for, 24–28
shift in consciousness for, 16–17
thoughts and beliefs for, 19–20
turning points and breakthroughs for, 21
vision for, 22
words which define, 18–19
9/11 attacks
Bush’s response to, 155
emotional impact of, 44–45, 70, 114, 154, 207–08
rumors about, 90–91
sympathy for U.S. after, 54
Normandy invasion (WW II), 31–32
Nuremberg trials, 180
obsessive-compulsive disorder, 103–04
old world order, 13–14, 23
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 78
Ottoman Empire, 194
Palestinians, 192
peace, protests for, 61–64
Pearl, Daniel, 170, 204–05
phobias, 35
physicists, 119
Pinochet, Augusto, 50
Pol Pot, 99–100
prayer vigils for peace, 66
Putin, Vladimir, 64, 154–55, 175, 220
Al-Qaida, 64, 84–85, 170, 172
quantum, 119
Rabin, Yitzhak, 190
radio talk shows, 90
radioactivity, 80–81
Reagan, Ronald, 72, 194
reality, changing, 19–20
realization, bringing about, 233–36
relationships, improving, 26
relationships, need for, 21
renunciation, 77
Republican National Convention, 60, 82
Rumi, 235
Russia, 63–64, 84, 174–75
Sadat, Anwar, 194
Saint Francis of Assisi, 73–75, 76–77
Satsang, 8–9, 10, 12
security, myths about
military strength brings security, 82–88
money brings happiness, 73–78
technology brings well-being, 78–82
Seva, 8, 10, 11
Shiites, 55, 56
shock-jock talk shows, 90
Shuksham Sharir, 160
Simpson, O.J., 37
Simran, 8, 10, 11–12
slavery, 138, 196–97
Socrates, 165
Somalia, 176
soul
disagreements about, 116–18
meaning of, 113–14
religious views on, 114–15
revelations from, 118–23
scientific views on, 115
South Africa, 71
Spanish-American War of 1898, 128
Spanish Inquisition, 176
splitting, psychological, 223–24
spoon bending movement, 65–66
Stalin, Joseph, 175–76, 186, 187
Stanford prison experiment, 183–85
Star Wars missile defense, 51, 71–72, 79
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), 51, 71–72, 79
stress, 205, 206–07
suffering, silent, 225–27
suicide bombers, 214–15
Sunnis, 55, 56
Taliban regime, 176
technology, myths about, 78–82
territorial protection, 200
terrorists, viewed as barbarians, 43–47
Thai currency, investment in, 50
Thatcher, Margaret, 194
Tho, Le Duc, 191
thought, power of, 19–20
Transcendental Meditation movement, 66
Trotsky, Leon, 173
turning points, 21
Twyman, James, 66
U.S. Senate, 53
USSR, dissolution of, 174–75
utopian communities, 12
values, opposing, 196–97
Veda, 235
Vedanta, 235
Vediz texts, 8
victims
belief system of, 227–28
blaming, 37–38
changing situation of, 226–27
Vienna peace talks, 194
Vietnam peace movement, 61–62
Vietnam War, 18, 61, 83, 191, 195, 196
violence
genetic view of, 151–52
psychological views of, 149–51
vision, true, definition of, 139
vision of peace, importance of, 22
vision of peace, sharing, 27–28
voting, attitudes towards, 111–12, 121
Waiting for the Barbarians (poem), 44
weapons of mass destruction, 60
World Trade Organization, 92
World War I, 32–33, 195–96, 206
World War II, 2, 31–32, 147–48, 193
Yeats, W.B., 90
Al-Zawahri, Ayman, 172–74
“There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.”
A. J. MUSTE
Have you heard the Buddhist fable of Sticky Hair and Prince Five Weapons?
Sticky Hair was a monster, a giant ogre who lived deep in the woods in India. He fed off the villagers beyond the woods and kept them in a state of constant terror. One day a hero appeared on the scene to rescue them. He went by the curious name of Prince Five Weapons. When he was born the court astrologers gathered around his cradle. They predicted that the baby would grow up to become a mighty warrior, the master of not one weapon but five. Armed with his five weapons the prince set out to defeat the monster.
When the two of them met in the woods, the prince took out his bow and arrow and fired a volley into the ogre’s side, but Sticky Hair’s thick mat of fur was impenetrable, and every arrow uselessly stuck to him. The prince pulled out his sword and hacked at the ogre, but his sword too got stuck in the sticky fur, along with the prince’s knife, club, and pike.
With his five weapons gone, the prince leapt onto the beast with his fists, but in a flash his hands and feet were also caught in Sticky Hair’s fur. The monster would have eaten him immediately, but Prince Five Weapons’ courage gave him pause. “If this hero can fight so bravely against me, maybe I’d better think this thing over,” Sticky Hair mused.
The prince was doomed, then suddenly he had a flash. “You don’t dare eat me,” he shouted defiantly. “All my weapons may be stuck to you, but I have a secret inside me. As soon as you swallow me up it will explode, and then you will die.”
Sticky Hair was impressed, and not wanting to die, he let Prince Five Weapons go. But before he left, the monster wanted to know what the hidden secret was. “Is it a sixth weapon I’ve never seen?”
“It is no weapon at all, but compassion,” said the prince, who was well versed in the wisdom of the Buddha. “That was my hidden secret, which you could not have survived.”
The monster was so moved that he became Prince Five Weapons’ disciple from that day on. He learned the Eightfold Path. With the dawn of inner peace, he lost his violent nature. He learned that all his monstrous deeds were the result of past bad actions which could be atoned for. In the end Sticky Hair became enlightened, and thus the villagers were rescued from their monster in the woods.
The same hidden secret could save us if we turn to it. In thousands and thousands of hearts around the world compassion is doing its work. The opposite of compassion has to be renounced, because in anger, vengeance, mechanized death, and violence against Nature is our doom. War won’t end from any other cure. It won’t be suffering that ends war, or the reckless hope of achieving total victory over evil. The real work for peace is proceeding one person at a time and eventually tipping the balance in the world. History has already sent beacons of compassion in Christ, Buddha, Lao-Tze, and countless saints from every faith, including Islam. We don’t need any more beacons. The message doesn’t need delivering one more time.
You and I and many others feel no need for war, no satisfaction in it, and no allure. We got ourselves unstuck from Sticky Hair’s fur. Every person who gets unstuck is one unit of peace. I don’t know how many units it takes to change the world. The ogre who devours humans doesn’t want for victims. But the most horrific weapons have all been tried, and now is the time to use the secret hidden inside. You and I are nothing compared to the huge machinery of mechanized death that has overwhelmed us. But we know that our hidden secret is real, and we should celebrate: ours is the one weapon that will surely blow up the monster.
I wrote this book by keeping my eyes and ears open. A novice in the details of the war machine, I found the Internet an invaluable help. Most of the facts in these pages were Googled, and therefore by entering the same key words, any reader can discover the information I was led to. The Internet has a reputation for recklessness, but in fact it is often more reliable than a conventional library. Every fact can be checked many times over. For example, if you enter the phrase “Iraqi body count 2004,” Google delivers 25,000 entries, and they are more up to date than any printed book.
I also kept a diary of daily events in the world. I derived my information from Web news sources, primarily AOL News and the Associated Press releases that can be found at many online sources such as www.salon.com.
I hope that readers who wish to pursue an individual topic will go to the Web and investigate for themselves, because only by keeping your eyes and ears open can you expand your consciousness. In the chapter on religion and its failure to end war I mention my appearance on the Larry King Live show with four religious leaders. Each of them kept referring to our duty to fight evil, and at the last moment I let out a protest, which was largely drowned out by their voices: “We have to stop calling other people evil.” By exploring the wealth of information on war that is available on the Web, you will also dive into new worlds and new perspectives. Being trapped in our cultural blindness is the same as being stuck in Sticky Hair’s fur.
A good place to begin is the site where I began my own search: “What Every Person Should Know About War.” But I hope your trail leads to the Web site of Aljazeera, the controversial Arab satellite TV network, so that you can find out for yourself what the Arab world is thinking and how it sees us. I probably don’t need to mention the free online sites of Time, Newsweek, and The New York Times, plus less mainstream sources like Salon.com and Slate.com. But how many of us go to the Internet to read The Times of London, or The Observer? One discovers very quickly that our view of Europe has become distorted and oversimplified.
If you are psychologically minded, check out “A Fine Line Between Normal and Monster?” which is a fascinating online article, one of many to be found on the Millgram pain experiment and the Stanford prison experiment. The historically minded can follow numerous threads to Adolf Eichmann, Osip Mandelstam, and medieval weaponry at the Battle of Crecy, all of which I barely touched upon in these pages. If you are scientifically minded, I fervently urge you to read one book, The Self-Aware Universe by Amit Goswami. More than any other contemporary physicist, his explanation of the tangled hierarchy has altered my view of how reality is constructed. It has been a privilege to discuss this concept with him over the past five years.
Finally, reading about Hannah Arendt and her famous thoughts on the banality of evil will help convince anyone of the everyday ways in which the tangled hierarchy enmeshes us all. Arendt was not an optimistic thinker, given the long shadow of the Holocaust. But she did say something hopeful: that deep reflection will bring us face to face with the decisions we make and turn our choices away from evil. The way of peace is about more than deep reflection. Yet the path begins there, and to that end I have written this book.
“Deepak Chopra envisions a world within our reach where we are the instruments of peace instead of war. Peace Is the Way provides practical tools to help us know in our hearts that each one of us matters and is important to the other. In the African tradition of ‘Ubuntu,’ we say a person is a person through other people. The daily practices suggested in this book offer readers a way to become more fully human and actively engaged as peacemakers in their homes and communities.”
DESMOND TUTU
Nobel Peace Laureate 1984, archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, and author of God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time
“I absolutely agree with Dr. Chopra’s view that ‘if we want to change the world, we have to begin by changing ourselves.’”
HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA
Nobel Peace Laureate 1989
“The late author-poet Carl Sandburg once wrote, ‘Someday there will be a war and no one will come.’ How we long for those words to become a reality. Deepak Chopra, who I am honored to call friend, knows the world can change one person at a time. His spiritual compassion shines clearly on every page. Yet Deepak is fully aware of the long, hard struggle necessary to change this cruel world. Peace Is the Way is beautifully written and clearly shows nonviolence is the weapon of the strong. Follow his teaching and become a Peace Person. It truly is the only way forward. Thank you, Deepak.”
BETTY WILLIAMS
Nobel Peace Laureate 1976, and president and founder of World Centers of Compassion for Children International
“In recent years, the immediate need to counteract aggressive military policies has led many people to neglect their own personal vision of a more peaceful world. In this timely and urgent work, Deepak Chopra argues that there is a way to rise above the engulfing logic of war: that way is peace itself, a spiritual and compassionate approach to humanity that depends on individual transformation. I highly recommend Peace Is the Way to all those who want the global peace movement to find its heart again.”
OSCAR ARIAS
Nobel Peace Laureate 1987
“Thinking about peace is already a powerful means to contribute to peace. This is the philosophy of Deepak Chopra in his most recent book. I recommend this book to all those who want to create peace.”
BOUTROS BOUTROS-GHALI
President of the Egyptian Commission for Human Rights and former secretary-general of the United Nations
“Dr. Chopra’s call to take action is coming at a crucial point. One person bearing witness to suffering; one person taking up a cause can indeed make an impact and even save a life. But how revolutionary would it be if everyone believed this? Chopra’s call to bring peace to the world through individual action is one that desperately needs to be not only heard, but also believed and acted upon during these troubled times.”
DR. WILLIAM F. SCHULZ
Executive Director, Amnesty International USA
“Although I earned my living in the boxing ring, the power of peace has never escaped me, even in my everyday life. In his most recent book, Peace Is the Way, Deepak Chopra brings the idea of peace and the power it has over conflict, hatred, and despair into focus. He offers a clear pathway to make this world a better place for all. Deepak often says what you think about and bring into consciousness expands. He invites us all to bring the vision of peace to the forefront of our individual and collective consciousness, where our thoughts will manifest into reality and what a wonderful world this would be.”
MUHAMMAD ALI
U.N. Ambassador of Peace
“Peace Is the Way in a profound manner shows us that there are creative solutions to the conflict in the world.”
DR. MáRIO SOARES
Former president and prime minister of Portugal
“Peace Is the Way goes beyond the customary ways of resolving conflicts, including activism and humanitarianism. It is a bold, creative, and visionary solution to the world’s problems.”
FEDERICO MAYOR ZARAGOZA
Former director-general of UNESCO and president of UBUNTU (Barcelona)
“I am thankful that Deepak Chopra has enlisted his marvelous gifts as an explorer of the spiritual realm and his demonstrated talents as a skilled mentor in the urgent quest for a way beyond the curse of war. Clearly neither a strictly external nor a purely internal approach will do what needs to be done, and this engagingly written guidebook deftly combines both. It is an invaluable contribution to the most pressing problem of our era.”
HARVEY COX
Hollis Professor of Divinity, Harvard, and author of When Jesus Came to Harvard
“I am touched and delighted by Deepak’s earnest and lucid message in this timely and essentially useful book. I picked it up and couldn’t put it aside. The great thing about it is how simply and clearly he presents the steps to profound personal transformation. He makes it possible—even enchanting—for us to live what we admire. He lifts up once again before our eyes Gandhi’s insight that peace is the way, not only the goal, and he fills that so intensely longed-for truth with penetrating points, small and meaningful steps we can take with ease, and reasonable insights. He mobilizes common sense, scientific insight, and spiritual passion to bring within our reach our own personal attainment of the ancient teaching of peace given to us by Moses, Buddha, Laotse, Jesus, Krishna, Muhammad and all the world’s great spiritual teachers. Use this book with loving care and you will break free from the drumbeat of desperation all around you! Awaken to your own personal power as a peacemaker!”
ROBERT THURMAN
Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Columbia University, president of Tibet House US, and author of Inner Revolution and Infinite Life.
“The concensus of global wisdom through the ages recognizes that we humans cocreate our living realities through the conduct of our consciousness—we are as we mind. And this global perspective reveals that when we are lodged in the chronic patterns of ego, minding all sorts of individual and cultural pathologies—fragmentation, polarization, violence—cultures of war ensue. And this wisdom presents the prescription for our evolutionary shift to the awakened global consciousness where we live and experience our deep connectivity. Deepak Chopra’s latest book, Peace Is the Way, speaks to us in a powerful voice that brings this global truth to life for our time. Here he outlines brilliantly how chronic patterns of the violent mentality are etched deeply in the groove of war, and he lays out a pathway to awakening and cultivating more powerful patterns of peace for people of the planet. Peace Is the Way is not just another book, but a global manifesto for our time, a script that urgently needs to be heeded and performed by a growing critical mass of earth citizens in our historic passage together from the old destructive ways of ego consciousness to the emerging global consciousness now essential for sustainable and flourishing cultures of peace.”
ASHOK GANGADEAN
Professor of philosophy, Haverford College, cofounder-director of the Global Dialogue Institute, coconvenor of the World Commission on Global Consciousness and Spirituality, and author of Meditative Reason, Between Worlds, and Awakening of the Global Mind
“Deepak Chopra reminds the politician no less than the philosopher through this book that peace is not something to be found out there but within us, as he addresses the perennial issue of peace with contemporary freshness. He emphasizes that peace is not just the absence of war but the absence of the causes of war itself, and not just in others but also in ourselves. There is no way to peace, peace is the way, otherwise the world goes to pieces.”
ARVIND SHARMA
Birks Professor of Comparative Religion, McGill University
“Practical, Empowering, Applicable, Creative, Energizing: Peace Is the Way