World March for Peace and NonViolence

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The World March will begin in New Zealand on October 2, 2009. It will conclude in the Andes Mountains (Aconcagua, Argentina) on January 2, 2010. A permanent base of a hundred people of different nationalities will complete the journey.

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The World March

The World March will begin in New Zealand on October 2, 2009, the anniversary of Gandhi’s birth, declared the “International Day of Non-Violence” by the United Nations. It will conclude in the Andes Mountains (Punta de Vacas, Aconcagua, Argentina) on January 2, 2010. The March will last 90 days, three long months of travel. It will pass through all climates and seasons, from the hot summer of the tropics and the deserts, to the winter of Siberia. The stages will be the longest American and Asian, both almost a month. A permanent base of a hundred people of different nationalities will complete the journey.

Why?

Because we can end world hunger with 10% of what is spent on arms. Imagine how life would be if 30-50% of the arms budget went toward improving people’s lives instead of being used for destruction.

Because eliminating wars and violence means leaving human pre-history behind and taking a giant step forward in the evolution of our species..

Because we are accompanied by the voices of so many war-torn generations that came before us. The echo of their voices still resounds throughout the world, wherever armed conflict leaves its sinister memorial to the dead, disappeared, disabled and displaced.

Because a “world without wars” is an image that opens the future and seeks to become reality in every corner of the planet, as violence gives way to dialog.

The moment has come for the voiceless to be heard! Out of agonizing and urgent need, millions of human beings are crying out for an end to wars and violence.

We can make that happen by uniting all the forces of pacifism and active non-violence worldwide.

When?

The World March will begin in New Zealand on October 2, 2009, the anniversary of Gandhi’s birth, declared the “International Day of Non-Violence” by the United Nations. It will conclude in the Andes Mountains (Punta de Vacas, Aconcagua, Argentina) on January 2, 2010.

The March will last 90 days, three long months of travel. It will pass through all climates and seasons, from the hot summer of the tropics and the deserts, to the winter of Siberia.

Who is participating?

The March was initiated by “World Without Wars,” an international organization that has been working for 15 years in the fields of pacifism and non-violence.

The World March, however, will be created and shaped by everyone. Open to any person, organization, collective, group, political party, business, etc., that shares the same aspirations and sensibility, this project is not something closed. Instead, it is a journey that will be progressively enriched as different initiatives set their contributions in motion.

That is why this is an invitation to anyone and everyone to participate freely. So that wherever the March goes, the local people can contribute their creativity in a great convergence of multiple activities.

There’s space for everything the imagination is capable of conceiving.

The possible channels of participation are multiple and diverse, including virtual participation in the March through Internet.
This is a march by and for the people, with hopes of reaching most of the world’s population. For this reason we are asking all media to spread the word about this journey around the world for Peace and Non-violence.

What is going to happen?

In every city the March visits, local individuals and groups will organize forums, meetings, festivals, conferences, and events (sports, cultural, social, musical, artistic, educational, etc., depending on their own creative initiative.

At this time hundreds of projects have already been set in motion by different individuals and organizations.

What are our goals?

To denounce the dangerous world situation that is leading us closer and closer to nuclear war, which would be the greatest catastrophe in human history – a dead end.

To give a voice to the majority of world citizens who want peace. Although the majority of the human race opposes the arms race, we are not sending out a unified signal. Instead we are letting ourselves be manipulated by a powerful minority and suffering the consequences. The time has come to stand together and show our opposition. Join a multitude of others in sending a clear signal, and your voice will have to be heard!

To achieve the eradication of nuclear weapons; the progressive and proportional reduction of non-nuclear arms; the signing of non-aggression treaties among nations; and the renunciation by governments of war as a way to resolve conflicts.

To expose the many other forms of violence (economic, racial, sexual, religious…) that are currently hidden or disguised by their perpetrators; and to provide a way for all who suffer such violence to be heard.

To create global awareness - as has already happened with environmental issues - of the urgent need to condemn of all forms of violence and bring about real Peace.

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Comment by Clicia Pavan on September 1, 2009 at 12:11am

Comment by Clicia Pavan on September 1, 2009 at 12:10am: temacc.JPG

Comment by Loving TreeOfLife on August 26, 2009 at 12:27am

Comment by David Sparenberg on August 25, 2009 at 6:05pm: NEW HORIZON

There is no time
For intellectual speculation;
There is no time for argument.
Does it have to be spelled out;
Does it even
Need to be spoken?
We both know what this is about.
The old ways—
Barriers of normalcy
The calculations
Limitations
The social boxes
Political baggage.
This is now!
The age of thresholds
Not of locks.
Do not continue
Contriving complications
Feigning deafness
As an exit.
The problem is here
Before our faces
Looking at us
In our ears.
As simple as this:
Either
We are strangers
On a dying planet
Enemies
In endless war
Or friends.
What do you say?
What is it going to be?
Do we have the courage
Humbly to become
The change we long for?
Or tell me this
—even if your heart is broken—
Is there a new horizon?
Is there another way?

David Sparenberg
22 August 2009

Comment by Beatrice LATEUR LACROIX on August 24, 2009 at 12:13pm: Thank you, sweet Elke to remind me the perfection of What Is.
Love and Peace.

Comment by Loving TreeOfLife on August 24, 2009 at 12:04am: Thank youuuuuu! :-) for that Perfect Day with youuuuuuuuuu :-) Paradise is here to stay.

Comment by Nicole Myers on August 23, 2009 at 5:25pm: Nidal, Your father was an amazing man. A very inspiring story! Thanks. I hope you will be joining the March in San Francisco.

Comment by jimmsfairytales0com on August 23, 2009 at 2:12pm: To Nidal Khalili:
Thank you for your very moving comment.
To know that Peace is more powerful than Violence;
that Love is more powerful than Resentment;
that Forgiveness is more powerful than Bitterness;
that Openness is more powerful than Closedness;
that "even if [they] put us behind bars we still lions"...
THAT is our Strength.

Love and Peace (in our lifetime),
Jimmy

Comment by Birger Norup on August 23, 2009 at 10:40am: Hej all peace lovers.

Costa Rica shows the way..... The bill passed - the government said YES to make a Ministry for Peace and Justice

Comment by David Sparenberg on August 22, 2009 at 8:46pm: LETTER TO A YOUNG ARTIST IN CANADA

Here is only a partial reply to your question. While I have studied the world's religions, those of the present and several of the past, I now take little interest in t metaphysical or theological arguments. What has become important to me is the wakefulness and vitality of the soul, of soul-to-soul communication, people finding their way to the pathos of the divine, individually and together, and our participation in the creative healing of the Earth, history and the human condition. Within this open invitation to take part in the voice of the hour, what President Obama calls "the fierce urgency of now," there are but three central tenets I adhere to: respect for life and the acknowledgement of vulnerability, which moves the heart to humility, courage and compassion; the recognition that there is an interconnecting intimacy of pathos that extends from the divine source throughout all of creation and which we are responsible to respond to, and that within the dynamic of the dialogue of response awaits the possibility of the prophetic promise of a steadily emerging and evolutionary globalization of peace, justice and lovingkindness, borne from creativity, respect and a sanctifying embrace of otherness. The furtherance of this communion of hallowing requires what James Endredy calls “counter practice” and I have no doubt that the creation of democratizing counter practices is revolutionary. However, it is gentle and quiet revolution, which demands no bloodshed for accomplishment, but requests in the depth of living articulation a bonding commitment to the future mutuality and biotic integrity of planetary life.

COMPASSION

The pure and sweet souled
man
Mahatma Gandhi
commonly said,
"I am a Hindu and a Moslem,
a Christian and a Buddhist.”
In his ashram
at daily prayers,
Gandhi prayed
to include all faiths.
We too would benefit
greatly
from his lesson
in tolerance and participation.
Truly
the essence of
all religion is compassion.

Can we say:
I am a human being,
living here, in this time, in this
space, a citizen of the world;
an integral and engaged member
of this One
Earth Global Village.
I am a Hindu and a Moslem,
a Christian and a Buddhist,
a Pagan and a Jew.

I am one
with all compassion,
with all genuine love,
with authentic integrity,
for freedom for justice,
for peace and for honesty,
affirming dignity
protecting diversity
in nature and of cultures.

Wherever there is humility
and an open heart,
I am, in my soul.
Wherever there is kindness
and an open hand,
I am with these
unconditional hands
of flesh and life-giving energy.

I am food
and I am water.
I am air
and I am light.
I am many
and I am only one.
One
is the phenomenal power
of cosmic unity.
.
Where a voice is necessary,
I shall be
a steadfast word.
Where an ear is called for,
I shall be the foremost
listener
of heartfelt concern.
Where eyes are required,
I shall bear witness
with uncompromising vision.

There is no purpose
here, in this life,
greater than devotion and praise.
There is no path
for the mortal sojourn
more worthy
than the way
of expressed compassion.

Truly,
I am a child
in the family of living spirit
and in the unboundaried
congregation
of universal souls.

Like the genuine
Mahatma,
I would open my hands
and my little self,
releasing the canker
worm of violence
and welcoming the butterfly
of peace.

Here, between my tears
and the smile
of awakened serenity,
I offer my prayer:

Generation, you,
let me stand
among us all, on this wounded
mother earth, with
naked feet,
in humility and courage,
to be who I am,
when I have understood
and transcended
the misconceptions
deceptions
and the betrayal
of who I was.

The poem Compassion is from HEALING, A Book of Poetry by David Sparenberg http://www.lulu.com/content/1096722.