Tag: Conflict

Just look at what this nervous lady has achieved as a peace-maker – wow!

“Anger is like gasoline. If you spray it around and somebody lights a match, you’ve got an inferno. [But] if we can put our anger inside an engine, it can drive us forward.”

How do you deal with a bully without becoming a thug? In this wise and soulful talk, peace activist Scilla Elworthy maps out the skills we need — as nations and individuals — to fight extreme force without using force in return. To answer the question of why and how non-violence works, she evokes historical heroes — Aung San Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela — and the personal philosophies that powered their peaceful protests. (Filmed at TEDxExeter.)

Scilla Elworthy founded Oxford Research Group in 1982, to promote effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers and their opponents.

When Scilla Elworthy was 13, she sat in front of her television set watching as Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest. Immediately she started packing her bags. “What are you doing?” her mother said. “I’m going to Budapest,” she said. “They’re doing something awful and I have to go.” Years later, Elworthy is a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and a recipient of the Niwano Peace Prize. In 2002 Elworthy founded Peace Direct, which supports local action against conflict, and in 1982 founded Oxford Research Group, a think-tank devoted to developing effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers and their critics. Beginning in 2005 she helped set up The Elders initiative as an adviser to Sir Richard Branson, Peter Gabriel and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

-0-

TAGS; peace, peace-makers, great peace-makers, Scilla Elworthy, non-violence, non-violent communication, force, violence, anger, overcoming anger, meditation, peace activist, peace activism, dialogue, The Elders, Richard Branson, Peter Gabriel, Desmond Tutu, reconciliation, conflict, conflict resolution, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, protest, peaceful protest, bullying, disarmament, meditation, courage under fire, self-knowledge, Quakers, Friends,

Perennial Philosophy and Universalism – a distinction.

Sourceworld-religions-11

—–0—–

Definitions

PHILOSOPHIA PERENNIS The metaphysic that recognizes a divine Reality substantial to the world of things and lives and minds; the psychology that finds in the soul something similar to, or even identical with, divine Reality; the ethic that places man’s final end in the knowledge of the immanent and transcendent Ground of all being. – Aldous Huxley

Perennial philosophy (Latin: philosophia perennis “eternal philosophy”, also Philosophia perennis et universalis) is the notion of the universal recurrence of ….. insight independent of epoch or culture, including universal truths on the nature of reality, humanity or consciousness (anthropological universals).

Concerning Universalism I make the following distinction.

To subscribe to Perennial Philosophy you almost certainly will hold a ‘pan-religious’ and inter-faith position including some theological ideas such as pan-en-theism – which holds both immanence and transcendence to be true at one and the same time true. My favourite quotation that celebrates this idea is;

“God is a circle whose centre is everywhere, whose circumference is nowhere.”

Anonymous, ‘The Book of the Twenty-four Philosophers‘ (12thC)

On the other hand a universalist in my view however can have an open and respectful mind and an open and generous heart whilst staying with her/his cultural roots.

Barack Obama (I hope) is one such example. More striking is the specificity of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s traditional Hasidic faith as compared to the Universalism of his heart and astoundingly deep insights into core mystical and eternal reality, and especially the nature of being human in the world – with others.

Either way the world has no more desperate need than an increase in the ability of people to see the oneness in, and beyond, specific belief systems – whether they do it from a truly Perennial Philosophy position or as a Universalist.

Good Childhood Inquiry Highlights Concern about Values Children Learn From Adults

A friend and colleague just sent information about;

Good Childhood Inquiry Highlights Concern about Values Children Learn From Adults

30 June 2008

Adults are increasingly concerned about the values children are learning from those around them, according to evidence submitted to The Good Childhood Inquiry. Two thirds (66%) of adults thought that the moral values of children today are not as strong as when they were children, according to a public opinion poll for The Children’s Society.

The poll, conducted by GfK NOP, is the last in a series called Reflections on Childhood commissioned by The Children’s Society, to complement the launch of a summary of evidence submitted to the inquiry on its sixth and final theme – values.

Professionals responding to the inquiry emphasized that children learn most of their values from adults, and expressed apprehension about how certain trends in society are affecting the values children are learning. The rise in materialism, a preoccupation with celebrity, and declining networks of support from community and extended family were all cited as negative factors. Seven out of ten polled (69%) said that community values among children today were not as strong as when they were young.

Increasing tension between adults and children emerged as a particular area of concern. Over half of adults responding to the poll (55%) thought there was more conflict between adults and children now compared to when they were young. Just a third (32%) thought that attitudes towards young people in their local neighbourhood were mostly positive.

For the full article go HERE

To be further developed.

—–0—–

SEE also Learning Motivation for Success

All postings to this site relate to the central model in the PhD.

Summaries are HERE

Preventing dys-functional leadership via trust & openness

In his bookThe Five Dysfunctions of a Team:A Leadership Fable (pub. Jossey-Bass) Patrick Lencioni presents a model of what he sees as the influences that dis-empower a team, and make more or less dysfunctional.

His five factors are;

  • The first dysfunction is absence of trust amongst team members. If team members are not genuinely open with each other about their mistakes and weaknesses, it is impossible to build a foundation of trust.
  • Absence of trust creates the circumstance for the second dysfunction, fear of conflict. Teams that lack trust are incapable of fully and honestly debating issues as they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments.
  • The inability to openly discuss issues leads to a lack of commitment. If team members are unable to fully air their views, it is unlikely that they will be fully committed to the decisions of the group.
  • If team members are not fully bought into the decisions of the group, they will inevitably avoid accountability. How can they stand up and be counted on issues if they were not completely committed to them in the first place?
  • Failure to hold one another accountable creates an environment where the fifth dysfunction can thrive. Inattention to results occurs when team members put their individual needs (such as ego, career, recognition or reward) or even their division above the collective needs of the team.

Clearly trust is seen as the cornerstone of all teams. This might seem self-evident but I wonder how many organizations have systems that recognize and reward trust, openness and co-operation?

—–0—–

All postings to this site relate to the central model in the

PhD. Summaries are HERE

SEE also Learning Motivation for Success