Fran Miller, Ph.D. ©
Once in a while, it is important to address the greater environmental or world circumstances. At this time the world situation challenges us to respond – or to respond adequately. This is a time when we are acutely aware that life, does indeed, as Buddhism teaches, contain suffering. A time when Buddhist teaching and our own meditation practice becomes especially relevant.
However, rather than focus on international events and war, what I want to address is what we, as individuals, can do to contribute to peace. I have thought of four things. These are four things that we as individuals, right here and now, can do to contribute to, or to manifest, peace. These are reminders that we can make an effort ourselves, small as it might seem, to contribute to, or to affect, peace.
First, we can contribute financially to causes that cultivate peace. There are actually quite a few of them. I had a friend from Connecticut in the 90’s who, as a psychologist, was employed in Paris with the Culture of Peace Project. My teacher, Robert Aitken, Roshi, co-founded the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. We might not be able to make such unique and extraordinary contributions, but here are some peace organizations that we can financially contribute to: UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund), UNICEF-Gaza Children, Doctors Without Borders, Mercy Corps, The Peace Corps, The Alliance for Peacemaking, The Center for Middle Eastern Peace, The United Nations Culture of Peace Project, Seeds of Peace, The Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Non Violent Peace Force, Americans for Peace Now, The Peace Development Fund, Peace Brigades International, Safer World, Peace Direct, Care International, and International Alert. This is a time for serious concern, and a good time to seriously consider financial contributions. The charity that I most regularly contribute to is Doctors Without Borders.
The second thing we can do to contribute to peace is an alternative to giving financially. We can donate our time to an organization that works for peace or for an environmental or political organization. There are added benefits to volunteering and donating our time — the aspect of experiencing community and the special experience of being involved and taking part in a particular beneficial cause.
Thich Naht Hahn has written many books about mindfulness and meditation including three related to peace: Peace Is Every Step, Peace Is Every Breath, and Being Peace. Our third option is being peace. This not only helps ourselves, but it is also helpful to all those we come in contact with. Obviously, this goal is a tall order, it’s not easy, but I think it is something for us to think about, and to work towards. Let’s consider “being peace”.
When was the last time you responded to something with anger, or anxiety, or impatience? In the book, Being Peace, Thich Naht Hahn said, “Even if I just clap my hands, the effect is everywhere, in the faraway galaxies.” I’m always amazed at the consistency of my clients. They always start therapy with something that just happened. Something their spouse just said as they went out the door. Something that happened at the coffee shop. Something that they just read, heard or saw. It’s almost shocking to realize how much influence we have even without realizing it. Did I just manifest frustration or irritation? Anger or anxiety? Consideration? Caring? Love?….Peace?
Did I manifest peace? Thich Naht Hahn in Being Peace suggests that we can — be peace. We can manifest anger or anxiety or we can cultivate a strong, secure, and peaceful presence. In Being Peace, he suggests that through mindfulness and meditation we can cultivate strength, security, and peacefulness.
It’s very challenging to change our habit responses. A large portion of therapy is dedicated to that. It’s a complex endeavor. It’s necessary to understand our conditioned responses and where they came from. Then it has to become a conscious intentional practice to be aware of our emotional tendencies and responses as they are happening. With awareness and self control, we can choose and manage our responses.
And – fourth – we can practice both mindfulness as we’re going about our day, and we can cultivate a more consistent and regular meditation practice. We can specify our intent to improve our focus and presence in meditation so that we can cultivate a loving and peaceful demeanor.
The part that is most important and also most relevant here is that it is in meditation that we are, by the requirements of the practice, actually practicing awareness and control. During meditation, if we are sitting in a meditation posture, we are required to control our movements and also to control and contain our emotions. Those moments of disciplined practice helps us be able to have control and constraint when we are in interpersonal interactions. In meditation, in meditation postures, we learn awareness, discipline, control, and patience.
In addition, through Buddhist teaching we learn an ethical system in the Eightfold Path. With the Eightfold Path, Buddhism is a practice of increasing compassion and of spreading loving kindness and compassion. When Sharon Salzberg wrote her book, Loving Kindness, Robert Aitken had three words of instruction: “Read this book!!” This is a period of time when doing metta meditation or a meditation of compassion and of spreading compassion throughout the world is particularly relevant. I recommend making a metta meditation at least an occasional part of your meditation practice.
Another book, Words of Peace, contains quotations from various recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize over the years. In 1989, The Dalai Llama said,
“As a Buddhist monk, my concern extends to all members of the human family, and indeed, to all sentient beings who suffer. I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet, true happiness comes from a sense of inner peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed.”
What is important is that you develop awareness of whether you are manifesting anxiety, frustration, and anger or if you are manifesting patience, compassion, or peacefulness. With intention and effort, with practice, with mindfulness and meditation, we can learn to increase our ability to manifest positive qualities and to — be — peace. And then we can know that like Thich Naht Hahn’s clap of the hand, we are contributing not to anger or ill will, but that we are creating and spreading peace — that we are — being peace.
The following is an instruction for metta meditation, a meditation of compassion:
Before the meditation start by assuming a formal meditation posture. Once settled in your posture, start by reflecting on compassion and love and care for yourself. When you are doing this meditation at home, spend the most time on this aspect. Perhaps five minutes of your meditation. Then extend the love and compassion to your partner or your immediate family. Here in our meditation, next we will extend love and compassion to each of you who are here and taking part in this meditation tonight. Then extend your love and compassion to your partner or your immediate family. Next extend love and care and compassion to your closest friend community. Think of each friend and extend love and compassion to them. Next extend care and compassion to your immediate neighborhood, and then to your local community-to all of Portland. Then extend your compassion to all of Oregon, then to all of the United States. Next extend your compassion to all of the Western World and Asia. Then to poorer countries that are struggling with insufficient housing and food. Then to the countries that we are concerned about, the Middle East, China, Russia. And to the countries that are at war. Then beyond our world to the wider universe. Then to the universe of universes. Complete your meditation resting in the calm, centered, compassionate emotion of Being Peace.
Thich Naht Hahn wrote: “Even if I just clap my hands, the effect is everywhere, in the faraway galaxies.”
October, 2025