Remembrance Day

I make no apology for the poppy, there are people who have given their life for us to sleep safe. In good faith those men and women stepped forward and are now left to their own devices whether they are ill or handicapped. I do though include in that remembrance all the civilians who were affected, the pacifists who didn’t fight but still provided essential services to infrastructure of assistance to people.

I am a man of peace but, to me, peace is not about marching down a street or spouting political or religious dogma. Peace starts within us and if there is conflict then it will be manifested around us and it spreads like ripples on a pond. So if external conflict is a result of internal conflict how do we stop it? If we are to be free we must know how not to be bound by the past. Freedom is sold on the concept that it means choices yet freedom actually means there is no need for choice.

Freedom is about not being bound by the past and in JKD terms we refer to it as having the empty cup, to be able to slip or roll with what is thrown with us instinctively rather than by set movements, rigid and dogmatic. So we must rid ourselves of the past in order be free and if we are free we will not have the conflict that ripples out.

The The sang a song about True Happiness this way lies and you can see the lyrics here . Sometimes you can look too hard and miss what you already have.

My parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles all lived through either both or one of the two major wars that were meant to end all wars. Not to remember would be folly, yet we must remember properly and learn, because ripples in the pond is a cause and effect and some of todays conflicts are a result of the ripples from the past. So if we truly want peace then it starts within, where conflict begins. End the conflict within and the ripples will stop. Fight War Not Wars!

Further reading material: http://www.bracketpress.co.uk/