Peace Partnership International - World Spirit Youth Council 2008

The World Spirit Youth Council (WSYC) is an international youth project incubated by Children of the Earth. According to the meeting proposal, “The aim of the WSYC is to connect youth who live oceans apart by awakening the realization that we are all related to one another and the earth. Youth are inspired by other active people they meet and become spiritually activated themselves; they are called to be a moral force on the world's stage. The 2008 World Spirit Youth Council met February 12-22 in Thailand. Peace Partnership International provided travel scholarships for Aaron Voldman of the United States and Corina Simon of Romania to attend. Here are their stories.

I traveled February 10-22 to Thailand to participate in the World Spirit Youth Council Summit. During the first five days of the event, participants took part in The Middle Way Meditation Retreat, organized by the Dhamakaya Foundation, at which we meditated four times a day and were instructed on meditation. Prior to the meditation retreat, I knew little about meditation. I learned that meditation is a powerful way to clear our minds and to connect with our selves. One of the monks at the retreat described the meditation experience as the settling that occurs when sand that is spinning within a cup of water settles to the bottom. When the sand settles, we can more clearly see through the cup to the other side. When we have a clear mind, we can objectively examine ourselves and observe the world.

Often we are not able to move forward, because we are attached to the past. Our creative juices are hindered by our lack of ability to be present in the moments that we live. A clear mind opens up space for the creative experience as we are fully present to create. At a time in our history when our global family faces great challenges, we need to be able to objectively examine conflicts and use our creativity to resolve these conflicts in ways that work for all of us. Meditation offers a powerful opportunity to build peace through clarity and creativity.

After the meditation retreat, I joined the World Spirit Youth Council organizational meeting, during which we solidified an organizational structure for WSYC and selected projects on which to work. One of the projects selected was the Ministry of Peace initiative. WSYC is passionate about organizing educational programs that promote spiritual activation. Members were excited about taking on the Ministry of Peace in order to transform our political structures in ways that are in line with the spiritual values that unite all of humanity.

WSYC will include articles and resources on Ministries of Peace in the WSYC newsletter, include the Ministry of Peace in informational materials, will create a module on spiritual activism for a Ministry of Peace, and maintain an awareness of how to incorporate Ministry of Peace efforts further into the work of WSYC. The membership of WSYC is committed to organizing as members of the Ministry of Peace campaigns in their countries to make Ministries of Peace a reality. Youth from South Africa, Pakistan, Australia, Japan, US, Ghana, and Romania were particularly excited about organizing Ministry of Peace efforts.

Throughout the meditation retreat and the organizational meeting, participants grew together like a family. Through learning meditation together and working as a unit to build the WSYC organization, we connected and shared deeply. During my time in Thailand, I learned that spirituality is not so much about talk as it is about action. It is about the recognition of our true natures and about an awareness of who we are. Spirituality truly crosses borders and religions, as it seeks to ask all of us to be true to who we are and to recognize our potential to actualize change through united action. I am excited that WSYC has taken on the Ministry of Peace project, and I look forward to continuing to work with the organization to raise awareness about the need for peace infrastructure in our governments.

Taught by Buddhist Monks, the Middle Way Meditation Retreat meant learning a technique for reaching inner peace and through which I had a wonderful realization of the fact that peacebuilding is the way in which I can best express my spirituality and that this is my own path for making a difference in the world. Also it was evident to me that this would not have been possible without the support and growth process in which I have embarked with PATRIR and the Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments of Peace. Nina Meyerhof from Children of the Earth and the Dhammakaya Foundation, and with the guidance of Father Terry Gallagher, Scarboro Missions, Canada, gave me the most powerful spiritual experience of my life until now, as well, with the opportunity to participate in the Celebration of Lights Ceremony and meeting the Abbot and Vice-Abbot (photo) of one of the largest meditation movements and one of the great spiritual leaders in Buddhism, Lamma Gamschee.

This context allowed me to reconnect with my fellow youth colleagues and speak about our passion for promoting Ministries and Departments of Peace. (In the photo, left to right: Kelly Shannon, Corina Simon, Sammy Jacobs Abbey, Aaron Voldman, and Peter Lukwiya.) Together we planned and presented ways of connecting the two global movements. During the working days, following a sociocratic decision-making process, the gathering concluded that the WSYC will take action to support the creation of Ministries/Departments of Peace.

The next steps were to agree together what types of activities would best link the purposes of the two movements. Together, we came up with several educational activities that would build awareness about Ministries and Departments of Peace, how to get involved in the initiatives, and link with spirituality by collective as well as individual actions.

Another important part in my engagement was to contribute to the development of the World Spirit Youth Council. Oran Cohen, South Africa, Yuka Saionji, Japan and myself spent many hours during the night in order to come up with a structure and system for the facilitation of implementation of WSYC projects. In this attempt we also consulted with Aaron and Sammy due to their experience in youth movements. This came up as a need to ensure follow-through from one conference to another, to keep the communication flow and activity alive. Building on the feedback received on the last day of the conference, the process continues at this date as we refine and clarify the framework as well as find ways to communicate the view to those who were not present at the conference.

Because of our own experience and accounts, we hope to inspire other youth from national initiatives for Ministries/Departments of Peace to participate in the activities of the World Spirit Youth Council on the basis that peaceworkers need to have a holistic life and, without tending to the realization of their spirituality, they may lack an important element in the work for world peace -- the sense of Unity, Oneness and Common Ground. The WSYC offers great opportunities to achieve that awareness, in an international environment and tapping into the ancient peace practices of humanity.