So we are here at Checkpoint Charlie (Berlin). Twenty years ago there was a wall here. Unfortunately there’s still another type of wall separating people. So my question this week is: how can we tear down this wall called “the clash of civilizations”?
How to tear down walls?
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I’m still learning about walls. I’ve been raised to surround myself with walls only to realize as a grown up that these walls only isolate me and hurt me. I’ve been tearing down wall after wall. First I learned people are not perfect. Then I learned I had to learn to forgive both others and myself. Then I learned that to truly forgive one has to have love for others and oneself. Then I learned that based on this pattern, I shouldn’t judge people. And this “judging” I did came from my silly expectations from myself, imposed by the way I was raised. So, though I’m still struggling to open myself to the world, I feel freer from all those chains that secluded me in the past. Now my struggle comes from other people’s walls. But the pattern I must follow or my mental analysis, for example, when someone seems to be mean, is “are they doing this on purpose? i don’t think so. Why are they doing it? because they are stressed or tired or feel the world is against them. Ok, is there anything I can say or do that will make them feel less defensive and realize i’m not an enemy but rather, someone that cares for them? I’m sure there is.” And I set out on my quest to make another soul feel my love for them through some sort of unexpected kindness. And the hope I carry in my heart is that their hearts will be opened. Sometimes this process takes time, sometimes we don’t see the fruits at all… but I know they’re there.
I’ve felt and seen all sorts of discrimination and ignorance and though it saddens my heart, it drives me to show kindness, even when I’m the one the judgement is being passed for, though it’s hard.
But I want my family, my unborn children to live a better life, to have a brighter future free from these walls and chains, where they can be who they are without passing judgement and when judged, free from the chains of grudge and hate.
I think that love can break all walls.I believe in this but afraid if it doesnt work wth everybody!!!!
As simplistic as it may sound, exposing our children to a wide range of people and cultures will inspire them to be accepting and open to all peoples regardless of their differences.
I was raised in a neighborhood in Chicago that was almost exclusively white. The white members of our Police and Fire Departments lived there as a way of distancing themselves from minorities, while still maintaining a residence within the city. Most of those around me, including my family, used derogatory terms for minorities. They would often say that if a Mexican or Black family were to move into our neighborhood, it would result in increased crime, vandalism, and the value of our homes would be lessened.
I believe that I could’ve grown up the same way, had it not been for two things. One was my Grandfather, who was the President of Chicago’s Locksmith Union. His Vice-President was a black man named Hunter. I saw that he was an important part of my Grandfather’s life and their relationship went beyond working with one another. They spent together as friends and I was given the opportunity to spend time with him and his family. The second was the music of Bob Marley. The value and importance of Bob’s music is well-known and documented and being exposed to his music and philosophy was life-changing.
We fear what we don’t know. The longer we spend in fear of something, the harder it is to break down those walls which keep us from one other. We must be aware of the huge influence we have over our children. I think, in most cases, if a belief system is ingrained in a child as they mature, they tend to have a more difficult time breaking free and choosing for themselves what values to maintain. Having been exposed to a Black American family and an icon and influence for all Africans, at a young age, I could no longer understand or stomach the fear so rooted in our differences. It led me to extend that openness and acceptance to other cultures and races; to tear down a wall which wasn’t of my own making.
The miracle of this is that, as father, I’ve discovered that building these walls for our children must take a huge amount of effort compared to teaching openness and acceptance. I don’t even have to make an effort to teach my son these qualities as they are naturally established in the mind of a child. My hope is that, through love and understanding, the parents who still influence their children with the fear of our differences will build weaker and weaker walls, easily scaled or broken by the openness of our children.
I use a technique called Crystalline Consciousness Technique. It addresses issues that arises in group dynamics through the energetics of that group. Specifically it works with sacred geometry and intent and it is amazing.
Sim axo que a única maneira de derrubar a berreira sera com AMOR E COMPREENSAO …somos todos diferentes mas todos iguais….
se aceitacessmos as pessoas tais como são sem ligar ao credo cor , se olhassemos com os olhos do coraçao seriamos muito mais felizes e viveriamos em HARMONIA…E VC Paulo com sua escrita derruba muitas paredes porque vc consegue unir pessoas de todo o mundo num so sentimento o Amor
Dear Rita,
I agree on the good thought of ‘connection’. Connecting with others on a bit more personal level can change many things. We can start to learn things from a different aspect.
And I accept the fact that people have 97% same genetical material. But outside genetics there is another world… genetics is just one side/aspect of ‘our truth’. What we think of the world and how we communicate in it, what’s our view of life are all different aspects. That’s the thing we have problems in. Although – maybe one idea then would be to somehow use the fact, that we have 97% genetical material in common, as an advantage, in some way. Lets bring out the creativity.
~*~*~*~
At the same time, while I was reading all of these wonderful replies and comments everyone has pitched in, in this blog, I was logged on MSN and I was chatting to a girl who studies the same thing as I am – special education. She claimed her life is a bit of a bore, she has nothing to do and she wants to find something to do. I offered her to talk with me, about this topic, breaking down the walls between civilizations. And to my surprise her exact answer was, and I quote here: ‘I wouldn’t care to think about this topic’. And then she added a smiley face in the end. This to me, shows a deep ignorance and no enthusiasm. And sadly, many people think this way… they whine about how sad and empty their lives are, and when You offer them something to do – maybe a light conversation, they turn it down, and continue whining.
~*~*~*~
Although, I loved these comments on this topic, because most of them concentrated on first changing Yourself, and then trying to spread the love on the world. And I think we need to do that… even one person can pitch in, in changing the world – every person in the world matters!
We can’t force everyone to feel the same way, but we can show them that they have a choice of living a different life that consists more joy and more of love in themselves and the people around them.
Love,
L.L
The walls…useless ‘constructions’ built up by useless minds, built more to hide themselves behind, than divide. They are mere projections of incapable minds. You cannot put a wall between thoughts, emotions because people tend to tear it down as soon as they grasp an opportunity.
We all should remember that God gave us Faith and not names of religions. We should all believe and stop being orthodox, catholics, muslims etc. This should be the beggining of tearing down the religious walls. Moreover, if one has Faith can move the mmountains.
We all should be rich in knowledge, because knowledge gives you power, knowledge makes you tolerant and fulfills your heart with acceptance of the ‘different’, of other cultures and habits.
Therefore, Faith, Knowledge, Tolerance, Respect pave the path towards Love – the real essence of ‘religion’ (as I mentioned above I am not a fan of the term being too restrictive but, I do not want to repeat myself saying again Faith) or, to better put it, the real essence of the message of God.
I think this is a law we forgot obbeying, to respect the other, not to consider the ‘different’ as ‘strange’ or ‘bad’.
We should stop and allow our souls to catch up :)
When man started building fences to claim land for agriculture, this maybe was the beginning of separation,possession, greed.
So its going to take a lot to change that mindset.
Very recently I dreamt I was in a place where communities of people were living side by side, no walls, I remember thinking as I went passed the peoples sitting in circles eating and sharing, how strange and wonderful. A place where no walls exist.
But if reality is a persistant illusion as Einstein has said, then it can only be a matter of time surely, if enough people want the change then it will happen.
A recognition that there is a space between both sides of the wall, where everyone can be as equal and live as one.
Thanks.
Crec que el mur de les desigualtats desapareixeria per l’únic camí possible, l’evolució humana.
Recordem que portem només un grapat de millers d’anys sobre aquesta amada terra. I potser i dic potser en un futur serem prou evolucionats com eradicar del planeta totes les fronteres. Econòmiques, socials, físiques, espirituals, lingüístiques . ..
Intentant cada dia, cada acció, de deixar un planeta millor. Suposo que si tothom ho fes d’aquí un altre grapat de milers d’anys es possible que caigui aquest mur.
I si no es així . ..
Crec que ens autodestruirem . . . :-(
Salut i abraçades !
Bascu
Acredito que as parede somente estão fisicamente para simbolizar a maneira q noz olhamos para o mundo!
Se começar-mos a reeditar e reencinar aos nossos olhos a realidade em nossa volta começaremos a distinguir que o mundo n passa de uma grande familia e que n é a cor,raça,pele,religiao,sexualidade ou outro argumento qualqer q vai tira abeleza de uma vida como a minha ou a tua e sim como q noz pode-mos nos ajudar para cada vez chegar mais e mais longe!
E oq eu achu ^^
vlw t++
I think this text originally in Portuguese could be the answer:
The Last General was over when the last tailor was stoned to death.
Then there were one, two, three, four, five thousand people’s parties.
The crowds jammed the streets with their hearts filled with joy with their smiling faces, laughter echoing in the air.
Off course all the tailors needed killing. All of them!
How could Generals have their uniforms cut and stitched?
There is no such thing as a General without uniform, hat, arrogance, conceit and… boots.
People asked “Shall we kill the cobblers too? We shall walk barefooted.
Better having our feet bleeding than having cobblers to make their boots!”
And the last tailor was buried, and the last cobbler too… and all the Generals were gone! By the way all the Colonels, Majors, Captains, Lieutenants, Sergeants, Corporals, Privates… gone! All gone!
Parties spread throughout the streets, throughout the cities. A sigh of relief made the country lighter, quieter.
As a further safety measure all the tailors’ children and children’s children were also killed.
i know that everybody knows that song “all we need is love”…but in many cases that unfortunately is not enough.I think that that wall will never be tear down because all of the hate that exist between all nations not just Germans…it`s sad i know but very much our reality…i come from a land that many people don`t know about,Serbia.i believe that our best wrighter has heard about it but others i don`t think so!We have problems that nobody cares about…we are always in a war and between brothers there are so much hate..it`s just to sit down and scream.you can`t do anything..i`m young…everything is not so much immportant to me but a small part of me is always wondering how long…??i think that this wall will be torned down but only if in everybodys mind start to grow little flower of happyness and love and when everybody can see that hate is not a feeling but a really large stone that stands in our hearts…and that flower and love will broke that stone and start spreading thrue our hole body..and we will love each other:)PEACE AND LOVE FOR ALL OF US:))
Dear all,
Just read all reactions, so inspiring, thank you! Also for raising the question, Paulo.
In 1989, when the Berlin wall came down, I studied near Paris, in a very international business school. Though my home was only 300 km away in Belgium, I was as much a foreigner as the Japanese, African, Chinese, Syrian… students there. My first friends were Japanese men and Syrian students – at the time I believed the latter might be terrorists as I knew only that what I had heard from political news on tv and newspapers… My Syrian friends invited me to a party, and shared with me that in their village at home they would celebrate both the Muslim and Christian festivities. Always nice to have a feast. I fully agreed and enjoyed the party!
It changed my worldview: we are all human, over 97% of our genetic material is identical – the scientific proof.
We turned to have the same needs to connect and support each other, struggling all together in the project work, and in writing in French. We cared about our loved ones, and about each other- we were all on our own there, far away from helpful family and friends.
It was also the year of the peaceful protest of students on the Tiananmen square – the meaning of the Chinese word is “Square of heavenly peace”. Students were killed violently, imprisoned. I shared with my fellow Chinese students their fear and pain about what was happening. We all felt knocked down in our hope and wish to develop our talents and contribute to society.
The moment we got together in one place, and got to know each other, did a project together and started to live together, all fears and “knowledge” from “the news” in papers and on tv, turned out to be not true. It is as if those stories planted fear in our mind, and a virtual reality had started to play, to live on its own, like a parasite.
So warriors of the light, let’s get it out.
Rita
You have posed a querry that is the burning issue of todays world. Well sir as its always been the universal truth that to tear down the wall of the hatred and so called clash of civilizations we shold spread love. Also we have to address following basic points:
1. Illitreacy and lack of education.
2. Poverty
3. Compassion and love
4. Charity and kindness
5. Try to have communication on the issues
6. We sholud stop expolitation of any form
7. We should remove discimination of any form
Clashes are more of ignorance then civilizations so we need to understand each other more, especially for cultural perspective.
Speaking from my own experience, a lot of walls are built due to not knowing sometimes not knowing can cause fear (false evidence appearing real) which build these imaginary walls. In order to tear down walls mean to speak up when I hear people speak in tongues of racism or prejudice, damning another group of people because of differences. It takes a lot to speak up, but I have learned it hurts the soul worse when remaining silent. Tearing down walls mean speaking up about humanity, touching another person’s heart, dissolving ignorance with educating others about what we have more in common than what separates us, instilling Love, informing those that we are all one what affects one effect another it’s a cycle ( a good example The State of the World’s Economy).
Time
A wall isn’t made of one brick, nor is it made in one hour as the wall is created or broken block by block, and it all starts within.
Vision
A visible wall can be less painful than the one you can t see, it is also easier to break, therefore sometimes the need to build one.
Perception
For every existing walls, people will have a different perceptions at different times and/or different sides of the wall.
One wall tends to give a real visible grip to all parties q [status quo ante] in peoples mind.
Difference
Difference is where @ entities fail to see completion where they fit and what fits in between,
For what you cannot see or understand remains unsolved, [not equal to]
It involves more than one person in both processes, therefore part of the equation exists within each entity that has been, is or will be involved in each chapter of the way.
Cause and effect
If I do not visualize the wall I ll fear to move in any direction, firstly I need to build my wall of reasons that will enable me to see, block by block.
It always involves me and other people, it always involves a message given or received and ultimately resulting in the way that I feel, the wall I see in front of me.
Choice
Very Important… the choice is yours, build, break the wall or take another direction, your choice will depend on the visualization of the wall and the desire to reach the other side.
Funny enough, the clearer you visualize the wall and the bigger the wall the bigger the desire to reach the other side.
Such is the case, that most of times a big wall is build for the sole purpose of giving that big wall, our lives credit, some in building it some in breaking it.
The wall is not the enemy just a tool, the choice we make of its use can be.
Belief
Belief also plays a role but despite what you might think, it is not your belief but the quantity of a common belief, the moment when action is taken that tends to be the winning one in that particular chapter.
Pathway
What s the right message? The right message is shared when loves exists, not by one entity but in the exchange of more than one, therefore creating the right message in the right path, were harmony exists between content and recipient
Do you want to see, the cause and effect of different perceptions?
Does the choice of this tool fits the belief of most?
Where do you find yourself in time?
Does it results in the right pathway?
How to tear down walls?
You can tear down walls by following the right pathway, understand difference and perception, see cause and effect and believe in your choices.
Feel free to comment
The most necessary requirement for building a more peaceful wall and tearing down division is. . . HONOR. . . .
What is Charlie point of view?
wall r here and there and everywere, all kind of walls , fisical ones, or un seen ones,,,,,,, i am not sure we should always try to brake those walls, some times- some kind of walls r impoertant,,,, and some times we can remove those walls after some event or agreement,,,,etc,,,, so we have to understand y and whats the reason for that existing walls,,,, and if we see that one or society is ready to ,,,,,live without that wall…. thats the actual time…… same in relation between people,,,, those un seen walls can be desolves,,, or they can stay in their place,,, it all depends!
Como derribar ese muro?
Muy sencillo.
Pero al mismo tiempo muy dificil para las personas, de poder entenderlo.
Tenemos que entender, primero, que todos somos diferentes, cada uno a su manera, pero al mismo tiempo formamos parte una sola gran cosa.
Todos estamos conectados. Todos somos el espiritu del mundo.
Mas alla de nuestras creencias , mas alla de nuestras edades, mas alla de nuestra forma de pensar, mas alla de nuestro color de piel, mas alla de nuestro idioma; todos formamos parte de un alma.
Todos somo diferentes por superficie, pero si miras muy dentro observaras que tenemos algo en comun.
Someone said that good fences make good neighbors.
Interpersonally, respectfully, awareness of boundaries and limits further harmony and peace. Someone above alluded to that regarding ‘world peace’ being that everybody agrees to my definition of what is good for us.
On the other hand, and this also echoes what some of you have said, I find within myself a thicket of prejudices, judgments, preconceived notions, and responses rooted in fear, insecurity, anxiety and a lack of comfort with my own self and the array of masks I have been forced to wear. Not all of these things are my responsibility for being there, but they are my responsibility if I let them stay there.
I have realized that I create the world I live in by my reactive and habitual bondage to these things, and it is usually a world of judgement, fear, contention and animosity. This would not be my first choice but the world of love, harmony and peace is beyond me as long as I remain rooted in egoic, self-centered concern for my own comfort and safety. However, when I live trusting the Spiritual Reality that Presides Over My Life, I can take action and leave the results with that Spiritual Reality without fear and self-interest.
As I unburden and unhinder myself of the habitual conditioning that is my past, my world become limitless, my perception of the other becomes clearer, my compassion and empathy increase. I have come to realize that all of us carry those same kinds of preconceived notions about each other, about each other’s society and culture and religion and music and ways of walking down the street.
At the root of things, in my opinion, it is all the same. One God, for example, Who has chosen to show God’s self to different people in different ways. One world but different neighborhoods with different climate and topography and myriads of other differences.
Ah, diversity… No reason to build walls because of the differences… We have to find it within ourselves not to be afraid of the differences. We have to find a way to keep people with a vested interest in exploiting those differences to separate us from assuming control and running things.
I think we have to stop looking at who is at the top and look to who is next to us and how we can help each other.
Unfortunately can’t see the video Internet too slow here in NZ but tear down walls? Bij taking away peoples fear by information and knowledge and lots of love
Con la comprensión, el diálogo, la educación, el compartir. El perder para ganar.Sin radicalismos, sin fanatismos, las mismas reglas para todos respetando el principio de igualdad.
Sobre todo con AMOR.
Un beso Paulo, estoy segura que entre todos los que escriben aquí saldrá algo precioso para llevar acabo.
“EL MIEDO CONSTRUYE MUROS Y EL AMOR DERRIBA DIQUES”
SI RECUERDO CUANDO ESE MURO FUE TIRADO Y SENTI UNA EMOCIÓN TAN GRANDE QUE FUE UNA DE LAS COSAS POR LAS QUE LE DI GRACIAS A DIOS. QUE IMPORTANTE, ES ALGO QUE JAMÁS ME OLVIDARÉ, ESO Y LA CAIDA DEL TELÓN DE ACERO REPRESENTA ALGO IMPORTANTE EN MI VIDA. ME EMOCIONO AL PENSARLO Y GRACIAS POR RECORDARME QUE HAN SUCEDIDO COSAS GRANDIOSAS Y ESTUPENDAS QUE JAMÁS OLVIDARÉ MIENTRAS VIVA.
TENDREMOS QUE SEGUIR DERRIBANDO MUROS SÍ, EL CHOQUE DE CIVILIZACIONES SÍ. DERRIBEMOS LOS MUROS QUE CADA DÍA CONSTRUÍMOS.
UN BESO PAULO, ESTAS SON LAS COSAS QUE HACEN QUE VEA LA VIDA DE OTRA MANERA.
With laughter?
and tears – we’re all human, share human feelings,
conditions and thoughts. So many things in life -
across all cultural borders that we share,
if we just want to see that.
In and out.When we will stop creating walls inside ourselves,we will tear down any wall out.NO FEAR-NO WALLS.
The Wall in my country Cyprus is called the Green Line and it is there since the Turkish Invasion in 1974. It is dividing the island but actually it keeps divided the Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The wounds are still open.. There were many missing people ..Now the United Nations with the co-operation of both sides are working to find the graves and with DNA tests to find out what happened to each one of them. Last Sunday I heard about the funeral of a mother found with her two babies… And about a soldier of 19 who was captured and they just killed him in cold blood. About that there was a confession by a Turk soldier.. So the wounds are still open and the ..Green Line, maybe half-opened, but memories are very recent.
I do not understand politics and I do not understand WARS and violence.
About the WALLS we are all closed in, I have already mentioned ..the wonderful poem of Constantinos Kavafis. It is the isolation we all, human beings, feel in this World of duality and separateness.
Sometimes we close ourselves in Walls just for ..protection! Living is sometimes so .. hurtful so in order to avoid pain we hide our ..vulnerability behind our MASKS of indifference and coldness.
LOVE is our .. hope. Love for others but mostly for ourselves.
LOVE,
Thelma
…and another wall is in Israel and another wall is between USA and Mexico and a lot of walls are in the heads…
BTW: Here is a very bright quote from Abraham about peace:
World peace, means one mindset big enough to make the decisions about what everybody else wants, and the rest of the world conforming. That is the ultimate definition of world peace. You say, “Oh, let’s get along!” And what each of you mean is, “You do what I want.” A peaceful world means, “Everybody wanting what I want. Going along with what I want.” And the only problem with that is, there are more than one of you, and you have endless desires that are born within you. The ultimate experience is, everyone having their experience and launching their individual rockets of desire, and the Universe yielding to all of them simultaneously. And everybody not worrying about what anybody else created, and so, then allowing what they are wanting. What a world that is, when there are endless desirers, who are allowing the fulfillment of their own desires.
its not easy to tear the walls in others life!!! actually its impossible!!!
what we can do is tear the walls in our hearts, do it and life becomes a lot easier. I had an experience in my train journey which opened my eyes and changed the colours of the world for me and now I know how it is to tear the walls down and to extend my hands to others…
its all about being yourself and letting others be themselves and all the walls crumbles!!!
ACCEPTING, RESPECTING AND APPRECIATING DIFFERENCES !
Luce
Mutual understanding and acceptance.
just open up, communicate , celebrate by bringing out the innocence in us and throwing away the unripened part of our ego.
Una forma de tumbar las paredes entre las personas es primero aceptar las diferencias que tenemos en común con las demás culturas, segundo tener una mente abierta a los cambios, y tercero dar amor al prójimo. Una verdad que creo ocurre es que cada uno/una de nosotros/as crea esas paredes divisorias, y estas son más fuertes cuando nuestra propia sociedad es la que la imponen. Un ejemplo vivo de eso es la situación que vivimos el pueblo dominicano con nuestra vecina república de Haití, nosotros venimos arrastrando sentimientos negativos desde tiempos de colonización cuando fuimos esclavizados por el pueblo hermano. Aun hoy gran parte de los dominicanos, mantiene esa pared mental divisoria hacia la cultura haitiana; por lo que tomando la tercera consideración si tenemos más amor hacia al prójimo, no habría la necesidad de construir esas paredes y por ende no tendríamos que trabajar para derrumbarlas. Esto aplica para el mundo en general.
No geral, a humanidade esta evoluindo; o muro de Berlin foi derrubado, o apartheid na África do Sul teóricamente acabou, Barack Obama pertencente a uma etnia percentualmente minoritária, foi eleito presidente dos EUA, na China aos poucos o povo vai tendo um pouco mais de liberdade e outras barreiras de várias aréas estão sendo derrubadas ou pelo menos diminuídas.
Mudando de assunto; saiu na mídia da comunidade brasileira aqui no Japão, que sua espôsa, a artista plástica Christina Oiticica, recentemente percorreu o Caminho de Kumano; que ela diz ser irmão do Caminho de Santiago de Compostela. Inclusive o jornal comenta que a peregrinação de Christina, foi motivo de reportagem da televisão japonesa NHK, o mais importante canal de TV do Japão.
At this very moment a big wall of more than 3 thousand kilometers is been built between Mexico and the U.S. I believe that this is not helping anyone
One needs to plant seeds in the wall to shatter it’s base.
Okay…
Why don’t we do exactly the opposite of what we did in the past that contributed to the building of all the wall?
Why don’t we begin by stopping all the walls that ARE being built right now.
Too much talking… too little doing…
Hernan
It is important to understand that we are all the same, come from the same place. For the greater good, any wall can be brought down with communication. Unless you’re dealing with a fascist a 0, then yes walls do have to be put up. But this is already thinking in the negative, and thus attracting it, so it has to begin with the positive, for all of us. I have written a short story for my new column ‘Invading Spaces: the Warrior Way’ on http://www.Howtotellagreatstory.com (you can link from my website) which touches on this same subject, I invite you to read it, it’s titled ‘Only in Paris?’ it should be up end of the week.
What’s funny is this clash of civilizations almost never exists one on one, it’s usually on a collective level…
To help your neighbor is a primal instinct, thus two people or even enemies, stranded on an island will tend to help each other rather than kill each other off.
xxoo
Any wall, its just the materialised barrier in the mind of the people behind it, to “protect” themselves from something that they feel will harm them. Its there ego protecting their “superiority”.
The wall causes an effect on our minds when see it with the eyes of the body, but when seen with the eyes of the soul that wall its seen as it really is, a provocation to our peace, let them be within their walls, humans are so powerful that they are capable of prison themselves or free themselves.
Walls will collapse when there are enough enlightened people in the world to bring the truth to the minds of those people that live in darkness.
We can tear down the wall by respecting differences, opening ourselves to other nation’s truths. Too often, clashes become destructive when we assert our belief to be the one truth, and negate other people’s own beliefs. We need to be open, to be humble and to treat the difference as another perspective, no right or wrong.
This is so difficult, as there can be no unified understanding. But maybe, we weren’t meant to be united that way. Maybe we were created for diversity to survive, to be creative and to continuously explore the wonders the world has in store for us.
Peace/Change begins at home. It is grassroots. Not one person can “save the world”, so we all have to “be the change we wish to see in the world” (was that Ghandi or Mandela????forgetting right now). That means each of us eveolving into what we wish the world to be.
Olá Paulo,
eu acredito que se todos pudermos transcender, não apenas o Ego, mas a percepção do sentimento nacionalista para uma maior, aonde somos todos seres universais e cidadãos do mundo, poderemos viver um dia, como irmãos.
Abraços grandes!
Catholicity to all people.
Bastian
Dear Paulo,
This is a very “big” question. I think that walls exist between people mainly because of a lack of understanding. I think that traditional approaches to this lack of understanding have been mainly attempts to understand the culture that we wish to embrace more fully. We might then do well to take an alternate approach and work towards revealing more of ourselves so that we can be understood; People do not trust what they either do not know or do not understand. So while understanding our neighbors is very important, we should also be focused on revealing ourselves more fully.
Beyond that I believe that we should always come from a place of love, understanding that we are all one big human family. We should also leave fear to the smaller minds; for when we walk in love, fear is not our companion.
Thank you, Paulo.
Love,
Diane
The only way of turning it around will be to change the mentality of all those people, and unfortunately we as humans are so complicated in our minds and so selfish in our souls!
Saludos Paulo!
There always were walls and always will be. Perhaps a completely homogeneous world would be more terrible than a world with walls. Walls arise where differences get side by side. But we should strive to make differences get together.
I discussed this topic with a friend of mine, and we came to a conclusion, that we (and everyone) can give our opinion of the ways that we think can help with tearing down the walls, but it needs certain circumstances, which at this moment we see as the unreal. To make this work (the ideas), it needs for those civilizations to have the same kind of understanding of things (the past, future prospects of how to tear this wall down, aspects of different cultures etc.), and also a wish for it (being open and wanting this to work). And the wish would be even more important than the same kind of understandings. Because if You have a wish for something, then You will find a way for something to happen… even if You understand things differently. Because the wish grants that You are being open-hearted for this to happen and You set Your mind and heart on it.
But in reality we don’t have this situation. We still have people around who can’t care less about the worlds and/or the other humans situations, people, who don’t want peace, or even if they want that deep in their heart, they act out of hatred that has bittered their souls.
For this to work, basically every human being should be open for this and see things in a similar way… objectively and with a warm heart.
These are thoughts of two woman from Estonia, in their 20′s, and on a hungry stomache right before lunch.
Love,
L.L and Nelly
Oh,tough.Is not easy,in a moment in which east european people are still not wellcome in west .Still there is lot of discriminating behaviour,prejudices,fear of the unknown.
I am living in an ex comunist country,now we can travell freely in Europe,but ,sometimes I preferr to hide my origin,for avoiding rude comments.Still,while visiting Wien,capital of Austria,being kind,normal look,with money ,speaking foreign languages,I may say I was well treated,even if people knew my origin.I say if more normal,serious people would travell ,maybe others would see we are as worthy as the people living in west.
Love…Love and patience are the keywords in tearing down walls in people souls.
I’ve met and I’ve got to pass through many obstacles in breaking down the barriers which separated me from many people into my life.
I gave them love, understanding and patience and yet, there were cases when I was about to give up while trying to warm up people souls and hearts.
Soon after, they gave me signs that I touched their hidden, darkened and locked “internal world” and with each person who I made her/him smile and help her/him to discover something new he/she did not know, I felt new accumulated energy and motivation to keep doing the miracle “move” people closer to each others and me ,standing from besides, with a constant smile, full with happiness and all of my fibers could feel their thoughts saying: “Lana, you are a loud little, energetic creature that came to my life to take me out of this life.”
Svetlana
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