Ruth Mason, The Jewish Journal, Los Angeles: While news of the Geneva accords hit the headlines, a group of Palestinians and Israelis were trying to make a different kind of peace — with the help of Buddhists in southern France.
Thich Nhat Hanh — Vietnamese Zen master, poet and Nobel Peace Prize nominee — has been inviting groups of Palestinians and Israelis to his practice center, Plum Village, in an effort to show them that Buddhist meditation can lead to inner peace as well as nonviolence between nations. The trips are largely underwritten by an American Jewish businessman.
Nhat Hanh preaches nothing less than personal transformation as the road to peace.
“I have lived through two wars in Vietnam, and I know what a war is. There is fear, anger, despair and if you don’t know how to manage these feelings, you will not survive,” he told his audience of 300, including 30 Israelis and Palestinians.
For businessman Amin Bara of Nablus, the palpable peace at Plum Village was an inspiration. “You walk at night, and no one asks you where you are going. You sleep peacefully with no trouble. I feel I love life more. I feel a change in my body and my spirit to be stronger in my work for peace.”…