Origin of the word peace

As we all know, most of the words that are used today have Greek origins. The same can be said about the word peace and how at first the ancient Greeks used the word Ekecheiria (ekeceiria) which means “truce” and was used during the period of the Olympic games to provide safe passage and avoiding any form of conflict to the host city, the competitors that would come to take part in the games and to the spectators. This truce period was important because peace was maintained for the duration of the games/festivals, which could sometimes extend to a full year of peace and calmness between different  nations. As the years progressed, the ancient Greeks used the word Eirene to describe the modern term of “peace”.

Peace symbols through history

As time has passed various cultures, religions and political movements have used peace symbols to pass on to others the idea of peace, calmness, and harmonization.

The first of these widely used symbols is the olive branch which dates back to the 5th Century BC Greece. The ancient Greeks believed that olive branches represented prosperity and drove away evil spirits, that is why they associated the olive branch to the attributes of Eirene, who was the Greek goddess of peace. The ancient Greeks believd that an olive tree would take years to bear fruit that could be harvested, thus anyone who would plant the seed of an olive would be expecting to have a very long period of peace.

The second symbol associated with peace is a white dove, that is used to represent innocence and the renewal of life.

How can we achieve world peace

If people realized their needs can be provided for without unnecessary fear or worry, the current social dynamic would not be able to survive. Scarcity drives people to be more selfish, and to put their own survival in front of the group’s wellbeing.

In most cases, people who have all that they need are far less likely to exhibit unethical and morally questionable actions. The same goes for monopoly and hoarding; when everyone has access to the necessary resources for life, both physical (water, food, minerals, energy) and social resources (community, learning, security, freedom), the incentive to “keep all for oneself” is more or less non-existent.

Consciously designing society to meet everyone’s need for physical and social resources is the most reasonable way to achieve this. There are immense barriers to this happening in the current dominant social paradigm (modernist world view, religious views etc.), many perceived personal and group special interests and the dogmatic view of “us and them”. The main issue remains, and that is the refusal to see how much benefit there is to global cooperation as opposed to constant warring and struggle for dominance of one group over others.

Much of the focus of world peace is often on what groups or countries can do. But, if you are asking what could “we humans” do that seems to imply a focus on the individual which is important. At the level of individual human action, it may seem that what any of us do is inconsequential but if we could lay out a few things everyone could do and worked to increase the number of people doing these things, the results could be remarkable.

A Secure Foundation for Peace

The problem of peace is much more complicated than the problem of war, as it involves political economic, social, cultural and religious problems of the diverse races and nations of the world.

The Cementing Force of Moral Goodness

Unity of all nations and races would ensure world peace. No world unity is possible without the cementing force of moral goodness.

Material Values Vs Moral Values

Though the leading nations often declare equity, truth and humanity to be their guiding principles, their moral life, as a rule is subordinated to their material interest resulting in their inability to sacrifice their privileged positions even though the exigency of the world situation demands it. They rate material values above moral values. They scramble for power while avowedly striving for peace. Moral life cannot be stabilized until moral values are loved for their own sake. Moral ineptitude naturally follows from the materialistic outlook on life.

A Solid Foundation for World Peace

If a solid foundation for world peace is to be laid, a change of outlook on life is imperative. To make moral life secure, the worldly attitude must be replaced by a spiritual attitude. Worldly attitude impairs the moral stamina of nations as well as individuals and thereby undermines the foundation of world peace. Education will not help much in this respect as long as basic attitude to life remains materialistic. There cannot be a sound system of education without a sound philosophy of life.

Eradicating the Root-Cause

Attempting to secure permanent peace simply by military, political and economic readjustments is like treating symptoms without caring to eradicate the cause of a disease, and cannot therefore produce the desired effects.

Small Steps we can take to help maintain peace in the world

Stop trying to change people: A lot of people spend a lot of time trying to convince other people that what they believe is wrong. This does not do anything to further the goal of peace. Instead, it promotes animosity, violence, and even death.

Understand we are interdependent: This is a common insight of the Dalai Lama’s that he likes to remind us all about. In our world of instant communication, faster travel, and global commerce, we all depend on one another to a very high degree. So, what we do to others, positive or negative, will ultimately impact our own well-being.

Treat the people you see everyday well. Again, this is to emphasize the individual nature of these steps. When you see someone and interact with them, treat them well. Even if this action does not feel as if it contributing anything, it will certainly have benefits. Imagine if everyone did this.

Treat everyone else this way as well. You know those people you only see once in a while, or only once? People you run across while you commute to work, wait in the checkout line at the store, people you know you’re never going to see again. They all deserve to be treated as well as the people you see every day.

Talk to people, not at them: When you do engage in a discussion with someone you disagree with, do so from a standpoint of empathy and understanding. Here is a good resource for this: Take “the Other” to lunch

If someone tells you to hate an individual or group, don’t: We often hear messages about people or groups we’re supposed to hate for one reason or another. If you can avoid these messages do so, but above all, simply do not follow their lead. Each decision you make not to hate someone is a decision to further peace in some sense.

There are probably many other things that could be done as well but I think these are steps we can all take, each day, every day, that will allow each of us to contribute in some small way to a more peaceful world. Perhaps we need a social media movement around such simple steps. Do them yourself, tell others what you are doing, spread the word.

Things like this seem so small and ineffective. But, if they build a few people at a time they can have the kind of major impact we’d all like to see.