3 Stances: Nonviolent Engagement

Contemplative Dialogue consists of three interrelated "stances" or "practices":

• Contemplative Noticing or Mindfulness
• Nondefended Learning
• Nonviolence

To enlarge, click on image (From Centre for Contemplative Dialogue, Steve Wirth)

At our April 9th meeting, the San Diego "Community of Practice" focused on the stance of Nonviolence.  As the topic was delivered and we discussed violence and nonviolence in our world, I wondered how often I have been "stuck" in the  cocoon that has protected me for so many years: protected me from noticing the violence - intended or not - that I inflict on myself, my loved ones, friends, and strangers; protected me from vulnerability; and protected me from exploring new worlds.  In fact, I noticed as we told our stories that evening, how many of us could retell stories of hurt and abuse.  Is nonviolence so foreign to me and to others that we don't have stories for this stance?

Watching, listening and reading the daily news, it seems as if we, as a society, may also be stuck in a cycle of violence, the retelling of stories of hurt and harm.  Just count the number of stories on the nightly news, in the newspaper, portrayed in documentaries, blogged about, tweeted and retweeted... stories that focus on humanity's anger toward itself and its environs.

Through Contemplative Dialogue, I am beginning to learn to slow down and see another world, a world of compassion - compassion towards myself and others: forgiving, understanding and forgetting past hurts.  It is true that I need to become aware of the damage I may have caused, but slowly, ever so slowly, I am called to emerge from the protective and confining coverings of the past and to enter a world that imagines new beauty and possibilities for growth and exploration, with new wings that glisten with colors unimagined in the dark, cramped cocoon.  I am learning to move beyond the limitations of the earthbound caterpillar and the confinements of the chrysalis, my earlier existences, and seek a world of nonviolent existence with you.  I am searching for new stories: of peace, not war; of healing, not harm; of joy and compassion, not sadness.

With the stances of noticing and nondefended learning, I am seeing opportunities for the common good.  I desire to stretch these new wings which are drying in the gentle breeze.  Will you join me in this exploration?  We may have some exciting new stories to tell in the near future!

Larry Gardepie