Today I watched a video of police attacking innocent peaceful travellers on their way to a field near Stonehenge in 1985 called Battle of Beanfield at this link https://youtu.be/V1doyDQDZtc . I hadn’t seen this before as I was also living in a community of peaceful earth-loving people with no access to news at the time when I was living overseas. I still do not like to watch violent films for entertainment, especially the gruesome news reports these days.

As a Quaker we have a Testimony to Peace and one of our advices #31 from Advices and queries reads:

We are called to live ‘in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars’. Do you faithfully maintain our testimony that war and the preparation for war are inconsistent with the spirit of Christ? Search out whatever in your own way of life may contain the seeds of war. Stand firm in our testimony, even when others commit or prepare to commit acts of violence, yet always remember that they too are children of God.

#32 : Bring into God’s light those emotions, attitudes and prejudices in yourself which lie at the root of destructive conflict, acknowledging your need for forgiveness and grace. In what ways are you involved in the work of reconciliation between individuals, groups and nations?

#33: Are you alert to practices here and throughout the world which discriminate against people on the basis of who or what they are or because of their beliefs? Bear witness to the humanity of all people, including those who break society’s conventions or its laws. Try to discern new growing points in social and economic life. Seek to understand the causes of injustice. social unrest and fear. Are you working to bring about a just and compassionate society which allows everyone to develop their capacities and fosters the desire to serve?

This video shows just one of many violent attacks perpetrated globally by the state controlled armies and police on innocent people who were as far as I could see not responding with violence. I wonder and hope that if we all took more responsibility for how we think and feel, wake up and become more conscious beings then our world could be a better place. Without dealing with it first and foremost within ourselves in our own lifestyle we cannot change the world – we have to BE THE CHANGE and action comes as a consequence. 

We have to love and accept ourselves and from that space we can love others and connect with the universal energy that permeates everything. 

My quest started with meditation and yoga in the seventies and I’ve travelled physically and internally since then. I love to read and gain knowledge and two people I can identify with very much at the moment are Andrew Harvey who wrote the book Sacred Activism and Scilla Elworthy whose book I am reading now called ‘Pioneering the Possible – Awakened Leadership for a World That Works’. Scilla is a woman of peace and involved with Quakers too and has a lifetime of experience of working for a better world.

• I will come back to this subject in a later blog, as I’m arriving in Manchester for an Anti-Austerity gathering. 
• Here are two composite videos of women’s action that I’ve enjoyed being part of and some I haven’t been involved with.      http://youtu.be/AltaIXtbMF0.        http://youtu.be/LEcgQy2tLm4
• A fun film by the Nanas of Lancashire  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Dae0mmguhhTHItSmNBdlhZZzg/view?usp=sharing

This video from Prince Ea is very descriptive of my concerns for what we are doing to this planet and our beautiful natural environment and I hope to share more of my journey with you.

Dear Future Generations: Sorry

I started my travels from England to the East in the mid seventies which opened my eyes to how people lived in South East and South Asia before tourism really got going over there. I particularly loved the people of Nepal and the countryside there which has been devastated by the recent earthquakes!

I love this Earth, our home and do not like to see the destruction by major corporations for profits over people’s welfare and wellbeing. As Gandhi said, “There is enough for everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed.”

The world is being ruled by these corporations and much more is going on than meets the eye. We cannot trust what we see in the media to be true and we live in a manipulated world. TV has taken over many people’s lives and continues to program the passive watchers. So the more hours spent in front of that screen the less opportunity for creativity of the human spirit and so while we have the internet that’s where I spend quite a lot of down time. It is important to find balance and be in nature and appreciate the natural world and stay connected to the earth. I love walking in the countryside and since retirement I’ve returned to regular yoga classes.

I am a meditator and spent a lot of time in India and at the ashram of Osho in Pune where seekers gathered from all over the world from the seventies when his name was Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.
I have been a Quaker since returning to Lancashire in 1996 and I met my husband at this beautiful Meeting House in the village of Crawshawbooth where we still have responsibility for the upkeep of this 2* listed building.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quaker-Friends-Meeting-House-Crawshawbooth-Rossendale/258833314146511