The Unconditional Peace Movement
Inspired by the story of Daniel Pearl, an American Jew journalist, musician and truth-seeker who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in February 2002 whilst investigating the post-9/11 attack, a lone musician in the South West of England has decided to shout - and sing - about peace. And to be the spark of inspiration that starts the Unconditional Peace Movement.
"After watching the movie A Mighty Heart which shows Daniel Pearl's journey to death, I was deeply moved by his integrity, courage and open-heartedness amidst a senseless situation that cost him his life," says musician Kavi Jezzie Hockaday.
But what has touched Kavi the most profoundly is that Daniel's death instigated the Daniel Pearl Foundation which promotes cross-cultural understanding through journalism, music, and innovative communications.
World Music Days
Because Daniel recognised the ability of music to bridge differences among people, a series of World Music Days were launched that now bring together thousands of people all over the world to share diverse musical styles.
The Foundation has also put together a series of personal yet public conversations that aim to reconcile the differences between Muslim and Jewish faiths through frank and respectful dialogue.
"Seeing Daniel's wife stay resolutely open even with all the personal suffering and yet strong enough to tell the story to the world by writing a book, helping to set up the foundation as well as taking care of her unborn baby and continuing with her life, gave me a kick-start," says Kavi. "I realised that I could no longer leave world peace to everyone else to make happen: it was time I took a stand. It was time I added my voice to the world peace movement through my words, my music and my actions."
In researching the plethora of peace organisations that have formed over the past few years, Kavi came to the conclusion that campaigning for peace was not enough.
Peace From Within
"Fighting for peace is a contradiction in terms: we need to BE the peace." And so the Unconditional Peace Movement was born, a non-profit organisation that promotes a message of "Peace From Within." The core tenet is that peace that arises from a state of separation is an act of the ego and therefore is temporary, whereas true peace can only come from a place of Being in which the illusion of separation has dissolved.
Another way of saying it is that very often campaigns for peace have the seed of judgment in them, a division into "right" and "wrong" that perpetuates a "conflict" paradigm.
Until each of us has realised our own wholeness, until each of us has gone inside and healed the split within our own psyches, until each of has stopped condemning or judging ourselves or each other, then real peace cannot happen.
This means that we are each responsible for creating peace on Earth not only by what we say and do but also by what we are. If we can embody love, joy, happiness and peace then we create a world of love, joy, happiness and peace.
Kavi believes that one of the ways that we can go beyond the illusion of duality is through music that creates the experience of unity. There are many ways to do this; music can be deeply relaxing or it can be uplifting, it can sing words of beauty or words of inspiration.
Love And Truth
"Music at its best is healing and allows you to taste your natural state of oneness," says Kavi. His vision for the Unconditional Peace Movement is to create a multi-faceted philanthropic organisation that harnesses the innate power of our humanness to build a future based on principles of Love and Truth. This will include fund-raising for specific projects that help raise the vibrational frequency of humanity, the redistribution of global resources, and an educational aspect that teaches people to live their highest potential.
"That's the long-term goal! The more immediate goal is to collect a pool of musicians and release a compilation CD dedicated to peace within and then to put together a benefit concert to raise funding to promote the message. I want this to be an act of beauty. Rather than being a political or even a social statement, the peace I am promoting is heart-based."
The Unconditional Peace Movement is in its infancy but already has attracted the attention of musicians who wish to contribute. In choosing what to include on the album, Kavi is clear that he wants the music to carry a vibration of peace and joy. "It does not matter what style the music is, as long as it makes you forget your self and carries you to a state of oneness."
I know that I, for one, will be supporting this movement wholeheartedly. There really is not enough we can do to promote peace by becoming the peace we want to see … and I'll be adding my voice to this message!
For more information, go to http://www.myspace.com/u_p_movement