Why did I start the Iraq War and how can I end it?

[Zukin]

According to the subjective reality perspective, "If you want to address the issue of violence in the world, you can only do so by turning within. Go to work on the violence within you, and strive to become a person who embodies nonviolence."
This quote comes from this article:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...d-nonviolence/

For the answer to why I created the Iraq War, my explanation is that I started college in the fall of 2002 and it was a very stressful experience for me. My level of stress mirrored the growing sentiment to go to war.

In terms of ending the war in Iraq, should I meditate and visualize a peaceful end to the war? I think I've already done that with the Darfur conflict, as I talk about in this post:
Movie "The Secret" disappointing

Am I on the right track?

[geekchic9]

I'm not sure how to explain this to you, but I think you're missing the point. Perhaps this anecdote will help:

I am currently enrolled in group therapy. Occasionally, I meet group members who anger me, because solving their problems seems so easy, but they refuse to do it for some reason. Instead of telling them how I feel, which in my experience changes nothing, I write a letter to them, expressing what I feel. When I am done writing the letter, I scratch out their names in the salutary greeting ("Dear so-and-so") and write my own name. Suddenly, the letter takes on a whole new meaning, and I realize the anger I had toward them is what I really felt toward myself. So, a letter could look like this:

Dear John Doe,

Why are you always late to group meetings? Can't you buy an alarm clock and actually use it? When you're late entering the room, I lose my concentration on what's going on in the group. Please show a little consideration.

Sincerely,
Morgan

And then I change it to this, and it makes all the difference in the world:

Dear Morgan,

Why are you always late to group meetings? Can't you buy an alarm clock and actually use it? When you're late entering the room, I lose my concentration on what's going on in the group. Please show a little consideration.

Sincerely,
Morgan

(And yes, I am frequently late to group.)

Reading an angry letter I wrote to someone else and applying it to myself is a real eye opener. Try it. The result might startle you. And oddly enough, the person who you originally addressed the letter to might start changing on his or her own.

[Max Power]

Originally Posted by Zukin

According to the subjective reality perspective, "If you want to address the issue of violence in the world, you can only do so by turning within. Go to work on the violence within you, and strive to become a person who embodies nonviolence."
This quote comes from this article:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...d-nonviolence/

For the answer to why I created the Iraq War, my explanation is that I started college in the fall of 2002 and it was a very stressful experience for me. My level of stress mirrored the growing sentiment to go to war.

In terms of ending the war in Iraq, should I meditate and visualize a peaceful end to the war? I think I've already done that with the Darfur conflict, as I talk about in this post:
Movie "The Secret" disappointing

Am I on the right track?

=========================
Before you get bent out of shape and start calling Max 'Nutso the Clown' remember we're talking about subjective reality.......
==========================

Right now a child is being murdered, right now a woman is being raped, right now thousands of people are being killed, right now there is a war in Iraq.

Feels bad right? Why?.....because you bring into your awareness right now.

If you are not aware of it....does it exist???...in SR, no it does not.

When does the war in Iraq matter??.......when your aware of it.

The only things that matter are the things you place in your awareness.

Nothing else matters.

Does that sound selfish???.......it should because your focus should always be yourself.

Welcome to..........you.

Max

[Dharma]

Zukin,
Take the situation quite literally and make it about yourself:
I'm choosing to go to war with myself now.
(I = USA and I also = Iraq, it's all you)

Where do you go to war with yourself everyday? It's probably the thoughts in your head. Negative statements about yourself or others. Arguing with yourself or others. Belief in right/wrong and other polarities.

Step one - notice your thoughts, you might even want to journal what they are about. Don't get uptight with it just notice if there's a few themes that you bring up all the time. Shifting awareness to the content of your thinking will bring more awareness to the things you think about that you do not notice.... thoughts that are under the radar so to speak. You will begin to notice the presuppositions you have about reality. Most, if not all of these, are not true.

[Zukin]

Originally Posted by Dharma

Zukin,
Take the situation quite literally and make it about yourself:
I'm choosing to go to war with myself now.
(I = USA and I also = Iraq, it's all you)
Where do you go to war with yourself everyday? It's probably the thoughts in your head. Negative statements about yourself or others. Arguing with yourself or others. Belief in right/wrong and other polarities.

At least I'm making progress now:
Democrats Reject Iraq Plan | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited

My new question is, why exactly did I create Britney Spears' performance at the video music awards? Do I like singing badly and walking around in my underwear? (actually, yes I do)

[Max Power]

Originally Posted by Zukin

My new question is, why exactly did I create Britney Spears' performance at the video music awards? Do I like singing badly and walking around in my underwear? (actually, yes I do)

Z, you just answered your own question.

When we ask why, we're actually trying to understand the choice we've already made. You make a choice at the most fundamental creation level and then you freak out when you see it manifest and then everything spirals out of control.

When we see something manifest in our reality and don't understand it, we can't see past it until we do understand it. When we realise why we have made it happen, it all makes sense.

We're actaully always making choices at a level we don't assocaite with and that freaks us out, but we accept the choices we do understand and don't notice them.

The secret, the trick is to associate your reality with choice at the most fundamental level.

Max