S Galindo_ I probably shouldn't presume to interpret Mother Teresa's words, but I think she was referring to Christ's instruction to resist not evil. I take that to mean to turn your attention away from what you do not want and put it toward what you do want. You cannot have Inner Peace if you are focusing on discord. The world is simply the mirror of our collective conciousness. If we do not like what we see in the world WE must be the change. Being that change is not always easy, but it is always rewarding.

World Peace begins with Inner Peace.
Peace is a jpurney a process.
Mother Teresa said when asked to join a march against war, that she would join if they would have a march for peace. I hope this is an accurate statement.

The interesting comment that peace might even be thought of something to seek rather than be the absence of war is something to embrace and behold. The popular imagination sees peace as part of a duality like light and dark, hot and cold, happiness and sadness.
One is present to the detriment of the other. The correlation of one to the other is the presence of one as part of the absence of the other. When we see the color blue, we exclude the color red. But it is more complex than that. The colors of the rainbow are but parts of the totality of the white light one see when all are combined. Reflection of a color is due to absorption of all the others and reflection of but one.
Happiness is not the feeling one has when one is not sad. We have to achieve a happy state. It is something to be cultivated and sought rather than be expected as the positive result of the absence of its counterpart.
When you suggest that kids should be taught conflict resolution at a young age it is part of the most advanced culture which prizes education of more than just the mental processes, but of the emotional ones as well. To know facts but to not have a sense of values about one's environment is truly ignorance.
One can know the encyclopedia but not have the maturity to use it well. We have criminals using their knowledge to further their own criminal nature. We have the use of nuclear energy to cure cancer and to explode millions of people.
We must actively seek a peaceful state of mind for peace to be achieved. It is not easy to see. It is difficult to know that once someone is not violent it doesn't necessarily result in quiet or calm.

Just as you recognized that violence begets more violence, so too peace begets more peace. Peace is not the absence of conflict, but rather, seeing the conflict and chaos around you and staying centered in your own peace. Imagine a hurricane - the swirling winds around the eye are destructive and violent, yet at the center is the calm. Our lives are the same way, so the more peaceful we can be, the less violence there is in the world.
Peace begins with me.

Precisely! It is important to remember that those who act in abhorent ways were not born that way. The violent world view was taught to them. With that in mind reflect on the behavior of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and a raft of others. As babes in arms they were as vulnerable and loving and pure as the rest of us were. They simply had ommissions and distortions in their training. They were not taught to respond to conflict peacefully. They were taught that to be a "real man" means to assert themselves stridently, using violence as necessary.

That means the propeace community needs to do a better job of getting ideas and techniques into education from their earliest point possible right through to universities. These are crucial, valuable skills to have. Not having them can be catastrophic as we are witnessing in the world today.

One of the fastest ways to achieve systemic change is through government. We saw it with F. D. Roosevelt's New Deal, which lifted millions out of economic despair. We saw it in the early 60s when J. F. Kennedy announced our intention to land on the moon, resulting in a technological boon we are still experiencing in a profound way. We are seeing it now with the current Administration's attempt to transform our society to militarism.

Establishing Departments and Ministries of Peace in governments world wide is the quickest way to achieve the systemic transformation we need. It won't be perfect or solve all the problems. Nothing human ever is or does. But the U.S. Department of Peace will directly and effectively address the ommissions and distortions in education that lead to an acceptance of violence in our culture.

sgalindo, I have young children too, and I can't claim to have never lost my patience with them. But through my practice of "inner study and focusing of intention" I make sure that those occassions are rare. If they weren't rare I would seek professional help.

I consider parenting one of my "outward actions" for peace. I know that if I can help my children understand the futility of violence in all its forms and to develop nonviolent skills, then I am helping to build a more enlightened world.

given the scope of understanding shown in this next quote i'd say your more than qualified to speak your how to thoughts ;)

not only is it possible it is imperative, and will make all the difference in the very near future, as this very important concept continues to spread and be put into action.

BL*M