Last Saturday, we had the privilege of hosting Awakin Call with Scilla Elworthy.

Since the age of 13, when Dr. Scilla Elworthy was horrified by the violence she witnessed as Soviet tanks invaded to quell the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, she has devoted her life to promoting peaceful alternatives to conflict. A path-breaking changemaker who has thrice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, she founded the Oxford Research Group to build dialogue among nuclear nations during the Cold War; Peace Direct to support peacebuilders and stop war in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions; and Rising Women Rising World, a vibrant community of women on all continents to draw on feminine wisdom to build a world that works for all. Her latest book is on sacred activism, and her TEDx talk on nonviolence has over a million views. Her life has been dedicated to promoting collective "waking up" through the development of inner awareness, and by changing the way we relate to one another on a global scale.

We'll post the transcript of the call soon, but till then, some of the nuggets that stood out from the call ...

• Nugget #1: Peace is an achievable goal. If we redirected $2B of the $186B we spend on militarization toward 25 tried and trusted methodologies of peace, we could meaningfully prevent conflict.
• Nugget #2: Peace is an inside job. We must work on our shadow selves and address the fear and anger within, otherwise we will continue to search for enemies and perpetuate violence. In Scilla's experience, meditation and the support of meditators and circles has had a profound impact on the peace-building process. "Good listening" is also a key peace-building skill.
• Nugget #3: Conflict is an opportunity - if we walk toward what most scares us, that is what most transforms us.
• Nugget #4: Peace is not just a top-down job; there are things we can do now, at a local and personal level, to advance the cause of peace. See Scilla's "Business Plan for Peace" for information on the 25 methods that can be used to advance peace now.
• Nugget #5: Scilla draws on the Goddess of Compassion Quan Yin to channel divine energy. She described a remarkable scene in which the Goddess of Compassion is riding a dragon on the sea of compassion and pouring compassion into that sea - see here for an example of an image of Quan Yin. This imagery helps inspire Scilla. The dragon was also featured in another story told by Scilla. Scilla imagines her "inner critic" as a dragon, and Scilla explained that she visualizes this dragon when she needs to confront her inner critic and the feelings of fear that rise up within her. We could all learn to confront and train our inner dragon!
• Call to action - Scilla invited members of the ServiceSpace community to contact her if they are interested in potentially partnering with Scilla in a peace-building capacity.

Lots of gratitude to all the behind-the-scenes volunteers that made this call happen!