This Valentine's Day as we spend focused time reflecting on the quality of love in our lives, consider that peace lives in the same realm, and can be accessed from the same source in which we access the true essence of love. With this idea in mind I felt it was a perfect opportunity to introduce a friend and colleague, David Brown (www.davidmatthewbrown.com) who has recently chosen to run the LA Marathon representing The Department of Peace. Enjoy the interview, and know that peace and love start with you!
"Running for peace." What does that mean?
It means a lot... because I realize first, that peace starts with me; running for peace (particularly the Peace Alliance) and campaigning for the Department of Peace opens the door for a new paradigm in this country. Being a part of the tons of people active in creating a Department of Peace... means we can take our tax dollars and put them into something that will benefit everybody in a peaceful, kinder way. Take, for example, implementing peaceful resolutions for kids in schools. I have a two-year-old daughter. What matters to me is that she is able to understand, clearly, who she is through peaceful, more loving, kinder ways towards herself.
Doing this run is like running for everybody. But if I put it in that regard, it becomes overwhelming. So what matters is that it starts with me. If I can keep implementing peaceful ways of being within myself, that matters... and makes a difference.
What inspired you to run the L.A. Marathon?
Funny story.
When I was in high school, I ran cross country (long distance) and track. If you waited around long enough, you'd probably see me come in 124th out of 125 runners. I hadn't run for nine years when this past summer I was hiking through Runyon Canyon in Los Angeles; I got to the top of the hill, and I got a message that said "Start running again." I was, like, "You've got to be kidding me! Run again?!" But I started... and at end of September, the same feeling ran through me. "You're going to run the L.A. Marathon for the Department of What?!" From a Biblical sense, I kind of felt like what Noah must have felt like. But when I approached the Peace Alliance and Department of Peace with the idea, it was great timing. They needed something ... a human face. That's where the inspiration came from.
Why the Department of Peace?
When the idea to run the marathon... to run for peace... came to me, it was so strong. I remember seeing the Department of Peace at a couple of functions. When it comes to peace and unity from the inside out, there seemed to be a strong calling to the Department of Peace. I didn't know anything about them, when I approached them. I just knew they had a campaign going; a campaign very much in line with all of the things that I talk about. We live in a space where it's a lot easier to complain, blame, and talk about all the things we want to fight. I'm not saying that I am against war, per se- what I am saying is that I am FOR peace. It's time for us to evolve, to go to a different place, and get out of ridiculous old constructs that give the same results that don't work. To me, peace is proactive, not passive. It benefits everybody.
Plus, the Peace Alliance is an organization that really brings people onboard. It's about unity. I don't work for them, nor am I a part of them, but I'm helping them by doing this run. I like what they stand for; the fact that people can give their tax dollars to the Department of Peace, energetically giving money to peace, rather than defense. Peace is proactive, violence is passive.
I have already received a couple of emails from people who don't want me to make this run. They believe that, by having a Department of Peace, we just roll over for countries like Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. But I believe we are evolving. I understand that change can be hard and difficult, but when you start saying "yes" to your life... imagine where that can take you, as opposed to where resistance takes you.
Where did the number "one million people" come from?
We have 18 million people, or so, in L.A. When I talked to the people in the Peace Alliance, it started out with the idea that if we could have one million people lining the L.A. Marathon, standing for peace, it could really send the message to our politicians and all Americans, "I have a voice, I matter, and this is what I want to stand for. I want to stand for peace. I want to stand for everybody."
What is peace? What do you hope to bring attention to with this run?
Imagine peace like a hurricane. You have the hurricane going around in circles and in the middle of that hurricane, you have the "eye of the storm"... the peace... where you hold all the stuff that comes up. We live in a society where people feel powerless, but peace is right at the heart of what you are going through. Even when things are completely chaotic in your life, if you can connect to it (through mediation, getting into nature, etc.), you can have glimpses and moments of real peace, and the more you practice, the more accessible it becomes.
Through running the LA Marathon I hope to bring attention to the idea that we are evolving at a quickening pace right now, and we are going to a new paradigm. Each and every one of us is a part of that and it starts at an individual level. I hope that people who show up or read this article begin to identify with the idea that when we start with ourselves by going inward to find the places where we allow anger and violence to run us, and choose to resolve it, that we can each play a part in spreading peace across the globe. We all have that capability, that potential, that possibility.
How can people learn more about what you are doing and this run for peace?
They can follow my blog at davidmatthewbrown.com, as of today they can also purchase I STAND FOR PEACE bracelets to wear at the marathon and throughout their day as a reminder of who they really are!
What is your vision?
As a country, we should go inward and take a look at ourselves... really take a look at who we are and how we are evolving. There are so many possibilities! We are the United States of America; we should be able to unite within ourselves. Get past the ridiculous notion that same sex couples can't get married, or that it's okay for kids to beat up other kids with red hair. We need to show people that there is a different way. It's not powerful to kill someone, but powerless.
Everybody has a right to choose, a right to be who we are. I hope that people can really look at themselves and ask, "Am I really grateful? Do I have appreciation? Do I have peace in my life?" If you don't, don't be so hard on yourself. Just consider how it starts with you... and the new choices you can make.
You have a voice. It's time for us to choose peace... and stand for something, not fight for it!
To learn more about The Department of Peace go to www.thepeacealliance.org
Follow Jason Mannino on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jasonmannino
Monday, February 15, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Homophobia: Healing It From The Inside Out
"There must be radical healing of the gatekeepers if our globe is to truly be healed." Malidoma Some; World Leader in Spirituality & Heterosexual Ally.
Taking a stand for love in this world has always been a part of my life's mission. With the recent deaths of the remaining parental figures in my biological lineage comes an urgent call from the depths of my being. This call makes it clear, once again, that in life every millisecond is to be spent living in absolute alignment with who I really am.
Living boldly in my full authenticity means knowing that every part of who I am is a gift -- including my sexual orientation. I took a courageous stand for myself when I came out of the closet in 1989. I was seventeen and Ronald Reagan had just vacated the White House (need I say more). It was a time when legal protection for LGBT people was rarer than it is today. In this political climate it would have been easy to buy into self-loathing, even take my own life as too many young LGBT people still do (see my article: Homophobia is Killing Our Youth). However, my inner experience of unconditional love was greater than my internalized homophobia.
Flash forward to the precipice of the new decade on which we stand. We still live in a world where too many LGBT people have unconsciously held onto the poisonous, negative beliefs about sexual orientation that our society, churches, and government still force feed. Eleven years after the death of Matthew Shepard, Wyoming (the state where he was murdered) along with 18 other states and the federal government still do not have hate crimes legislation that protect LGBT people (actually, fully inclusive hate crimes legislation landed on Obama's desk for signaure as this article was submitted). Thirty one states -- along with the Federal government -- can still fire people from their jobs on the basis of sexual orientation. Every day thousands of lesbians and gay men who can be fired for telling the truth about their sexual orientation stand side by side with fellow soldiers in our armed forces. As I write, people in Maine are trying to take away marriage rights from LGBT people just as they did here in California last year
Homophobia doesn't stop at the cultural or social level. This plague penetrates the depths of our unconscious whether we are straight or gay. I witness the results of homophobia consistently among my clients, when a client has an "a-ha" moment realizing that old, shameful beliefs about their sexual orientation still pervade their life experience. For instance, I have career coaching clients who realize that stress at work is sourced in the dire need to be accepted as a result of judgments about being "different" due to sexual orientation. I have coached clients who have wondered why they were experiencing challenges attracting a life mate until they uncovered negative, homophobic beliefs like, "Loving relationships are only supposed to be between men and women."
Although religious and governmental institutions can inhibit legal rights, true liberation can be achieved by releasing ourselves from the illusory shackles of the beliefs that our sexual orienation is an affliction. LGBT people are gifted with a unique role to play in the conscious evolution of humanity. When we liberate ourselves from the internalized shame we hold about our sexuality, and reclaim the connection between our sexuality and spirit we can step fully into playing that role. Malidoma Patrice Some, PhD, Author, Elder, Diviner and gay ally speaks frequently about the perception of homosexuality in indigenous cultures.
He had this to say in an interview with M.E.N. Magazine:
The gay person is looked at primarily as a "gatekeeper." The Earth is looked at, from my tribal perspective, as a very, very delicate machine or consciousness, with high vibrational points, which certain people must be guardians of in order for the tribe to keep its continuity with the gods and with the spirits... Any person who is at this link between this world and the other world experiences a state of vibrational consciousness which is far higher, and far different, from the one that a normal person would experience. This is what makes a gay person gay. This kind of function is...one that people are said to decide on prior to being born. You decide that you will be a gatekeeper before you are born...To then limit gay people to simple sexual orientation is really the worst harm that can be done to a person.... And, personally, because of the fact that my knowledge of indigenous medicine, ritual, comes from gatekeepers, it's hard for me to take this position that gay people are the negative breed of a society. No! In a society that is profoundly dysfunctional, what happens is that peoples' life purposes are taken away...This is again victimization by a Christian establishment that is looking at a gay person as a disempowered person... This is not justice... It is a terrible harm done to an energy that could save the world, that could save us. If, today, we are suffering from a gradual ecological waste, this is simply because the gatekeepers have been fired from their job. This is not fair!
Next April, we as a community have an opportunity to answer our call to greatness whether LGBT or a straight ally by attending the first liberation conference: Liberation, 2010. Liberation 2010 is a conference being directed by kindred spirit, and friend Mark Anthony Lord, Founder and Spiritual Director of Bodhi Spiritual Center in Chicago and his co-host August Gold, who is the Spiritual Director of Sacred Center New York. They are calling LGBT people, families, friends, and straight allies to come together and go on an inward journey to uncover and heal the toxic, homophobic beliefs that keep us from radiating our brilliance and answering our call to greatness. Lord has called on powerful spiritual leaders of the 21st Century including Byron Katie, Gay Hendricks and Malidoma Some to be with us during this conference and support us in healing this plague. When each of us heals one piece of ourselves we contribute to the healing and conscious evolution of the whole world.
I spent some time with Lord and asked what is inspiring him to call this conference now:
Well, the reason gay marriage didn't pass in CA is not because of politics. It is because of religion. Religion is what is blocking the rights that GLBT people deserve. I want to help LGBT people discover that wholeness lies with us. Before we change the world we have to change the way we view the world. If we are looking through a lense of our own homophobia we stay stuck blaming rather than changing. The way to truly create change is to rise above those concepts and be a vibration of love.
Check back for my full interview with Mark Anthony Lord.
To get involved go to the Liberation 2010 website: www.liberation2010.com
***
Learn more about Jason Mannino at www.jmannino.com
Follow Jason Mannino on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jasonmannino
Taking a stand for love in this world has always been a part of my life's mission. With the recent deaths of the remaining parental figures in my biological lineage comes an urgent call from the depths of my being. This call makes it clear, once again, that in life every millisecond is to be spent living in absolute alignment with who I really am.
Living boldly in my full authenticity means knowing that every part of who I am is a gift -- including my sexual orientation. I took a courageous stand for myself when I came out of the closet in 1989. I was seventeen and Ronald Reagan had just vacated the White House (need I say more). It was a time when legal protection for LGBT people was rarer than it is today. In this political climate it would have been easy to buy into self-loathing, even take my own life as too many young LGBT people still do (see my article: Homophobia is Killing Our Youth). However, my inner experience of unconditional love was greater than my internalized homophobia.
Flash forward to the precipice of the new decade on which we stand. We still live in a world where too many LGBT people have unconsciously held onto the poisonous, negative beliefs about sexual orientation that our society, churches, and government still force feed. Eleven years after the death of Matthew Shepard, Wyoming (the state where he was murdered) along with 18 other states and the federal government still do not have hate crimes legislation that protect LGBT people (actually, fully inclusive hate crimes legislation landed on Obama's desk for signaure as this article was submitted). Thirty one states -- along with the Federal government -- can still fire people from their jobs on the basis of sexual orientation. Every day thousands of lesbians and gay men who can be fired for telling the truth about their sexual orientation stand side by side with fellow soldiers in our armed forces. As I write, people in Maine are trying to take away marriage rights from LGBT people just as they did here in California last year
Homophobia doesn't stop at the cultural or social level. This plague penetrates the depths of our unconscious whether we are straight or gay. I witness the results of homophobia consistently among my clients, when a client has an "a-ha" moment realizing that old, shameful beliefs about their sexual orientation still pervade their life experience. For instance, I have career coaching clients who realize that stress at work is sourced in the dire need to be accepted as a result of judgments about being "different" due to sexual orientation. I have coached clients who have wondered why they were experiencing challenges attracting a life mate until they uncovered negative, homophobic beliefs like, "Loving relationships are only supposed to be between men and women."
Although religious and governmental institutions can inhibit legal rights, true liberation can be achieved by releasing ourselves from the illusory shackles of the beliefs that our sexual orienation is an affliction. LGBT people are gifted with a unique role to play in the conscious evolution of humanity. When we liberate ourselves from the internalized shame we hold about our sexuality, and reclaim the connection between our sexuality and spirit we can step fully into playing that role. Malidoma Patrice Some, PhD, Author, Elder, Diviner and gay ally speaks frequently about the perception of homosexuality in indigenous cultures.
He had this to say in an interview with M.E.N. Magazine:
The gay person is looked at primarily as a "gatekeeper." The Earth is looked at, from my tribal perspective, as a very, very delicate machine or consciousness, with high vibrational points, which certain people must be guardians of in order for the tribe to keep its continuity with the gods and with the spirits... Any person who is at this link between this world and the other world experiences a state of vibrational consciousness which is far higher, and far different, from the one that a normal person would experience. This is what makes a gay person gay. This kind of function is...one that people are said to decide on prior to being born. You decide that you will be a gatekeeper before you are born...To then limit gay people to simple sexual orientation is really the worst harm that can be done to a person.... And, personally, because of the fact that my knowledge of indigenous medicine, ritual, comes from gatekeepers, it's hard for me to take this position that gay people are the negative breed of a society. No! In a society that is profoundly dysfunctional, what happens is that peoples' life purposes are taken away...This is again victimization by a Christian establishment that is looking at a gay person as a disempowered person... This is not justice... It is a terrible harm done to an energy that could save the world, that could save us. If, today, we are suffering from a gradual ecological waste, this is simply because the gatekeepers have been fired from their job. This is not fair!
Next April, we as a community have an opportunity to answer our call to greatness whether LGBT or a straight ally by attending the first liberation conference: Liberation, 2010. Liberation 2010 is a conference being directed by kindred spirit, and friend Mark Anthony Lord, Founder and Spiritual Director of Bodhi Spiritual Center in Chicago and his co-host August Gold, who is the Spiritual Director of Sacred Center New York. They are calling LGBT people, families, friends, and straight allies to come together and go on an inward journey to uncover and heal the toxic, homophobic beliefs that keep us from radiating our brilliance and answering our call to greatness. Lord has called on powerful spiritual leaders of the 21st Century including Byron Katie, Gay Hendricks and Malidoma Some to be with us during this conference and support us in healing this plague. When each of us heals one piece of ourselves we contribute to the healing and conscious evolution of the whole world.
I spent some time with Lord and asked what is inspiring him to call this conference now:
Well, the reason gay marriage didn't pass in CA is not because of politics. It is because of religion. Religion is what is blocking the rights that GLBT people deserve. I want to help LGBT people discover that wholeness lies with us. Before we change the world we have to change the way we view the world. If we are looking through a lense of our own homophobia we stay stuck blaming rather than changing. The way to truly create change is to rise above those concepts and be a vibration of love.
Check back for my full interview with Mark Anthony Lord.
To get involved go to the Liberation 2010 website: www.liberation2010.com
***
Learn more about Jason Mannino at www.jmannino.com
Follow Jason Mannino on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jasonmannino
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