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“One day, we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.”
Martin Luther King Jr. spoke those words which embody the ideals of the University of Maine’s 11th annual Peace Week celebration going on this week.
UMaine’s Peace Studies Department is sponsoring Peace Week, which will feature talks, a free movie, a peace-themed books sale in the University Bookstore and a “peace music” radio show.
Peace Week kicked off at 10 a.m. Tuesday with the Fair Trade Fest, where students were able to grab pamphlets, get some free fair-trade coffee and chocolate, and buy books about peace and about clothes not made in sweatshops.
“Free-trade items are certified that the people who made them were paid decent wages and allowed to unionize, things like that,” graduate student Jeff Lowell said.
Lowell is doing work-study in the Peace Studies office and is the vice president the Maine Peace Action Committee.
“We are trying to let people know that peace is more than the absence of war. Peace is about education about our differences and stopping domestic violence too. We are trying to raise awareness,” Lowell said.
Bangor’s Justice Clothing, which features clothes that are union made in America, supplied the clothing for the Fair Trade Fest. Justice Clothing’s owner Eric Odier-Fink describes the store’s products on its Web site as “clean … not made by slaves, indentured servants, children, forced laborers or otherwise abused and mistreated workers.”
Also on Tuesday, UMaine hosted Sulak Sivaraksa, Thailand’s most prominent lay Buddhist. Sivaraksa has written many books on the subject of peace, and is the recipient of the Right Livelihood Award.
Sivaraksa spoke about the importance of teaching introspection and mindfulness as well as traditional subjects.
“Education is seen as simply gaining knowledge. This will not get us very far. [We need] to pull out the hidden potential in each individual person. [We] should not separate life from education, or we risk a misunderstanding of the world,” he said.
Sivaraksa described the Buddhist teachings of mindfulness and unselfishness and methods of implimenting the teachings in education to end suffering and create peace.
“What the West considers progress is the root of the suffering. It is a history made up of greed, hatred and illusion. We need to stress compassion more than competition.
“When you become angry, you want to use violence. The only way to combat violence is by nonviolence,” Sivaraksa said.
Students seemed to be impressed by the talk and took a lot away from it.
“I was incredibly impressed to see an engaged Buddhist challenge the trendy ‘happy-hippie’ Buddhism that people like the CEO of Nike use,” Isaac Curtis, a senior history major, said.
“I was impressed. I think people should think about mindfulness once a day and end all global suffering,” Emily Albee, a junior dual elementary education and history major, said.
“[Sivaraksa's speech] far exceeded my expectations. This is a marvelous kick-off [for the week]. I am especially happy there were so many students here,” said Phyllis Brazee, associate professor of education and director of the Peace Studies Program.
Sivaraksa will also be speaking at 12:30 p.m. today in the Bangor Lounge of Memorial Union.
Other Peace Week activities include a WMEB radio show with Dallas Anderson featuring peace music and poetry at 1 p.m. today, followed by “Hijacking Catastrophe – 9/11, Fear, and the Selling of American Empire” at 7 p.m. tonight in 101 Little Hall.
Bangor Daily News