European ‘Rebels’ Meditate
Together For More World Peace

By RUDI DE KOKER!

‘Peace Revolution’ is the name of the project that started in 2008 in Thailand. ‘We believe that world peace can be possible if people experience their own inner peace first’, says Anca Gliga (26) from Romania, who coordinates the project in Europe. ‘Because personal balance will also be reflected in the environment.’ During one week, sixty European young people followed an intense program in the Buddhist Center Dhammakaya. Waking up at 4.30am, four meditation sessions a day, alternated with group sessions: it sounds heavy yet that’s not how the Peace Rebels see it. ‘The experience is truly amazing’, says Lea Tuska (24) out of Saloniki in Greece. ‘The program has helped me to ban negative experiences from my life.’ Thibaud, a young artist from Liège, has similar thoughts about this. ‘At a certain moment in my life, I did not want to be lived anymore. Here I discovered in the past few days how to go my own way.’ Lana Orlova (24) lives in Köln (Germany). She got to know about the 1project on Facebook. ‘I had never meditated before, so this became a real dive into myself. But I feel I can control myself better now.’ Also for Nubar (25) out of Yerevan in Armenia was this a unique experience. ‘I feel dat I have become more friendly towards people. I can normally loose my temper rather easily.’

Nathalia (24) and Anna (26) both come from Kiev. Anna works as a volunteer with the project. ‘A lot of young people are frustrated and do not feel at ease. When they learn how to meditate you can notice how they change and become calmer.’ Nathalia already followed a program in Thailand. ‘I see that we all have the same questions in mind.’

If they can do something about the war in Ukraine? ‘It’s naive to think that meditation can stop a war. But we are convinced that conflicts can be prevented when people pursue their own inner peace first. Yet also in the aftermath of a conflict, families could find balance more easily because of meditation’, says Nathalia.

‘The more inner peace we have, the more peaceful others will be’, José Ignatio concludes. The Portuguese Joanna (30) also wants to see a part of the world. ‘Yet first I will go to Compostela on foot. From Lissabon, where I live, that’s only 300 kilometer.’!!!!!Picture: José (Spain), Anca (Romania) and Nuban (Armenia) are working in Dhammakaya for world peace: ‘We believe that world peace can become reality if people find their own inner peace first.’!2

Note: This article was originally published in m.nieuwsblad.be. We are making such material available in our efforts to promote the culture of peace. The article can be accessed through the following link:

Europese ‘rebellen’ mediteren samen voor meer wereldvrede