The Human Cohesion Project — 23 April 2020
#TheHumanCohesionProject
Call this a challenge, a portal, blasphemy, or what you will — I extend this as an invitation.
We are perhaps witnessing, and living, the biggest social cohesion opportunity of our life, facilitated by physical distancing. Through my peacebuilding lens, I see Ramadan this year as a wonderful space in time to connect with the ideal of fraternity.
Some of you, over the years, have asked me about how you could be part of a peace process: here’s an opportunity we can create for ourselves. Regardless of the religion/faith you do or do not connect with, will you summon the courage to celebrate Ramadan in spirit, AND in action? As a world, we have, at least in the last few decades, conveniently projected our conflicts onto Islam and in the process, not looked into the mirror, to notice what aspects of ourselves we condemn as ‘terrorists’. Here’s an opportunity to heal ourselves, and heal the world, should you have the courage to openly engage with this.
At the heart of Islam (and perhaps other religions too), is the ideal of fraternity. It stands for the collective journey we are part of — brought rather starkly into focus through Covid-19. Islam evolved in the deserts where caravans journeyed, each with varied individual lives, bound together by the landscape that brought alive their need for each other. Much like the lives we are living now, a spiritual desert, aching for the oasis of consciousness: each of us facing our own challenges in isolation, united by the regenerating landscape that tells us how connected we are. Are you ready to regenerate your relationship with Islam (and to remember, that the word means peace)?
So here’s an invitation to participate in Ramadan, from today until around May 23, when Eid is expected. While you may choose your own rituals/actions, here are a few suggestions:
- Spend a few moments each day, reflecting on how you have lived the value of fraternity that day
- If you have someone in your neighbourhood fasting during this period, offer to make them a simple iftar meal (don’t forget physical distancing in the process!)
- Anchor yourself in a ritual that allows you to connect with this process energetically. For example, I am choosing to chant the Shahada 108 times, with the same rosary I use to chant the Gayatri Mantra, or Hail Mary, or any other sounds whose frequencies help me ground, occasionally.
And very importantly, please voice out what the process brings up for you. I will open up this conversation everyday till Eid. Share your reflections in the comments and let’s explore how we can support and hold each other through the process.
Finally, to clarify, this is not a religious project for me. It is a peace project. It is an energy project. It is a spiritual project. As I step in, I hold the intention of welcoming what a collective decision to heal can do to transform the world.
Ramadan Kareem. May the journey summon the generosity of spirit in you.
(Please follow me on Facebook for this project if you’d like to participate. It’s easier to engage in conversations there.)
