Creating Peaceful Weapons in a Violent World

By Sunny Sundowner (as published int the ) 09/10/09gc issue of the Desert Valley Star (desertvalleystar.com)
Creating Peaceful Weapons in a Violent World
By Sunny Sundowner
At the risk of sounding “moronic,” I wish to add to some of the world’s great oxy-morons, such as “peace force, soft rock, resident alien, passive aggressive, military intelligence, Microsoft Works- (come on Bill, I kid..! Please don’t infect my PC!), by giving you “Peaceful Weapons.” When one of the editors of this fine publication, Dean Gray, asked me to do an article on creating “peaceful weapons” in an aspiration to create “non-violent” communities, at first I got really perturbed and defensive…
OK, that was a joke- and I hope I got you to at least chuckle by now, whether it was confusing or not. While the topic of violence is a serious thing, the diffusing of the mentality that creates it doesn’t have to be, and my timing is good to communicate what hopefully will be seen as more than just “Another Hippie Rant.” However, even if it seen as only that, there is no shame- because even before the wide-spread 40th anniversary celebrations of Woodstock this summer (of Love), “Hippie” has made a big comeback. Take the onslaught in the fashion world of “Hippie Chic,” (the opposite and antidote fashion to the “militaristic camouflage fashion’ of previous decades) and in the world of popular music with the mainstream press reporting that Jason Mraz’s “Hippie-friendly” jam “I’m Yours” may be the longest running song in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Also, don’t forget that tens of thousands of neo-hippies are headed to Coachella for what I have dubbed “Phish-O-Ween,” when the Grateful Dead spin-off band Phish & their great multitudes “Keep on Truckin’” there for a three-day run this Halloween. And speaking of the “Grand-Daddy of all concerts” of last century, the Phish start their swim into Coachella Valley just a couple of weeks after the “Heroes of Woodstock” psychedelize the valley from an Indio casino. These are but a few examples of Hippie’s re-incarnation (not to mention the economic success of all the new releases of Woodstock CD and DVD Box Sets, and Ang Lee’s wonderful new movie “Taking Woodstock!”)
Not only has the Hippie been calling out for Peace in the World for decades (spawning such whimsical bumper-stickers as “Visualize Whirled Peas”), but we’ve been having fun doing it. When the early-on (1969) incarnation of the “Hog Farm” commune arrived back in New York to help with the Woodstock Concert as part of the Hippie Army (add another oxymoron!), they held a press conference in which they announced that they had elected to work security there, not with batons and mace, but with cream pies and seltzer-spray bottles. Later on Head Hog & Woodstock MC Wavy Gravy, tiring of getting beat up by cops at protests, found relief in appearing in clown and Santa Claus costumes- whatever works, right? (And it did!) At the same time, the “Hog-ified Hippie Harbinger” was bringing “levity” into tense situations, following in the footsteps of Abbie Hoffman and his Yippie cohorts, who had previously attempted stunts to end the Vietnam War, such as massing together in Washington D.C. to try and (unfortunately unsuccessfully) “levitate” the Pentagon! (But it’s the “thought” that counts, right Abbie?)
So my theory incorporates adding another “F” to “Flight or Fight”- “Fun!” And while we’re using the alphabet, let’s back up to the “C’s”- and add “Communication over Confrontation.” This, with skill, can lead to the 3rd “C,” “Compromise.” OK, back the other way, to “G” and “H.” “Having” (a sense of) “Humor” might just be the “Gateway” to “Goodness” in people. I asked the infamous Yogic (“My Other Car is a Yoga Mat”) Comedienne Beth Lapides to contribute anything she could to help me get through this difficult topic, and in a show of not only solidarity but synchronicity, she sent me the following, just as I had written the above: “F and G are so close together in the alphabet, I think that all the fun was turned into gun, by some people who went one letter too far in the alphabet. Of course without F or G you're left with “un” and sometimes “un” is the funniest thing of all - at least we thought so with the Un-Cabaret. (http://uncabaret.com) (I can only add that concepts of “violence” are “Un-natural” to “Higher Consciousness.”)
So let’s take this “Make Love, Not War” rap into some pragmatic applications beyond just having “Fun,” and “Get ‘er Done!” It was at Beth’s presentation, “88% Happy, 100% of the Time!” at Urban Yoga Center in Palm Springs recently that I was reminded of the discoveries of Gregg Braden, a prominent author in (for lack of better term) “New Age Circles” who is bridging ancient wisdom with modern science. His study of the experiments with DNA and Light Photons are astounding to say the least. As Gregg explains in his book, The Isaiah Effect, (where you can find details on these experiments) “basically time is not just linear (past, present and future), but it also has depth. The depth of time consists of all the possible prayers and timelines that could ever be prayed or exist. Essentially, all our prayers have already been answered. We just activate the one we're living through our FEELINGS. THIS is how we create our reality - by choosing it with our feelings. Our feelings are activating the timeline via the web of creation, which connects all of the energy and matter of the Universe. This is the science behind how we can choose a timeline to stay safe, no matter what else is happening.
Remember that the law of the Universe is that we attract what we focus on. If you are focused on fearing whatever may come, you are sending a strong message to the Universe to send you whatever you fear. Instead if you can get yourself into feelings of joy, love, appreciation or gratitude, and focus on bringing more of that into your life, you are going to avoid the negative stuff automatically. You will be choosing a different TIMELINE with your feelings. You can even prevent getting any flu virus, etc, by staying in these positive feelings, which maintains an incredibly strong immune system.
So here's your protection for whatever comes: Find something to be happy about every day, and every hour if possible, moment-to-moment, even if only for a few minutes. This is the easiest and best protection you can have.”
Bringing it ‘full circle,” I must close by repeating the words Jimi Hendrix gave to the remaining audience 4 decades ago at Woodstock, after his “mind-blowing” set of psychedelic sounds: “Peace… and Happiness… Happiness!”

-Sunny Sundowner can be reached at conchustimes@yahoo.com