My hosts Belle Anne and her husband Bob kindly took me down to the Broadway Pier in downtown San Diego.

The bus station didn’t appear to exist althought there was a lane that mini buses and larger buses could use to pick up passengers. My bus was due at 11.20. The bus line was Go-to-Bus. The ticket was only $20 which was cheap. I decided to do a quick run over to the USS Midway and have a quick look over the aircraft carrier, I estimated I had about 15 minutes. I had a free ticket.

I left my large bag at the Cafe and went on over there. I climbed the stairs and walked onto the middle deck. I have been on aircraft carriers before and always marvel at their size and the amount of equipment they can carry. I took a few photos but was mindful to make it fast, so no learning. Instead I got my camera and recorded my thoughts on peace as I walked through this aircraft carrier reflecting on alternatives to violence. For males they can get into the engineering and become impressed by the capacity of these ships but myself I am thinking and deeply reflecting on their use, the implications of these ships. Like fighter jets they can seem very Top Gun and exciting yet the end use of them is terrifying for those on the ground. The ‘other’ is seen as the enemy whereas in the mind of peace there is no enemy. This is a very hard concept to grasp in a world deeply conditioned to see the good guys and bad guys or our sie as winners the other as losers as proof of superiority. In the peaceful world of the future there is no superior or inferior we start to transcend the opposites and we see the human species and work on problem solving, how to move from conflict to peaceful resolution of conflict. There is no mistake that so many women find themselves in these fields as they deal with the emotional field of human experience. Women have skills in this area as they raise the next generation typically and have to teach children how to get along with others, how to navigate life. This is not to say there are not men out there also vitally interested in the emotional field but typically they are not exposed to the importance of it as many are left to navigate life based on false stereotypes of strength that are not true strength. The real strength does come from the philosophical understanding of ‘to thine own self be true’. I always remember walking around the University of Western Australia and becoming aware of the engraved writings in the walls saying ‘Know thyself’. I resonated with this. This is the next phase for humanity, we can continue on with endless war theorem or start to take responsibility for our thoughts, to break out of ignorance and start to examine what we believe and indeed, is it true?

To face the Self is the hardest test as we don’t want to appear wrong as we see this as somehow less. Yet in reality it is the true that sets you free from lies. I have had to face my own lies and still have to as whenever I see an enemy or find myself at war, I am indeed believing a thought that is not true. It is to step back and observe the mind to see that all of us are thinking similar thoughts, all of us are exposed to the media and believing common myths and we are not questioning those thoughts with detachment and a notion of peace and truth. The latter two are seen as idealism, yet in reality it is the very foundation of reality when you make a decision to live it.

So I found myself walking around this aircraft carrier reflecting on peace and speaking as I was walking. I feel a new narrative has to become visible as we emerge from the heroic archetype to the responsible one that is responsible for peace in the world. When I change my world changes.

I left the aircraft carrier and wound up back at the place where the bus was to come in. I stood around and this woman approached me. She was catching the same bus to Los Angeles. Turns out she is a naval person. Her interest is linguistics. We talked about the importance of understanding culture. I told her some of the fundamental flaws I had learned about in the US military was the low awareness of the other culture. They may do exercises in the terrain (saw the dummy places between LA and Los Angeles in the desert) to try and understand how to fight but the real war, in my view, is in the mind. I see a lack of understanding of culture gives rise to misinterpretation, understanding what respect is and so on. We are all speaking different languages and think the meaning is the same, yet it is not, we are living in diverse worlds. Some cultures use more words to describe feeling, protocol etc. others use less. Even in the same culture how many times do we misunderstand each other, now we have business languages and texting languages, truncating the real meaning. So for me, communication is one of the biggest issues actually hearing and reflecting back to others what they mean. You can imagine in military situations how fraught they are with misunderstanding. Both sides need intelligence and an intelligence officer told me they try to give information to each other as a means of better understanding so mistakes are not make, particularly in the case of MAD – Mutually Assured Distruction.

We waited about 30 minutes and finally our bus came in and the bus driver found us. It was just the two of us. We sat together on the bus and she shared with me her experience in the military. She had to learn to accept orders which was hard she said. She said some of the tasks were mundane like moving a rope from one side to the other, doing this without complaint or question. I find the lack of questions concerning as the military officer could be wrong, However, I understand that the military seek to create the one mind, where all are moving in the same direction as one fighting force. Yet if you think something is wrong how do you address this. I am also aware that the notion of not asking questions and simply obeying is to train the soldier to lose their sense of self and become a soldier. So it is psychologically breaking down the individual person to make them part of a greater group. She said she had had an experience where she was sprayed with capsicum spray in the eyes and she said it brought out the aggression in her as it was so painful. She had red marks on her skin. I wondered at the cruelty instilled through military training. Yet in the eyes of the military it would be toughening them up to be prepared to deal with their own pain in the face of the so-called enemy. They have to be able to function even when suffering. It is pretty harsh from a lay persons perspective.

We spoke of institutions of government and change. Could the military change given the defeats in Afghanistan and Iraq and the huge money spent ($15 trillion) in theatres of war (using military speak here) which did not reach their objectives. My feeling is that this way of creating security and peace is a dinosaur I believe it has a long history but it is no longer effective in modern times where other countries can make their own nuclear weapons e.g Iran, India, Pakistan, North Korea etc. and that these wars cannot be won by anyone, they affect the entire globe. The nuclear weapons as we saw in Hiroshima and Nagasaki wreak havoc and the loss of life and infrastructure, not to mention radiation affects, are long lasting. These bombs were only 15 kilotons roughly, the nuclear weapons that have been created today are 100 megatons and up. The splitting of the atom is one method which produces huge explosive power, the fushion of atoms to create the megaton bombs is unlimited in size. So the idea of one group fighting another has to dissolve as we can no longer protect the planet or the people on it. My main point is that the majority of fatalities in war are civilians, this is not the enemy. So there are real problems with this approach and there needs to be enlightened and honest discussions held at the highest military levels and a deep philosophical inquiry as to the reason for the military. As I told this naval person, I would love to see the military invovled with saving the planet, restoring the natural environment, believe me there is healing for soldiers in this activity. How Top Gun is replanting forests, yet this is what the people and planet need, it is the highest national security (food, water) and yet it is neglected in favour of war and justification for the military. Real service to nation states resides in creating a safe and peaceful world for the people, war is an absolute last resort not first strike. The environment is the most pressing issue of our time. Without it no-one survives and budgets evapourate. You would never know listening to the media. There were many veterans on the streets in San Diego with Post Traumatic Stress who were hungry and homeless, their psychological response to war is a lifetime of suffering. This has to be looked at. As we seek to harm others we harm ourselves is a universal law. I believe in working with the military and I hope there are some at the highest levels who get that this is not working and that they must change. I would suggest bringing in people that are fresh and have new ways of tackling violence at the international level. I would suggest training soldiers in conflict resolution, psychology etc. The New Earth army, which many would laugh at, would be my model. Look up New Earth Army and discover there was a special unit that actually trained soldiers in spirituality, remote viewing and healthy minds. George Clooney played a leading role in the film that was created and it certainly wasn’t meant to be a peaceful unit, it was to counter (cold war) the Russians psychological warfare programs. Visit http://neweartharmy.com/Welcome.html to learn more. The commander of the unit Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon discovered that the heart, mind and spirit had to be in alignment to bring peace and access to higher spiritual levels, indeed he accessed ancient knowledge that is the true power to bring peace. We all have to change if we want peace and it starts with questioning our thinking. Go to www.thework.com for more information.

So my time with this naval person was wonderful. We exchanged information and ideas peacefully. I saw a young woman seeking to find her way and she also had an interest in peace. She said she was sure there were many soldiers who are interested in peace. So perhaps I am not alone in this quest for a better world, one of higher understanding, one of intelligent communication where the notion of the enemy is the only casualty. I look forward to a time when the power of love overcomes the love of power and this will always be my mantra.

Every human being is equal and worthy of living a peaceful and happy life. It is the responsibility of each human to make it a reality and live the future they want to see. As Gandhi was quoted as saying ‘be the change you wish to see in the world’.