Designing Peace

3 insights and design opportunities for designing peace.

I recently spoke at Q Tea, a pretty unique interfaith dialogue kind of event organised by Q Commons Singapore. How does peace look like in different traditions? Drawing on my experience in Plum Village, a Zen monastery and mindfulness practice centre in France where I once spent 3 months of winter in retreat with monks, nuns and lay practitioners, I shared my perspective of peace as part of the human experience of sacredness across religious, cultural and social divides, and pondered the possibility of a set of spiritual commons - guidelines, tools or group process - that might be useful for nurturing interfaith experiences.

Transcript

2. “Peace is every step.” Thich Nhat Hanh
3. about
4. Jason is a social impact designer-entrepreneur by day and had been practicing mindfulness and meditation for about 8 years now. Drawing on his three-month experience in Plum Village, a Zen monastery and mindfulness practice centre in France, Jason will be sharing his perspective of peace as part of the human experience of sacredness across religious, cultural and social divides, and ponders the possibility of a set of spiritual commons – values, guidelines, tools or group processes - that might be useful for nurturing interfaith experiences. This presentation is part of a Q Commons Singapore event on Sat 2 May 2015 at The Hub. www.jasonleow.sg
5. intro
6. Sit mindfully
7. Walk beautifully
8. Work restfully
9. Eat joyfully
10. Listen deeply
11. Just be yourself
12. https://vimeo.com/jasonleow/summerinplumvillage
13. 3 insights
14. one
15. peace in play
16. From this…
19. …to this.
21. Peace as silence and stillness vs peace as liveliness and exuberance. Peace is often seen as a mountaintop and solitary pursuit. But it can be also joy, laughter, play and exuberance with others. Peace in play feels different - wholesome, energizing, nourishing - compared to the depleting busyness of our city.
22. How does peace in play look like? How might we tell – and live - the difference?
23. two
24. peace at work
25. A story
26. “The spirit of Happy Farm is that we aren’t only growing vegetables and organic food, but also living and working in a way that cultivates happiness… So we are a happy farm, we are trying to grow happiness.” - Stuart
27. From this…
28. …to this.
29. Peace as destination vs peace as journey, at work. Peace wasn’t just about the ends, but also the means. How we treat one another along the way is as important, if not more, than the end outcomes in peace work.
30. How might we bring practices of peace to practices at work?
31. three
32. peace in pain
33. Diverse backgrounds
34. Safe space
35. 1. Expressing gratitude 2. Sharing regrets 3. Expressing a hurt 4. Asking for support Beginning anew
36. Peace in the absence of hardship, vs peace from it, with it. Peace requires lots of work and an ongoing commitment to practice peace together. A loving way to conflict resolution.
37. How might we have a spiritual commons that’s useful for nurturing interfaith experiences?
38. closing
39. How might we have a spiritual commons that’s useful for nurturing interfaith experiences? How might we bring the practices of peace to practices at work? How does peace in play look like? How might we tell – and live – the difference?
40. Just like plants grow towards sunlight, we grow towards the direction of our questions. Our questions are our light.