When it is Time to Take a Stand | The Difference Between War and a Fight

And so the teaching provides us the tools to do that through the study of Steps to Knowledge, through the study of the Wisdom books, Greater Community Spirituality and the Allies of Humanity. We have an opportunity to gain a Greater Community perspective on our world and also to find a deeper resource of Intelligence within ourselves in order to negotiate these difficult times. 

Now the Greater Community teaching provides a Greater Community perspective. And part of that perspective is to see our world as one small world within a universe full of intelligent life. This little blue planet floating through space, it’s like a little boat of pilgrims out in the middle of a huge ocean. And seen from that perspective, from the outside looking in, we can see how important we are to one another, and that without one another we’re lost, and without this world we’re all lost. There’s no other planets out there we can move to. There’s no moving out of town, no relocating at this level. This is it. It’s up to us to make it work. 

If it doesn’t work, you can’t blame God. You can’t blame your ancestors or your parents. You can’t blame anything. You have to take responsibility as an individual as a part of this. And that’s not a burden of guilt; it’s a mantle of power. 

So the Greater Community perspective then tells us that we are it for each other. It’s not just enough to say we’re one people. That sounds very good, but the fact of the matter is humanity is extremely divided. And the distribution of wealth is extremely disproportionate, and the oppression and the wrongdoing in this world are immense. There’s dirt on everybody’s hands. We’re all part of a system that is corrupt, here in this country and all around the world. 

So it’s not sufficient to target one man to say, “This man is a source of evil. We will take him out.” Or one country: “This country is the source of evil. We will go in and create a regime change.” We really have to see that it’s up to us to work together to make this planet work. And the fact that we live in a Greater Community of intelligent life means that we are not alone in the universe; and also means because we live within nature, that others will compete for our environment. That’s not a negative thought; that’s natural law. Okay, I’m not being negative here. I know some people will think: “Gee, that’s a terribly negative thing to say about life in the universe.” I’m not being negative. I’m being real. 

And in order for us to protect and maintain this planet and to secure it for our own development, we have to collaborate and unite. So from a Greater Community perspective, aside from the pros or cons of any conflict or war, there is the understanding that war is essentially a failure. It means that we have failed in our tasks—everybody, not just one side or the other. And it also means that we are destroying the very unity upon which we will need to depend in the future. 

There are benevolent forces in the universe, but those are not the ones who are going to come and have come to interfere in human affairs. No wise nation would do that. Just like you would not go interfere in the affairs of another family without their permission, or even enter their household without their permission, unless the house was on fire. But our house is not on fire—not yet. So human unity is crucial. 

And any war, then, is a step backwards from achieving that. No matter what noble aims we give to war, its outcome is uncertain and the consequences that it will produce are also uncertain.

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At the outset of any war of any size, the leaders of countries always predict it will be over very soon. It was believed in World War II the Germans would be defeated within nine months. It was believed in the Civil War in the United States it would be over in less than a year, and probably six months. World War I was predicted to be over within a year. No one even imagined how big those forest fires would get because they didn’t understand the forest and the conditions of that time. We are living in such a time. 

There are many people around the world who are extremely desperate and deprived. And many of them will be co-opted into violent movements to give them hope, promise and power because they have no other alternative. Some will join armies simply to feed their families, unaware of the intentions of those who lead those armies. We live in a very fragile world.

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Now the Greater Community teaching brings us to discover a deeper Intelligence within ourselves. It is called Knowledge. And it’s called Knowledge because it’s related to our ability to know, which is a much more powerful use of the mind than simply evaluation and thinking, the normal kinds of procedures of thinking that we all use every day to solve little problems. But big problems really need to be attended to by greater Intelligence. 

And the Creator, knowing that we would enter a world of conflict, has equipped each and every one of us with this greater Intelligence to be called upon, hopefully, when we reach a state of maturity that we realize that within our own minds we cannot work things out, nor can we appeal to God to intervene and work things out because both sides of the conflict will do that. 

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The Greater Community teaching presents to us the idea that there’s a greater Intelligence within us. And it provides the steps in this book [Steps to Knowledge, the Book of Inner Knowing] to discover that Intelligence and to be able to bring it into our lives slowly, step by step. And no matter how clever we are or how intertwined our problems become, how irresolvable they seem, how no one can reach an agreement—up here Knowledge knows The Way. And The Way will not be an answer or a slogan. The Way will be to lead people in the direction of resolution, both within themselves and within the world. 

I’d like to read to you now a quote from Steps to Knowledge, the Book of Inner Knowing. This talks about Knowledge in the world. This is from Step 283–The world is ambivalent, but I am not:

Two individuals, or two nations, or even two worlds, will have no issues of contention if they are guided by Knowledge, for Knowledge will always seek to join individuals in a meaningful way and to clarify their interactions with one another. It is not possible that Knowledge be in conflict with itself, for there is no opposition within Knowledge. It has one purpose and one aim, and to this it organizes all activity. It organizes all forms of opposition into serving one purpose and one direction. Thus, it is the great peacemaker in the world. As you abide with Knowledge, you will become the vehicle for its expression. Then, you will teach peace because peace itself will be teaching through you.

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So, taking a position of opposition to war really isn’t enough. Being an antiwar person, while it is a noble beginning, is not enough. As a matter of fact, there is as much rage, hostility, prejudice in the antiwar camp as there is in the pro-war camp. There’s as much passion, foolishness, desire for revenge. Why? Because opposition to war is war, isn’t it? It’s not war with guns—not yet—but it can get there.

When you read the interviews they have with terrorists, many terrorists or guerilla fighters around the world, they started out as peace advocates. They marched; they protested, often with no results or with cruel reactions. And out of frustration or brutality, they took to arms. Their opposition to war turned them into warriors, sometimes with very brutal effect.

So being an antiwar person is not what I’m talking about. Is war bad? Yes, in the sense that it’s a failure. It’s a failure to be with Knowledge and to apply Knowledge. Is war unnatural? No, war is part of nature. Any of you who are students of the natural world will understand what I’m saying. Even though it might be spiritually incorrect to certain new thought communities or people, war is part of nature. The red ants will attack the black ants for the prime real estate, okay? And they’ll commit genocide to do it.

At every level of nature, there’s competition and sometimes genocide. The invasion of foreign plants into natural ecosystems is a kind of genocide. The invaders come in and take over and choke out everything, anything else. Or insects come in and devastate forests or crops or whatever the case may be. This is part of nature. So war is not unnatural. However, we as beings who are born with Knowledge within us have the opportunity to overcome the very forces of nature that could destroy us. 

Now I know in recent times that the word natural has become sort of golden. You know: this drink is natural, this tea is natural, this food is natural, this clothing is natural. Natural is sort of like it’s blessed by God. “It’s natural.” 

But you know, let’s think about this. Natural also means that you will kill anyone who enters your territory. I have squirrels living in my backyard. Those squirrels spend more time chasing each other out of their territories—more effort—than they do searching for food, I’m sure. And they got big territory; it’s not like, you know, they don’t have enough room. 

One hummingbird will guard that hummingbird feeder you put out at all costs. It will expend a 100 times more energy defending that bird feeder, even though that bird feeder has enough bird feed in it, or humming bird feed, to feed 20 hummingbirds. It will chase away every competitor. That’s natural. We don’t blame the hummingbird.

But when people do that, we’re abhorrent. We’re aghast. We’re incredulous. And so sometimes in the antiwar camp, you get a sign of smugness, a superciliousness that, “I’m against war. These people, look at them—brutish, greedy.” There’s a disdain that really is not justified because though there are evil individuals in the world, most people in the world are trying to do the right thing against enormous odds.

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So becoming an antiwar person or opposing war, while it may be the right thing to do, it’s only the beginning, and with the understanding that sometimes war is necessary. I’ll give you some examples. Peace is not always possible, is it? Every time you tell the truth to anyone, you risk the peace, do you not? And some people to protect the peace will not tell the truth and will begin to undermine their relationships, their self-confidence, their own personal integrity and the well-being of other people. 

Every time you set limits for your children, you risk the peace, do you not? Every time you speak the truth to your partner, to your wife, your husband, your business partner—kind of a hard truth—it’s hard because you’re risking the peace; you’re risking war, are you not? You speak out against your government or protest your government’s actions, you are risking a kind of peace and equanimity. 

So I personally have no tolerance for people who insist upon peace at all costs, who simply want to live their lives and follow their bliss, and I’ll tell you why. Because these people are cowards. They will not fight when the fighting is necessary. They will withdraw and protect themselves and their interests and what they have. And they’ll make that look very edifying and “I’m against war. I don’t do war.” It’s a lie. It’s a lie. Why do you have to fight sometimes? Because that’s how you change anything. That’s how you improve anything.

Yourself, let’s start with ourselves. You have to make war on yourself sometime, don’t you? Because you can’t stand the way you are. You are compromised. You’re sold out. You’re wimpy. You can’t express things that need to be said. Other people are pulling your strings. You have lousy habits. There’s a kind of a dissonance between what you know and the way you live. This is actually one of the big thresholds in learning The Way of Knowledge, is you reach this kind of disgust with yourself. It’s not just, “Well, I’m just a person. I’m just trying to be happy.” You know, this is such a lame excuse. “I just want to live my life.” Hh-huh, yeah, sure you do.

We were sent down here to make things happen. The Knowledge within us has that. It is not some wimpy force that’s going to acquiesce to everything that crosses our path. It’s not going to kowtow to our pleasures and our preferences and trying to appease other people. Knowledge is silent—going to wait this one out, wait till this person comes to some kind of real position within themselves. So sometimes you have to create war in yourself, yes?

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So, while we oppose war and seek to prevent war—and I for one detest it—I also know that it’s part of nature and that the world is not beyond it, and that there are times when you have to do it. You have to do it within yourself. You have to do it in your relationships. You have to do it in your community. 

Listen, preserving and protecting the environment—that’s a fight; that’s a conflict. These people, everyone who’s an advocate for that, you’re up against huge opponents who are benefiting from the thing that you’re opposed to. You want to empower women around the world? That’s a fight—not a war, but it’s a fight. It’s conflict.

You want to get food to the people who need it? You want to spread democracy? You want to support relationships, healthy relationships? Anywhere we go, anything I mentioned as an example deals with conflict. So if you oppose conflict, what are you opposing but the very nature of your being here, the very gift that you have to give? Why? The only reason is to save your ass. I don’t care what you call it. I don’t care how beautiful, how magnificent it sounds, at the core you are not willing to stand up and take a hit and give a hit if that’s what is needed.

So the issue here is not war, yes or war, no. The issue here is Knowledge. Knowledge is prepared to show you how to resolve conflict and is also prepared to show you how to fight if that’s necessary. Because at some point in your life, you’re going to see your fight. Everyone who studies the Greater Community Way of Knowledge, the Greater Community teaching, sooner or later has to find their fight. Now, we can get pulled into lots of other fights that are very important and meaningful causes, struggles that may not be ours, may not be yours—doesn’t have your name on it. But when your name comes up—“Here’s my name, here’s the situation, uh-oh, got to move out of suburbia, got to give leave the comfort zone; I have to go deal with this, that’s for me to do.”

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So Knowledge will also prepare us for the fight when a fight is necessary. By fight, I don’t mean a war; I don’t mean armies clashing. A fight can be standing up for the truth in a situation where it’s being generally denied or avoided or manipulated. It could be helping one other person against all the odds of their life. There are always odds against. Evil always looks insurmountable, doesn’t it—unconquerable, insurmountable? It seems to have so many people on its side, or at least unwilling to fight. 

The great issue with the Intervention isn’t the problem of extraterrestrials in our planet manipulating human affairs. The problem is people don’t see it and they won’t fight. They’ve been talked out of fighting. Takes immense effort to get to break the spell. It’s part of my job is to help break that spell—part of your job, if that’s your fight. It will be the fight of many people to help break that spell—the part of the spell is put upon us by our environment and part of it is self-generated. Because we, nobody wants to deal with this

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So the issue is not being for war/against war, the real thing is about Knowledge because Knowledge is the great peacemaker. It also will enable you to fight your fight, to cast, to plant your flag, to take your stand when that becomes necessary because that’s the power that enables you to do it. And it also will clear up your other intentions and misunderstandings about what you’re doing and hopefully get the grievance against other people out of the picture.

What’s so beautiful about the Greater Community teaching is it holds no grievance against any person because we live in a Greater Community, because we live in a precious world that’s valued by others, because there will be competition for our world and there already is. Grievance against one another—though, you know, it’s going to continue—isn’t really where the war is. 

And I should add here that, you know, I will be asked by people, “Well, do you think peace is possible, I mean can we ever overcome war?” And I will say, yes. I’ll say, no, peace is not always possible; and yes, we may be able to overcome war. But we will never be able to eliminate conflict, not at this level of reality. Conflict is going to be there. This is a world of conflict, and it’s no different out there in space. 

If you read the Allies of Humanity, hey, it’s the same situation played out by more powerful forces, much more complicated situations. You know, there’s no salvation by leaping off the planet and taking a ride in a spaceship. Anyone who visits here is up against the same laws of nature that we are. And though they may pose as being beyond war, if they were really beyond war, they wouldn’t be here—not in the way that they are.

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In the Wisdom One [Wisdom from The Greater Community Book One], in the chapter on Greater Community [ch.2], there’s this beautiful quote that says:

Knowledge will not arise in a preoccupied mind under normal circumstances. 

“Knowledge will not arise in a preoccupied mind under normal circumstances.” What is this saying? It’s saying that the spiritual power of God’s greatest gift to us will not come into our experience under the kind of conditions that we generally prefer. Oh, we can live a nice life without any interrupting, minimal interruptions, very little discord, very little conflict—minimize all these things to a point where life is just sort of a, just a pleasant experience, yeah?

And while we may wish that personally—and I think we all kind of have a dream of a life like that somewhere, somehow to kind of help us cope with the life we really have—that is not the life in which this gift, this power, this harmony is going to arise within us.

So war, then, becomes an immensely significant and stimulating time for Knowledge because it’s like a house on fire. So condemning war and lashing out against the war, in a way is losing its gift. And I’m not saying that war is justified because it does this. But we will create war to create this stimulation, either internally, externally, however it may be because we must find Knowledge. We must find why we are here and what we’re to do. Any honest person who has enough to eat and a place to sleep and clothes to keep him or her warm eventually will come upon this big question in life because it’s not enough to simply just perpetuate the race. That may be a human reason for being here, but it’s not the reason that brought us here.