a vow of peace
Peace is not the absence of conflict.
It is the refusal to add to it.
I will not add to the harm of the world.
Where I meet anger, I will not return it.
Where I meet fear, I will not feed it.
Where I meet suffering, I will not turn away.
I will not mistake my certainty for truth,
nor my discomfort for injustice.
I will keep my own house,
my speech, my conduct, my attention,
and I will begin there before I begin anywhere.
When I fail in this, I will notice,
and return, and begin again
without ceremony and without despair.
शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः
The Shanti Pledge is taken privately. There is no register, no ceremony required, and no one to witness it but the one who takes it. Its force comes from precisely this: nothing external holds you to it.
It is not a vow of passivity. To refuse to add harm is not to refuse to act, often it demands action, and difficult action. What it forbids is the easy relief of retaliation, and the quiet violence of contempt.
Where I meet anger, I will not return it. Where I meet fear, I will not feed it. Where I meet suffering, I will not turn away.
The Shanti PledgeExpect to break it. The pledge already accounts for this, its final line is the only one that matters over a lifetime. Return, and begin again, without ceremony and without despair. The returning is the practice. There is nothing else to it.
Where the Ancient Spirit abides. AdiSthan is where AdiDhara takes form, as community, location, practice, and lived experience. The stream made tangible.
Enter AdiSthan