AUSTRIA
(2003
World Peace Prayer Society Report)
LAKE
CONSTANCE, AUSTRIA
The
International Day of Peace was very moving and inspiring.
I attended the inauguration of the "Vorarlberger Peace Dialogues"
close to Lake Constance, a lake which I mentioned quite often in the
past as the lake's shores touch on Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
The Austrian peace organisation "Peace Power Plant," which kind of
handles Peace Pole plantings in Austria, organized the Peace Dialogues
(running until next May) in a wonderfully located Catholic Seminar
House in Austria.
The
vast land around it included a huge tipi in the wood for the young
seminar guests, a river flowing through, and mountains to walk, all
part of the seminar house.
The people of the Peace Power Plant are wonderful. All in their 30-40s,
during the day working as mediators or social workers at court so
that criminal youth do not have to go into prison, but can still get
a 2nd chance. A demanding job and straight after work they work for
inner peace...
The theme of the dialogues was attentiveness in the Buddhist sense
and from 9 to 5 we spent with exercises of being attentive. The main
speaker, Jesuit Padre Brantschen, has spent 2.5 years in Japan, so
his style of teaching inner peace and wisdom is a wonderful mixture
of Christian and Zen.
The director of the seminar house was abroad so he sent us a message
on his mobile phone saying nothing else than "May Peace Prevail on
Earth" in English and German.
Guests were taught that our thoughts and prayers carry power and the
prayers therefore should be chosen well, should not be egoistic etc.
After a full day of attentiveness towards our speed, our way of eating,
our way of listening to each other, etc, we carried the Peace Pole
to the church of the seminar house and all the 90 guests were asked
to call upon great masters of peace who should empower the pole in
St. Arbogast so that it can inspire many guests there.
Nelson Mandela was called up just as much as religious masters or
Mother Teresa. Outside in the evening sun there was Austrian TV and
press to watch the Peace Pole planting and I simply said that the
pole summarizes everything we learnt today and that I do not have
to say much. And we should take this home as prayer or vision or message
or greatest wish of mankind, but we should take it home.
The guests did not know that it was UN International Day of Peace
and they were thrilled that whilst we were standing there in the evening
sun, the people in Amenia, New York started their festival with prayers
etc. We sang lots of peace songs and the pole was blessed and all
the attendants with sacred water.
Dagmar Berkenberg
The World Peace Prayer Society, Munich
2003
World Peace Prayer Society Compilation
PICTORAL
ARCHIVE OF PREVIOUS PEACE DAY EVENTS
Africa | Asia
| Europe |
North America
| Oceania
| South
America | UN
& Global
May
Peace Prevail
On Earth
