On Peace

What follows is an essay on Peace. Feedback is welcome.

On Peace

Peace is a lie.

Or, to be more precise, when we think about peace, we tend to attach to our concept of peace a myriad of attributes that are not necessarily related to it. Take the following examples:

Beaten spouse: “I am tired of all the fighting, screaming and hurt. I just want it to stop.”


Politician: “This war has taken its toll on all of us. Peace is the only way to go.”


Social activist: “I want us to be able to live in peace.”

Now, if were to take the dictionary definition of peace “freedom from disturbance, quiet, tranquility; cessation of war or violence”, I very well could respond, to each of the above people, in the following manner:

To the beaten spouse: “Make sure you please your husband to avoid him getting angry and getting violent”.


To the politician. “Surrender to the enemy.”


To the activist: “Stop pushing for your issues and people will stop bothering you.”

But none of these are viable options. Why?

Because peace does not describe what any of them are really after.

They do not crave peace. They crave power.

And power does not come from surrender, but from control over our environments.

The beaten wife does not desire submission. She desires to be respected and to not get hit by her husband.


The politician cannot tolerate peace at all costs. He requires certain terms to be met by his enemy in order to justify a cease fire.


The activist does not want to drop off the radar. On the contrary, she requires being on the radar to get her agenda pushed.

Thus, what we desire is power, not peace.

There is only Passion

Peace can only exist when there is passion.

Our passion is our will to fight, our will to suffer.

The beaten woman might be enduring constant beating because she fears for her children. Her children are her passion.


The politician might endure high attrition to pressure the enemy in to granting vital conditions that will greatly favor his people. Service to his countrymen is his passion.


The activist endures all sorts of vandalism, rejection and ridicule, because it is in service to the group she represents. Securing more rights for her people is her passion.

We do not suffer for just anything. Our time, energy, resources are limited, and thus we devote those to the people and things we truly value (i.e. our Passions).

In this context, peace is the ability to let anything that is not vital to us slide away into oblivion. To make our peace with something is to conclude it is of little importance, and thus giving it attention is a hindrance to our true will.

The beaten wife, then, realizes her husband will not change, and runs away to protect herself and her children. She makes peace with the fact that she is setting aside her marriage, her house, her social status, her comfort.


The politician makes peace by giving into the demands that he recognizes are not priorities, cleverly negotiating to secure those which are.


The activist endures being scoffed at, losing the social protections of comforming to the mold, to get results. She makes her peace with what she loses as well, knowing that what she will get, is much more precious.

“No fear. No distractions. The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide”
– Chuck Palahniuk

Well done.

Not only is there peace in letting things go, but inside the conflict itself. The pain becomes pleasurable.

Thank you.

David, the way you describe pain turning to pleasure reminds me of the unusual way my marriage grew stronger, and of this song:

Like peanut butter and jelly, my friend.

Magnus wrote:Thank you.

David, the way you describe pain turning to pleasure reminds me of the unusual way my marriage grew stronger, and of this song:

Suck up!  

VixensVengeance wrote:

Magnus wrote:Thank you.

David, the way you describe pain turning to pleasure reminds me of the unusual way my marriage grew stronger, and of this song:

Suck up!  

VixensVengeance, are you expending any effort to move up in the DA ranks yet? Magnus is a Dark Knight now.

Mortox wrote:

VixensVengeance wrote:

Magnus wrote:Thank you.

David, the way you describe pain turning to pleasure reminds me of the unusual way my marriage grew stronger, and of this song:

Suck up!  

VixensVengeance, are you expending any effort to move up in the DA ranks yet? Magnus is a Dark Knight now.

Well yes as a matter of fact. I feel I'm making progress. What are your thoughts?

What's your progress looking like VV? anything worth sharing?

Well yes as a matter of fact. I feel I'm making progress. What are your thoughts?

You are. You have reached the stage of self enquiry. Those terms are highly google-able, "self enquiry", and you will find centuries of thought at your disposal. It a much stronger position to take than assuming one already knows.

Once you have dissolved yourself, look for a single ray of hope to break through the clouds. All these attributes you've clung to your entire life might not be you, they may just define the edges of the silhouette of you, but there is one truth remaining once you've been stripped naked; you are still alive.

Thus, the next door is called "the affirmation of life". It comes with renewed vigor and a zeal to feel alive. Blessed is he who kisses the serpent, for now is his reward. And in that irrevocable, undeniable, inescapable desire to feel vitality rushing through your veins - the dark side has consumed you.

It works fast, for potency is seldom subtle.

Now get to work.

One can readily look at those who utilize the word and understand that peace and power are interchangeable.

It of course depends on its application as to what one seeks power over.  For you only talk about peace over others.

"If you would just do as I say,  I would have peace" Is the proper translation of 'Can't we just get along?' 

The true path to peace and once again it is interchangeable with power... is within.

It is also the only place one can truly find peace with.  The form you talk about can never lead to peace... only power.

Think about it, if I can grant you peace, then you give me power to dictate to you what is peace.

Hopefully... I agree with you.

If you have to take it from me, it will never be. 

But I digress.

Where peace is not a lie, many lie about their need of such.  Peace is learning to be content with oneself.

And yes, one can (and I often have) found peace within conflict.

Honestly, the most clear of mind, most centered of purpose I ever was within my life was in the middle of a war.

And I am not talking about November 29 1990 to May 1st 1991 I am talking about 2/24/91 to 2/26/91 when their was no law, their was no worry or concern... their was I kill them or they kill me. 

Nothing else mattered.

Of course, sense then finding peace has been a chore and honestly... I wish no one to have to live such a life.  But peace is what you make of it. Oh yeah... and I certainly did exert power over others to the ultimate level... I ended others lives... how much more power could you wish to exert over another?

Which of course is the need for peace, to be able to have the power one wishes to hold over another... What a power trip it must have been to have been Hillary Clinton during the campaign to be able to have others killed and have the media cover it up.

For "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men" - Lord Acton

Change it for our purposes to: "Peace tends to corrupt, and absolute peace corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men"

That is why I say never strive for greatness... but goodness.

Micheal wrote:
That is why I say never strive for greatness... but goodness.

What if there is no such thing as goodness? All we have left at that point is greatness. In that case we either become one of the great, or one that serves the great.

I grant you in todays day and age it is harder to find.  But there is no such thing as 'no goodness'.  At least there will be until I die.

Micheal,

If peace comes from within. And peace is learning to be content with oneself. Why have you found it a chore? What stops you from contentment?

The military in the US has this habit of recruiting people in their prime... late teens early twenties.

This time in a persons life makes them extremely malleable... hence why political parties target them... this is the time in life when many core beliefs are set in stone.

So... when you are trained to kill, harm, maim, and dismember a person... and actually experience such at this time, it stays with you and becomes a companion you just do not forget.

Just last night I had a sit down with my boys... they have decided they do not like eachother... which is fine they do not have to... except now the oldest one has started hurting the younger one... which the younger one then starts plotting against the older one.

So I ended it by stating if they continue, I will deal with them... and the next part that came out was telling of what I am trying to explain:

"For I will tell you both I hate having to discipline and come close to violence... but when I start, I enjoy it."

I can't remember my first steps although I know I took them.
I can't remember my first kiss although I remember the name of who it was.
I can't remember many things that have happened to me... I even forgot to take a prescription yesterday.

I remember the face of every person I might have killed (5 I know I killed, others I know I shot them but so did someone else so I do not know if I shot the killing blow or not so have deniability... except I was an excellent shot back then).

I remember how they looked at that moment as if it happened yesterday.

And more specifically I know how it felt.

I felt nothing.

I remember the guy I kicked in the face during a snowball fight (god I felt bad about that one, training took over).

People will tell you that violence never solved anything.  They know nothing about violence.
Violence has solved so many things historically both in my life and in history that the above statement is pathetic.

It was a huge power rush the time I confronted an ex con and had him bow before I threw the first punch.

But its addictive.

How many times do I come across a situation where I know if I struck, the issue would be over but also know that fallout would proceed.
I have an administrator who when younger had a reputation for coming across the table to threaten his employees.
Has not had a single incident since he was here...

And yet, I would love if he tried.

Reality is he is a 60 year old man now so the thought is preposterous either way.  And yet there.

I wish I never knew this part of me.
I wish they were right that violence never solved anything.
And above all... I wish I didn't know that I always have it as a backup to every situation.

But it reminds me every single time.  And sometimes I briefly listen, thankfully it stays within its place. But I know why men can get abusive.

Even as I type this, I know you cannot possibly understand.  The fact you asked explains this to me.  Not a put down... in fact I envy you your ignorance of this.
The fact I can try to explain it to you is something I just barely learned to do... 25 years later.

Fact was, I hated being thought of as a monster.  I wanted to project the heart I have, not the abilities I have learned.
Reality is though, regardless of what I put forth, people have the right to see me as they like and it is no concern of mine.  And sometimes they are right.
One can say they do not like to be judged... yet it is human nature to do so.

You are correct in that I cannot understand. Still, I thank you for sharing so openly an issue that I can see has been so difficult for you.

Do you often feel the "pull" towards using aggression to solve things? Is there an "emptiness" to being so skilled, so apt, at something that just does not fit with civilian life?

I made an agreement with myself that I would not longer hide from it.  But answering you was not easy.

Not as much as I used to.  Part of that which you speak to is training.  An understanding that one becomes better the more they train.  Not only in that which has been learned, but in other things as well.

Training begets knowledge.
Wisdom takes knowledge and opens up possibilities.
Possibilities erase emptiness.

VixensVengeance, 

Well yes as a matter of fact. I feel I'm making progress. What are your thoughts?

Define progress as you see it pertaining to yourself. Tell me what you want and how you are going to achieve it. Set goals.

Micheal wrote:Not as much as I used to.  Part of that which you speak to is training.  An understanding that one becomes better the more they train.  Not only in that which has been learned, but in other things as well.

Do you feel this training represses those darker impulses? Or is there a sort of understanding of them, that allows to let them mesh with all other avenues of action?

Repression is the worst thing one can do. 

Take a candle and light it in a dark room.  That is repression, the candle still stands out.

Add a light.
Another candle.
Paintings to the room
A table
chairs
and about 20 other things and the candle just becomes one of many things.  And certainly not as important.

That is what training does.

Michael, perhaps you will benefit from reading my latest work. While the section regarding apotheosis may not be relevant to your path, i suspect the majority regarding duality will.

http://www.forcerealistacademy.com/t179-duality

Mortox wrote:

VixensVengeance, 

Well yes as a matter of fact. I feel I'm making progress. What are your thoughts?

Define progress as you see it pertaining to yourself. Tell me what you want and how you are going to achieve it. Set goals.

How is this?

http://www.forcerealistacademy.com/t99-vixens-workshop#1003

VixensVengeance wrote:How is this?

http://www.forcerealistacademy.com/t99-vixens-workshop#1003

You are making progress. Continue.

Mortox wrote:

VixensVengeance wrote:How is this?

http://www.forcerealistacademy.com/t99-vixens-workshop#1003

You are making progress. Continue.

Im so glad you approve. Any advice or sound comment?

VixensVengeance wrote:
Im so glad you approve. Any advice or sound comment?

VixensVengeance, I believe you may benefit from studying into Anton LaVey's work, especially his book "The Satanic Witch". Be certain to take note of what he writes regarding aesthetics.