The Cultivating Peace Method with James O’Dea

As the Dalai Lama says, “Without inner peace it is impossible to have world peace.”
So, your journey in Module 1 will begin with your own inner world inventory, which you’ll expand into an external worldview inventory.

Developing a mapping process of your beliefs and values will provide the foundation for you to spread peace in this new and very different kind of peace movement.

In this session you will:

• Get to the heart of your personal core belief systems and values
• Discover how to help others share their core belief systems and values and understand how belief is truly the rudder of change

• Examine unsustainable worldviews that lead to war and violence and broader systemic breakdown and outline the emerging worldviews that contribute to creating a planetary culture of peace as well as learn how to express this to others in a helpful, productive format
• Get a clear overview of the movement from one set of beliefs to another set, which fosters cultures of peace.

There is a dynamic relationship between the inner and outer experiences of life. You mirror peace from the inside out.

So a necessary aspect of skillful peacebuilding is synchronizing BOTH as you learn to participate in transforming societal aggression, violence and polarization.

The central theme of this module is how you can sustain creative peacebuilding and become a healthy and generative sacred activist who models the changes needed for social transformation and conflict resolution.

In this session you will:

• Develop a clear understanding of how our spiritual, psychological, and emotional field determines how skillfully you reflect peace and transform aggression and how you can effectively share this concept with others
• Familiarize yourself with important contributions of the new science to understand how to synchronize inner and outer, and communicate these concepts with others
• Learn how to sustain creative peacebuilding in a balanced way and how to guide others in this process
• Learn how to model the changes needed for social transformation and conflict resolution and in turn teach others to model the changes in themselves.

Without healing, there can be no peace.

In Module 3, you’ll learn about the emerging field of social healing pioneered by James O’Dea. This is the time for you to explore the effects of the wounds of society on the individual, and learn proven methods for healing both.

In this session you will:

• Discover key features of the emerging field of social healing and how to frame its new insights for others
• Examine wound attachment and the transmission of wounding between generations
• Explore perpetration from the perspective of wounding and psychological scarring
• Build on your understanding of worldview formation in Module 1, and address moving from right/wrong paradigms to wounding/healing frameworks
• Clarify the dynamics of forgiveness, the reconciliation process and restorative justice
• Explore how to teach peace through transformational stories of truth, reconciliation and forgiveness

In this session you will:

• Discover an in-depth treatment for using listening as a tactical and surgical tool of peacebuilding
• Break down listening skills for engaged and constructive communication so that you can guide others through this process
• Learn how to create conditions for compassionate listening and review six distinct modes of listening essential for any peacebuilder
• Review guidelines for non-violent communication, addressing the needs of hostile communicators and how to conduct self-care in hostile environments
• Explore how to teach these aspects of peacebuilding in experiential formats, allowing people to practice the skills being taught

Dialogue is the cornerstone of peacebuilding and social healing; its many facets can be practiced and learned.

Through suspending polarizing judgment and holding deep space, emotionally charged experiences can be effectively shared in safe environments.

In this session you will:

• Discover how to tap into fields of collective intelligence and guide others in listening with both heart and mind
• Review different dialogic formats such as council, conversation, appreciative inquiry, consensus and deep dialogue – the tools for the peacebuilder in you and those you may guide
• Learn how to link effective dialogue and communication with new perspectives on energy mastery and how to guide others in this process as well

It’s vital to understand the basic concepts of whole systems thinking and frame its relationship to peacebuilding.

This approach allows you to tie in all of our work so that integrated worldviews, healing perspectives and holistic thinking are part of a consciousness shift, which can manifest in whole system changes.

In this session, you will:

• Discover the 12 Simple Rules for Systems Thinking developed by a Washington think tank
• Examine case studies related to whole systems thinking
• Build on these concepts and learn how to teach the basics of whole systems thinking

Your final class will summarize all the tools and strategies you’ve learned over the past 6 modules – with time for you to address how to cultivate peace among different audiences and in different formats.

In this session, you will:

• Discover how to integrate this road map of peacebuilding, from the inner to international, into your daily life
• Develop a personal vision of how you will embody and express peace – inner peace, personal relationships and/or community projects
• Share with classmates your commitment(s) to embodying and expressing peace
• Learn from other students’ commitments how you can approach peacebuilding in new ways
• Experience the synergy of mutual support from your fellow classmates, as together we learn to become empowered peacebuilders

In this special audio with renowned scholar, author and philosopher Jean Houston, she explores humanity’s journey of transformation and how it relates to you.

Jean will share how we have now come to the stage where we must partner with Creation in the deepest expression of ourselves and in the restoration of the biosphere – and build a whole new type of culture. The real work of humanity begins now.

Delve into a new knowledge of the cosmos, cross-cultural understanding, and the potential for new evolutionary direction on this exciting bonus audio!

About Dr. Jean Houston: A pioneer, scholar and researcher in human capacities, Dr. Jean Houston is the author of numerous books and the founder of a cross-cultural mythic and spiritual studies program-dedicated to empowering change agents and people around the world by teaching history, philosophy, the new physics, psychology, anthropology, myth, and the many dimensions of our human potential.

She is also the founder of training programs in social artistry, which enables leaders to extend their own development so as to more adequately deal with the social challenges of today’s world. Her specialty is in the development and application of multiple methods of increasing physical and mental skills, learning and creativity.

Visionary and inspiring youth leader Ocean Robbins shares with you the power of partnership and authentic leadership, as well as illuminates the crucial link between personal development and social transformation.

A younger leader with an old soul, Ocean will call on you to live in integrity with your values by learning how to build healing bridges across historic divides. This is one empowering session you won’t want to miss!

About Ocean Robbins: In 1990, at age 16, Ocean Robbins was founder of Youth for Environmental Sanity (YES!), which he directed for 20 years. He has spoken to numerous groups and facilitated hundreds of gatherings for leaders from 65+ nations.
Author of The Power of Partnership and Choices for Our Future, Ocean has served as board member for many organizations including Friends of the Earth and EarthSave. He is a 2008 recipient of the Freedom’s Flame Award and of the national Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Younger. Ocean and his wife Michele are the parents of River and Bodhi Robbins, identical twin boys born in 2001.

In this powerful audio session with the number two executive of Search for Common Ground, Susan Collin Marks, you’ll discover the keys to transforming everyday conflict and differences into peace and common ground.

With wisdom and humility, Susan describes her insights about peacebuilding and draws from her experiences on the frontlines of conflict-ridden regions.

About Susan Collin Marks: Susan Collin Marks is senior vice president of Search for Common Ground. She is a South African who served as a peacemaker and peacebuilder during South Africa’s transition from apartheid to democracy. In 2006, she launched the Leadership Wisdom Initiative at SFCG offering leadership development and one-on-one support and coaching to political, institutional and civil society leaders.