Most people believe that war is unavoidable and unresolvable – that war is “out there” in the world – somewhere outside us. We have been unaware that we may be born with bullies inside us – that the source of war is in ourselves – in each and every moment – in the way we’ve been conditioned to think and act.

Could it be the reason we have war on Planet Earth? Is that where wars begin – in our brain?

If we can stop the war in our brain, will we no longer need to fight any war on the planet?

Pavlov’s Dogs

Have you heard of Pavlov’s dogs? They were conditioned to salivate every time Pavlov rang a bell, which signaled to them that food was on the way.

“The bell is ringing! That means food is coming! I am conditioned to drool! Woof!”

We are like Pavlov’s dogs. When we fear certain actions by other people, it’s like they are ringing a bell to activate the fear inside us. When we feel that fear, we either want to fight or run away.

Just as we’ve been “conditioned” to run away or fight, we may also be conditioned to believe that war is good for us – that we need to go to war, that we need to fight people we perceive as “the enemy.”

This is a dream – a bad one – and we need to wake up.

When humans were cave creatures, this was true. Our primary instinct was to survive. Life was full of physical threats. If human creatures didn’t protect themselves against each other, they themselves could be attacked. This was because they all needed to have enough to live, while there was little to share.

Today, we have fewer physical threats, but we still react to a threat as if it were physical.

Finding ourselves in a conflict situation in today’s world we need to:

• Think on our feet, and not get physical.
• Realize that if a conflict has developed, somebody is scared of something or someone.
• Recognize the fear. Understand why it’s there.
• Figure out an intelligent way of dealing with the fear.

We humans are hypnotized into believing war is the right thing to do, but the truth is that war is a nightmarish trance that it’s time for us to wake up from.

Silence Is a Weapon

The best way to understand a situation, or other people, or even ourselves, is to think for ourselves, and ask questions.

Not asking questions, we can wind up not understanding someone or something, and a misunderstanding can sometimes lead to a disagreement – or a fight. That’s how silence can become a weapon.

My Conflict Examination Tree

Ask yourself:

• Symptoms: There’s a fight inside me. What are the symptoms?
• Causes: What are the possible causes of the conflict inside me?
• Understanding: What is my understanding about this conflict?
• Plan: What can I do about this fight to prevent it from going on?

Groups Are Good!

There’s nothing wrong with belonging to a group!

There’s a problem only when we believe our group is better than another! That creates a struggle.

Anytime there is a struggle between two opposing forces, there is conflict.

Being Aware of the Truth

Our five senses give us messages about the world around us.

By seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing and touching, we learn about people, places and things. Our five senses are our body’s Input Center.

But there is a sixth sense! That sense is INSIGHT. It’s an “in the moment” awareness of your thoughts.

After taking in information from our five senses, our sixth sense can tell us if what we’re thinking is prejudiced by what we’ve been told before.

If I learn to understand that my survival depends on “insight” — on being aware of what thoughts may cause me to want to fight – I will see this before I fight, and then maybe not fight.

Our brain is our Command Center. It stores information and, based on the information we gather, we make decisions and take actions.

Our brain sometimes cannot tell whether we are living in a dream or living in reality. We have to check!

Five Senses + Sixth Sense Insight

Your Brain

Your brain can independently come up with new ideas! It is capable of imagination – and insight. Your brain’s insight helps you determine what you truly need to do to survive.

It helps you UNDERSTAND the wars in your head so you can figure out why they are there. It helps you look at any group you belong to and THINK about how this group affects your survival.

The most intelligent group in the world is the one we all belong to: the human race on Planet Earth.

The Only Thing to Fear

“If I put my head in the sand, I won’t have to see what I’m afraid of.”

What is fear?

We know when we feel it, but where does it come from?

U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “The only thing to fear is fear itself.”

The only way to learn how to handle fear is to really look at it —so you can best understand what it does to you – to your brain, to your senses, to your body, and to your powers of observation.

When you are in conflict, or feel a fight coming on inside you, it’s a sure sign that you’re afraid of something – a thought, a feeling, an old memory, a person. Face your fear! Look at what might be causing it.

Most of our conditioning is based on fear – fear of losing something, or not surviving in some way.

How we communicate depends on how we think.

How Do We Create An “Enemy”?

We sometimes tag people an “enemy” when they are rooted in thoughts and actions that are different from ours. Sometimes we can become our own “enemy” when we are torn between two rooted thoughts.

In fact, the concept “enemy” is a dream — a complete falsehood, based on our confused view of what it means to survive.

The only enemies are the ones we humans create –  in our own minds, and in the world.

What enemy did you create today?