Smiles for Peace

" Smiling is very important. If we are not able to smile, then the world will not have peace. It is not by going out for a demonstration against nuclear missiles that we can bring about peace. It is with our capacity of smiling, breathing, and being peace that we can make peace. "
-Thich Nhat Hanh-


At our recent MCC Southeast Asia retreat, we spent time learning and dialoguing about the Buddhist faith, in particular the peacemaking aspects of Buddhism. Very often in our peace and justice work, as a part of the Mennonite Church, we hear about Christians who are working for peace, but it can be easy to forget that there are Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists who are also seeking to solve conflicts in nonviolent ways and to build a just and peaceful world. Realizing that peace is not just a Christian and not just a western concept is very humbling for me. My Lao I.D. card may read "foreign expert" but when it comes to peacebuilding, I have so much to learn!


I particularly like the above quote from Buddhist monk and peacebuilder Thich Nhat Hanh. Though written first in Vietnamese, there is something about these words that rings very true in Laos as well. Here a smile is the key ingredient in every interaction. Forget plastered on half smiles, Lao people know the secret to deep true smiles (or "eye smiles"as we foreigners sometimes call them) and they know the impact that a good smile can have on themselves and on others. To me these smiles symbolize, in a small way, a gift that Buddhist peacemakers bring to the world. They understand the value that being at peace and joyful can bring to their peacemaking work. I feel that in the west we tend to put so much of an emphasis on ending injustice and we harbour so much "righteous anger" that we often skip that crucial first step of harbouring peace within ourselves. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, it is only by living a life of peace and truly "being peace" that we can make peace in the world.

*Here are a few more of my favourite smiles!