Marya Mann : Blog : What We Can Do To Stop Terrorism | How Soul Food & Meals Paint A New Reality

What We Can Do to Stop Terrorism | How Soul Food & Meals Paint a New Reality

Global hunger has recently brought us another burning Paris, more senseless death from easy weapons and hard heads, and another explosion of compassion in our hearts.

How does hunger create terrorism?

Hunger in children causes brain damage, confusion, anger and despair. In study after study by universities, reports by the United Nations and on the pages of nutrition journals, it’s been shown that food insecurity is one of the main reasons for poor mental health and violence. 

The Roman poet Juvenal recognized the link between food security and peaceful societies when he said in 100 CE that “bread and circuses” were an effective means of calming discontent and building public support. Modern observers note that it’s not only the level of food insecurity that matters, but how that insecurity is distributed. “Relative deprivation rather than absolute deprivation, generates grievances that motivate violent behavior,” according to the World Food Programme. (www.wfp.org)

The increasing gap between rich and poor exacerbates and fuels the fires of discontent in the undernourished minds of terrorists.

Our bodies, designed for growth, creativity and joy, diminish without adequate nutrition. There are two kinds of hunger, “hunger of the body” and “hunger of the mind.” Hunger of the body refers to the outright painful sensation of hunger caused by insufficient funds. Hunger of the mind is related to trauma, leading to depression and hopelessness. Both forms of hunger can cause internal and interpersonal violence.

But these problems can be solved. The bodily hunger can be fed – with adequate social and political will — with a healthy diet, regular meals and exercise.

The hunger of the mind and its twin, soul hunger, are more nuanced and difficult to even see at first. They stir violent thoughts that lead to such ethical malnutrition that a terrorist, a suicide bomber or a school shooter emerges. 

We can feed this mind/soul hunger with education that includes appreciation for the subtleties of nature, for real friendships that accept us just as we are, and for the inspiration and lucidity of great arts – dance, music, painting, literature and laughter!

We can solve the problem of violence by including the teaching of mindfulness, yoga and creative arts in more schools, and by fostering celebrations, events and art that remind us of our deep connections. We must include everyone in the sacred circle of life. When one is in pain, all feel that pain at some level. When all are included in healing and the celebration of creativity, we feel the enlightening everywhere.

I realize the suicide bombers in Paris were convinced THEY were solving problems too. The difference between a terrorist’s “solution” and an artist’s or yogi’s solution is that a terrorist separates, destroys and hates fiercely, while an artist connects, creates and loves fiercely.
The artist steps into the continuum of creation, and for a time, becomes one with the gods, sculpting new magic and beauty. Terrorists don’t have a visceral contact with the river of life because they’ve lost the ability to feel, to empathize and to sense often invisible connections that nourish the soul. 

Connection is really what hungry people want — the sense of being connected to food sources, but also being connected to the source of life. They want soul food.

Violence in Paris, the Congo, and even in our own communities, is the result of a way of living that has created haves and have-nots, where patterns of greed, ignorance and domination can push even gentle people to the edge.

Dr. Bruce Lipton’s studies in epigenetics show that the cells in our bodies can only operate in two basic ways – for protection or for creativity. People who are pushed to the edge, who have no food or hope, and who are treated like they don’t matter are hungry people who will do almost anything to meet their needs.

Nourished people who have healthy bodies, healthy minds and a healthy connection to the creativity available to all of us – in an optimal world – can partner with the beauty of life and help to truly solve the problems of our world.

Healthy food, love and the space for joy in self-expression are basic rights. Every human being needs them. Without them, a person becomes a victim whose orientation is survival, not joy, and that is a sad, dangerous person, like Adolf Hitler, or like Donald Trump, who opined that the solution to the Paris attacks was more guns, or like anyone whose basic sense of perspective and human dignity has withered.

For me, the only possible response to such global hunger and the violence it spawns is to go back to the drawing boards, the silk banner drawing boards, that is.

I work with a group called Artwaves Nourish the Children. For three years, we’ve been serving hungry children and families with healthy meals and yoga, mindfulness, dance and song classes, while teaching them to make Blessing Banners.

Similar to Asian and Indian prayer flags, Blessing Banners are the Hawaii Island response to tragedy: to open up our hearts wider, serve more aloha, feed the hungry with fresh food and empowering words, and make beauty by dancing, singing and painting for a better future. Like their ancient flag predecessors, the banners containing children’s and artists’ best dreams for a healthy world are hung on a line and rippled by the wind. When a breeze comes by, it picks up the energy of the magical symbol, mantra or “happy thought” – what the kids understand – and carries it throughout the countryside and around the globe.

At some level, I think, we’re all hungry children until we step into the current of creation and are fed by the source, our common ground. I wonder what kind of art the terrorists could have made if they ever had a chance to learn yoga, to have permission for self-expression and to feel empowered enough to know deep self-love. The familiar story of Hitler, who was turned away from art school when he was a youth, comes to mind. How different our global history would be if he had been allowed to paint!

When we recognize what the hunger is really about, we can connect with our common ground and not feel so ashamed, alone or hungry anymore. Meeting the needs of hungry people is a lot more fun and less expensive than making and buying more guns, raising more racists or cleaning up after another massacre.

Bright colors can dispel ignorance. Songs can transform anger into generosity. Love can turn greed into sharing. Harmony through the arts can reshape disharmony into a workable diversity.

In Hawaii, on our little Big Island, a group of yogis, artists and hungry-to-wholesome children and families, are painting for Paris today, a small action with a big aim, making Blessing Banners to activate the kernel of wisdom in all of us. As in Bali, we believe everyone is an artist, creating the world one breath, one heartbeat and one brushstroke at a time.

It’s a small effort, but for us, it seems like the most compassionate – and colorful — response to Paris, to human foibles and to the ongoing love of truth, goodness and beauty that will carry us through.

Aloha nui loa!
Marya

We are a non-profit group that relies on donor support for our work. We appreciate your support! If you would like to contribute to the Feeding of Children and Painting Blessing Banners to Banish Hunger, please go here: Artwaves