Peace Pie Mandala

Last night's Wonderful Wednesday event was a prayer of peace expressed through meditative art. Six lovely women joined me for a Peace Pie Mandala workshop. In this method, developed by Jennifer Star (www.peacemandala.com), a group comes together to individually and collaboratively create a mandala-shaped collage expressing a vision for peace.

We began with a guided meditation which helped us each to tap into the heart and feel our way into our individual perceptions of peace. We then each individually collaged a wedge-shaped piece of paper, selecting images and words from magazines that spoke to us of peace. After some quiet reflection and journaling with our individual expressions, we assembled all the wedges into the mandala.

(click the image to see a larger version)

Seeing all the individual visions come together into a whole is an amazing process. It mirrors the way we create peace in the world: first, within ourselves, then in making our own unique contribution to the whole and, finally, by coming together in groups and communities to do the work of peace. Finding common themes and threads of color running through the whole helps us to see how connected we are. Recognizing unique themes in our own piece of the peace pie helps us to see how important our individual perceptions of and contributions to peace are.

Some of the powerful messages that came through included:

• staying playful and joyful in the process
• finding our inner peace first
• connecting with and creating nature
• seeing children and animals as teachers showing us the way
• honoring diverse traditions
• finding peace in the midst of chaos

We ended by disassembling the mandala so we could each take our piece of the peace pie home with us, knowing that the collective vision is not shattered by doing so. We then made a circle by holding hands and sang the Peace Song: Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

May you be at peace and create peace in your community and in the world this New Year!