Meditate to Eliminate Hate

By Lucy Gonzalez

“If every 8-year-old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation (Dalai Lama).” 

If our younger siblings, cousins, and friends chose to self-reflect and breathe before they acted on their emotions, would the world have less hurt and more heart? The Dalai Lama offered this guidance to those who are raising new generations with the hope to eliminate some of the darkness in the world.

It is easy to get caught up with our own journeys and become micro-focused with our day-to-day issues. I becomes easy to not take a step back and look at the world around us. Often-times we fail to realize how we influence others around us, especially the youth. The youth are constantly influenced by everything around them. Our younger brothers and sisters, cousins, neighbors, and friends look up to older generations and mimic what they hear and see. Children soak up the good and bad of their environment through familiar faces, social media, and the internet. These sources build up negativity, self-deprivation, and hate.

Maybe the Dalia Lama was right. What if meditation was the way to soothe the world’s burns and aches? Meditation, if practiced honestly, has many benefits. It reduces stress, trauma and alleviates overwhelming feelings. The best part is that it is not something someone needs to buy online or take a course in order to do. It is a personal activity that allows one to reflect, rest, and recenter themselves.

By aiding our youth in the process of societal healing through participating in meditation, we might in fact, be able to fulfill the Dalai Lama’s mission.