A Philosophy of Peace:

My long-term goal is to contribute to world peace. In my earlier days I visited many places to learn about different values, beliefs and practices around the world. Now I am seeking to put the collective wisdom together into a Philosophy of Peace.

The Philosophy of Peace is a 20-year project which will include researching "best practice" around the world, exploring peace historically (time) and anthropologically (space) as well as interviewing great leaders who have contributed to peace. The Philosophy of Peace will put together current thought and old wisdoms.

The Philosophy of Peace is not about governments, systems for negotiation or international relations. Nor is it about religion. It is more about how we as collective individuals can contribute to peace, what makes people strive for peace and resolution rather than for war and conflict. Hence a philosophy, how we think, not a political approach. It is about how individuals and group dynamics can contribute to peace. It combines Personal Development, group dynamics and intercultural communication.

Peace = inner wealth and health + intercultural understanding

I'd like to suggest that while we may desire peace, we are actually more fascinated by war. I recently went to one of the bigger London bookstores to look for works on peace - well I could not find a section called 'peace', but what I did find was about three walls of bookshelves called 'War'. We are fascinated by war. Why do we want peace and yet are fascinated by war? Well I think it's because war contains something exiting. Peace, on the other hand, when you think of it, is boring! A philosophy of peace must contain something exciting, to replace whatever it is that gets us turned on in war-like activities. Maybe we need the activities but without the hate and destruction?

Three main strands (non political) that can contribute are:

1. Individual Development: - personal development that will allow us to find a well-being and a balance in life. There are several aspects:
- Health - Wealth - Relationships - Purpose - Peak Performance (90%)
If we are well harmonised, the need for aggression and hatred should be reduced.

2. Group psychology & dynamics: - however well harmonised we may be, there are certain group or sociological pressures that cause us to behave differently than what we would as individuals. The masses move on emotion. Examples:

3. Intercultural Communication: looking at the different values and belief systems, and how these affect our thoughts and behaviour.

Our world has created many toxins which poison our bodies and minds. It is hence important to know strategies to deal with this. An important factor will be personal development - wealth, health, relations, well-being. Many of the results of philosophy of success (Napoleon Hill) should find application here to create harmony - balance, peace of heart. People more likely to strive to peace and love if they are happy, successful and in natural balance - hence need to focus on health and wealth.

However group psychology (group dynamics and emotions) are highly important too. The Philosophy of Peace looks at both individual effort and group behaviour for two reasons:
a) no matter how good individual intentions often swept away by peer pressure, culture (belief systems) and mass emotions
b) need to take both individualistic and collectivistic views into consideration.

I also call the philosophy a 'Mosaic for Peace' - to reflect my thinking. I take a 'holistic' approach - I look at the whole with all parts are interconnected, where the whole is more than the sum of the parts. That's very abstract, so I prefer using the image of the mosaic. In a mosaic each stone may be very precious, but it's the combination of the stones that suddenly creates a new image from a distance. None of the individual stones would have been able to create this larger image on their own.

There is a need to understand various issues more deeply. My goal is to research such issues and view them from different perspectives. This will include interviewing peace and other leaders around the world, delivering workshops and creating a Foundation for Peace. The aim - well, in the mosaic we can have little effect as individual stones, but together we can start creating a different picture. Let us all be a piece in the mosaic of peace!

Public workshops on Health, Wealth & Diversity as a contributing factors to peace

Pain: War - aggression - regression - disharmony - unhappiness - Stress - conflict
Resolution: Workshops to improve: health - wealth - understanding - Peak performance
                Articles, Books, presentations
Value: Interactive, touching people's hearts, Reduce stress - conflict

We are also attempting to contribute to human understanding in an interdisciplinary holistic manner through our Silk Road Academy workshops.

MISSION:
The ultimate aim of my business is also to enable peace by creating and expanding an international network of people promoting cultural understanding and synergy between people of different values and orientations. The business is based on the newer discipline of intercultural communications and aims at facilitating human and organisational synergy and growth. We want to help individuals of different orientations live and work together constructively and enjoyably, and thereby create peaceful conditions contributing to peace and harmony.      François Knuchel