The Real Meaning Of Peace

'There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who
would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried.
The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two
he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror
for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was
a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture
thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and
bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which
lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a
foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall
a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a
mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the
rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest - in
perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose
the second picture. Do you know why?

'Because,' explained the king, 'peace does not mean to be in
a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace
means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm
in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.'

Please add your own comments about what peace means to you.

Lawsuit Against Chinese Leaders

On June 28, 2005 Comite de Apoyo al Tibet, a Madrid-based Tibet
Support Group, coordinated the launch of a historic criminal
indictment against Chinese government officials for crimes
against humanity in Tibet.

A lawsuit was filed against Jiang Zemin (former President of China),
Li Peng (former Primer Minister of China) and five other Chinese officials for crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, torture and terrorism committed upon the Tibetan people, at the National Court
(Audiencia Nacional) in Madrid, Spain.

This is the first-ever case seeking to define the Chinese State's treatment of the Tibetan people, where it is claimed that over 1 million Tibetans were murdered or died at the hands of Chinese officials, and over 90% of the religious and cultural institutions were destroyed.