COLLEGE OF METAPHYSICS, building the World's First Peace Dome

Peace Lessons

from the Greatest Men and Women our World has Known

Living on the campus of the College of Metaphysics, I have the good fortune of living with great men and women. They are thinkers, reasoners. Daily they hone their head and heart skills through disciplines such as meditation. They practice those skills by listening to Self and others, through concentrating the mind from beginning to end of a task or project, through visualizing physical desires before beginning that project. This is the reality of studying metaphysics. It is living it, embodying it.

Most of our study is from personal experience. Our scientific approach makes the world our laboratory, our ideas our theories to be tested, and our experiences the conditions we study for cause and effect relationships. From understanding the chemistry between a male and a female to the drama of understanding the conscious ego, the College of Metaphysics is a place to learn to be in the world, but not of it.

From my own experience I have found that holding company with great thinkers of the past - Jesus, Plato, Gautama, Lao-Tse, da Vinci, Shakespeare, Emerson, and the like - brings out the best in me. Absorbing their thoughts frees me to think deeply about my own. Living their thoughts enables me to know their truth.

It was with these thoughts in mind that I was led to investigate a book I had actually purchased in the Spring of 2002 to help Paul Blosser prepare for his Camp Niangua (summer camp for youngsters) class on the Nobel Prize winners. Little did I consciously know at the time that this book would play a pivotal role in preparing our consciousness to receive and give the world its first Peace Dome.

Since January, every Sunday, we have explored one of the Nobel Peace Prize winners. We have read about their lives and more importantly studied their words. We have embodied Mother Teresa's edict "to meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love" and we have written Peace equations in the spirit of Linus Pauling, the only person to date to win Nobels in two separate categories. The PeaceMaker gatherings have been so stimulating to us that we are dedicated to putting our experiences in book form so others might learn, and performing the activities themselves come to a deeper knowing of peace. We hope to have the book ready this summer in preparation for the Dome Dedication.

The day we opened the Peace Dome to the world by cutting the airform to free the south side entryway, we talked about His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his desire for Tibet to be a peace sanctuary. As I read his words, I was moved to tears as the realization that we are living Tenzin's dream washed over me. We are making a place for the world to come, to stay, and to go in peace. Here in this hamlet called Windyville. I knew in that moment that Tenzin Gyatso, the l4th Dalai Lama of Tibet, whose presence I have been blessed to experience three times thus far in this life, would be the first person I, on behalf of SOM, would write for his blessing and support of the Peace Dome dedication.

Now we are in the midst of bringing the thoughts and words of these people alive. The College thespians are bringing to life seven Nobel winners: Albert Schweitzer, Betty Williams, Mother Teresa, Linus Pauling, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jimmy Carter, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Drawing upon transcripts of their Nobel acceptance speeches, a script has been fashioned that enabled these great minds to converse on peace. What you hear is stimulating and profound. We hope to present "The Meeting at the Peace Dome" many times in the months to come. We know it will change us each time we seek to align our minds with these great thinkers. More than lofty thinkers, these men and women acted in accordance with their thoughts and this is the secret of their greatness that we, as metaphysicians, are striving to master.

We hope to garner permission from those involved to publish the script so others might experience it as well. Perhaps we can make audio recording or a video available if there is a demand for it. For those interested, please email us at som@som.org

May peace be with you all ways, Dr. Barbara Condron

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