Experience of peace — experience of war.
Experience of life — experience of death.
Polarities.
If we create and explore major experiences of life, we sharpen our awareness and create space for perspective. We can even shape the experience itself.
If an experience simply happens to us, awareness comes to us beyond our will, and we become at the mercy of the situation.
There once existed traditions of ritual and initiation — ways of creating models of major life experiences. It is a step taken in advance, just before life itself confronts us with that experience.
Major experiences include facing fear, death, strength, compassion… and peace. They must be consciously earned by each generation — by us.
Through these experiences, we embody the sense of life, over and over again.
This is important because, in our daily routines, life becomes pale, almost invisible to us, and loses its value. We acutely sense its value on the verge of loss, on the path between the polarities of life and death.
It might be our chance to cultivate an awareness of this phenomenon and to create the conditions for thoughtful action.
People who have lived through war carry experiences of fear, death, and battle. But they also carry valuable things that can emerge from such experiences: inner maturation, strength, and compassion.
Our planet is not that big.
There are two World Wars within our bodies.
There is one more step left.
Almost into outer space.
How can we, as humanity, avoid unconsciously falling into the experience of war?
Will there be life, based on different laws, outside of war?
Imagine a society whose consciousness does not allow violence against one another, destruction, or mass murder.
It looks like a utopia, impossible for humankind right now.
It looks like a different law of existence.
“When I ask people whether they would want to live in a world where no one was arguing for nonviolence, where no one held out for that dream, they all say, ‘No.’”
— A researcher of this topic
What is yet to come is already unfolding.
This is a request — not on an individual level, but as a potential for communities and societies — to create a collective human intelligence that intentionally creates peace together.
The workshop is an invitation to shared exploration and collective dialogue through modeled situations, body-oriented therapeutic practices, and dialogue circles around the following questions:
— Why does humanity returto war over and over again?
— Is it possible to go through challenges without falling apart, while finding one’s own path and meaning?
— Is it possible to build a society that does not use war as a means of resolving conflict?
We will use gentle therapeutic methods in our experiential practice.
However, this is not intended to be a therapeutic retreat.
Rather, our intention is to expand the individual and collective field of awareness.
The course will be held in Ukrainian and English. Translation into German is possible.
Date: 29th to 31th of January 2027 (3 full days) in Erlangen, Germany
Cost:
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Euros 180.- and above : Supporter price (after deduction of expenses, the additional amount will go towards Inna’s projects in Ukraine)
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There is a fund available for refugees and other people with low incomes who would like to participate in the course.
Contact:
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Inscription, questions about the course content and financial assistance:
Maren Henein (maren@etik.com, +41 79 814 73 88) -
Questions about local organization:
Monika Ruth (moni.ruth@web.de, +49 176 986 079 25
Attention: This is an external event without any connection with FUGE e.V.