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Adopt-A-Horse
Contributing
to Peace
Since 1988 Windermere
Ranch, in Santa Barbara, California, has been home to a rather remarkable
group of animals, The Windermere Horses. Over the years,
staff, volunteers, and visitors who have interacted and worked with
these horses have come to love them. They have had experiences in
which the horses seemed to be the teachers, and the humans were
the ones being taught. If horses are teaching us, what is it that
we are learning from them?
Those who have
had these experiences found themselves moving into a place of mutual
cooperation, where they were at peace within themselves and
with the horses. We recognize this as a place of one accord.
When they are able to do this, our riders find that the goals they
have set for themselves and for the horses are more gracefully achieved.
It is easy to see how this focus of mutual cooperation and accord
is vital in today's world. To learn more about a special way to
hold a focus of peace inside yourself, we invite you to read
on.
Everyone is
invited to visit Windermere. However, whether you visit Windermere
or not, there is a way for everyone to be more involved and to experience
the benefits of participating actively with the horses. Those
who work closely with the horses have identified specific essential
"qualities" which exemplify each horse's expression. They
came up with the concept of enhancing those qualities in ourselves
by "adopting" a particular horse and quality, providing
an ongoing focus on that quality throughout the year.
How
Does Adopt-A-Horse Work?
The first step
is to choose a horse that has a quality that you would like to express
more of in your life. Look over the list of Windermere horses and
the qualities they represent. When you have selected your quality
and horse, choose an adoption level that works best for you. There
are four levels of adoption:
- Level One:
$10/month
- Level Two:
$30/month
- Level Three:
$50/month
- Level Four:
$100/month or more
How
does my contribution to the Adopt-A-Horse program benefit Peace?
The Institute
for Individual and World Peace is based on the precept that we as
individuals create greater peace in the world as we create greater
peace within ourselves. Peace begins with the individual. As we
focus on the qualities of peace within ourselves, we naturally expand
into expressing more of these qualities in our lives. This has a
very real effect on our families; our families affect our communities;
our communities affect our nations; and our nations affect the greater
peace on our planet. How many individuals choosing to express greater
peace in their everyday lives are needed to create peace on earth?
The answer is unknown, but we do know that the more we as individuals
make that choice, the closer we are to a peace-filled planet.
If you do choose
Adopt-A-Horse as a way to express greater peace in your everyday
life, there are some additional benefits of contributing
to this Program:
- You'll receive
E-mail updates with messages from the herd, pictures of the horses
and news from Windermere.
- You are automatically
invited to the annual IIWP Gathering of Peacemakers Seminar, held
during July each year in Los Angeles.
- You'll receive
a subscription to IIWP's Quarterly Newsletter, The Peaceful Times.
- And last
but not least, you will be contributing to the care, feeding and
training of the Windermere horses, an integral part of the Place
of Peace that we are creating at Windermere.
All of these
benefits will be yours, regardless of the level of giving that you
choose. How much of your financial resources, your attention and
your focus do you want to commit toward greater peace?
For a list of
Windermere Horses and their qualities of peace click on
Windermere
Horses
Choose an adoption
level and make your donation on-line through a secure server by
clicking on
Donate
On-Line
or
send us an e-mail at
AAH@iiwp.org
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