Peace is not Elusive: A Case Study of Mediation for Peace Between Colombian Government and FARC by the Art of Living

The Art of Living not only teaches values of universal goodwill, inclusiveness, and love for humanity but also is instrumental in resolving many ethnic conflicts in war-torn geographical locations ensuring everlasting peace and establishment of faith in the community. One important example of this is the conflict resolution between the Colombian Government and the FARC, which is the focus of discussion in the chapter. The peasants and landowners of the country had raised their voice against the inequality meted to them. Named as FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia in Spanish), the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia was a Marxist guerrilla organization which waged more than five-decade long war against their own Government. The repercussion of the internal conflict was massive to the communities. More than 200,000 families lost their loved ones and more than 7 million Colombians lost their homes because of the civil war. The restoration of peace in Columbia was a great challenge as the National Government was repeatedly unsuccessful in the initiatives leading to many ceasefire violations. In 2015, after 51 years of mistrust, agony, and Civil War, the Columbian delegation requested for an intervention of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the Founder of The Art of Living, world-renowned humanitarian, and the messiah of peace. Soon many international Organizations joined hands. Gurudev met Mr. Juan Santos, President of Columbia who organized a meeting of him with the FARC leaders on June 26, 2015. Within two days of mediation, the FARC, in a joint conference with Gurudev, announced a unilateral ceasefire starting from July 20, 2015 for a year. In June 2016, the Colombian government and the FARC announced a bilateral ceasefire. With the intervention of The Art of Living, the ex-guerrilla group adopted Gandhian Principles and promised to lead a life of non-violence. In September 2016, the government of Colombia and the FARC signed a peace agreement. 7,000 ex-FARC members surrendered their arms, and 10 ex-FARC leaders were to assume seats in the parliament later in July 2018. FARC launched its political party and resolved to live in harmony paying respect to life and liberty. The Art of Living played a pivotal role in bringing peace to the war-torn country through various processes of reconciliation, conflict resolution, heart to heart communication, meditation, and by spreading love toward humanity. This created a replicable model for intra-governmental and inter-governmental disputes and peaceful resolution of conflicts for the betterment of humanity. Alternative Dispute Resolution is a great ancient tool practiced in modern day and brought new hopes to police, judiciary, and administration. Peace is such a weapon with which all conflicts ranging from family to communities to governmental to class conflicts can be resolved. These methodologies need to be taught and practiced by relevant professionals to make this world a better place to live. Love, moves the World.