The Syntony Path toward Peace
by Alexander Laszlo

Syntony is a purposeful creative aligning and tuning with the evolutionary flows of which we are a part. The term is currently relegated to the realms of radio engineering to denote tuning in to a given radio frequency. But it has been used by other philosophers and scientists to denote a process central to evolutionary competence. Syntony involves active learning to become active participants in the shaping of our future. It means learning to join creatively in the play of evolution that nature has already been performing for so long. Along this path, syntony can lead to harmony and peace.

Peace can be thought as a dynamic, living process. However, peace is most often thought of as a state of being; the realization of a particular state of consciousness. We consider people like Gandhi or the Dalai Lama to be "peaceful" people. Peace, in this sense, is a state free from struggle and strife, free from dissonance and disharmony, and full of tranquillity and calm. In societal terms, it is the absence of war, which at the individual human level is the absence of conflict. If there is any dynamic quality to it, it resides in the way such conceptions of peace view issues of accord with others and the environment in general: the more peaceful, the more one is in compliance with the flows of which one is a part; offering no resistance and creating no disturbance. In short, peace as a state is conceived as tranquillity and accord with one's milieu. It is a static conception of harmony - like being balanced on one leg. And surely, this is a state that is difficult to attain and even more difficult to maintain. But it is not the sort of peace involved in syntony and evolutionary stewardship. That is to say, it is not a sufficient conception of peace, for syntony involves the dynamic balance of walking and running and jumping and dancing, not just balancing on one leg!

How can any formulation of something as "the absence of" another lead to growth, development, and evolution? Peace should not be conceived of as merely an emptying of the sentiments and dispositions that lead to conflict and war (simply - or not so simply - ridding ourselves of impulses and desires, especially those of rage, reprisal, or revenge). It must be the creation of something as equally strong and palpable as conflict and war, but opposite to it; something we can sense just as we can sense conflict and war; something we can purposefully produce - just as we do conflict and war.

One of the great leaders of Mexico, President Benito Juárez, once said, "El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz" - respect for other's rights is peace. This formulation of peace captures its intentional quality, for one can only create this type of peace through the conscious practice of respect in interaction with others. And beyond respect, peace draws dynamism from understanding. Understanding brings people closer - without requiring that "respectful distance" that would otherwise keep us from reaching out to help them - and thereby allows for the dynamic growth and nurturance of peace.

This augmented notion of intentional, interactive, dynamic peace is at the core of evolutionary conceptions of syntony. One way to remember it, and to distinguish it from conceptions of peace as a static state, is to think of the following acronym:

P eople
E ngaged in
A ctive
C o-creative
E volution

So, syntony can provide a path to learning how to live in harmony with deep enjoyment - in harmony with ourselves and in exultation of dynamic and constructive relationships that cultivate positive synergy and vitality. Syntony is a process that we can create - if we want to. But to want to means wanting to co-create peace in an ongoing dance of harmony and interaction with others (other people, to be sure, but also with other beings, and indeed, with other things as well). This type of stewardship, of taking on the mantle of evolutionary co-creator, breaks down the barrier between "us" and "other." We can only engage in it if we care enough to do so. That is, if we care enough for "all of us," and if we stop separating things into atomistic, individualistic compartments. In short, it means reaffirming the sacredness of life - of life as a dynamic process to be maintained and furthered, and not as a state of being. Our true nature is as Human Becomings, not only as Human Beings.

For more, see Syntony Spotlight!