Being Yourself | Meeting the Enemy: Finding Peace in the Midst of WarBeing Yourself | Meeting the Enemy: Finding Peace in the Midst of War
Gangaji Podcasts
Gangaji, with host Barbara Denimpont, responds to a peace activist’s struggle to face war and injustice without hatred, highlighting how seeing the enemy as oneself changes everything. The conversation touches on politics, spirituality, and the inner wars we each have the power to end.
16:57•16 Sept 2026
Meeting the Enemy: Finding Peace in the Midst of War
Episode Overview
- You can stay fully committed to correcting injustice while remaining open-hearted toward those you once called the enemy.
- Seeing the enemy as "no other than your own self" breaks the cycle of abstract hatred and creates space for genuine connection.
- "I'm right" can shut down conversation and investigation; keeping an open mind allows something deeper and more reconciling to appear.
- Spiritual understanding need not be an escape from political issues; it can be the ground for meeting them more honestly.
- Stopping the inner war, even in simple moments like sipping tea, is a meaningful contribution to peace in a world of ongoing conflict.
“"'I'm right' is a closing to the possibility of conversation, of investigation."”
What emotional and inspiring tales of recovery are out there? This conversation with American teacher Gangaji goes straight into one of the toughest arenas: how to stay true to peace and truth while facing the brutal realities of war and injustice. Host Barbara Denimpont shares a story from a retreat in Crestone where a man deeply involved in peace, justice and human-rights work describes meeting his own "enemy" at the dinner table.
His former college roommate, Ken, had flown special forces into Southeast Asia, supporting operations he considered "among the most heinous violations of international law and human rights". Yet when they sat down together, he found he could "only feel brotherhood and love for him" and realised, "I had met the enemy and he was indeed my intimate self." Gangaji responds with a rare mix of fierce clarity and compassion.
She refuses the easy spiritual escape of ignoring politics, while also refusing the self-righteous rage that fuels more war. Her line, "I don't see any problem in playing fully, in being fully committed to correcting what you see as injustice and horror, and being willing to sit down to dinner with the enemy" sets the tone.
You’ll hear vivid metaphors, like seeing oneself as a volcano covered in storm clouds, while Gangaji counters, "I identify you as the sky", pointing to a vastness that can hold every cloud of anger, grief and activism. She calls the peace activist a "true warrior for peace" and names a key trap: the belief "I'm right" as closing the door to real conversation.
Barbara closes with a haiku shared by Stephen Levine: "sipping a cup of tea, I stopped the war," pointing to the inner battles each of us can end. If you’ve ever wrestled with how to care about injustice without being consumed by hatred, this conversation might prompt you to ask: where, in your own life, are you ready to stop going to war?
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