Our peers at the Association for the Advancement of Psychosynthesis (AAP) offer resources for people to use to cultivate peace and purpose as part of their mission to advance the theory and practice of psychosynthesis, to benefit individuals and society.
They have kindly allowed us to share a letter from their member and a pioneer of psychosynthesis, Ewa D Bialek, PhD, who lives in Poland. The letter describes her experience of the crisis taking place in Ukraine and the organisations and resources in Poland who are supporting Ukrainian refugees now seeking safety in Poland.
Ewa D Bialek, PhD, letter:
My Dear Friends,
The situation is extremely difficult in many ways. This is mainly due to Poland’s close proximity to a war-torn country (Ukraine) and to a country that supports the war (Belarus), on whose border a migration crisis has prevailed since last year and where a state of emergency has been declared. This presents a double risk and a lot of fear in Poland, especially since our mutual relations have not been good for some years. We now have a state of emergency in the border towns.
As well as this, many people have travelled to Lviv [a city in Western Ukraine, near the Polish-Ukrainian border] and have acquaintances there, and therefore the horror is twice as great.
The current situation is particularly complicated. On the one hand, it takes place during the so-called pandemic, in which people are afraid, and on the other hand there is a flood of refugees for whom there are no epidemic restrictions. People are in total information chaos. A variety of relief actions are happening: people taking refugees home; others buying food and other things for volunteers, who stand up in front of the markets with shopping carts to throw food and other things in; there are also actions taking place on the border, and people sending products to those who have remained in their country.
Additionally, we hear of situations in which people want to raise money under the pretext of “help.” It is often wondered whether this is real help. It is hard to relate to the correctness of one action or another. Nevertheless, war, as such, is an absolute threat: not only to one state but to the whole world and particularly in today’s era, in which there is the threat of nuclear war. For purely human reasons, he serves no one. On the other hand, in the course of life we see ‘wars’ taking place within families, in the devastation of the environment, and in the conflicts among the peoples of one nation.
Ego to ecocentric
The world needs renewal, but it cannot happen by killing some for the dominance of others, for the selfish aims of the individual. What I see now, after living for many years, is the most urgent need to change our consciousness from ego to ecocentric. When someone asks me what to do in this situation, I say: do what you are willing to do. Some want to give material help, others want to take care of others. The others – go to war.
For my part, living in the here and now and meeting volunteers collecting food for refugees, I buy for them and join the action. As a pensioner I live on a modest pension, and whatever I save or earn I use to publish books. In the present situation I am very active in all the collective celebrations and online webinars that serve spiritual support, whether they are prayers or meditations. Every moment of the day I have this state of “being in the light” in my eye by bringing light, because I believe in the divine plan and what Vivian King once wrote in her “Inner Theatre” – that you can never be destroyed – and Eileen Caddy, founder of the Findhorn Foundation, who says that we support “Heaven on Earth” by “putting Heaven on the first place.”
Resources to support Ukraine
Finally, I link to some official websites in Poland that offer opportunities to give financial or material humanitarian aid. Here they are:
Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH): for direct aid, including food and other forms of support, for people fleeing their homes.Caritas Poland: provisions for the most urgent needs: food, hygiene, and basic material assistance.Polish International Aid Centre (PCPM): The funds will be used for humanitarian aid, evacuation of the population, and psychological support for children. Polish Red Cross (PCK): donations for the purchase of food, bandages, and other priority needs. Poland Medical Mission: donations for rapid medical assistance and the purchase of necessary medical supplies, which are handed over to the local relief organisation – the Red Cross in Slowjansk in the Donetsk region. UNICEF Poland: fundraising campaign for children including safe shelter and psychological support, medical care, clean water, and hygiene items.