Amalphi assembled a tasteful montage of contemplative images over Rattlesnake Annie’s and Amy Nelson’s duet recording of “A Peaceful Solution” that illustrates a peaceful landscape. Together this could be taken for a representation of AUM, a syllable sacred throughout the East and everywhere else people practice Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism or Buddhism. Sometimes taken for the name of God, AUM also emphasizes God’s singularity. This singular God encompasses the multiplicity of existence and thereby serves as another expression of the all inclusive Plane of Immanence. This affirmation of the illusionary quality of duality and all hierarchies reveals the pronounced flaw in much human endeavor. Everywhere that we accept separation and class distinctions that reserve privileges for only a select minority we also find a denial of the essential unity of all existence. The three phonemes; A, U, and M, may be understood to represent the beginning, middle and end of all things which are themselves part and parcel of the singularity of the infinite God. The eternal process of birth, life, death and rebirth along with the stages of consciousness: awake, sleeping, dreaming and the transcendental state are all part of infinity. The transcendental state and the need for transcendence are merely illusionary divisions of the Plane of Immanence, much like any other invented category. By accepting artificial divisions we also deny the unity expressed by the idea of the single infinite God. This video Amaphi created has the power to remind us our significance as being indivisible from the infinite God just as all beings possess the same indivisible significance. The recognition and acceptance of this truth reveals the necessity of peace .

* * * * Artist’s Statement * * * * *

Creating art for the Willie Nelson Peace Research Institute is a great honor and privilege to me. It makes me feel proud, but also very humble. That’s why I thank Willie, Amy, Liz and Jay from the bottom of my heart for giving me this opportunity. I use to tell myself that it’s Willie who inspires me because I always listen to his music while creating art . But also because of the encouragement of Liz, who gives me the confidence that I’m doing the right thing. The images and videos I used to create this video I took at different spots over the world. It’s the first time I’ve created a video with pictures and short videos and I enjoyed it very much. After finishing the first draft, I doubted if the video went well with the beautiful version of  “A Peaceful Solution” sung by Amy Nelson and Rattlesnake Annie. Because peace has a universal meaning, I decided to use it and improved it. Every night the sun goes down, to rise at the other side of the world. You don’t have to do anything for it. It’s a free gift of nature, just like peace and happiness are part of all of us. The only thing is that we’ve forgotten it. We’re trying to find it very hard … outside ourselves. If you search hard enough, you’ll certainly find it but because if it’s not coming from your true self, you’ll definitely lose it some day. So stop searching, start listening to your heart. I hope you’ve enjoyed watching my video, but even more that you draw hope and peace out of it. Love and peace to you all from Monique “Amalphi” Claus, The Hague, The Netherlands