I sat one night when I could not sleep and started to play a video game where I terrorized the streets of Los Angeles. After about 3 hrs I realized that there was a shift in my balance. I had never felt that way before and for me it was not a good feeling. I put the controller down and went to bed. When I first started playing the game it was more or less like making my own violent movie of some sorts. In the end it was pure psychosis. The build up from balance to psychosis was gradual over three hours. But in the end I was killing and destroying everything in sight. I snapped out of it. It was very powerful. The dark side. Tyrants and dictators must feel this same power but onsome other level. My intention is for the world to be at such a state that this discussion will not happen. Total Peace.

What the VOW has done for me is to help make me more aware of my thoughts and much more conscious of them. I have taken my VOW so seriously, and it has changed my life exponentially. I have judgments that pop into my mind, and I watch them, and also immediately substitute them with more positivity whereas before I maybe wasn't doing this as much. I'd been working on this within myself before, but now it has taken on a new urgency. I know that peace begins within, and that in order to create it externally, I need to be it myself internally. I hold compassionate space for myself when I do have theses issues, but again, I intend for these thoughts to eventually never come into play in the first place. They are much fewer since taking the VOW. It has made me a better person and living much more on purpose than before, and I thought I was doing this already, and I was, just not to this extent. THIS VOW ROCKS!!! In love, light, and PEACE, Krissy

I am learning that there is a BIG difference between the emotion, anger, and having violent thoughts, words or actions. I can feel angry...it

I think the idea of the vow is to be mindful that one does not act in violent ways, and that action springs from thought. To be mindful of one's thoughts should reveal when we have an angry thought, and hopefully, help avoid an act of violence. While we are mindful of our angry thoughts, as we become more aware of them, it is also possible to discover their source. If we have an angry thought, we can remind ourselves to not react with violence, then take a moment to reflect on the source of the angry thought. With this examining and inquiring, we can ask ourselves, "Why did that make me angry?" We can also ask if there could have been a more productive, or efficient reaction instead. The more we inquire about the source of our thoughts, the more we become attuned to them. Keep in mind that remaining objective is crucial to discovering our thought's real source. This is the vow in action. Having an angry thought does not violate the vow. Instead it allows us a chance to reflect. As for video games and violence, I believe that it nullifies the notion that we have the capacity to inflict pain. We separate ourselves, and become a 'me' against 'them'. As we eventually will all discover, there is no separation: we are all one. What you do to me, you do to all, and you do as well to yourself. I watched a friend's son play a snowboarding game on video. He had gotten quite good at all the various tricks and stunts, so when the weather turned cold, he was exteremly excited about the prospects of strapping on a real snowboard. To say that he became extremely frustrated and agry at the difficulty of mastering a real snowboard is an understatement. With our encouragement however, he did develop some skills, but certainly did not become as proficient as his video game alter-ego. Playing a video game is not real life, except for the pressing of the buttons, the actions on the screen and the emotions they invoke, and the thought patterns they help to develop. It is a dream world. We risk believing that what happens in the video game can happen in real life, because the game is designed to simulate real life, much like a dream can seem very real. When we conciously decide to participate in this artificial world instead of the real one, we separate ourselves not only from others, but also the notion that our actions have no 'real' consequences. When merely pressing the reset button is all that's required to restore one to full health, then no thought is given to causing harm, and violence not only becomes the norm, it is actually the goal. By more fully participating in reality, we see the reason to practice non-violent thought and non-violent action. When we are the embodiment of peace and love, the feeling of joy far outweighs whatever temporary 'high' we might feel playing a video game. There is nothing to 'give up'. Think of it as a trade, and you get the better part of the deal.