Peace as Practice
Why Knowing About Peace Is Not Enough
Daniel Che
Daniel Che
- Introduction. From Talking About Peace to Practising It
- 1. What We Are Building: A Training Tool, Not a Content Library
- 2. Why This Is Not Wellness or Just Another Mindfulness App
- 3. What Happens in Five Minutes
- 4. How Practice Might Become a Skill
- 5. Pedagogical Roots: Why Ideas Need to Become Exercises
- 6. Is This Analytical Meditation?
- 7. Jain Roots: Ahiṃsā as a Discipline of Attention to Life
- 8. Buddhist Roots: Mind Training, Mettā and Secular Ethics
- 9. Religious and Contemplative Traditions: Similar Human Tasks, Different Foundations
- 10. Repetition Works in Both Directions: Why Training Is Not Ethics by Itself
- 11. Medicine and Psychotherapy: Training as a Professional Technology
- 12. What Contemporary Behavioural Science Adds
- 13. Why Five Minutes?
- 14. The Interface as an Invisible Training Tool
- 15. Humane Design: The App Should Not Keep People at Any Cost
- 16. Full Body Is Only the First Level
- 17. Translate Functions, Not Religions
- 18. Feedback as Part of Developing the Practice
- 19. What the Practice Does Not Require
- 20. What We Know — and What We Do Not Yet Know
- 21. How to Use the Basic Full Body Practice
- 22. The Central Idea
- 23. Now, Test It in Practice
Knowing about peace is not enough. Peace has to be practised.
Introduction. From Talking About Peace to Practising It
A Room in Lisbon
In the first days of the full-scale war in Ukraine, I found myself in Lisbon. We did not know where we would live, what would happen with our documents, or what to do with a life that, within a few days, was no longer the life we knew. People we had never met took us in. We lived in one room, counted our money and tried to work out what came next.
And there, with almost the last of our money, I bought a second-hand microphone. In that same room, I began recording audiobooks about nonviolence and peacemaking.
For years before the war, I had been interested in Indian philosophy, Advaita, Buddhism and other spiritual traditions. I read and recorded the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Vasistha and other texts, trying to understand what different schools had to say about human beings, suffering and inner change. After the war began, that interest stopped being abstract.
I did not think an audiobook could stop a war. I was simply trying to do the little that seemed meaningful at the time: to find texts about how people before us had tried to respond to hostility and violence while preserving conscience and human dignity, and to make those texts more accessible to others. Over time, the recordings found an audience. Peaceful World grew around that work.
Before long, I ran into a simple problem: a good book can be free and openly available and still remain inaccessible to most people. Free does not mean accessible. A long text demands hours of attention, inner motivation and an interest that has already begun to form. In a world where entertainment, news and algorithms compete for that attention every minute, books about nonviolence rarely win on their own.
And even a book that has been read does not solve everything. Its ideas may not be within reach precisely when a person is frightened, humiliated, angry or caught up in conflict. You can sincerely agree that compassion matters and still fail to remember it when another person becomes an enemy in your mind. You can know that dehumanization is dangerous and still begin to dehumanize when your group does the same.
And there, with almost the last of our money, I bought a second-hand microphone. In that same room, I began recording audiobooks about nonviolence and peacemaking.
For years before the war, I had been interested in Indian philosophy, Advaita, Buddhism and other spiritual traditions. I read and recorded the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Vasistha and other texts, trying to understand what different schools had to say about human beings, suffering and inner change. After the war began, that interest stopped being abstract.
I did not think an audiobook could stop a war. I was simply trying to do the little that seemed meaningful at the time: to find texts about how people before us had tried to respond to hostility and violence while preserving conscience and human dignity, and to make those texts more accessible to others. Over time, the recordings found an audience. Peaceful World grew around that work.
Before long, I ran into a simple problem: a good book can be free and openly available and still remain inaccessible to most people. Free does not mean accessible. A long text demands hours of attention, inner motivation and an interest that has already begun to form. In a world where entertainment, news and algorithms compete for that attention every minute, books about nonviolence rarely win on their own.
And even a book that has been read does not solve everything. Its ideas may not be within reach precisely when a person is frightened, humiliated, angry or caught up in conflict. You can sincerely agree that compassion matters and still fail to remember it when another person becomes an enemy in your mind. You can know that dehumanization is dangerous and still begin to dehumanize when your group does the same.
“Become Hedgehogs”
There is an old joke about a group of mice who went to a wise owl for advice. Birds of prey kept hunting them, and the mice asked the owl to come up with a solution. The owl thought for a long time and finally said, “You need to become hedgehogs. Then you will have spines, and no one will bother you.” The mice were delighted. But after a while they returned with one small question: “How do we become hedgehogs?” The owl snapped, “Don’t bother me with details. I’m a strategist.”
The more I worked on peace education, the more often I found myself thinking about that owl.
At the level of moral principles, humanity has no shortage of answers. Do not dehumanize. Do not repay evil with evil. Preserve compassion. Do not cause unnecessary harm. See the human being in the other. Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, humanist ethics, philosophies of nonviolence and modern peace-education programmes offer an extraordinarily rich language for what a human being can become.
But the mice’s question remains: how? How do you resist dehumanization when everyone around you is doing it? How do you stop anger from becoming action? How do you remember compassion not in a quiet room, but under pressure, in fear or amid collective hatred? How do you turn a moral principle from something you agree with into a capacity that remains available when you actually need it?
The war made this question especially painful. I saw people who had spent years practising Christian, Buddhist and other spiritual traditions and were still vulnerable to propaganda, groupthink and dehumanization. I do not exempt myself from that observation. This did not convince me that spiritual traditions were useless. It made me look more closely at what within them actually functions as practice, and what remains knowledge, belief or membership in a group.
If traditions have spent centuries developing ways of working with attention, habit, compassion, non-harm, prayer, remembrance and character, why do these capacities disappear so easily under the pressure of collective hostility? Perhaps we do not need a new morality. Perhaps we do not yet understand well enough which long-known moral capacities need to be exercised, and how to make that exercise accessible to an ordinary person.
The more I worked on peace education, the more often I found myself thinking about that owl.
At the level of moral principles, humanity has no shortage of answers. Do not dehumanize. Do not repay evil with evil. Preserve compassion. Do not cause unnecessary harm. See the human being in the other. Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, humanist ethics, philosophies of nonviolence and modern peace-education programmes offer an extraordinarily rich language for what a human being can become.
But the mice’s question remains: how? How do you resist dehumanization when everyone around you is doing it? How do you stop anger from becoming action? How do you remember compassion not in a quiet room, but under pressure, in fear or amid collective hatred? How do you turn a moral principle from something you agree with into a capacity that remains available when you actually need it?
The war made this question especially painful. I saw people who had spent years practising Christian, Buddhist and other spiritual traditions and were still vulnerable to propaganda, groupthink and dehumanization. I do not exempt myself from that observation. This did not convince me that spiritual traditions were useless. It made me look more closely at what within them actually functions as practice, and what remains knowledge, belief or membership in a group.
If traditions have spent centuries developing ways of working with attention, habit, compassion, non-harm, prayer, remembrance and character, why do these capacities disappear so easily under the pressure of collective hostility? Perhaps we do not need a new morality. Perhaps we do not yet understand well enough which long-known moral capacities need to be exercised, and how to make that exercise accessible to an ordinary person.
From a Course to a Training Tool
Over the next few years, we took this problem seriously at Peaceful World. We wrote about peace literacy, dehumanization, propaganda, nonviolence and a culture of peace. We studied peace-education and social-emotional-learning programmes, and considered translations of books and international curricula. We built our own educational course of forty-two lessons. It remains part of our work and can offer a person far more than five minutes. But first, they have to get there.
Again and again, we came back to the same question: how can peace education become accessible not only to people who are already prepared to read, study and take a course?
Access to peace education is profoundly uneven around the world. It depends on language, schools, teachers, the political environment and the availability of materials. A great many strong resources exist primarily in English. Even an excellent school programme does nothing for someone if it is not offered at their school, if the teacher cannot or does not want to use it, if public policy has pushed it aside, or if the person left school long ago.
Even excellent material remains inaccessible when the threshold for entry is too high. An hour of meditation can be a profound practice. Forty-two lessons can offer far more than five minutes. A great book can change a life. But all of these assume that the person has already decided to show up.
I wanted to find the step before the first step. Something small enough for a person with almost no spare time, no special training and no interest in spiritual terminology to try. Not a replacement for books, schools, courses or traditions, but an entry point.
For the same reason, I did not want to build another app whose primary promise was relaxation. Being able to calm down is valuable. But it does not fully answer the question that increasingly occupied me: how can we do more than feel better within a difficult reality and instead act less destructively inside it? How can we work not only with tension, but with our relationship to another person, with harm, choice and responsibility?
We arrived at five minutes not because we had too little to say. Quite the opposite: there was too much. We could write another book. Build another course. Design another school programme. All of that has value. But another question remained: what could we offer a person today, without a semester of preparation, without a teacher, without a free hour, and in their own language?
While we were searching for the right form, artificial intelligence was developing rapidly. It was becoming increasingly good at finding, translating, explaining and connecting knowledge. Things that once required a library, a teacher or a long search could increasingly be obtained simply by asking.
Books, teachers and education are no less necessary for that. But another scarcity becomes even clearer: knowing the answer and being able to use it are still different things.
AI can explain nonviolence, summarize Tolstoy and help unpack a particular conflict. It cannot pause for me when I am furious. It cannot make my next choice either.
It can help organize the training. But a person still has to do the practice themselves.
Again and again, we came back to the same question: how can peace education become accessible not only to people who are already prepared to read, study and take a course?
Access to peace education is profoundly uneven around the world. It depends on language, schools, teachers, the political environment and the availability of materials. A great many strong resources exist primarily in English. Even an excellent school programme does nothing for someone if it is not offered at their school, if the teacher cannot or does not want to use it, if public policy has pushed it aside, or if the person left school long ago.
Even excellent material remains inaccessible when the threshold for entry is too high. An hour of meditation can be a profound practice. Forty-two lessons can offer far more than five minutes. A great book can change a life. But all of these assume that the person has already decided to show up.
I wanted to find the step before the first step. Something small enough for a person with almost no spare time, no special training and no interest in spiritual terminology to try. Not a replacement for books, schools, courses or traditions, but an entry point.
For the same reason, I did not want to build another app whose primary promise was relaxation. Being able to calm down is valuable. But it does not fully answer the question that increasingly occupied me: how can we do more than feel better within a difficult reality and instead act less destructively inside it? How can we work not only with tension, but with our relationship to another person, with harm, choice and responsibility?
We arrived at five minutes not because we had too little to say. Quite the opposite: there was too much. We could write another book. Build another course. Design another school programme. All of that has value. But another question remained: what could we offer a person today, without a semester of preparation, without a teacher, without a free hour, and in their own language?
While we were searching for the right form, artificial intelligence was developing rapidly. It was becoming increasingly good at finding, translating, explaining and connecting knowledge. Things that once required a library, a teacher or a long search could increasingly be obtained simply by asking.
Books, teachers and education are no less necessary for that. But another scarcity becomes even clearer: knowing the answer and being able to use it are still different things.
AI can explain nonviolence, summarize Tolstoy and help unpack a particular conflict. It cannot pause for me when I am furious. It cannot make my next choice either.
It can help organize the training. But a person still has to do the practice themselves.
A Gym in Madeira
By then, we were living in Madeira. About four years after the beginning of the war, a gym opened near our home. Training had been an important part of my life before the war; after 2022, I stayed away from it for a long time. Then I found myself back among exercise machines.
I have always liked machines in particular. At the beginning, they give you a clear path of movement, reduce the risk of a major mistake and let you repeat the same action safely. A machine does not lecture you about muscles. It does not persuade you that strength is useful. It creates a simple situation in which the movement can be made, and then repeated.
What if peace education needed a training tool of its own?
Not another “course on how to become a good person”, but a simple tool for practising a few specific movements of mind for several minutes at a time. Pause before an automatic reaction. Notice life. Turn the mind towards goodwill. Look for a less harmful option. Connect it all to one real choice.
I wanted to build a training tool for ethics, empathy and moral imagination, and to make the first session accessible enough that someone could begin almost anywhere in the world, in their own language.
Peaceful World Practice grew out of that search.
The Question Behind the Practice
Can a practice be small enough that a person will actually begin, and substantial enough that there is something real to practise?
Five minutes, of course, will not transform human nature on schedule. They will not stop a war or replace education, culture, politics, therapy or a spiritual tradition. We do not know in advance how well this kind of training will transfer into real behaviour. That is why the rest of this essay contains so many caveats, comparisons and sources: we do not want to fall in love with a beautiful metaphor before we understand its limits.
And yet the question that started it all remains simple. If peaceful responding involves not only ideas a person agrees with, but capacities they actually use, can those capacities be given a short, regular form of practice?
This is where the personal story ends. What follows is the design itself: the five movements of the practice, their pedagogical and traditional roots, what modern research supports, and what we still do not know.
I have always liked machines in particular. At the beginning, they give you a clear path of movement, reduce the risk of a major mistake and let you repeat the same action safely. A machine does not lecture you about muscles. It does not persuade you that strength is useful. It creates a simple situation in which the movement can be made, and then repeated.
What if peace education needed a training tool of its own?
Not another “course on how to become a good person”, but a simple tool for practising a few specific movements of mind for several minutes at a time. Pause before an automatic reaction. Notice life. Turn the mind towards goodwill. Look for a less harmful option. Connect it all to one real choice.
I wanted to build a training tool for ethics, empathy and moral imagination, and to make the first session accessible enough that someone could begin almost anywhere in the world, in their own language.
Peaceful World Practice grew out of that search.
The Question Behind the Practice
Can a practice be small enough that a person will actually begin, and substantial enough that there is something real to practise?
Five minutes, of course, will not transform human nature on schedule. They will not stop a war or replace education, culture, politics, therapy or a spiritual tradition. We do not know in advance how well this kind of training will transfer into real behaviour. That is why the rest of this essay contains so many caveats, comparisons and sources: we do not want to fall in love with a beautiful metaphor before we understand its limits.
And yet the question that started it all remains simple. If peaceful responding involves not only ideas a person agrees with, but capacities they actually use, can those capacities be given a short, regular form of practice?
This is where the personal story ends. What follows is the design itself: the five movements of the practice, their pedagogical and traditional roots, what modern research supports, and what we still do not know.
1. What We Are Building: A Training Tool, Not a Content Library
Our working metaphor is a gym for peace literacy. By peace literacy here we mean knowledge, skills and ways of perceiving that help people recognize violence, preserve humanity in conflict and act more peacefully. We explicitly connect the idea of peace as a practical literacy, and the language of trainable human capacities, with the work of Paul K. Chappell and the Peace Literacy Institute [23]. “Training tool” is a pedagogical and product metaphor here. We do not claim that ethical skills transfer according to the same laws as physical ones. Hence the product principle: the interface organizes an exercise, the exercise creates an opportunity to repeat a chosen step, and transfer into life remains a testable hypothesis.
A Short Definition
Peaceful World Practice is a family of short, secular training practices for nonviolent perception and behaviour. “5 — Peace Practice by Peaceful World” is the first user-facing product in this system: five full minutes of practice, five operations and a minimal interface that takes the user from a pause to a concrete choice.
A beginner in a gym does not usually start with a complicated split routine. They first learn a few basic movements for the whole body. Our general foundational practice works in much the same way: Foundation / Full Body lightly engages several of the “muscles” involved in peaceful responding, so that a person can understand the basic logic of the training. More focused practices come later.
The key word here is training, but the content of that training is not neutral. We chose it on ethical grounds: attention to living beings, goodwill, reducing unnecessary harm and responsibility for the next choice. The user is not required to arrive at a predetermined conclusion, feel the “right” emotion or leave the practice happy. They perform several short operations without taking a moral exam. We expect repetition to make those operations more familiar; whether that changes real behaviour has to be tested separately.
This design has two interlocking genealogies. The ethical genealogy asks what is worth training: non-harm, goodwill, compassion and responsibility. The pedagogical genealogy asks how an idea can become an available skill: through experience, repetition, freedom, respect for agency and gradual transfer into life. Peaceful World does not claim to have invented these principles. On the contrary, we consciously place ourselves in a tradition we describe on our website with the familiar phrase: we stand on the shoulders of giants.
A Short Definition
Peaceful World Practice is a family of short, secular training practices for nonviolent perception and behaviour. “5 — Peace Practice by Peaceful World” is the first user-facing product in this system: five full minutes of practice, five operations and a minimal interface that takes the user from a pause to a concrete choice.
A beginner in a gym does not usually start with a complicated split routine. They first learn a few basic movements for the whole body. Our general foundational practice works in much the same way: Foundation / Full Body lightly engages several of the “muscles” involved in peaceful responding, so that a person can understand the basic logic of the training. More focused practices come later.
The key word here is training, but the content of that training is not neutral. We chose it on ethical grounds: attention to living beings, goodwill, reducing unnecessary harm and responsibility for the next choice. The user is not required to arrive at a predetermined conclusion, feel the “right” emotion or leave the practice happy. They perform several short operations without taking a moral exam. We expect repetition to make those operations more familiar; whether that changes real behaviour has to be tested separately.
This design has two interlocking genealogies. The ethical genealogy asks what is worth training: non-harm, goodwill, compassion and responsibility. The pedagogical genealogy asks how an idea can become an available skill: through experience, repetition, freedom, respect for agency and gradual transfer into life. Peaceful World does not claim to have invented these principles. On the contrary, we consciously place ourselves in a tradition we describe on our website with the familiar phrase: we stand on the shoulders of giants.
1.1. The Ancient Gap Between Intention and Action
The problem from which this training tool grew is much older than digital apps or modern psychology. Human beings have long noticed a strange gap: we may understand perfectly well how we would like to act, sincerely want to act that way, and still do the opposite in a moment of fear, hurt or anger.
One of the most recognizable expressions of this experience in the Christian tradition appears in chapter seven of the Letter to the Romans. The apostle Paul describes the inner conflict of a person who wants to do good but finds something else happening in his own actions. For Paul, this is a theological text about sin, law and salvation; we are not recasting it as early behavioural psychology. But the human experience is stated with remarkable clarity: a good intention is not enough to make a good action available at the moment it is needed. [27]
The Pedagogical Question
If a person already knows who they would like to be, what can be practised so that the distance between intention and action becomes smaller?
Peaceful World Practice begins here. We are not trying to prove all over again that compassion, goodwill or reducing harm have value. Many cultures have said so thousands of times. Our question is practical: how can we give people a short, repeatable and non-coercive opportunity to practise several operations that may prove useful precisely when knowing the right answer is no longer enough?
One of the most recognizable expressions of this experience in the Christian tradition appears in chapter seven of the Letter to the Romans. The apostle Paul describes the inner conflict of a person who wants to do good but finds something else happening in his own actions. For Paul, this is a theological text about sin, law and salvation; we are not recasting it as early behavioural psychology. But the human experience is stated with remarkable clarity: a good intention is not enough to make a good action available at the moment it is needed. [27]
The Pedagogical Question
If a person already knows who they would like to be, what can be practised so that the distance between intention and action becomes smaller?
Peaceful World Practice begins here. We are not trying to prove all over again that compassion, goodwill or reducing harm have value. Many cultures have said so thousands of times. Our question is practical: how can we give people a short, repeatable and non-coercive opportunity to practise several operations that may prove useful precisely when knowing the right answer is no longer enough?
2. Why This Is Not Wellness or Just Another Mindfulness App
Many mainstream meditation apps are built around understandable goals: reduce stress, sleep better, calm down, feel better. Peaceful World Practice deliberately sets itself a different goal.
Calm may arise during the practice, but it is not the criterion of success. A person may remain irritated, anxious or upset and still do the practice well if they notice an automatic impulse a little more clearly, bring a living being back into the field of attention, try to turn the mind towards goodwill, see a possibility of reducing harm and choose a concrete next step.
There is also a scientific reason for this distinction. In a series of eight experiments, a brief breath-focused meditation performed after one’s own wrongdoing reduced feelings of guilt; in several of the experiments, this was accompanied by less motivation to repair the harm caused. [2] Attention, in our system, is therefore neither a moral achievement nor the final goal. It is a tool that makes the next piece of ethical work possible.
Attention comes first in our sequence, but it does not remain last. In the fifth experiment of the same study, a loving-kindness practice produced a stronger motivation to repair harm than breath-focused meditation; the difference was associated with greater focus on the other person and stronger feelings of love towards them. [2] We treat this as a caution, not as proof of our sequence or of its order: a pause by itself does not complete the ethical work. The following stages are our pedagogical decision to return attention to life, goodwill, possible harm and a concrete choice.
Not “Calm Down First”
The first minute does not require calm. Its task is to interrupt automatic responding and restore the possibility of choice. Anger, fear or arousal may remain. Nonviolence has to be available not only when things already feel easy.
Calm may arise during the practice, but it is not the criterion of success. A person may remain irritated, anxious or upset and still do the practice well if they notice an automatic impulse a little more clearly, bring a living being back into the field of attention, try to turn the mind towards goodwill, see a possibility of reducing harm and choose a concrete next step.
There is also a scientific reason for this distinction. In a series of eight experiments, a brief breath-focused meditation performed after one’s own wrongdoing reduced feelings of guilt; in several of the experiments, this was accompanied by less motivation to repair the harm caused. [2] Attention, in our system, is therefore neither a moral achievement nor the final goal. It is a tool that makes the next piece of ethical work possible.
Attention comes first in our sequence, but it does not remain last. In the fifth experiment of the same study, a loving-kindness practice produced a stronger motivation to repair harm than breath-focused meditation; the difference was associated with greater focus on the other person and stronger feelings of love towards them. [2] We treat this as a caution, not as proof of our sequence or of its order: a pause by itself does not complete the ethical work. The following stages are our pedagogical decision to return attention to life, goodwill, possible harm and a concrete choice.
Not “Calm Down First”
The first minute does not require calm. Its task is to interrupt automatic responding and restore the possibility of choice. Anger, fear or arousal may remain. Nonviolence has to be available not only when things already feel easy.
3. What Happens in Five Minutes
Before each minute, there are five seconds to read the prompt. Then a full minute of practice begins. That means five minutes of the inner work itself, plus brief preparatory transitions.
1. Pause — interrupt automatic responding and return attention.
2. Notice Life — stop seeing a living being only as a function, obstacle or resource.
3. Wish Them Well — consciously turn the mind towards goodwill.
4. Reduce Harm — look for a less harmful option for yourself and others.
5. Make a Choice — choose one small step and mentally rehearse it.
1. Pause — interrupt automatic responding and return attention.
2. Notice Life — stop seeing a living being only as a function, obstacle or resource.
3. Wish Them Well — consciously turn the mind towards goodwill.
4. Reduce Harm — look for a less harmful option for yourself and others.
5. Make a Choice — choose one small step and mentally rehearse it.
3.1. Pause
In the app
“Choose a sound, your breath or a bodily sensation. For one minute, gently bring your attention back to it.”
The first step is not about “clearing your mind” or achieving relaxation. You choose one neutral sensory anchor and return your attention to it whenever it wanders. Success here does not mean perfect concentration. It lies in the movement itself: notice that attention has drifted, then return.
This minute is related to concentration and mindfulness practices, but we do not describe it as full shamatha or as a distinct practice of sati. It is a brief entry into the exercise. If focusing on the breath is uncomfortable, an external sound or bodily sensation can be used instead. If contemplative practice causes significant discomfort or distressing experiences, the exercise can be stopped. Adverse effects of meditation practices have been documented, so stopping is not treated as failure. [4]
“Choose a sound, your breath or a bodily sensation. For one minute, gently bring your attention back to it.”
The first step is not about “clearing your mind” or achieving relaxation. You choose one neutral sensory anchor and return your attention to it whenever it wanders. Success here does not mean perfect concentration. It lies in the movement itself: notice that attention has drifted, then return.
This minute is related to concentration and mindfulness practices, but we do not describe it as full shamatha or as a distinct practice of sati. It is a brief entry into the exercise. If focusing on the breath is uncomfortable, an external sound or bodily sensation can be used instead. If contemplative practice causes significant discomfort or distressing experiences, the exercise can be stopped. Adverse effects of meditation practices have been documented, so stopping is not treated as failure. [4]
3.2. Notice Life
In the app
“Notice: living things strive to live and resist destruction.”
The second step changes the lens through which we look. In everyday life, living beings can easily become functions: the driver who is in the way; the colleague who irritates us; the animal seen only as a product or nuisance; the plant seen only as a resource. For one minute, we bring a simple fact back into view: there is life before us, existing as more than a part of our plans.
Saying that living things strive to live and resist destruction is not a textbook biological definition, nor does it imply that all forms of life have the same kind of mind. It is a contemplative ethical formulation. It lets us preserve a broad horizon of nonviolence without reducing it to human relationships and without asking users to attribute human feelings to every living being.
Two different traditional lines converge here. In Jain ethics, the moral circle is not confined to human beings: ahiṃsā and maitrī extend to living beings. Buddhist mind training offers a different, though resonant, idea: other sentient beings, like us, seek well-being and avoid suffering. These traditions are not identical; in our practice they meet at the level of a particular pedagogical operation. [5–7]
We deliberately do not ask users to “feel what the other feels”, nor to invent motives for them. Perspective-taking can improve intergroup attitudes in some conditions, but its effects depend on context [8]. Research on empathy also reveals more complicated effects: in two experiments, greater empathy for a victim strengthened punitive attitudes towards the person participants perceived as the aggressor, largely through a more negative evaluation of that aggressor. [15] We read this as a caution, not as direct evidence for the design of our second step. The basic operation is therefore more modest: do not reduce a living being to a single role, and do not assume that we fully know its inner world.
“Notice: living things strive to live and resist destruction.”
The second step changes the lens through which we look. In everyday life, living beings can easily become functions: the driver who is in the way; the colleague who irritates us; the animal seen only as a product or nuisance; the plant seen only as a resource. For one minute, we bring a simple fact back into view: there is life before us, existing as more than a part of our plans.
Saying that living things strive to live and resist destruction is not a textbook biological definition, nor does it imply that all forms of life have the same kind of mind. It is a contemplative ethical formulation. It lets us preserve a broad horizon of nonviolence without reducing it to human relationships and without asking users to attribute human feelings to every living being.
Two different traditional lines converge here. In Jain ethics, the moral circle is not confined to human beings: ahiṃsā and maitrī extend to living beings. Buddhist mind training offers a different, though resonant, idea: other sentient beings, like us, seek well-being and avoid suffering. These traditions are not identical; in our practice they meet at the level of a particular pedagogical operation. [5–7]
We deliberately do not ask users to “feel what the other feels”, nor to invent motives for them. Perspective-taking can improve intergroup attitudes in some conditions, but its effects depend on context [8]. Research on empathy also reveals more complicated effects: in two experiments, greater empathy for a victim strengthened punitive attitudes towards the person participants perceived as the aggressor, largely through a more negative evaluation of that aggressor. [15] We read this as a caution, not as direct evidence for the design of our second step. The basic operation is therefore more modest: do not reduce a living being to a single role, and do not assume that we fully know its inner world.
3.3. Wish Them Well
In the app
“Choose someone it is easy to wish well. For one minute, keep returning in your mind to one simple wish for them.”
The third step moves the practice from perception to attitude. Having recognized the living being, we try to turn the mind towards goodwill. The mechanics for the full minute are deliberately clear: choose a person or living being towards whom goodwill comes easily, and keep returning to one simple wish.
The user does not need to know the terms maitrī or mettā. This is a deliberate translation into secular language: the traditional source is preserved and explained honestly, while the interface remains understandable without religious preparation.
Goodwill need not be a powerful feeling of love. The user is not asked to manufacture an emotion. For the Foundation practice, it is enough to choose a person — or another living being — whom it is easy to wish well, and to sustain that direction of mind for a minute.
Why We Start Where Goodwill Comes Easily
A beginner is not asked to start with someone they hate or with a source of trauma. The circle of goodwill can be expanded later. Foundation first teaches the operation itself rather than turning the exercise into a moral exam.
“Choose someone it is easy to wish well. For one minute, keep returning in your mind to one simple wish for them.”
The third step moves the practice from perception to attitude. Having recognized the living being, we try to turn the mind towards goodwill. The mechanics for the full minute are deliberately clear: choose a person or living being towards whom goodwill comes easily, and keep returning to one simple wish.
The user does not need to know the terms maitrī or mettā. This is a deliberate translation into secular language: the traditional source is preserved and explained honestly, while the interface remains understandable without religious preparation.
Goodwill need not be a powerful feeling of love. The user is not asked to manufacture an emotion. For the Foundation practice, it is enough to choose a person — or another living being — whom it is easy to wish well, and to sustain that direction of mind for a minute.
Why We Start Where Goodwill Comes Easily
A beginner is not asked to start with someone they hate or with a source of trauma. The circle of goodwill can be expanded later. Foundation first teaches the operation itself rather than turning the exercise into a moral exam.
3.4. Reduce Harm
In the app
“Consider where you could cause less harm — to yourself or to others.”
The fourth step turns an ethical attitude into a practical criterion. Goodwill and harm reduction are neighbouring but distinct operations: we can sincerely wish someone well and still misjudge the consequences, and sometimes harm can be reduced even without warm feelings towards another person. Ahiṃsā is more than an appeal to “be kind”. In the Jain tradition, it is rooted in a much broader metaphysics and in disciplines of thought, speech and action. We are not importing that whole system into a secular app. We take a simpler question: is there an option here that would cause less unnecessary harm? [5,6]
The key word is less, not zero. Real life often offers no perfect solution. Sometimes it is necessary to end contact, say a firm no, report wrongdoing, protect yourself or someone else, refrain from acting, change a purchase, answer differently, or simply refuse to continue an escalation.
The practitioner therefore belongs within this circle of care as well. Protecting others at the cost of self-destruction is not our ideal. Self-protection, distance, seeking help, legal action and ending a relationship can all be compatible with reducing harm.
Nonviolence Includes You
The practice does not require enduring violence, remaining in danger, forgiving before a person is ready, or suppressing protective anger. When there is a threat, safety comes first: distance or protection, help and accountability. Work on one’s attitude can come later.
“Consider where you could cause less harm — to yourself or to others.”
The fourth step turns an ethical attitude into a practical criterion. Goodwill and harm reduction are neighbouring but distinct operations: we can sincerely wish someone well and still misjudge the consequences, and sometimes harm can be reduced even without warm feelings towards another person. Ahiṃsā is more than an appeal to “be kind”. In the Jain tradition, it is rooted in a much broader metaphysics and in disciplines of thought, speech and action. We are not importing that whole system into a secular app. We take a simpler question: is there an option here that would cause less unnecessary harm? [5,6]
The key word is less, not zero. Real life often offers no perfect solution. Sometimes it is necessary to end contact, say a firm no, report wrongdoing, protect yourself or someone else, refrain from acting, change a purchase, answer differently, or simply refuse to continue an escalation.
The practitioner therefore belongs within this circle of care as well. Protecting others at the cost of self-destruction is not our ideal. Self-protection, distance, seeking help, legal action and ending a relationship can all be compatible with reducing harm.
Nonviolence Includes You
The practice does not require enduring violence, remaining in danger, forgiving before a person is ready, or suppressing protective anger. When there is a threat, safety comes first: distance or protection, help and accountability. Work on one’s attitude can come later.
3.5. Make a Choice
In the app
“Choose one small step: something to do or not to do. Imagine yourself doing it.”
The final minute moves from contemplation to action. The user is not inventing an entirely new moral programme for life, but choosing one small step that may grow out of the preceding reflection or from a concrete situation in the day ahead. It may be an action or a restraint, a word or silence, help or protection.
The choice is followed by a brief mental rehearsal. Here, modern behavioural psychology joins the contemplative tradition. Implementation intentions — “if–then” plans — are well studied: they link a recognizable situational cue in advance to a chosen response. [10] Our prompt uses a related but less specific principle — a concrete intention combined with mental rehearsal — so this literature does not validate the fifth minute. The limits of the analogy are discussed in more detail in section 12.3; separate evidence on mental simulation appears in source [11].
That is why the final screen says, “Now act.” This is not a productivity slogan. It marks the boundary of the practice. The phone has done its job and should step aside.
What This Might Look Like in an Ordinary Day
Suppose someone sends you a sharp message in the morning. For the first minute, you simply return your attention to a sound or a bodily sensation. Then you remember that behind the text is a living person. Next, you choose someone whom it is easy to wish well and practise the capacity to sustain that goodwill. After that, you ask where in your life today you could cause less harm. Finally, you choose one small step — perhaps not replying to the irritating message immediately — and imagine yourself carrying it out. Full Body has an ordered sequence of functions, from pause to choice. But this does not mean that the same situation or person must be carried through all five minutes. In the goodwill stage, a beginner deliberately chooses a safe and easy recipient of goodwill. The “arc” refers to the order of functions, not to a five-part processing of a single conflict.
“Choose one small step: something to do or not to do. Imagine yourself doing it.”
The final minute moves from contemplation to action. The user is not inventing an entirely new moral programme for life, but choosing one small step that may grow out of the preceding reflection or from a concrete situation in the day ahead. It may be an action or a restraint, a word or silence, help or protection.
The choice is followed by a brief mental rehearsal. Here, modern behavioural psychology joins the contemplative tradition. Implementation intentions — “if–then” plans — are well studied: they link a recognizable situational cue in advance to a chosen response. [10] Our prompt uses a related but less specific principle — a concrete intention combined with mental rehearsal — so this literature does not validate the fifth minute. The limits of the analogy are discussed in more detail in section 12.3; separate evidence on mental simulation appears in source [11].
That is why the final screen says, “Now act.” This is not a productivity slogan. It marks the boundary of the practice. The phone has done its job and should step aside.
What This Might Look Like in an Ordinary Day
Suppose someone sends you a sharp message in the morning. For the first minute, you simply return your attention to a sound or a bodily sensation. Then you remember that behind the text is a living person. Next, you choose someone whom it is easy to wish well and practise the capacity to sustain that goodwill. After that, you ask where in your life today you could cause less harm. Finally, you choose one small step — perhaps not replying to the irritating message immediately — and imagine yourself carrying it out. Full Body has an ordered sequence of functions, from pause to choice. But this does not mean that the same situation or person must be carried through all five minutes. In the goodwill stage, a beginner deliberately chooses a safe and easy recipient of goodwill. The “arc” refers to the order of functions, not to a five-part processing of a single conflict.
4. How Practice Might Become a Skill
We do not assume that one five-minute session “makes a person peaceful”. Our working model is much more modest. It describes not a miraculous effect of a single practice, but a possible cumulative path.
Working Sequence
Session → repetition → transfer → internalized skill.
This sequence is a working theory of change, not an established psychological mechanism. Neither the word “training” nor repetition itself proves that transfer will occur. We still need to test whether the sequence can be recalled at all under high emotional and cognitive load. Foundation is designed primarily as a regular basic practice, not as an emergency protocol for the peak of a conflict.
4.1. Session
Five minutes create a structured space for specific inner work. The person does not merely read about nonviolence; they actually perform several operations of attention, attitude and choice.
4.2. Repetition
The same functions are retrieved from memory again and again. They become familiar. The user spends progressively less effort understanding the instruction and more on the material of their own life.
4.3. Transfer
The central hypothesis is that a familiar movement of mind may surface earlier in a real situation. A person may notice automatic responding sooner and remember, before reacting, that they can notice life, reduce harm or pause before replying. This transfer matters more than a pleasant state after the session.
4.4. The Skill Becomes Internal
This stage can be called internalization: at first, the route is supplied by the screen; later, the person increasingly reproduces it from memory. Eventually, five fingers and a few short anchors may be enough. If so, less screen time does not mean product failure.
The Key Criterion
For Peaceful World, retaining the skill matters more than keeping the user in the app for as long as possible.
Working Sequence
Session → repetition → transfer → internalized skill.
This sequence is a working theory of change, not an established psychological mechanism. Neither the word “training” nor repetition itself proves that transfer will occur. We still need to test whether the sequence can be recalled at all under high emotional and cognitive load. Foundation is designed primarily as a regular basic practice, not as an emergency protocol for the peak of a conflict.
4.1. Session
Five minutes create a structured space for specific inner work. The person does not merely read about nonviolence; they actually perform several operations of attention, attitude and choice.
4.2. Repetition
The same functions are retrieved from memory again and again. They become familiar. The user spends progressively less effort understanding the instruction and more on the material of their own life.
4.3. Transfer
The central hypothesis is that a familiar movement of mind may surface earlier in a real situation. A person may notice automatic responding sooner and remember, before reacting, that they can notice life, reduce harm or pause before replying. This transfer matters more than a pleasant state after the session.
4.4. The Skill Becomes Internal
This stage can be called internalization: at first, the route is supplied by the screen; later, the person increasingly reproduces it from memory. Eventually, five fingers and a few short anchors may be enough. If so, less screen time does not mean product failure.
The Key Criterion
For Peaceful World, retaining the skill matters more than keeping the user in the app for as long as possible.
5. Pedagogical Roots: Why Ideas Need to Become Exercises
Ethical and religious traditions help answer the question “what is good?” But an essay about a training tool must answer another question as well: how does a value become an available capacity? Why should repetition matter at all? What happens between a beautiful principle and an actual action? Here, Peaceful World Practice enters a long history of pedagogical thought about exercise, habit, experience, freedom, internalization and the formation of character.
To avoid turning genealogy into a parade of authorities, we distinguish three kinds of relationship. A source of influence genuinely contributed to the formation of our approach. A historical predecessor addressed a similar pedagogical problem earlier and independently. A functional resonance simply helps us describe a form or principle more precisely. Similarity is not lineage.
Peace Literacy is a direct source of our framework and product metaphor: the idea of peace as a practical literacy strongly influenced the language of the project. SEE Learning is an important contemporary neighbour in secular ethical education. Neither system, however, is the source of our specific five-part taxonomy; below, we also compare the closest contemporary approaches. Most of the historical figures appear as predecessors to particular ideas, while Vygotsky is used more cautiously, chiefly as a functional language for the transition from external support to more autonomous regulation. Quotations from Russian- and Ukrainian-language primary sources in this section are our translations from the editions cited.
To avoid turning genealogy into a parade of authorities, we distinguish three kinds of relationship. A source of influence genuinely contributed to the formation of our approach. A historical predecessor addressed a similar pedagogical problem earlier and independently. A functional resonance simply helps us describe a form or principle more precisely. Similarity is not lineage.
Peace Literacy is a direct source of our framework and product metaphor: the idea of peace as a practical literacy strongly influenced the language of the project. SEE Learning is an important contemporary neighbour in secular ethical education. Neither system, however, is the source of our specific five-part taxonomy; below, we also compare the closest contemporary approaches. Most of the historical figures appear as predecessors to particular ideas, while Vygotsky is used more cautiously, chiefly as a functional language for the transition from external support to more autonomous regulation. Quotations from Russian- and Ukrainian-language primary sources in this section are our translations from the editions cited.
5.1. Skovoroda: Knowing Is Not Yet Knowing How
Hryhorii Skovoroda captures the problem behind our project with unusual precision. In the tenth of his Kharkiv Fables, “The Two Hens”, he describes a capacity strengthened through daily experience. In the “moral” of the fable, he writes: “Knowing is not difficult; becoming accustomed is. Learning and habit are one and the same.” [28]
The important distinction here is not a literal equivalence between Skovoroda’s use of “learning” and modern pedagogy, but the difference between knowing about an action and having a rooted capacity to perform it. A person may explain perfectly well why humiliation is destructive and still habitually humiliate others in conflict. They may approve of compassion while having almost no experience of deliberately directing attention towards it. They may accept forgiveness as an ideal without knowing what to do with their own resentment.
Skovoroda also connects capacity with exercise, but he does not treat practice as omnipotent: in his language, it strengthens one’s “affinity” or natural disposition rather than abolishing a person’s nature and predispositions. That is a useful limit for us. A training tool does not manufacture identical people or guarantee identical outcomes; it merely creates a repeatable space in which already available human capacities can be exercised.
The important distinction here is not a literal equivalence between Skovoroda’s use of “learning” and modern pedagogy, but the difference between knowing about an action and having a rooted capacity to perform it. A person may explain perfectly well why humiliation is destructive and still habitually humiliate others in conflict. They may approve of compassion while having almost no experience of deliberately directing attention towards it. They may accept forgiveness as an ideal without knowing what to do with their own resentment.
Skovoroda also connects capacity with exercise, but he does not treat practice as omnipotent: in his language, it strengthens one’s “affinity” or natural disposition rather than abolishing a person’s nature and predispositions. That is a useful limit for us. A training tool does not manufacture identical people or guarantee identical outcomes; it merely creates a repeatable space in which already available human capacities can be exercised.
5.2. Ushinsky: Repetition, Skill and Moral Habit
In the nineteenth century, Konstantin Ushinsky described the transition from conscious effort to skill with striking clarity. In Man as the Subject of Education, he observed that an action which initially demands considerable attention and effort of will becomes easier with repetition. For him, habit had not only a technical but a moral significance. [17]
Ushinsky on Habit
“A good habit is moral capital invested by a person in their nervous system…” [17]
We should not carry nineteenth-century psychophysiology into modern neuroscience, nor turn moral skill into mindless automaticity. The useful point for us is narrower: repetition lowers the cost of each new effort. If pausing, attending to life, goodwill, looking for less harm and making a concrete choice are regularly retrieved from memory, a person does not have to begin from zero every time.
Ushinsky on Habit
“A good habit is moral capital invested by a person in their nervous system…” [17]
We should not carry nineteenth-century psychophysiology into modern neuroscience, nor turn moral skill into mindless automaticity. The useful point for us is narrower: repetition lowers the cost of each new effort. If pausing, attending to life, goodwill, looking for less harm and making a concrete choice are regularly retrieved from memory, a person does not have to begin from zero every time.
5.3. Sukhomlynsky: When a Moral Idea Becomes an Act
Vasyl Sukhomlynsky consistently distinguished moral rhetoric from moral experience. In How to Raise a Real Human Being, he writes: “Children and adolescents should not be taught to say beautiful words. They should be taught to do beautiful deeds.” [29] It is almost a ready-made warning for our purposes: a moral formulation guarantees nothing unless it takes the form of action.
In The Birth of a Citizen, Sukhomlynsky describes a moral norm as something that should cease to be merely an external requirement and become an inner possession of the person. His historical and ideological setting differs from ours, but the question remains contemporary: how can an idea of the good become a motive for behaviour rather than merely the correct answer in a lesson? [29]
For Peaceful World Practice, this implies a simple shift. We are not testing whether the user knows the words “compassion” and “nonviolence”. We give them a few minutes to perform the corresponding inner work. Five minutes are not a lesson in moral terminology, but an attempt to give a moral idea the form of an exercise.
In The Birth of a Citizen, Sukhomlynsky describes a moral norm as something that should cease to be merely an external requirement and become an inner possession of the person. His historical and ideological setting differs from ours, but the question remains contemporary: how can an idea of the good become a motive for behaviour rather than merely the correct answer in a lesson? [29]
For Peaceful World Practice, this implies a simple shift. We are not testing whether the user knows the words “compassion” and “nonviolence”. We give them a few minutes to perform the corresponding inner work. Five minutes are not a lesson in moral terminology, but an attempt to give a moral idea the form of an exercise.
5.4. Vygotsky: How External Support Can Become Internal
Vygotsky offers a concept that helps describe the desired endpoint of the training tool more precisely: internalization. In cultural-historical psychology, externally organized and sign-mediated actions can be restructured in the course of development and become internal. [30]
The app does not “implement Vygotsky’s theory”: in his account, external support is primarily social, whereas our screen is only an instruction. We are not using Vygotsky here as a causal explanation, but as a functional resonance: first the sequence exists on the screen, then it is reproduced from memory, and ideally it eventually becomes available without the screen.
The Desired Transition
At first the app reminds you: “Pause → Notice Life → Wish Them Well → Reduce Harm → Make a Choice.” Later, the same route may become internally available without the app.
This leads to a pedagogical requirement: do not make the user dependent on the product. External support is useful when it helps more autonomous inner regulation to emerge.
The app does not “implement Vygotsky’s theory”: in his account, external support is primarily social, whereas our screen is only an instruction. We are not using Vygotsky here as a causal explanation, but as a functional resonance: first the sequence exists on the screen, then it is reproduced from memory, and ideally it eventually becomes available without the screen.
The Desired Transition
At first the app reminds you: “Pause → Notice Life → Wish Them Well → Reduce Harm → Make a Choice.” Later, the same route may become internally available without the app.
This leads to a pedagogical requirement: do not make the user dependent on the product. External support is useful when it helps more autonomous inner regulation to emerge.
5.5. Dewey: Experience Is Completed by Consequences
John Dewey emphasized another side of the same problem: learning cannot be reduced to the transmission of ready-made propositions. Experience becomes educational when a person acts, encounters consequences and connects what they did with what happened. His pragmatic pedagogy consistently rejected the model of the passive recipient of knowledge and stressed the learner’s active role. [18]
The connection with Dewey helps us see a longer learning cycle. Inner reflection alone does not complete the experience: the person chooses an action, returns to a real situation, encounters its consequences and can later compare the intention with what actually happened. The fifth step becomes a bridge from the training environment back into life. This does not mean that every five-minute session constitutes a complete “Deweyan cycle”, or that all five minutes must concern the same object. [18]
The connection with Dewey helps us see a longer learning cycle. Inner reflection alone does not complete the experience: the person chooses an action, returns to a real situation, encounters its consequences and can later compare the intention with what actually happened. The fifth step becomes a bridge from the training environment back into life. This does not mean that every five-minute session constitutes a complete “Deweyan cycle”, or that all five minutes must concern the same object. [18]
5.6. Montessori: Peace as an Educational Task and the Prepared Environment
Two strands of Montessori’s work meet our subject. She explicitly connected lasting peace with education rather than only with the political ending of war. Her pedagogy also centres on the prepared environment, independent activity and adult intervention that does not replace the learner’s own work. [19,26]
Montessori on Education and Peace
“Averting war is the work of politicians; establishing peace is the work of education.” [19]
We are not proposing a “digital Montessori” or importing her method wholesale. One principle is enough for our design: a prepared environment should not replace the learner’s own work. In our case, that means one clear task, an intelligible rhythm, enough silence and minimal unnecessary intervention; returning to the practice should not be imposed through streak mechanics. [26]
Montessori on Education and Peace
“Averting war is the work of politicians; establishing peace is the work of education.” [19]
We are not proposing a “digital Montessori” or importing her method wholesale. One principle is enough for our design: a prepared environment should not replace the learner’s own work. In our case, that means one clear task, an intelligible rhythm, enough silence and minimal unnecessary intervention; returning to the practice should not be imposed through streak mechanics. [26]
5.7. Tolstoy and Korczak: Freedom, Respect and Agency
In his writings on the Yasnaya Polyana school, Leo Tolstoy strongly defended the learner’s freedom and opposed education grounded primarily in coercion. In his programmatic 1862 essay “On Popular Education”, he reduced his position to a striking formula: the only method of education is experience, and the only criterion is freedom. [20]
Tolstoy on Freedom in Education
“The only method of education is experience, and its only criterion is freedom.” [20]
Janusz Korczak approached the issue from another direction, placing respect for the child as a full subject at the centre of education, rather than treating the child as material for an adult to mould in their own image. His The Child’s Right to Respect became a pedagogical manifesto for dignity, trust and taking the learner’s inner world seriously. [21]
For our app, these lines converge in a principle of learning without coercion. From Tolstoy, the important point is the refusal to make coercion the basis of education; from Korczak, the user’s agency. We do not treat a person as material that must be “made good”, assess their morality, or punish them for missing a day.
Tolstoy on Freedom in Education
“The only method of education is experience, and its only criterion is freedom.” [20]
Janusz Korczak approached the issue from another direction, placing respect for the child as a full subject at the centre of education, rather than treating the child as material for an adult to mould in their own image. His The Child’s Right to Respect became a pedagogical manifesto for dignity, trust and taking the learner’s inner world seriously. [21]
For our app, these lines converge in a principle of learning without coercion. From Tolstoy, the important point is the refusal to make coercion the basis of education; from Korczak, the user’s agency. We do not treat a person as material that must be “made good”, assess their morality, or punish them for missing a day.
5.8. Gandhi: Nonviolence as Character, Not Only Belief
A project about nonviolence can hardly ignore Mahatma Gandhi’s pedagogical work. His concept of Nai Talim, or “new education”, treated knowledge not as an end in itself but as a means of living and developing character. Contemporary studies of his pedagogy emphasize learning by doing, the connection between education and practical activity, and moral development. [31,32]
Here Gandhi appears as an educator of nonviolent character. Scholars describe his approach not as teaching the correct definition of ahiṃsā, but as cultivating a nonviolent way of being through engagement with different traditions, service, example and practice. [31]
We do not romanticize Gandhi’s entire legacy, nor import his ascetic norms or historical context into the app. For our purposes, the point is narrower: nonviolence can be understood as a quality of character formed in life and action, rather than only as a political conviction.
Here Gandhi appears as an educator of nonviolent character. Scholars describe his approach not as teaching the correct definition of ahiṃsā, but as cultivating a nonviolent way of being through engagement with different traditions, service, example and practice. [31]
We do not romanticize Gandhi’s entire legacy, nor import his ascetic norms or historical context into the app. For our purposes, the point is narrower: nonviolence can be understood as a quality of character formed in life and action, rather than only as a political conviction.
5.9. Sorokin: Can Altruism Be Studied and Developed?
Pitirim Sorokin occupies a special place here because he was primarily a sociologist, not an educator. In 1949, the Research Center in Creative Altruism was established at Harvard under his direction; the centre studied altruistic love and the possibilities of cultivating it. [22] Its evidence base is now chiefly of historical interest. The precedent is the question itself: can altruism be not only preached, but systematically studied and developed?
5.10. Peace Literacy: Peace as Practical Literacy
Contemporary peace pedagogy offers not merely a parallel but one of the direct sources of our framework. Paul K. Chappell and the Peace Literacy Institute present peace not simply as an admirable goal, but as a practical set of skills — a literacy that needs to be taught and practised as seriously as other fundamental skills. Their materials explicitly use the language of the “muscles of our humanity” and organize learning around capacities that can be developed. [23]
Peace Literacy became one source of the language we use to describe trainable human capacities. Our gym metaphor emerged at the intersection of that framework and the personal experience of physical training described in the introduction. But the influence concerns the framework and language rather than the content of our five screens: Peace Literacy’s own taxonomy is not the same as our Foundation. Peaceful World Practice does not assume that “peace” is a single mystical psychological muscle; the athletic metaphor serves only to express the idea of repeatedly exercising particular capacities.
Peace Literacy became one source of the language we use to describe trainable human capacities. Our gym metaphor emerged at the intersection of that framework and the personal experience of physical training described in the introduction. But the influence concerns the framework and language rather than the content of our five screens: Peace Literacy’s own taxonomy is not the same as our Foundation. Peaceful World Practice does not assume that “peace” is a single mystical psychological muscle; the athletic metaphor serves only to express the idea of repeatedly exercising particular capacities.
5.11. SEE Learning: A Contemporary Secular Bridge
A contemporary relative of our project is SEE Learning — Social, Emotional, and Ethical Learning — developed at Emory University with the support of the Dalai Lama. This is not a reconstruction of an ancient tradition but a functioning secular educational system that brings together attention, resilience, compassion, ethical discernment and systems thinking. [33]
The principle most relevant to this comparison is voluntary inquiry. In the preface to The SEE Learning Companion, the Dalai Lama states it very clearly: basic human values can be cultivated through learning and practice, and integrated not by imposing rules but through the voluntary application of reason and investigation. [33] This comes close to the pedagogical ethic we want to preserve: not telling a person what they are required to feel, but giving them a safe structure within which they can see, examine and practise a particular attitude for themselves.
The difference is mainly one of scale and form. SEE Learning builds full educational programmes and lessons. Peaceful World Practice asks a different question: what is the smallest self-contained unit of such pedagogy that can live in an adult’s pocket and take five minutes?
The principle most relevant to this comparison is voluntary inquiry. In the preface to The SEE Learning Companion, the Dalai Lama states it very clearly: basic human values can be cultivated through learning and practice, and integrated not by imposing rules but through the voluntary application of reason and investigation. [33] This comes close to the pedagogical ethic we want to preserve: not telling a person what they are required to feel, but giving them a safe structure within which they can see, examine and practise a particular attitude for themselves.
The difference is mainly one of scale and form. SEE Learning builds full educational programmes and lessons. Peaceful World Practice asks a different question: what is the smallest self-contained unit of such pedagogy that can live in an adult’s pocket and take five minutes?
5.12. A Pedagogy of the Accessible First Step
Serious contemplative programmes often assume a far greater time commitment. The classic MBSR format has historically recommended roughly forty-five minutes of home practice six days a week; a meta-analysis of MBSR and MBCT found that actual home practice was, on average, substantially lower than what had been prescribed. [24,25] This is not an argument against longer practice. It is a reminder of the cost of entry.
Our five minutes are not equivalent to a deeper contemplative discipline. They serve a different purpose: to offer a genuine first step that fits into ordinary life. A low threshold for entry is not a devaluation of serious practice; it is a pedagogy of accessibility.
Our Working Hypothesis
Five minutes are not a shortened version of a larger practice. They are a first step from which someone can actually begin.
That is the pedagogy of accessibility: rather than demanding heroic discipline as a condition of entry, offer one small but genuine step. If it takes root, deeper Focus practices, more frequent returns and independent practice without the app can follow.
Our five minutes are not equivalent to a deeper contemplative discipline. They serve a different purpose: to offer a genuine first step that fits into ordinary life. A low threshold for entry is not a devaluation of serious practice; it is a pedagogy of accessibility.
Our Working Hypothesis
Five minutes are not a shortened version of a larger practice. They are a first step from which someone can actually begin.
That is the pedagogy of accessibility: rather than demanding heroic discipline as a condition of entry, offer one small but genuine step. If it takes root, deeper Focus practices, more frequent returns and independent practice without the app can follow.
5.13. The Closest Contemporary Neighbours: Similar Forms, Different Aims
Historical depth should not obscure the nearest contemporary predecessors. Several programmes address problems much closer to ours than ancient analogies do. Not all of them directly influenced the original design of Peaceful World Practice, but comparing our work with them is necessary for intellectual honesty and for keeping claims of novelty within bounds.
Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication (NVC) translates a nonviolent orientation into a teachable four-part process: observations, feelings, needs and requests. [51] It is one of the closest contemporary neighbours to our project because NVC, too, replaces habitual reaction with a learnable sequence. The difference is substantial: NVC primarily organizes communication within a particular interaction, whereas Foundation is a short individual practice that distributes attention across the perception of life, goodwill, the criterion of harm and the next action.
Closer still in form is SBNRR from the Search Inside Yourself programme: Stop, Breathe, Notice, Reflect, Respond. Official materials suggest using this five-step sequence when a person notices an emotional trigger, or to reflect on a situation that has already happened. [58] This is an important neighbour: it too offers a short mnemonic, a pause and a transition towards response. Foundation, however, is designed primarily as a regular foundational practice outside the peak of conflict. Its five minutes do not have to carry one situation through the entire route, and the middle of the sequence is deliberately ethical: life, goodwill and a separate search for less harm. A concrete conflict can become material for an ordinary session, but the practice itself is not designed as an instruction for an acute emotional flare-up.
WOOP illustrates another closely related principle. It is a short self-guided strategy — Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan — available in digital form and designed to move from inner work to a concrete if–then plan. Official materials state that a single WOOP can take only a few minutes, and that the app is available in more than twenty languages, including Russian. [59] Its purpose is goal attainment and habit change, not nonviolence. For us it is an important reminder that a short mnemonic structure, a behavioural bridge and multilingual delivery are not novel in themselves.
The Healthy Minds Program provides another useful contrast. The nonprofit Humin, formerly Healthy Minds Innovations, distributes the programme free of charge and organizes it around trainable dimensions of well-being: awareness, connection, insight and purpose. [60,61] This complicates any simplistic opposition between “commercial wellness apps” and us: free, science-oriented systems for training the mind already exist. Peaceful World’s distinction lies neither in being free nor in the general idea of trainable capacities, but in its ethical aim — nonviolent perception, reducing harm and the next choice — and in the way the short training tool is built around that aim.
Emory University’s Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) uses a sequence of secular contemplative exercises to develop resilience and compassion; the authors of its own theoretical model emphasize that the proposed mechanisms require further testing. [52] Kristin Neff’s Self-Compassion Break is an even more compact example of a memorable structure, combining mindful awareness, common humanity and kindness in a short practice. [53] Both examples show that structured, mnemonic contemplative training existed in modern secular formats long before our work; neither, however, is identical to our goal of training nonviolent responding.
Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP), founded in 1975 in a prison context, trains nonviolent approaches to conflict through extended, experiential group workshops, including work with real situations and role-play. [54] In purpose it is a close relative; in form, almost the opposite of our five-minute solitary tool.
These neighbours narrow our claim to distinctiveness rather than eliminate it. Peaceful World cannot honestly claim to be the first to turn nonviolence, compassion, self-regulation, short mnemonic structures or bridges to action into exercises. We therefore make no claim to being first, either historically or in combining such elements. What matters is describing precisely what our system brings together.
Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication (NVC) translates a nonviolent orientation into a teachable four-part process: observations, feelings, needs and requests. [51] It is one of the closest contemporary neighbours to our project because NVC, too, replaces habitual reaction with a learnable sequence. The difference is substantial: NVC primarily organizes communication within a particular interaction, whereas Foundation is a short individual practice that distributes attention across the perception of life, goodwill, the criterion of harm and the next action.
Closer still in form is SBNRR from the Search Inside Yourself programme: Stop, Breathe, Notice, Reflect, Respond. Official materials suggest using this five-step sequence when a person notices an emotional trigger, or to reflect on a situation that has already happened. [58] This is an important neighbour: it too offers a short mnemonic, a pause and a transition towards response. Foundation, however, is designed primarily as a regular foundational practice outside the peak of conflict. Its five minutes do not have to carry one situation through the entire route, and the middle of the sequence is deliberately ethical: life, goodwill and a separate search for less harm. A concrete conflict can become material for an ordinary session, but the practice itself is not designed as an instruction for an acute emotional flare-up.
WOOP illustrates another closely related principle. It is a short self-guided strategy — Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan — available in digital form and designed to move from inner work to a concrete if–then plan. Official materials state that a single WOOP can take only a few minutes, and that the app is available in more than twenty languages, including Russian. [59] Its purpose is goal attainment and habit change, not nonviolence. For us it is an important reminder that a short mnemonic structure, a behavioural bridge and multilingual delivery are not novel in themselves.
The Healthy Minds Program provides another useful contrast. The nonprofit Humin, formerly Healthy Minds Innovations, distributes the programme free of charge and organizes it around trainable dimensions of well-being: awareness, connection, insight and purpose. [60,61] This complicates any simplistic opposition between “commercial wellness apps” and us: free, science-oriented systems for training the mind already exist. Peaceful World’s distinction lies neither in being free nor in the general idea of trainable capacities, but in its ethical aim — nonviolent perception, reducing harm and the next choice — and in the way the short training tool is built around that aim.
Emory University’s Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) uses a sequence of secular contemplative exercises to develop resilience and compassion; the authors of its own theoretical model emphasize that the proposed mechanisms require further testing. [52] Kristin Neff’s Self-Compassion Break is an even more compact example of a memorable structure, combining mindful awareness, common humanity and kindness in a short practice. [53] Both examples show that structured, mnemonic contemplative training existed in modern secular formats long before our work; neither, however, is identical to our goal of training nonviolent responding.
Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP), founded in 1975 in a prison context, trains nonviolent approaches to conflict through extended, experiential group workshops, including work with real situations and role-play. [54] In purpose it is a close relative; in form, almost the opposite of our five-minute solitary tool.
These neighbours narrow our claim to distinctiveness rather than eliminate it. Peaceful World cannot honestly claim to be the first to turn nonviolence, compassion, self-regulation, short mnemonic structures or bridges to action into exercises. We therefore make no claim to being first, either historically or in combining such elements. What matters is describing precisely what our system brings together.
5.14. What This Means for Our Method
Reduced to functions, the pedagogical argument yields four requirements. A value must become an exercise rather than remain a formulation; repetition should make the skill easier to access; external support should lead towards greater autonomy; and the exercise must return to real action. The form of learning must also respect the person’s agency, and the first step must be genuinely achievable.
Hence the combination of repetition with voluntariness, a minimal environment with silence, and inner work with an explicit bridge back into life.
Two Halves of One System
Ethical tradition asks: what is worth training? Pedagogical tradition asks: how can a person be given a real opportunity to practise it? The training tool appears only where those questions meet.
Hence the combination of repetition with voluntariness, a minimal environment with silence, and inner work with an explicit bridge back into life.
Two Halves of One System
Ethical tradition asks: what is worth training? Pedagogical tradition asks: how can a person be given a real opportunity to practise it? The training tool appears only where those questions meet.
6. Is This Analytical Meditation?
Functionally, there is a resemblance. Terminologically, no. We are not transplanting canonical Buddhist analytical meditation into an app, nor describing our design as a traditional practice. It is more accurate to call it a secular training practice in which attention is combined with reflection on a theme, cultivation of an attitude and rehearsal of action.
The person is not only observing the breath, nor repeating an affirmation. They are given a theme or operation to work with for a while: notice life, sustain goodwill, examine the possibility of less harm, choose an action. The material changes from day to day along with the user’s life.
This way of working functionally resembles some forms of Tibetan analytical contemplation and lojong, in which a person repeatedly considers particular relationships and perspectives. In Jainism, contemplative reflections known as anuprekṣā and the four bhāvanā — maitrī, pramoda, kāruṇya and mādhyasthya — play a functionally related role. The point of the comparison is the pedagogical possibility of sustaining an ethical orientation through repeated contemplation. We are not claiming a direct genealogy for our five-part sequence. [5,6,16]
Our design is hybrid. It combines attention, contemplative-analytical work, cultivation of an attitude and behavioural rehearsal. It is more honest, then, to describe what we have built as a new secular educational practice at the intersection of several traditions and contemporary behavioural mechanisms.
The person is not only observing the breath, nor repeating an affirmation. They are given a theme or operation to work with for a while: notice life, sustain goodwill, examine the possibility of less harm, choose an action. The material changes from day to day along with the user’s life.
This way of working functionally resembles some forms of Tibetan analytical contemplation and lojong, in which a person repeatedly considers particular relationships and perspectives. In Jainism, contemplative reflections known as anuprekṣā and the four bhāvanā — maitrī, pramoda, kāruṇya and mādhyasthya — play a functionally related role. The point of the comparison is the pedagogical possibility of sustaining an ethical orientation through repeated contemplation. We are not claiming a direct genealogy for our five-part sequence. [5,6,16]
Our design is hybrid. It combines attention, contemplative-analytical work, cultivation of an attitude and behavioural rehearsal. It is more honest, then, to describe what we have built as a new secular educational practice at the intersection of several traditions and contemporary behavioural mechanisms.
7. Jain Roots: Ahiṃsā as a Discipline of Attention to Life
Among our traditional sources, Jainism gives the project its most pronounced ethical core. In Jain thought, ahiṃsā is not a secondary virtue but a central discipline of one’s relationship to life. It concerns more than physical violence, and more than human beings alone.
Classical Jain ethics considers harm through thought, speech and bodily action, and gives weight to intention, attentiveness and conscious participation. In our secular practice, we leave karmic metaphysics aside and do not treat every involuntary aggressive thought as a moral offence. We are concerned with what a person consciously feeds and turns into speech or action. [5,6]
In the Digambara recension of the Tattvārtha-sūtra (7.13), hiṃsā is defined as the taking away of vitalities, with the act arising from pramattayoga. Pūjyapāda’s commentary associates pramāda with a state coloured by passions and carelessness. Ethical assessment here concerns not only the external outcome but also the state from which a person acts. [5]
The Tattvārtha-sūtra lists four attitudes directed towards different objects: maitrī towards all living beings, pramoda towards the virtuous, and kāruṇya towards those who suffer. The fourth, mādhyasthya, is directed towards the avineya — those who do not respond to instruction or behave improperly. (7.11 in Digambara numbering; 7.6 in Śvetāmbara numbering.) This shows that Jain nonviolence cannot be reduced to a single rule to “be kind to everyone”. Our operational interpretation of mādhyasthya as the capacity not to be drawn into a hostile reaction is close to traditional readings of freedom from attachment and aversion, but it is not identical to them. [5]
Pratikramaṇa and kṣamā / kṣamāpanā are also important for the future product. Pratikramaṇa involves retrospective examination of wrongdoing, remorse and a return to ethical discipline; asking for and granting forgiveness are deeply woven into this practical tradition, especially in the context of Saṃvatsarī. We do not try to fit these strands into Foundation. For the product, it makes more sense to develop repair after harm and forgiveness as separate Focus skills, without presenting them as historically independent rituals. [6]
What We Take from Jainism
Not a religious identity or a metaphysics of karma, but a pedagogical seriousness about our relationship to life: attentiveness to consequences, friendliness towards living beings, reducing unnecessary harm and regularly exercising these orientations.
Classical Jain ethics considers harm through thought, speech and bodily action, and gives weight to intention, attentiveness and conscious participation. In our secular practice, we leave karmic metaphysics aside and do not treat every involuntary aggressive thought as a moral offence. We are concerned with what a person consciously feeds and turns into speech or action. [5,6]
In the Digambara recension of the Tattvārtha-sūtra (7.13), hiṃsā is defined as the taking away of vitalities, with the act arising from pramattayoga. Pūjyapāda’s commentary associates pramāda with a state coloured by passions and carelessness. Ethical assessment here concerns not only the external outcome but also the state from which a person acts. [5]
The Tattvārtha-sūtra lists four attitudes directed towards different objects: maitrī towards all living beings, pramoda towards the virtuous, and kāruṇya towards those who suffer. The fourth, mādhyasthya, is directed towards the avineya — those who do not respond to instruction or behave improperly. (7.11 in Digambara numbering; 7.6 in Śvetāmbara numbering.) This shows that Jain nonviolence cannot be reduced to a single rule to “be kind to everyone”. Our operational interpretation of mādhyasthya as the capacity not to be drawn into a hostile reaction is close to traditional readings of freedom from attachment and aversion, but it is not identical to them. [5]
Pratikramaṇa and kṣamā / kṣamāpanā are also important for the future product. Pratikramaṇa involves retrospective examination of wrongdoing, remorse and a return to ethical discipline; asking for and granting forgiveness are deeply woven into this practical tradition, especially in the context of Saṃvatsarī. We do not try to fit these strands into Foundation. For the product, it makes more sense to develop repair after harm and forgiveness as separate Focus skills, without presenting them as historically independent rituals. [6]
What We Take from Jainism
Not a religious identity or a metaphysics of karma, but a pedagogical seriousness about our relationship to life: attentiveness to consequences, friendliness towards living beings, reducing unnecessary harm and regularly exercising these orientations.
8. Buddhist Roots: Mind Training, Mettā and Secular Ethics
Buddhist traditions offer the practice a different set of tools. The first minute is related to attentional training; the third to mettā, or goodwill, practices. Future Focus practices may work more deeply with karuṇā, compassion, equanimity and other qualities.
The Tibetan tradition adds another form of systematic training. Lojong literally means “mind training”; its traditional texts work with how we perceive ourselves, other people, difficulties and our own reactions. Practices of equalizing self and others rest on the idea that our wish for well-being is not unique, and that others also have interests and vulnerabilities of their own. [16]
The Dalai Lama’s approach to secular ethics is important methodologically as well. He has consistently defended the possibility of speaking about compassion, warm-heartedness, tolerance and forgiveness without requiring religious belief. This offers an important precedent for our project: a tradition can be a source of pedagogical ideas while the language offered to users remains secular. [7]
We do not, however, claim that Buddhism and Jainism “teach the same thing”. Their metaphysics and their understandings of personhood, karma and liberation differ. Related words do not make the systems identical: Jain kāruṇya and Buddhist karuṇā, for example, belong to different doctrinal and practical contexts. Honest secular translation begins by respecting those differences.
The Tibetan tradition adds another form of systematic training. Lojong literally means “mind training”; its traditional texts work with how we perceive ourselves, other people, difficulties and our own reactions. Practices of equalizing self and others rest on the idea that our wish for well-being is not unique, and that others also have interests and vulnerabilities of their own. [16]
The Dalai Lama’s approach to secular ethics is important methodologically as well. He has consistently defended the possibility of speaking about compassion, warm-heartedness, tolerance and forgiveness without requiring religious belief. This offers an important precedent for our project: a tradition can be a source of pedagogical ideas while the language offered to users remains secular. [7]
We do not, however, claim that Buddhism and Jainism “teach the same thing”. Their metaphysics and their understandings of personhood, karma and liberation differ. Related words do not make the systems identical: Jain kāruṇya and Buddhist karuṇā, for example, belong to different doctrinal and practical contexts. Honest secular translation begins by respecting those differences.
8.1. Lojong and the Bodhisattva Path: Qualities as Objects of Systematic Training
Будущие профильные практики (Focus Practices) могут опираться не только на метту, но и на более широкую буддийскую идею тренировки альтруистической мотивации. Лоджонг использует короткие формулы, размышления и повторное применение к жизненным ситуациям, чтобы работать с привычным способом относиться к себе, другим и трудностям. Сборники лоджонга включают конкретные противоядия гневу, эгоцентризму и враждебности, а не абстрактное требование «быть хорошим». [16]
Путь бодхисаттвы идёт ещё дальше и связывает сострадание с устойчивой мотивацией действовать ради блага существ. Peaceful World Practice не является сокращённой практикой бодхичитты и не может заменить её религиозный контекст. Педагогическая интуиция здесь принципиальна: сострадание — не одно настроение, а качество и направление, к которому человек возвращается снова и снова. [16]
Это объясняет будущую специализацию тренажёра. Базовая практика знакомит с несколькими движениями сразу. Профильная практика сострадания сможет целиком посвятить пять минут каруне; практика доброжелательности — метте; практика восстановления — признанию вреда и следующему шагу. Мы заимствуем не традиционные названия экранов, а серьёзность отношения к тренировке качества.
Путь бодхисаттвы идёт ещё дальше и связывает сострадание с устойчивой мотивацией действовать ради блага существ. Peaceful World Practice не является сокращённой практикой бодхичитты и не может заменить её религиозный контекст. Педагогическая интуиция здесь принципиальна: сострадание — не одно настроение, а качество и направление, к которому человек возвращается снова и снова. [16]
Это объясняет будущую специализацию тренажёра. Базовая практика знакомит с несколькими движениями сразу. Профильная практика сострадания сможет целиком посвятить пять минут каруне; практика доброжелательности — метте; практика восстановления — признанию вреда и следующему шагу. Мы заимствуем не традиционные названия экранов, а серьёзность отношения к тренировке качества.
9. Religious and Contemplative Traditions: Similar Human Tasks, Different Foundations
After Jainism and Buddhism, the historical frame should be widened — while also making the asymmetry explicit. The Jain and Buddhist strands most directly influenced the content of Foundation: the broad attention to living beings, goodwill and non-harm. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and yoga play a different role below. They show how forms of exercise and remembrance developed independently, how virtue was cultivated, and how inner work was carried back into life. This is comparative background, not a symmetrical synthesis of traditions and not evidence that our practice is effective.
The same distinctions apply here: a source of influence, a historical predecessor and a functional resonance are not the same thing. The Ignatian tradition presents inner work as exercise; Mussar offers deliberate work on one quality; al-Ghazali distinguishes knowledge from character. Sikhism connects remembrance, way of life and service; Orthodox Christian and Islamic devotional traditions offer examples of sustained remembrance; yoga offers a language of regular practice. These forms are not identical, did not shape our product equally, and do not add up to a single “universal religion”.
The Main Boundary
Peaceful World Practice does not replace the Rosary, the Jesus Prayer, dhikr, Naam Simran, Mussar, mettā, lojong or Jain sādhanā. For a religious person, the training tool may be a small supplement; for a secular person, an accessible entry point; for an experienced practitioner, it may simply be too basic — and that is fine.
The same distinctions apply here: a source of influence, a historical predecessor and a functional resonance are not the same thing. The Ignatian tradition presents inner work as exercise; Mussar offers deliberate work on one quality; al-Ghazali distinguishes knowledge from character. Sikhism connects remembrance, way of life and service; Orthodox Christian and Islamic devotional traditions offer examples of sustained remembrance; yoga offers a language of regular practice. These forms are not identical, did not shape our product equally, and do not add up to a single “universal religion”.
The Main Boundary
Peaceful World Practice does not replace the Rosary, the Jesus Prayer, dhikr, Naam Simran, Mussar, mettā, lojong or Jain sādhanā. For a religious person, the training tool may be a small supplement; for a secular person, an accessible entry point; for an experienced practitioner, it may simply be too basic — and that is fine.
9.1. The Christian Tradition of Virtue: Goodness as a Stable Disposition to Act
The Catholic tradition of virtue formulates the problem of character training with remarkable precision. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines human virtues as habitual and firm dispositions of the intellect and will that govern actions and make a morally good life easier. It also states that human virtues are acquired by education, deliberate acts and persevering effort repeatedly renewed. [34]
This is not a secular theory of habit: in Catholic teaching, virtues exist within a theology of grace, sin and communion with God. The structure, however, matters here. Virtue is more than a proposition a person believes to be true. It is a more stable disposition towards a certain kind of choice, supported by education and repeated action.
This is not a secular theory of habit: in Catholic teaching, virtues exist within a theology of grace, sin and communion with God. The structure, however, matters here. Virtue is more than a proposition a person believes to be true. It is a more stable disposition towards a certain kind of choice, supported by education and repeated action.
9.2. Ignatius of Loyola: Spiritual Life as Exercise
In the sixteenth century, Ignatius of Loyola gave his system a name unusually close to our metaphor: the Spiritual Exercises. In the first annotation, he explains that just as walking and running are bodily exercises, examination of conscience, meditation, contemplation and prayer are exercises of the spiritual life. [35]
In the second annotation, Ignatius adds another principle relevant here: the person giving the Exercises should briefly present the order and principal points, leaving the exercitant space for their own reflection and discovery. [35] A full Ignatian retreat is, of course, incomparable with our app in purpose, depth and duration. What remains for us is one functional principle: the guide does not need to fill all the available space with words.
That is how we want to treat the user. A prompt should be clear enough to begin the work and brief enough not to replace it. This is one reason the interface contains more silence than explanation.
In the second annotation, Ignatius adds another principle relevant here: the person giving the Exercises should briefly present the order and principal points, leaving the exercitant space for their own reflection and discovery. [35] A full Ignatian retreat is, of course, incomparable with our app in purpose, depth and duration. What remains for us is one functional principle: the guide does not need to fill all the available space with words.
That is how we want to treat the user. A prompt should be clear enough to begin the work and brief enough not to replace it. This is one reason the interface contains more silence than explanation.
9.3. Eastern Orthodoxy: Short Prayer, Repetition and Inner Remembrance
In the Orthodox tradition, the Jesus Prayer and the idea of unceasing prayer offer another kind of functional resonance. Orthodox sources describe a short prayer formula repeated regularly and capable of accompanying ordinary activity; ideally, external repetition develops into a stable inner remembrance. [36]
The differences are fundamental: the Jesus Prayer is centred on the name of Jesus, repentance and the theology of the Church; Peaceful World Practice is not a secular version of it. Only one pedagogical feature is relevant to our design: a brief form to which a person returns regularly and which may over time become an inner support. A related intuition lies in the broader idea of a rule of prayer: practice should be sustainable across different circumstances. [36]
The differences are fundamental: the Jesus Prayer is centred on the name of Jesus, repentance and the theology of the Church; Peaceful World Practice is not a secular version of it. Only one pedagogical feature is relevant to our design: a brief form to which a person returns regularly and which may over time become an inner support. A related intuition lies in the broader idea of a rule of prayer: practice should be sustainable across different circumstances. [36]
9.4. Judaism and Mussar: Teaching the Heart What the Mind Already Understands
The Jewish tradition of Mussar offers one of the closest parallels to future Focus practices. In the nineteenth century, the Mussar movement systematized work on middot — qualities of character. Contemporary historians of Jewish ethics treat Mussar as a distinct tradition of moral self-formation rather than simply a collection of rules. [37]
Contemporary popular accounts of Mussar often attribute to Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian the formulation that one must “teach the heart what the mind already understands”. [38] We have not established a primary source for this wording, so we use it only as a modern expression of the Mussar task, not as a verified verbatim quotation from Lopian. In meaning, it captures the problem of our training tool precisely: intellectual agreement with patience, generosity or kindness does not mean those qualities will be available in a real situation.
In contemporary Mussar programmes, practice often concentrates on one middah — one character quality — for a period of time and may include journaling, meditation or silence, speaking or chanting a short phrase, small actions and later reflection. [37,38] Structurally, this is particularly close to future Focus practices: not “all of ethics in five minutes”, but temporary concentration on one skill. Traditional Mussar, however, is embedded in Jewish texts, community and often a relationship with a mentor; similarity of form does not make it the same system as our secular training tool.
Contemporary popular accounts of Mussar often attribute to Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian the formulation that one must “teach the heart what the mind already understands”. [38] We have not established a primary source for this wording, so we use it only as a modern expression of the Mussar task, not as a verified verbatim quotation from Lopian. In meaning, it captures the problem of our training tool precisely: intellectual agreement with patience, generosity or kindness does not mean those qualities will be available in a real situation.
In contemporary Mussar programmes, practice often concentrates on one middah — one character quality — for a period of time and may include journaling, meditation or silence, speaking or chanting a short phrase, small actions and later reflection. [37,38] Structurally, this is particularly close to future Focus practices: not “all of ethics in five minutes”, but temporary concentration on one skill. Traditional Mussar, however, is embedded in Jewish texts, community and often a relationship with a mentor; similarity of form does not make it the same system as our secular training tool.
9.5. Islam: Al-Ghazali, Character Formation and Dhikr as a Distinct Practice of Remembrance
Al-Ghazali formulated this problem clearly within Islamic ethics. In his moral psychology, character is a relatively stable disposition of the soul. Virtue is acquired not through knowledge alone but through education, discipline and repeated action; over time, those actions become easier and more natural — almost a “second nature”. [39,40] For our purposes, the independent distinction between moral knowledge and moral character is enough. We do not transplant Islamic theology of the soul into a secular product.
Dhikr is a separate practice of remembrance of God which, in various Islamic traditions, especially Sufi ones, can involve the repetition of short formulas and names of God. In this essay it serves only as a functional resonance of form: a brief, repeatable practice of attention and remembrance. Its theological content remains entirely different, and a Muslim user should never be placed in a position of choosing between their religious remembrance and our training tool. [50]
Dhikr is a separate practice of remembrance of God which, in various Islamic traditions, especially Sufi ones, can involve the repetition of short formulas and names of God. In this essay it serves only as a functional resonance of form: a brief, repeatable practice of attention and remembrance. Its theological content remains entirely different, and a Muslim user should never be placed in a position of choosing between their religious remembrance and our training tool. [50]
9.6. Sikhism: Remembrance, Way of Life, Service and the Good of All
The Sikh tradition joins inner discipline with service. The Sikh Rehat Maryada connects a Sikh’s personal life with Naam and scripture, living according to the Gurus’ teaching, and voluntary service — seva; it also prescribes repetition of the name Waheguru with concentrated attention. [41]
The concluding formula of the Ardas, sarbat da bhala, expresses a wish for the welfare of all. [42]
For comparative purposes, we can arrange these elements as an arc: remembrance → way of life → service → the good of all. This is our analytical arrangement, not a traditional Sikh sequence of stages: Naam Simran, life according to Gurmat and seva coexist within their own religious system. The resemblance relevant to us is limited to the requirement that inner practice not be severed from behaviour. [41,42]
The concluding formula of the Ardas, sarbat da bhala, expresses a wish for the welfare of all. [42]
For comparative purposes, we can arrange these elements as an arc: remembrance → way of life → service → the good of all. This is our analytical arrangement, not a traditional Sikh sequence of stages: Naam Simran, life according to Gurmat and seva coexist within their own religious system. The resemblance relevant to us is limited to the requirement that inner practice not be severed from behaviour. [41,42]
9.7. Yoga: Abhyāsa as an Ancient Language of Regular Mind Training
In the Indian yogic tradition, abhyāsa denotes sustained practice to which a person returns again and again. In Yoga Sūtra 1.12–1.14, Patañjali links stabilization of the mind with practice and non-attachment, emphasizing that practice becomes firmly grounded when continued for a long time, without interruption and with earnestness. [43]
This is not an argument for our timing and not evidence for five minutes. It is another ancient language for a simple idea: the mind is not only an object of reflection but also an object of exercise. We mention abhyāsa as comparative background, not as the origin of the five-part sequence.
This is not an argument for our timing and not evidence for five minutes. It is another ancient language for a simple idea: the mind is not only an object of reflection but also an object of exercise. We mention abhyāsa as comparative background, not as the origin of the five-part sequence.
9.8. Universality Does Not Require Abandoning One’s Own Tradition
Peaceful World Practice does not tell a person why they should regard the good as valuable in the first place. The foundations may differ. For a Christian, they may be Christ and love of neighbour; for a Jain, ahiṃsā; for a Buddhist, bodhicitta and liberation from suffering. For a Muslim, mercy, responsibility before God and the formation of character; for a Sikh, the Gurus’ teaching, Naam and seva; for a secular humanist, dignity, well-being and the reduction of suffering. The app does not need to settle this metaphysical dispute.
The Secular Frame
Peaceful World Practice does not tell people what to believe. It gives them a few minutes to exercise capacities that many worldviews already regard as valuable.
For a nonreligious person, this may be a first accessible form of ethical practice. For a believer, it may be a small supplement that helps carry a value from worship or text into an ordinary day. For someone with a deep and established practice, our basic Full Body may be unnecessary. Universality means not claiming to replace all traditions, but making the tool usable without asking anyone to abandon their own.
The Secular Frame
Peaceful World Practice does not tell people what to believe. It gives them a few minutes to exercise capacities that many worldviews already regard as valuable.
For a nonreligious person, this may be a first accessible form of ethical practice. For a believer, it may be a small supplement that helps carry a value from worship or text into an ordinary day. For someone with a deep and established practice, our basic Full Body may be unnecessary. Universality means not claiming to replace all traditions, but making the tool usable without asking anyone to abandon their own.
10. Repetition Works in Both Directions: Why Training Is Not Ethics by Itself
So far, we have discussed repetition as a possible path towards skill. But this claim has an essential dark side. Learning, habit and rehearsal are morally neutral as mechanisms. A person can practise contempt as well as compassion; they can train not only attention to living beings but the habit of seeing another person as an enemy or a category.
Nazi Germany remains one of the gravest examples of the systematic shaping of perception through propaganda and indoctrination. Within that system, people were continually taught categories of “us”, “them” and “enemies”. [47] This was not an “experiment” in the scientific sense, nor can it be reduced to the repetition of slogans: the regime combined propaganda with law, terror, social exclusion, the destruction of alternative institutions and direct violence. Nazi indoctrination is not analogous to a voluntary micro-practice in either form or scale. The point we need is narrower: learning, repetition and the formation of habitual perceptual categories do not in themselves guarantee humane content.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum documents how these categories were propagated through radio, the press, film, art, schools and youth organizations. Antisemitic propaganda demonized Jews, while education systematically reproduced racism, militarism, obedience and images of the enemy. [47]
Nico Voigtländer and Hans-Joachim Voth found a lasting association between growing up under the Nazi regime and later antisemitic attitudes. The authors also conclude that school indoctrination was probably the most effective channel, rather than radio or cinema, especially where it reinforced prejudices that already existed. [48] This does not prove a formula such as “repetition creates a killer”, but it does show how durable systematically cultivated ways of perceiving can be.
Nazi Germany remains one of the gravest examples of the systematic shaping of perception through propaganda and indoctrination. Within that system, people were continually taught categories of “us”, “them” and “enemies”. [47] This was not an “experiment” in the scientific sense, nor can it be reduced to the repetition of slogans: the regime combined propaganda with law, terror, social exclusion, the destruction of alternative institutions and direct violence. Nazi indoctrination is not analogous to a voluntary micro-practice in either form or scale. The point we need is narrower: learning, repetition and the formation of habitual perceptual categories do not in themselves guarantee humane content.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum documents how these categories were propagated through radio, the press, film, art, schools and youth organizations. Antisemitic propaganda demonized Jews, while education systematically reproduced racism, militarism, obedience and images of the enemy. [47]
Nico Voigtländer and Hans-Joachim Voth found a lasting association between growing up under the Nazi regime and later antisemitic attitudes. The authors also conclude that school indoctrination was probably the most effective channel, rather than radio or cinema, especially where it reinforced prejudices that already existed. [48] This does not prove a formula such as “repetition creates a killer”, but it does show how durable systematically cultivated ways of perceiving can be.
10.1. Dehumanization as Reverse Training: Learning Not to Notice Life
For our second step, this historical material has particular significance. “Notice Life” tries to restore concreteness: before me is not only a function, role or obstacle, but a living being whose existence is not reducible to my plans. Dehumanizing propaganda systematically does the reverse. A concrete person is turned into a symbol of threat, a parasite, a traitor, a bearer of a dangerous category. Harm can then be discussed more easily as a technical measure, and suffering as something that matters less.
Humane perception should not be treated as an automatic state that “good people” simply possess. Society constantly teaches us categories of attention. Media, language, groups, schools and political rituals can expand the moral circle or contract it. Peaceful World Practice offers one very small conscious counter-movement: for a minute, return the simple fact of life itself to the field of perception.
Humane perception should not be treated as an automatic state that “good people” simply possess. Society constantly teaches us categories of attention. Media, language, groups, schools and political rituals can expand the moral circle or contract it. Peaceful World Practice offers one very small conscious counter-movement: for a minute, return the simple fact of life itself to the field of perception.
10.2. The Modern Psychology of Repetition: Familiarity Can Make Claims Seem Truer
Modern experimental psychology offers a narrower mechanism. The illusory truth effect refers to the tendency for repeated statements to be judged, on average, more plausible than new ones. A 2026 meta-analysis covered 182 studies, 366 effects and 31,184 participants. After adjustment for small-study effects, a modest effect remained: g = 0.37 (95% CI 0.30–0.44), with substantial heterogeneity across studies. [49]
This effect is not a psychological theory of the Holocaust, nor does it imply that repetition by itself creates a worldview or leads to mass violence. The conclusion is much narrower: repetition can alter cognitive accessibility and the subjective sense of plausibility. Ethical pedagogy therefore has to ask not only “how do we make a practice regular?” but also “what exactly are we making regular?”
We are obliged to direct the same question at ourselves. The second minute presents, day after day, the formulation “living things strive to live and resist destruction”, which we ourselves describe as a contemplative ethical frame rather than a textbook biological fact. Repetition may make such a formulation more familiar and subjectively convincing; that is neither proof of its truth nor an argument for it. It is a reason to mark its status clearly, observe how it is received and keep the wording open to revision. [49]
The Key Conclusion
Training is not the same as ethics. Pedagogy asks how to practise. Ethics asks what is worth practising. Peaceful World Practice makes sense only while those two questions remain together.
The first minute of attention is not enough by itself. A person causing harm with cold deliberation can be highly attentive. We need a directed structure: pause, notice life, wish well, reduce harm and connect the practice to action. This is an order of functions, not a claim that every session must carry one particular conflict through all five stages.
This effect is not a psychological theory of the Holocaust, nor does it imply that repetition by itself creates a worldview or leads to mass violence. The conclusion is much narrower: repetition can alter cognitive accessibility and the subjective sense of plausibility. Ethical pedagogy therefore has to ask not only “how do we make a practice regular?” but also “what exactly are we making regular?”
We are obliged to direct the same question at ourselves. The second minute presents, day after day, the formulation “living things strive to live and resist destruction”, which we ourselves describe as a contemplative ethical frame rather than a textbook biological fact. Repetition may make such a formulation more familiar and subjectively convincing; that is neither proof of its truth nor an argument for it. It is a reason to mark its status clearly, observe how it is received and keep the wording open to revision. [49]
The Key Conclusion
Training is not the same as ethics. Pedagogy asks how to practise. Ethics asks what is worth practising. Peaceful World Practice makes sense only while those two questions remain together.
The first minute of attention is not enough by itself. A person causing harm with cold deliberation can be highly attentive. We need a directed structure: pause, notice life, wish well, reduce harm and connect the practice to action. This is an order of functions, not a claim that every session must carry one particular conflict through all five stages.
11. Medicine and Psychotherapy: Training as a Professional Technology
The word “training” belongs not only to sport and spiritual traditions. Twentieth-century medicine and psychotherapy also developed standardized self-directed exercises learned through repetition. They do not support the effectiveness of our ethical practice, but they do show a professional history of the form itself: an inner capacity can be broken down into instructions and exercised systematically.
11.1. Schultz’s Autogenic Training
One well-known example is autogenic training, developed by the German psychiatrist Johannes Heinrich Schultz. In its classical form, the system consists of six standard exercises involving sensations of heaviness, warmth, calm cardiac activity, regulation of breathing, warmth in the abdomen and coolness of the forehead. The practitioner uses passive concentration and short formulas, repeating the exercises many times over a period of training. [44,45]
Clinical reviews find beneficial effects of autogenic training for a range of conditions while also emphasizing limitations and heterogeneity in the evidence base. [44,45] That is enough for our argument: this is a recognized example of standardized inner training, not a model of the effectiveness of Peaceful World Practice.
The fact that relaxation can be trained does not prove that compassion can be trained in the same way. A more modest conclusion matters more: short, standardized inner exercises have long existed in professional clinical practice as well. Yet “training” refers to different processes in sport, clinical practice, contemplative traditions and behavioural psychology; we do not assume a single mechanism behind all of them. The form of a repeatable exercise does not belong exclusively to spiritual culture.
Clinical reviews find beneficial effects of autogenic training for a range of conditions while also emphasizing limitations and heterogeneity in the evidence base. [44,45] That is enough for our argument: this is a recognized example of standardized inner training, not a model of the effectiveness of Peaceful World Practice.
The fact that relaxation can be trained does not prove that compassion can be trained in the same way. A more modest conclusion matters more: short, standardized inner exercises have long existed in professional clinical practice as well. Yet “training” refers to different processes in sport, clinical practice, contemplative traditions and behavioural psychology; we do not assume a single mechanism behind all of them. The form of a repeatable exercise does not belong exclusively to spiritual culture.
11.2. A Method Does Not Make Its Creator a Moral Authority
Schultz’s history requires a separate ethical qualification. Historians of psychiatry show that under National Socialism he served as deputy director of the Göring Institute, publicly supported compulsory sterilization and the “destruction of life unworthy of life”, and developed a diagnostic classification used in decisions over life and death. He also subjected homosexual concentration-camp prisoners to degrading and inhumane “treatment” practices. [46]
It would be wrong for Peaceful World to place Schultz among moral authorities while concealing this history. We include autogenic training as an episode in the history of a method, not as the legacy of a moral teacher. The example repeats the lesson of the previous section: technical effectiveness or ingenuity does not determine ethical value. Method and ethics must be examined separately.
It would be wrong for Peaceful World to place Schultz among moral authorities while concealing this history. We include autogenic training as an episode in the history of a method, not as the legacy of a moral teacher. The example repeats the lesson of the previous section: technical effectiveness or ingenuity does not determine ethical value. Method and ethics must be examined separately.
12. What Contemporary Behavioural Science Adds
Traditions help explain why particular attitudes and forms of contemplation were considered important. Contemporary science lets us ask a different question: which mechanisms may help transfer into behaviour, and what risks accompany very brief practices?
12.1. Brief Practices Can Have Effects — but They Are Not Magic
Systematic reviews suggest that brief mindfulness practices can affect some short-term states and processes, but the findings are heterogeneous and sensitive to methodology. In one meta-analysis, a small effect on negative affect became noticeably smaller after adjustment for publication bias. Five minutes therefore cannot be presented as a scientifically established minimum dose sufficient for lasting change. [1,12]
12.2. Goodwill: There Is Evidence, but It Is Mixed
Some brief experiments report increased feelings of social connection [9], and meta-analyses find small shifts in certain negative interpersonal attitudes [13]. In a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials with healthy adults, no effect was found for aggression, prejudice or social connectedness, while results for compassion depended on methodological conditions [3]. This is enough to treat goodwill practice as a plausible pedagogical idea, but not enough to promise that one minute will make a person less aggressive.
12.3. The Behavioural Bridge
One of the best-studied neighbouring mechanisms is the implementation intention, or “if–then” plan. It links a recognizable situational cue in advance to a specific response. A meta-analysis of 642 independent tests found effects on thoughts, feelings and actions; effects were larger when plans used a conditional format, goal motivation was high and the plan had been rehearsed at least once. A more conservative Robust Bayesian Meta-Analysis produced a model-averaged estimate of d = 0.15 (95% CI 0.08–0.22), with substantial indications of publication bias and heterogeneity. [10] Even for implementation intentions themselves, it is more reasonable to speak of a small and variable average effect than of a “strong behavioural law”.
Our fifth minute, in its current form, is not an implementation intention: it contains no mandatory conditional link of the form “if X, then Y”. Instead, it combines a concrete intention with a brief mental rehearsal. The literature in [10] supports only a neighbouring idea and suggests a stricter format that might be compared in future; it does not validate our screen. Separate studies of mental simulation also suggest that rehearsing a concrete process can influence later behaviour, but their aims are broader and different from nonviolent responding in conflict. [11]
A Scientifically Honest Formulation
We do not say, “science has proven our five-minute practice”. A more accurate statement is this: its individual mechanisms have different degrees of support; the Peaceful World Practice sequence itself is a new pedagogical hypothesis that must be tested as a whole.
Our fifth minute, in its current form, is not an implementation intention: it contains no mandatory conditional link of the form “if X, then Y”. Instead, it combines a concrete intention with a brief mental rehearsal. The literature in [10] supports only a neighbouring idea and suggests a stricter format that might be compared in future; it does not validate our screen. Separate studies of mental simulation also suggest that rehearsing a concrete process can influence later behaviour, but their aims are broader and different from nonviolent responding in conflict. [11]
A Scientifically Honest Formulation
We do not say, “science has proven our five-minute practice”. A more accurate statement is this: its individual mechanisms have different degrees of support; the Peaceful World Practice sequence itself is a new pedagogical hypothesis that must be tested as a whole.
13. Why Five Minutes?
The number five has strong product and pedagogical logic, but no special neurobiological magic. Five minutes were chosen chiefly because they form a small, clear and memorable unit.
Five fingers. Five operations. Five minutes. The structure can be held in memory without a phone. It is short enough to fit into ordinary life and long enough for a person to move from a pause to an intention.
There is no scientific evidence showing that five intervals of exactly sixty seconds are optimal. We retain the one-minute-by-five structure in the current test not as a “dose” but as a mnemonic container: five fingers, five operations, five minutes. The same applies to the order of the steps. The present sequence is a pedagogical and mnemonic hypothesis, not an optimal arc derived from data; we have not compared alternative orders. If real use shows that the simplicity or the sequence gets in the way of practice, the architecture should change.
Five fingers. Five operations. Five minutes. The structure can be held in memory without a phone. It is short enough to fit into ordinary life and long enough for a person to move from a pause to an intention.
There is no scientific evidence showing that five intervals of exactly sixty seconds are optimal. We retain the one-minute-by-five structure in the current test not as a “dose” but as a mnemonic container: five fingers, five operations, five minutes. The same applies to the order of the steps. The present sequence is a pedagogical and mnemonic hypothesis, not an optimal arc derived from data; we have not compared alternative orders. If real use shows that the simplicity or the sequence gets in the way of practice, the architecture should change.
14. The Interface as an Invisible Training Tool
The interface should not compete with the inner work. Its job is to almost disappear after the user presses Start. The visual language is therefore light, simple and quiet: one route, a clear timer, a gentle transition signal and as few decisions as possible during the practice.
Minimalism does not mean roughness. On the contrary, when there are few elements, the quality of every transition matters: screen adaptation, accessibility, sound, pauses, correct behaviour when the app is backgrounded, and the absence of accidental gestures that can disrupt the session.
Working Interface Principle
The interface should disappear; the practice should remain.
Minimalism does not mean roughness. On the contrary, when there are few elements, the quality of every transition matters: screen adaptation, accessibility, sound, pauses, correct behaviour when the app is backgrounded, and the absence of accidental gestures that can disrupt the session.
Working Interface Principle
The interface should disappear; the practice should remain.
15. Humane Design: The App Should Not Keep People at Any Cost
The ethics of the product should match its content. Nonviolence should not be taught through pressure, guilt or manipulative capture of attention.
• No punishment for missed days and no threat of losing a streak.
• No rankings, competition or “virtue scores”.
• No mandatory account for the basic practice.
• The basic practice remains free: access does not depend on a subscription or payment.
• There is no advertising in the app. A product that helps people reclaim their attention should not then sell that attention to advertisers.
• No automatic praise that turns ethics into a system of external rewards.
• Users can always leave and return without owing anything to the app.
Free access and the absence of advertising are not unique features in themselves. For us, they follow from the same product ethic: do not turn access to the practice or a person’s attention into a mechanism of retention or monetization.
An ordinary digital product often optimizes retention. Our criterion is different: the skill should gradually become available without the phone. This is consonant with autonomy-supportive design and self-determination theory; the principle that “skill retention matters more than app retention” remains our own product and pedagogical position. [14]
Safeguards cannot live only in a long essay. The five prompts are deliberately short and cannot contain every qualification. A few principles therefore need to be easily available before or alongside the practice. The exercise can be stopped. The user themselves belongs within the circle of non-harm. Nonviolence does not require staying in danger, maintaining contact, forgiving or trusting. When there is a threat, safety, boundaries and help take priority. For an early alpha version, this is an essential safeguard, not optional documentation. We need to test not only whether these words are present, but whether users actually understand what they mean.
• No punishment for missed days and no threat of losing a streak.
• No rankings, competition or “virtue scores”.
• No mandatory account for the basic practice.
• The basic practice remains free: access does not depend on a subscription or payment.
• There is no advertising in the app. A product that helps people reclaim their attention should not then sell that attention to advertisers.
• No automatic praise that turns ethics into a system of external rewards.
• Users can always leave and return without owing anything to the app.
Free access and the absence of advertising are not unique features in themselves. For us, they follow from the same product ethic: do not turn access to the practice or a person’s attention into a mechanism of retention or monetization.
An ordinary digital product often optimizes retention. Our criterion is different: the skill should gradually become available without the phone. This is consonant with autonomy-supportive design and self-determination theory; the principle that “skill retention matters more than app retention” remains our own product and pedagogical position. [14]
Safeguards cannot live only in a long essay. The five prompts are deliberately short and cannot contain every qualification. A few principles therefore need to be easily available before or alongside the practice. The exercise can be stopped. The user themselves belongs within the circle of non-harm. Nonviolence does not require staying in danger, maintaining contact, forgiving or trusting. When there is a threat, safety, boundaries and help take priority. For an early alpha version, this is an essential safeguard, not optional documentation. We need to test not only whether these words are present, but whether users actually understand what they mean.
16. Full Body Is Only the First Level
At present, we are testing only the basic general practice, Foundation / Full Body. The current five steps are not “the whole Peaceful World programme”, but the simplest shared level: they introduce several fundamental movements and the idea of the training tool itself. Foundation does not need to contain all of Buddhism, all of Jainism or all of ethics.
Once the foundational practice is stable, the next layer is Focus Practices. At present these are directions for future development, not an existing library. In a Focus Practice, one capacity receives all five minutes and can have its own internal sequence rather than repeating the five Foundation steps.
• Goodwill — a separate five-minute practice developing mettā / maitrī in greater depth.
• Compassion — focused work with karuṇā and one’s relationship to suffering.
• Non-harm — a more detailed practice concerning speech, action, consumption and one’s relationship to oneself.
• Anger — working with strong emotion without suppressing it and without automatic escalation.
• Repair after causing harm — acknowledgement, repair, apology and restitution.
• Forgiveness — a separate, deeper practice, not confused with safety or an obligation to reconcile.
• Expanding the moral circle — including our relationship to animals and other forms of life.
Later, Focus Practices may be combined into thematic Cycles, but this is a direction, not a release-calendar promise. The system should grow in response to pedagogical needs rather than the number of features: first a stable foundational practice, then specialization.
System Architecture
Foundation / Full Body → Focus → Cycles → Internalization
Full Body provides a general route. Focus deepens one capacity. Cycles connect practices into a thematic sequence. Internalization is not another section of the app but the final pedagogical goal: a familiar skill becomes available without the phone.
New practices can use the same five-minute container, timer and minimal interface without copying the semantics of Foundation. What should scale is not content volume for its own sake, but a map of capacities that can genuinely be trained.
Once the foundational practice is stable, the next layer is Focus Practices. At present these are directions for future development, not an existing library. In a Focus Practice, one capacity receives all five minutes and can have its own internal sequence rather than repeating the five Foundation steps.
• Goodwill — a separate five-minute practice developing mettā / maitrī in greater depth.
• Compassion — focused work with karuṇā and one’s relationship to suffering.
• Non-harm — a more detailed practice concerning speech, action, consumption and one’s relationship to oneself.
• Anger — working with strong emotion without suppressing it and without automatic escalation.
• Repair after causing harm — acknowledgement, repair, apology and restitution.
• Forgiveness — a separate, deeper practice, not confused with safety or an obligation to reconcile.
• Expanding the moral circle — including our relationship to animals and other forms of life.
Later, Focus Practices may be combined into thematic Cycles, but this is a direction, not a release-calendar promise. The system should grow in response to pedagogical needs rather than the number of features: first a stable foundational practice, then specialization.
System Architecture
Foundation / Full Body → Focus → Cycles → Internalization
Full Body provides a general route. Focus deepens one capacity. Cycles connect practices into a thematic sequence. Internalization is not another section of the app but the final pedagogical goal: a familiar skill becomes available without the phone.
New practices can use the same five-minute container, timer and minimal interface without copying the semantics of Foundation. What should scale is not content volume for its own sake, but a map of capacities that can genuinely be trained.
17. Translate Functions, Not Religions
For Peaceful World, multilingual access is not a task to postpone until later. If peace education is meant for everyone, the ability to practise in one’s own language is part of accessibility.
But literal translation is not enough. The Russian phrase “Пожелай добра” — literally, “wish [someone] good” — sounds natural in Russian but does not survive word-for-word translation gracefully. Words around forgiveness, guilt, boundaries, compassion and living beings carry different resonances across cultures. We therefore aim to preserve not identical wording but the same pedagogical function.
Working Principle of Localization
We translate functions, not religions. The secular operation remains stable; the language, example and cultural framing are found afresh wherever necessary.
This also helps us handle traditional sources honestly. We do not claim that Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam or secular humanism are the same thing. We can identify functional resonances without erasing differences in metaphysics or the histories of traditions.
Cultural adaptation does not mean adjusting the ethics to fit every local custom. The core remains shared: notice living beings as more than resources or obstacles, reduce unnecessary harm, do not turn goodwill into an obligation to endure violence, and connect intention with action.
A short text-based container allows the system to develop simultaneously across skills and languages. Multilingualism itself is not new. What matters for us is the method of transfer: each new Focus adds a specific trainable function, while each language requires a fresh, natural formulation that preserves its pedagogical meaning. A provisional unit of development can be described more plainly as one capacity, in one language, in one short practice. This is a working schema, not a claim to uniqueness.
But literal translation is not enough. The Russian phrase “Пожелай добра” — literally, “wish [someone] good” — sounds natural in Russian but does not survive word-for-word translation gracefully. Words around forgiveness, guilt, boundaries, compassion and living beings carry different resonances across cultures. We therefore aim to preserve not identical wording but the same pedagogical function.
Working Principle of Localization
We translate functions, not religions. The secular operation remains stable; the language, example and cultural framing are found afresh wherever necessary.
This also helps us handle traditional sources honestly. We do not claim that Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam or secular humanism are the same thing. We can identify functional resonances without erasing differences in metaphysics or the histories of traditions.
Cultural adaptation does not mean adjusting the ethics to fit every local custom. The core remains shared: notice living beings as more than resources or obstacles, reduce unnecessary harm, do not turn goodwill into an obligation to endure violence, and connect intention with action.
A short text-based container allows the system to develop simultaneously across skills and languages. Multilingualism itself is not new. What matters for us is the method of transfer: each new Focus adds a specific trainable function, while each language requires a fresh, natural formulation that preserves its pedagogical meaning. A provisional unit of development can be described more plainly as one capacity, in one language, in one short practice. This is a working schema, not a claim to uniqueness.
17.1. One Function, Different Cues
Localization is not the only level of language work. Even within a single language, the same function can be opened up through different short cues. The anchor remains stable — “Pause”, “Notice Life”, “Wish Them Well”, “Reduce Harm”, “Make a Choice” — while the line beneath it can direct attention from a different angle.
For example, “Notice Life” might one day draw attention to the independence of another life, another day to its vulnerability, and another to how easily we turn living beings into a function, resource or background. In “Reduce Harm”, one cue might direct attention to words, another to inaction, and a third to harm done to oneself. If the function remains the same, these are not new practices but different entry points into the same operation.
This variability is not intended to create a constant stream of new content. A stable anchor helps the route become memorable; a changing cue lets the user approach the same capacity from different sides and prevents the practice from becoming the mechanical reading of one sentence. Repetition should reinforce the function, not attachment to a particular wording.
In the first stable version, however, variability is better kept limited. Launch requires one canonical Russian script and a careful English localization of the same architecture. Only after real-world testing will it make sense to introduce controlled rotation and examine which formulations preserve the function, sound natural in a particular language and do not alter the meaning of the exercise. Expansion into further languages should follow the same principle.
For example, “Notice Life” might one day draw attention to the independence of another life, another day to its vulnerability, and another to how easily we turn living beings into a function, resource or background. In “Reduce Harm”, one cue might direct attention to words, another to inaction, and a third to harm done to oneself. If the function remains the same, these are not new practices but different entry points into the same operation.
This variability is not intended to create a constant stream of new content. A stable anchor helps the route become memorable; a changing cue lets the user approach the same capacity from different sides and prevents the practice from becoming the mechanical reading of one sentence. Repetition should reinforce the function, not attachment to a particular wording.
In the first stable version, however, variability is better kept limited. Launch requires one canonical Russian script and a careful English localization of the same architecture. Only after real-world testing will it make sense to introduce controlled rotation and examine which formulations preserve the function, sound natural in a particular language and do not alter the meaning of the exercise. Expansion into further languages should follow the same principle.
18. Feedback as Part of Developing the Practice
We do not want to keep improving the practice indefinitely on paper. Beyond a certain point, real use should speak more loudly than theoretical editing. Feedback is needed primarily to learn whether each phrase initiates the intended inner operation, whether the practice is understandable, and whether people report observations that may suggest transfer. Such feedback does not in itself demonstrate behavioural change.
In localization, a native speaker may notice that a technically correct phrase sounds unnatural or points attention in the wrong direction. Such observations help us edit the pedagogical function, not just the wording.
How the Practice Develops
Practice → real use → recurring observations → decision → new version → new testing.
After a session, users may voluntarily leave written or voice feedback. We are interested not only in whether they “liked” or “did not like” the practice, but in concrete experience: where a phrase sounded unnatural, where a thought did not have time to unfold, what irritated them, what stayed in memory, and whether any of the steps resurfaced later in ordinary life.
Recurring observations can be grouped, separating language problems from pedagogical and interface problems, while wording changes can be versioned. As experience accumulates, we plan to describe publicly what we are learning from testing: which formulations are clearer, where unexpected risks appear, what has to change, and which questions already require more rigorous research.
Immediate self-report after an ethical practice has to be handled carefully: responses may be shaped by participant expectations, social desirability and the research situation itself. Research on demand characteristics outside the laboratory is heterogeneous and does not allow us to estimate the size of such bias in advance; a negative response therefore needs to be just as socially acceptable as a positive one. [56] For evaluating longer-term use, a delayed voluntary follow-up after several weeks may be useful, including with people who have stopped opening the app. Otherwise, the very goal that “skill retention matters more than app retention” creates a sampling problem: people for whom the route has become most internalized may simply disappear from observation.
In localization, a native speaker may notice that a technically correct phrase sounds unnatural or points attention in the wrong direction. Such observations help us edit the pedagogical function, not just the wording.
How the Practice Develops
Practice → real use → recurring observations → decision → new version → new testing.
After a session, users may voluntarily leave written or voice feedback. We are interested not only in whether they “liked” or “did not like” the practice, but in concrete experience: where a phrase sounded unnatural, where a thought did not have time to unfold, what irritated them, what stayed in memory, and whether any of the steps resurfaced later in ordinary life.
Recurring observations can be grouped, separating language problems from pedagogical and interface problems, while wording changes can be versioned. As experience accumulates, we plan to describe publicly what we are learning from testing: which formulations are clearer, where unexpected risks appear, what has to change, and which questions already require more rigorous research.
Immediate self-report after an ethical practice has to be handled carefully: responses may be shaped by participant expectations, social desirability and the research situation itself. Research on demand characteristics outside the laboratory is heterogeneous and does not allow us to estimate the size of such bias in advance; a negative response therefore needs to be just as socially acceptable as a positive one. [56] For evaluating longer-term use, a delayed voluntary follow-up after several weeks may be useful, including with people who have stopped opening the app. Otherwise, the very goal that “skill retention matters more than app retention” creates a sampling problem: people for whom the route has become most internalized may simply disappear from observation.
19. What the Practice Does Not Require
• It does not require religious belief.
• It does not require believing that all people are good or safe.
• It does not require forgiving someone before you are ready.
• It does not require suppressing anger, fear or unwanted thoughts.
• It does not require enduring violence or giving up boundaries and accountability.
• It does not require feeling love or compassion on command.
• It does not require finding the “right answer” in every minute.
• It does not promise relaxation, happiness or personal transformation in five minutes.
These are not supplementary caveats. They are part of the pedagogy. A practice of nonviolence must itself be nonviolent towards the user.
• It does not require believing that all people are good or safe.
• It does not require forgiving someone before you are ready.
• It does not require suppressing anger, fear or unwanted thoughts.
• It does not require enduring violence or giving up boundaries and accountability.
• It does not require feeling love or compassion on command.
• It does not require finding the “right answer” in every minute.
• It does not promise relaxation, happiness or personal transformation in five minutes.
These are not supplementary caveats. They are part of the pedagogy. A practice of nonviolence must itself be nonviolent towards the user.
20. What We Know — and What We Do Not Yet Know
The project already has enough grounding to justify serious testing, but not enough to market it as a proven method.
Individual components and neighbouring mechanisms — attention, goodwill, perspective-taking operations, concrete intentions and mental rehearsal — have been studied separately and have different degrees of support. [1,8–13] The literature on implementation intentions concerns a stricter “if–then” format that the current Foundation does not use. We also know that contemplative practices are not entirely risk-free: a systematic review documents adverse events [4], while in some experiments a brief breath-focused meditation after one’s own wrongdoing reduced motivation to repair the harm caused [2].
The central question, however, remains open: does our particular sequence produce durable transfer into real conflict situations? We do not know whether equal minutes or the current order are optimal, how available the five operations remain under heavy load, how quickly boredom or familiarity emerges, or how the wording functions across languages and cultures. Foundation should not be treated as a crisis protocol merely because we hope the skill may one day become accessible in conflict. These questions must be answered by systematic testing, not by argument on paper.
The immediate task is not to prove effectiveness through marketing language, but to see whether the practice is understandable, acceptable and subjectively safe; whether people return to it; and whether early signs of transfer appear in everyday life. If after several weeks a user says, “I remembered this in a real situation and acted differently,” that is an important observation, but not proof that the app caused the behavioural change.
Ethical self-reflection also carries risks that good design intentions do not automatically remove. A meta-analysis of moral licensing reports a small average effect: a prior moral action is sometimes followed by a greater likelihood of later problematic behaviour; published estimates were larger than unpublished ones. [55] There is no evidence that Peaceful World Practice produces this effect, but “I have already done a good ethical exercise” must not become a form of moral credit. Another possible risk is excessive guilt and compulsive moral self-monitoring. Clinical literature on scrupulosity — pathological moral or religious anxiety and obsession — describes such a risk profile. [57] The absence of guilt and coercion therefore has to be tested rather than assumed.
An early alpha can answer questions about clarity, interface usability and subjective safety reasonably well, but it is poorly suited to the central question of real behaviour. Self-report is vulnerable to expectations and self-selection: volunteers are likely to be disproportionately people who are already motivated towards reflection. More serious evaluation of transfer will require methods beyond immediate feedback, such as neutral scenario tasks, delayed surveys, ecological momentary assessment or other behavioural indicators. Choosing among them will require separate work on ethics and privacy. Until then, early results cannot be generalized to people with low motivation or to situations involving severe violence.
A Sound Scientific Position
“We have assembled plausible and partly studied mechanisms into a new pedagogical architecture. Now it has to be tested as a whole.” This is stronger and more honest than saying, “science has proven that five minutes make people more peaceful.”
Individual components and neighbouring mechanisms — attention, goodwill, perspective-taking operations, concrete intentions and mental rehearsal — have been studied separately and have different degrees of support. [1,8–13] The literature on implementation intentions concerns a stricter “if–then” format that the current Foundation does not use. We also know that contemplative practices are not entirely risk-free: a systematic review documents adverse events [4], while in some experiments a brief breath-focused meditation after one’s own wrongdoing reduced motivation to repair the harm caused [2].
The central question, however, remains open: does our particular sequence produce durable transfer into real conflict situations? We do not know whether equal minutes or the current order are optimal, how available the five operations remain under heavy load, how quickly boredom or familiarity emerges, or how the wording functions across languages and cultures. Foundation should not be treated as a crisis protocol merely because we hope the skill may one day become accessible in conflict. These questions must be answered by systematic testing, not by argument on paper.
The immediate task is not to prove effectiveness through marketing language, but to see whether the practice is understandable, acceptable and subjectively safe; whether people return to it; and whether early signs of transfer appear in everyday life. If after several weeks a user says, “I remembered this in a real situation and acted differently,” that is an important observation, but not proof that the app caused the behavioural change.
Ethical self-reflection also carries risks that good design intentions do not automatically remove. A meta-analysis of moral licensing reports a small average effect: a prior moral action is sometimes followed by a greater likelihood of later problematic behaviour; published estimates were larger than unpublished ones. [55] There is no evidence that Peaceful World Practice produces this effect, but “I have already done a good ethical exercise” must not become a form of moral credit. Another possible risk is excessive guilt and compulsive moral self-monitoring. Clinical literature on scrupulosity — pathological moral or religious anxiety and obsession — describes such a risk profile. [57] The absence of guilt and coercion therefore has to be tested rather than assumed.
An early alpha can answer questions about clarity, interface usability and subjective safety reasonably well, but it is poorly suited to the central question of real behaviour. Self-report is vulnerable to expectations and self-selection: volunteers are likely to be disproportionately people who are already motivated towards reflection. More serious evaluation of transfer will require methods beyond immediate feedback, such as neutral scenario tasks, delayed surveys, ecological momentary assessment or other behavioural indicators. Choosing among them will require separate work on ethics and privacy. Until then, early results cannot be generalized to people with low motivation or to situations involving severe violence.
A Sound Scientific Position
“We have assembled plausible and partly studied mechanisms into a new pedagogical architecture. Now it has to be tested as a whole.” This is stronger and more honest than saying, “science has proven that five minutes make people more peaceful.”
21. How to Use the Basic Full Body Practice
To begin, one five-minute session of the basic Full Body practice is enough. Later, a person may return more often or choose specialized five-minute practices for different situations. The goal is not to make every session progressively longer.
Each step begins with five seconds to read the prompt, followed by a full minute. During that minute, there is no need to watch the timer: the app signals the transition automatically. Nor is there any special state to achieve. It is enough to perform the proposed operation as honestly as you can today.
If nothing significant comes to mind on a particular day, that is fine. Repeating the structure matters more than producing a dramatic insight. A training tool does not have to reveal a new truth every time. If the practice causes significant discomfort or distressing experiences, it can be stopped and returned to later, or a more neutral focus can be chosen. [4]
Each step begins with five seconds to read the prompt, followed by a full minute. During that minute, there is no need to watch the timer: the app signals the transition automatically. Nor is there any special state to achieve. It is enough to perform the proposed operation as honestly as you can today.
If nothing significant comes to mind on a particular day, that is fine. Repeating the structure matters more than producing a dramatic insight. A training tool does not have to reveal a new truth every time. If the practice causes significant discomfort or distressing experiences, it can be stopped and returned to later, or a more neutral focus can be chosen. [4]
22. The Central Idea
Five minutes will not make a person peaceful. They will not abolish conflict, trauma, politics, inequality or the human capacity to cause harm. An app cannot replace upbringing, education, culture or institutions.
But between the large conversation about peace and the concrete behaviour of an individual lies a level that is easy to miss: habitual movements of mind.
How quickly do I react? What do I see in front of me? How easily do I turn a living being into a function, resource or enemy? Can I turn the mind towards goodwill without denying the conflict? Do I notice unnecessary harm? Do I translate a good intention into a concrete action?
That is the level we are trying to train.
In One Sentence
Peaceful World Practice is not an attempt to convince people that peace matters. It is an attempt to give them a small, repeatable way to practise more peaceful perception and behaviour.
If, one day, a person in a difficult situation remembers the five movements of the basic practice without a phone — pause, notice life, wish well, reduce harm, make a choice — that will be a strong observable signal in favour of our transfer hypothesis. Even then, the memory alone will not prove that the app caused the behavioural change.
But between the large conversation about peace and the concrete behaviour of an individual lies a level that is easy to miss: habitual movements of mind.
How quickly do I react? What do I see in front of me? How easily do I turn a living being into a function, resource or enemy? Can I turn the mind towards goodwill without denying the conflict? Do I notice unnecessary harm? Do I translate a good intention into a concrete action?
That is the level we are trying to train.
In One Sentence
Peaceful World Practice is not an attempt to convince people that peace matters. It is an attempt to give them a small, repeatable way to practise more peaceful perception and behaviour.
If, one day, a person in a difficult situation remembers the five movements of the basic practice without a phone — pause, notice life, wish well, reduce harm, make a choice — that will be a strong observable signal in favour of our transfer hypothesis. Even then, the memory alone will not prove that the app caused the behavioural change.
22.1. What Is Actually New in This Design?
After such a long genealogy, an obvious question arises. If habit, virtue, repeated prayer, contemplation, character formation, short mnemonic protocols and behavioural rehearsal all existed long before us, what exactly is Peaceful World creating? The answer is not a new morality. We did not invent compassion, ahiṃsā, the pause, goodwill, five minutes or the idea of exercise itself.
Contemporary neighbours make the boundaries clearer still. NVC, SBNRR, WOOP, Healthy Minds, CBCT, the Self-Compassion Break and AVP show that almost every individual brick in our design has predecessors: short sequences, trainable capacities, secular contemplative exercises, bridges to action, free access or nonviolence education. [51–54,58–61] Our claim to distinctiveness therefore rests not on any one element, but on their particular intersection.
Four Layers of the Design
• Ethical aim. Success concerns not only the user’s state, but how they perceive living beings, where they may reduce unnecessary harm to themselves and others, and what next choice they make.
• Pedagogical architecture. Foundation combines several functions in one short basic training session; the system then develops as Full Body → Focus → Cycles → Internalization.
• Product ethics. The distinction lies not in free access or the absence of advertising by themselves, but in the consistency between the product’s constraints and its nonviolent content: minimal coercion, no “virtue scores”, refusal to monetize attention, and the principle that skill retention matters more than app retention are all meant to support greater user autonomy. Free basic access and no advertising are consequences of that position.
• Scaling model. Multilingualism itself is not new. What matters for us is the principle of developing new capacities within a shared short container and carrying the pedagogical function — rather than literal wording — into other languages; stable anchors can be paired with testable variations in cues.
Within Foundation itself, two movements are especially characteristic. “Notice Life” brings life back into moral perception where it can easily be reduced to a role, category, resource or threat; it does not require guessing another being’s feelings, and the moral circle is not limited to human relationships. “Reduce Harm” makes non-harm a distinct secular operation and asks not about moral purity, but about a genuinely available option that causes less unnecessary harm — including harm to the practitioner. We do not claim that these operations are unique in world history; the point is the place they occupy within this particular assembly.
We have not found a direct equivalent that combines these elements in the same way. Our search, however, was not exhaustive, and the effectiveness of the system as a whole remains to be tested. It is therefore more accurate to speak of combinatorial and architectural novelty: an integration of an ethical aim, a short exercise structure, a coherent product ethic and a model of pedagogical scaling, rather than a claim that “we were first”.
The Shortest Definition
We did not invent the idea of training character. We are trying to make a short first training session in peaceful responding accessible to as many people as possible — and to build around it a system that should, over time, become less necessary to the user.
Contemporary neighbours make the boundaries clearer still. NVC, SBNRR, WOOP, Healthy Minds, CBCT, the Self-Compassion Break and AVP show that almost every individual brick in our design has predecessors: short sequences, trainable capacities, secular contemplative exercises, bridges to action, free access or nonviolence education. [51–54,58–61] Our claim to distinctiveness therefore rests not on any one element, but on their particular intersection.
Four Layers of the Design
• Ethical aim. Success concerns not only the user’s state, but how they perceive living beings, where they may reduce unnecessary harm to themselves and others, and what next choice they make.
• Pedagogical architecture. Foundation combines several functions in one short basic training session; the system then develops as Full Body → Focus → Cycles → Internalization.
• Product ethics. The distinction lies not in free access or the absence of advertising by themselves, but in the consistency between the product’s constraints and its nonviolent content: minimal coercion, no “virtue scores”, refusal to monetize attention, and the principle that skill retention matters more than app retention are all meant to support greater user autonomy. Free basic access and no advertising are consequences of that position.
• Scaling model. Multilingualism itself is not new. What matters for us is the principle of developing new capacities within a shared short container and carrying the pedagogical function — rather than literal wording — into other languages; stable anchors can be paired with testable variations in cues.
Within Foundation itself, two movements are especially characteristic. “Notice Life” brings life back into moral perception where it can easily be reduced to a role, category, resource or threat; it does not require guessing another being’s feelings, and the moral circle is not limited to human relationships. “Reduce Harm” makes non-harm a distinct secular operation and asks not about moral purity, but about a genuinely available option that causes less unnecessary harm — including harm to the practitioner. We do not claim that these operations are unique in world history; the point is the place they occupy within this particular assembly.
We have not found a direct equivalent that combines these elements in the same way. Our search, however, was not exhaustive, and the effectiveness of the system as a whole remains to be tested. It is therefore more accurate to speak of combinatorial and architectural novelty: an integration of an ethical aim, a short exercise structure, a coherent product ethic and a model of pedagogical scaling, rather than a claim that “we were first”.
The Shortest Definition
We did not invent the idea of training character. We are trying to make a short first training session in peaceful responding accessible to as many people as possible — and to build around it a system that should, over time, become less necessary to the user.
23. Now, Test It in Practice
At this point, theory reaches its natural boundary. It is more useful now to stop editing the hypothesis on paper and see what happens when real people use it.
The basic practice can be tried in the web version of Peaceful World Practice or in the Android app on Google Play; links are provided on the publication page for this essay. After a session, users can voluntarily leave written or voice feedback, including criticism.
In the first stage, we are launching and refining the Russian and English versions. Then, as experience accumulates and native speakers participate, we will carry the practice into other languages while preserving the function and naturalness of each prompt.
Such feedback does not demonstrate effectiveness. It helps us decide what to change in the wording and the product, and which questions require more rigorous testing. We will describe the results of subsequent stages publicly.
From Essay to Practice
The theory of this practice ends here. The practice itself begins next.
The basic practice can be tried in the web version of Peaceful World Practice or in the Android app on Google Play; links are provided on the publication page for this essay. After a session, users can voluntarily leave written or voice feedback, including criticism.
In the first stage, we are launching and refining the Russian and English versions. Then, as experience accumulates and native speakers participate, we will carry the practice into other languages while preserving the function and naturalness of each prompt.
Such feedback does not demonstrate effectiveness. It helps us decide what to change in the wording and the product, and which questions require more rigorous testing. We will describe the results of subsequent stages publicly.
From Essay to Practice
The theory of this practice ends here. The practice itself begins next.
Sources and Research Base
Below is a selected bibliography supporting the scientific, pedagogical, historical and traditional claims in this essay. The list does not imply that all sources influenced the product equally: some are direct sources of influence, some are historical predecessors, and some provide functional resonances.
1. Schumer, M. C., Lindsay, E. K., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Brief mindfulness training for negative affectivity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 86(7), 569–583. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000324
2. Hafenbrack, A. C., LaPalme, M. L., & Solal, I. (2022). Mindfulness meditation reduces guilt and prosocial reparation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 123(1), 28–54. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000298
3. Kreplin, U., Farias, M., & Brazil, I. A. (2018). The limited prosocial effects of meditation: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Scientific Reports, 8, 2403. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-20299-z
4. Farias, M., Maraldi, E., Wallenkampf, K. C., & Lucchetti, G. (2020). Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation-based therapies: A systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 142(5), 374–393. https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13225
5. Umāsvāmī (Umāsvāti). Tattvārthasūtra. English translation by Vijay K. Jain, with explanation in English from Ācārya Pūjyapāda’s Sarvārthasiddhi. Dehradun: Vikalp Printers, 2018. ISBN 978-81-932726-2-6. Especially TS 7.11 and TS 7.13 in the numbering used in this edition. https://jainqq.org/booktext/Tattvartha_Sutra/034448
6. Balbir, N. (2013). Practice of Non-Violence and Peace: the Jain perspective. Address at “Catholics and Jains: Practice of Non-Violence as Contributor to Peace”, Potters Bar, 14 June 2013. Institute of Jainology.
7. Dalai Lama XIV. (2011). Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
8. Todd, A. R., & Galinsky, A. D. (2014). Perspective-Taking as a Strategy for Improving Intergroup Relations: Evidence, Mechanisms, and Qualifications. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 8(7), 374–387. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12116
9. Hutcherson, C. A., Seppälä, E. M., & Gross, J. J. (2008). Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. Emotion, 8(5), 720–724. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013237
10. Sheeran, P., Listrom, O., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2025). The when and how of planning: Meta-analysis of the scope and components of implementation intentions in 642 tests. European Review of Social Psychology, 36(1), 162–194. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2024.2334563
11. Cole, S. N., Smith, D. M., Ragan, K., Suurmond, R., & Armitage, C. J. (2021). Synthesizing the effects of mental simulation on behavior change: Systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 28(5), 1514–1537. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-021-01880-6
12. Howarth, A., Smith, J. G., Perkins-Porras, L., & Ussher, M. (2019). Effects of brief mindfulness-based interventions on health-related outcomes: A systematic review. Mindfulness, 10, 1957–1968. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01163-1
13. Zhou, J., Lang, Y., Wang, Z., Gao, C., et al. (2023). A meta-analysis and systematic review of the effect of loving-kindness and compassion meditations on negative interpersonal attitudes. Current Psychology, 42, 27813–27827. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03866-6
14. Peters, D., Calvo, R. A., & Ryan, R. M. (2018). Designing for motivation, engagement and wellbeing in digital experience. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 797. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00797
15. Camara, C. F., Sel, A., & Hanel, P. H. P. (2025). When empathy leads to aggression: The effects of empathy on punitive attitudes towards aggressors. British Journal of Social Psychology, 64(3), e12907. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12907
16. Jinpa, T. (trans. & ed.). (2006). Mind Training: The Great Collection. Compiled by Shönu Gyalchok and Könchok Gyaltsen. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
17. Ushinsky, K. D. (1868). Chelovek kak predmet vospitaniya: Opyt pedagogicheskoi antropologii [Man as the Subject of Education: An Essay in Pedagogical Anthropology]. Vol. 1. St Petersburg: F. S. Sushchinsky Printing House. Especially chapters XIII and XV: “Habits and Skills as Acquired Reflexes”; “The Moral and Pedagogical Significance of Habits”.
18. Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. New York: Kappa Delta Pi; see also Democracy and Education (1916).
19. Montessori, M. (1972). Education and Peace. Trans. Helen R. Lane. Chicago: Regnery. Especially p. 24. Official attribution of the quotation by Association Montessori Internationale: https://montessori150.org/maria-montessori/montessori-quotes/education-and-peace-6
20. Tolstoy, L. N. (1862). O narodnom obrazovanii [On Popular Education]. In Polnoe sobranie sochinenii v 90 tomakh [Complete Works in 90 Volumes], vol. 8: Pedagogicheskie stat'i 1860–1863 [Pedagogical Writings, 1860–1863]. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura, 1936, pp. 4–25. Digital edition, “All Tolstoy in One Click”: https://tolstoy.ru/online/90/08/
21. Korczak, J. (1929/2009). The Child’s Right to Respect. English translation in: Janusz Korczak – The Child’s Right to Respect. Council of Europe, Commissioner for Human Rights.
22. Mangone, E., & Dolgov, A. (2020). Sorokin’s “Altruistic Creative Love”: Genesis, Methodological Issues, and Applied Aspects. Human Arenas, 3(1), 6–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-019-00058-w
23. Peace Literacy Institute. Paul K. Chappell; Origin Story; An Introduction to Peace Literacy; Mission. https://www.peaceliteracy.org/paulkchappell ; https://www.peaceliteracy.org/origin-story ; https://www.peaceliteracy.org/intro ; https://www.peaceliteracy.org/mission
24. Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Context: Past, Present, and Future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144–156. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bpg016
25. Parsons, C. E., Crane, C., Parsons, L. J., Fjorback, L. O., & Kuyken, W. (2017). Home practice in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: A systematic review and meta-analysis of participants’ mindfulness practice and its association with outcomes. Behaviour
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26. Association Montessori Internationale. Montessori Environments; Glossary of Montessori Terms. https://montessori-ami.org/about-montessori/montessori-environments ; https://montessori-ami.org/node/2170
27. The Bible. Romans 7:15–24. For the English-language cross-check: New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE).
28. Skovoroda, H. S. (1973). Basni Khar'kovskie [Kharkiv Fables]. Fable 10, “Dve Kuritsy” [The Two Hens]. In Sochineniya v dvukh tomakh [Works in Two Volumes], vol. 1. Comp., trans. and ed. I. V. Ivanio and M. V. Kashuba; introductory essay by I. V. Ivanio and V. I. Shynkaruk. Moscow: Mysl, Filosofskoe nasledie [Philosophical Heritage] series, vol. 55. The fable begins on p. 84. Digital catalogue record: https://iphlib.ru/library/collection/philosna/document/HASH01715fd0e45f61a07ca77e81.4.1
29. Sukhomlynsky, V. A. Kak vospitat' nastoiashchego cheloveka: Etika kommunisticheskogo vospitaniia [How to Raise a Real Human Being: The Ethics of Communist Education]. In Pedagogicheskoe nasledie [Pedagogical Heritage], ed. O. V. Sukhomlynska. Moscow: Pedagogika, 1990. The passage on “beautiful words” and “beautiful deeds” appears in the Pedlib digital edition: https://pedlib.ru/Books/5/0138/5_0138-325.shtml. See also Sukhomlynsky, V. A. Rozhdenie grazhdanina [The Birth of a Citizen]. Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya, 1979, on moral habits and the transformation of a moral norm into an inner possession of the person.
30. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Ed. M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, E. Souberman. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
31. Damm, A. (2011). Mahatma Gandhi and Character Education in Non-Violence: Its Relevance in Religious Studies Today. Teaching Theology & Religion, 14(1), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9647.2010.00667.x
32. Rao, K. R. (2017). Nai Talim: Gandhi’s “New Education”. In Gandhi’s Dharma. Oxford University Press, 160–174.
33. Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics, Emory University. (2019). The SEE Learning Companion: Social, Emotional, and Ethical Learning — Educating the Heart and Mind. ISBN 978-0-9992150-3-6. https://strapi-cms.seelearning.emory.edu/uploads/SEE_Companion_March2019_v1_2ef4afe129_151dc146b7.pdf
34. Catechism of the Catholic Church. §§1803–1811: virtue as a habitual and firm disposition; human virtues as stable dispositions strengthened through education, deliberate acts and persevering repeated effort. https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_three/section_one/chapter_one/article_7/i_the_human_virtues.html
35. Ignatius of Loyola. The Spiritual Exercises. Annotations 1–2: spiritual actions as exercises; concise guidance that leaves room for the exercitant’s own reflection. CCEL digital edition: https://ccel.org/ccel/ignatius/exercises/formats/exercises1.0.pdf
36. Orthodox Church in America. The Orthodox Faith, Vol. IV, “Unceasing Prayer” and “The Jesus Prayer”. https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/prayer-fasting-and-almsgiving/unceasing-prayer ; https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/prayer-fasting-and-almsgiving/the-jesus-prayer
37. Stone, I. F. (2013). Mussar Ethics and Other Nineteenth-Century Jewish Ethical Theories. In E. N. Dorff & J. K. Crane (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Ethics and Morality, 118–131. Oxford University Press.
38. Marcus, G. “What Is Mussar?” My Jewish Learning — a contemporary overview attributing to Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian the formulation “teaching the heart what the mind already understands”: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-musar-movement/ ; The Mussar Institute — contemporary materials on journaling, meditation/silence, chanting, small actions and reflection around a weekly middah: https://www.mussarinstitute.org/learn/how-we-learn/
39. Sherif, M. A. (1975). Ghazali’s Theory of Virtue. Albany: State University of New York Press.
40. Griffel, F. “al-Ghazali”. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. First published 2007; substantive revision 15 January 2026. Section 5 discusses ethics, disciplining the soul (riyāḍat al-nafs), training and habituation through repeated action. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/al-ghazali/
41. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Sikh Rehat Maryada: Sikh Code of Conduct and Conventions. Sections on personal Sikh life: Naam / scripture, conduct according to the Gurus’ teaching, and altruistic voluntary service. English PDF: https://old.sgpc.net/CDN/Sikh_Rehat_Maryada_English.pdf
42. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Sikh Rehat Maryada, Ardas section, including the concluding aspiration commonly rendered as the welfare / good of all (sarbat da bhala). https://old.sgpc.net/CDN/Sikh_Rehat_Maryada_English.pdf
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44. Stetter, F., & Kupper, S. (2002). Autogenic training: A meta-analysis of clinical outcome studies. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 27(1), 45–98. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014576505223
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58. Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute. Search Inside Yourself Practices. Official practice handout: SBNRR (Stop, Breathe, Notice, Reflect, Respond) as an integrated self-management practice for emotional triggers and reflection on past situations. https://siyli.org/hubfs/SIY_Handouts_2DayPractices_LowRes.pdf
59. Oettingen, G. / WOOP my life. Practice; The WOOP App. Official materials describing Wish — Outcome — Obstacle — Plan, a short self-guided strategy ending in an if–then plan and available in multiple language versions. https://woopmylife.org/en/practice ; https://woopmylife.org/en/app-app
60. Humin (formerly Healthy Minds Innovations). About Humin / Healthy Minds Program. Global nonprofit; free Healthy Minds Program; wellbeing training and organizational background. https://www.humin.org/about
61. Dahl, C. J., Wilson-Mendenhall, C. D., & Davidson, R. J. (2020). The plasticity of well-being: A training-based framework for the cultivation of human flourishing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(51), 32197–32206. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2014859117
Peaceful World · Peace education for everyone
2. Hafenbrack, A. C., LaPalme, M. L., & Solal, I. (2022). Mindfulness meditation reduces guilt and prosocial reparation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 123(1), 28–54. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000298
3. Kreplin, U., Farias, M., & Brazil, I. A. (2018). The limited prosocial effects of meditation: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Scientific Reports, 8, 2403. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-20299-z
4. Farias, M., Maraldi, E., Wallenkampf, K. C., & Lucchetti, G. (2020). Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation-based therapies: A systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 142(5), 374–393. https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13225
5. Umāsvāmī (Umāsvāti). Tattvārthasūtra. English translation by Vijay K. Jain, with explanation in English from Ācārya Pūjyapāda’s Sarvārthasiddhi. Dehradun: Vikalp Printers, 2018. ISBN 978-81-932726-2-6. Especially TS 7.11 and TS 7.13 in the numbering used in this edition. https://jainqq.org/booktext/Tattvartha_Sutra/034448
6. Balbir, N. (2013). Practice of Non-Violence and Peace: the Jain perspective. Address at “Catholics and Jains: Practice of Non-Violence as Contributor to Peace”, Potters Bar, 14 June 2013. Institute of Jainology.
7. Dalai Lama XIV. (2011). Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
8. Todd, A. R., & Galinsky, A. D. (2014). Perspective-Taking as a Strategy for Improving Intergroup Relations: Evidence, Mechanisms, and Qualifications. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 8(7), 374–387. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12116
9. Hutcherson, C. A., Seppälä, E. M., & Gross, J. J. (2008). Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. Emotion, 8(5), 720–724. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013237
10. Sheeran, P., Listrom, O., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2025). The when and how of planning: Meta-analysis of the scope and components of implementation intentions in 642 tests. European Review of Social Psychology, 36(1), 162–194. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2024.2334563
11. Cole, S. N., Smith, D. M., Ragan, K., Suurmond, R., & Armitage, C. J. (2021). Synthesizing the effects of mental simulation on behavior change: Systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 28(5), 1514–1537. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-021-01880-6
12. Howarth, A., Smith, J. G., Perkins-Porras, L., & Ussher, M. (2019). Effects of brief mindfulness-based interventions on health-related outcomes: A systematic review. Mindfulness, 10, 1957–1968. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01163-1
13. Zhou, J., Lang, Y., Wang, Z., Gao, C., et al. (2023). A meta-analysis and systematic review of the effect of loving-kindness and compassion meditations on negative interpersonal attitudes. Current Psychology, 42, 27813–27827. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03866-6
14. Peters, D., Calvo, R. A., & Ryan, R. M. (2018). Designing for motivation, engagement and wellbeing in digital experience. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 797. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00797
15. Camara, C. F., Sel, A., & Hanel, P. H. P. (2025). When empathy leads to aggression: The effects of empathy on punitive attitudes towards aggressors. British Journal of Social Psychology, 64(3), e12907. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12907
16. Jinpa, T. (trans. & ed.). (2006). Mind Training: The Great Collection. Compiled by Shönu Gyalchok and Könchok Gyaltsen. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
17. Ushinsky, K. D. (1868). Chelovek kak predmet vospitaniya: Opyt pedagogicheskoi antropologii [Man as the Subject of Education: An Essay in Pedagogical Anthropology]. Vol. 1. St Petersburg: F. S. Sushchinsky Printing House. Especially chapters XIII and XV: “Habits and Skills as Acquired Reflexes”; “The Moral and Pedagogical Significance of Habits”.
18. Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. New York: Kappa Delta Pi; see also Democracy and Education (1916).
19. Montessori, M. (1972). Education and Peace. Trans. Helen R. Lane. Chicago: Regnery. Especially p. 24. Official attribution of the quotation by Association Montessori Internationale: https://montessori150.org/maria-montessori/montessori-quotes/education-and-peace-6
20. Tolstoy, L. N. (1862). O narodnom obrazovanii [On Popular Education]. In Polnoe sobranie sochinenii v 90 tomakh [Complete Works in 90 Volumes], vol. 8: Pedagogicheskie stat'i 1860–1863 [Pedagogical Writings, 1860–1863]. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura, 1936, pp. 4–25. Digital edition, “All Tolstoy in One Click”: https://tolstoy.ru/online/90/08/
21. Korczak, J. (1929/2009). The Child’s Right to Respect. English translation in: Janusz Korczak – The Child’s Right to Respect. Council of Europe, Commissioner for Human Rights.
22. Mangone, E., & Dolgov, A. (2020). Sorokin’s “Altruistic Creative Love”: Genesis, Methodological Issues, and Applied Aspects. Human Arenas, 3(1), 6–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-019-00058-w
23. Peace Literacy Institute. Paul K. Chappell; Origin Story; An Introduction to Peace Literacy; Mission. https://www.peaceliteracy.org/paulkchappell ; https://www.peaceliteracy.org/origin-story ; https://www.peaceliteracy.org/intro ; https://www.peaceliteracy.org/mission
24. Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Context: Past, Present, and Future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144–156. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bpg016
25. Parsons, C. E., Crane, C., Parsons, L. J., Fjorback, L. O., & Kuyken, W. (2017). Home practice in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: A systematic review and meta-analysis of participants’ mindfulness practice and its association with outcomes. Behaviour
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26. Association Montessori Internationale. Montessori Environments; Glossary of Montessori Terms. https://montessori-ami.org/about-montessori/montessori-environments ; https://montessori-ami.org/node/2170
27. The Bible. Romans 7:15–24. For the English-language cross-check: New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE).
28. Skovoroda, H. S. (1973). Basni Khar'kovskie [Kharkiv Fables]. Fable 10, “Dve Kuritsy” [The Two Hens]. In Sochineniya v dvukh tomakh [Works in Two Volumes], vol. 1. Comp., trans. and ed. I. V. Ivanio and M. V. Kashuba; introductory essay by I. V. Ivanio and V. I. Shynkaruk. Moscow: Mysl, Filosofskoe nasledie [Philosophical Heritage] series, vol. 55. The fable begins on p. 84. Digital catalogue record: https://iphlib.ru/library/collection/philosna/document/HASH01715fd0e45f61a07ca77e81.4.1
29. Sukhomlynsky, V. A. Kak vospitat' nastoiashchego cheloveka: Etika kommunisticheskogo vospitaniia [How to Raise a Real Human Being: The Ethics of Communist Education]. In Pedagogicheskoe nasledie [Pedagogical Heritage], ed. O. V. Sukhomlynska. Moscow: Pedagogika, 1990. The passage on “beautiful words” and “beautiful deeds” appears in the Pedlib digital edition: https://pedlib.ru/Books/5/0138/5_0138-325.shtml. See also Sukhomlynsky, V. A. Rozhdenie grazhdanina [The Birth of a Citizen]. Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya, 1979, on moral habits and the transformation of a moral norm into an inner possession of the person.
30. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Ed. M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, E. Souberman. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
31. Damm, A. (2011). Mahatma Gandhi and Character Education in Non-Violence: Its Relevance in Religious Studies Today. Teaching Theology & Religion, 14(1), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9647.2010.00667.x
32. Rao, K. R. (2017). Nai Talim: Gandhi’s “New Education”. In Gandhi’s Dharma. Oxford University Press, 160–174.
33. Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics, Emory University. (2019). The SEE Learning Companion: Social, Emotional, and Ethical Learning — Educating the Heart and Mind. ISBN 978-0-9992150-3-6. https://strapi-cms.seelearning.emory.edu/uploads/SEE_Companion_March2019_v1_2ef4afe129_151dc146b7.pdf
34. Catechism of the Catholic Church. §§1803–1811: virtue as a habitual and firm disposition; human virtues as stable dispositions strengthened through education, deliberate acts and persevering repeated effort. https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_three/section_one/chapter_one/article_7/i_the_human_virtues.html
35. Ignatius of Loyola. The Spiritual Exercises. Annotations 1–2: spiritual actions as exercises; concise guidance that leaves room for the exercitant’s own reflection. CCEL digital edition: https://ccel.org/ccel/ignatius/exercises/formats/exercises1.0.pdf
36. Orthodox Church in America. The Orthodox Faith, Vol. IV, “Unceasing Prayer” and “The Jesus Prayer”. https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/prayer-fasting-and-almsgiving/unceasing-prayer ; https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/prayer-fasting-and-almsgiving/the-jesus-prayer
37. Stone, I. F. (2013). Mussar Ethics and Other Nineteenth-Century Jewish Ethical Theories. In E. N. Dorff & J. K. Crane (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Ethics and Morality, 118–131. Oxford University Press.
38. Marcus, G. “What Is Mussar?” My Jewish Learning — a contemporary overview attributing to Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian the formulation “teaching the heart what the mind already understands”: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-musar-movement/ ; The Mussar Institute — contemporary materials on journaling, meditation/silence, chanting, small actions and reflection around a weekly middah: https://www.mussarinstitute.org/learn/how-we-learn/
39. Sherif, M. A. (1975). Ghazali’s Theory of Virtue. Albany: State University of New York Press.
40. Griffel, F. “al-Ghazali”. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. First published 2007; substantive revision 15 January 2026. Section 5 discusses ethics, disciplining the soul (riyāḍat al-nafs), training and habituation through repeated action. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/al-ghazali/
41. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Sikh Rehat Maryada: Sikh Code of Conduct and Conventions. Sections on personal Sikh life: Naam / scripture, conduct according to the Gurus’ teaching, and altruistic voluntary service. English PDF: https://old.sgpc.net/CDN/Sikh_Rehat_Maryada_English.pdf
42. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Sikh Rehat Maryada, Ardas section, including the concluding aspiration commonly rendered as the welfare / good of all (sarbat da bhala). https://old.sgpc.net/CDN/Sikh_Rehat_Maryada_English.pdf
43. Bryant, E. F. (2009). The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali: A New Edition, Translation, and Commentary. New York: North Point Press. Especially Yoga Sūtra 1.12–1.14 on abhyāsa and vairāgya.
44. Stetter, F., & Kupper, S. (2002). Autogenic training: A meta-analysis of clinical outcome studies. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 27(1), 45–98. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014576505223
45. Breznoscakova, D., Kovanicova, M., Sedlakova, E., et al. (2023). Autogenic Training in Mental Disorders: What Can We Expect? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(5), 4344. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054344
46. Brunner, J., Schrempf, M., & Steger, F. (2008). Johannes Heinrich Schultz and National Socialism. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 45(4), 257–262. PMID: 19439831. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19439831/
47. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Holocaust Encyclopedia: “Nazi Propaganda”, “Defining the Enemy”, and “Indoctrinating Youth”. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-propaganda ; https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/defining-the-enemy ; https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/indoctrinating-youth
48. Voigtländer, N., & Voth, H.-J. (2015). Nazi indoctrination and anti-Semitic beliefs in Germany. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(26), 7931–7936. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1414822112
49. Ye, S., Attali, D., Ghazi, M., Cachia, A., Cassotti, M., & Borst, G. (2026). Systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence for an illusory truth effect and its determinants. Nature Communications, 17(1), 3270. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70041-x
50. Böwering, G., & Momen, M. (1994; updated 2015). “ḎEKR”. Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VII, Fasc. 3, 229–233. https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dekr/
51. Rosenberg, M. B. (2015). Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. 3rd ed. Encinitas, CA: PuddleDancer Press. ISBN 978-1-892005-28-1.
52. Ash, M., Harrison, T., Pinto, M., DiClemente, R., & Negi, L. T. (2021). A model for cognitively-based compassion training: theoretical underpinnings and proposed mechanisms. Social Theory & Health, 19, 43–67. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41285-019-00124-x
53. Neff, K. D. (2024). Take a self-compassion break. Self-Compassion.org. https://self-compassion.org/blog/take-a-self-compassion-break/
54. Alternatives to Violence Project International. The AVP Program. https://avp.international/about-us/the-avp-program/
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56. McCambridge, J., de Bruin, M., & Witton, J. (2012). The Effects of Demand Characteristics on Research Participant Behaviours in Non-Laboratory Settings: A Systematic Review. PLOS ONE, 7(6), e39116. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0039116
57. Miller, C. H., & Hedges, D. W. (2008). Scrupulosity disorder: an overview and introductory analysis. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 22(6), 1042–1058. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2007.11.004
58. Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute. Search Inside Yourself Practices. Official practice handout: SBNRR (Stop, Breathe, Notice, Reflect, Respond) as an integrated self-management practice for emotional triggers and reflection on past situations. https://siyli.org/hubfs/SIY_Handouts_2DayPractices_LowRes.pdf
59. Oettingen, G. / WOOP my life. Practice; The WOOP App. Official materials describing Wish — Outcome — Obstacle — Plan, a short self-guided strategy ending in an if–then plan and available in multiple language versions. https://woopmylife.org/en/practice ; https://woopmylife.org/en/app-app
60. Humin (formerly Healthy Minds Innovations). About Humin / Healthy Minds Program. Global nonprofit; free Healthy Minds Program; wellbeing training and organizational background. https://www.humin.org/about
61. Dahl, C. J., Wilson-Mendenhall, C. D., & Davidson, R. J. (2020). The plasticity of well-being: A training-based framework for the cultivation of human flourishing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(51), 32197–32206. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2014859117
Peaceful World · Peace education for everyone
