Peace Pilgrim: An American Woman’s Extraordinary Path to Inner Peace (Class 1 of 3)

Mildred Lisette Norman was born in Egg Harbor, New Jersey in 1908. She received no religious training but would occasionally hear a religious principle, and if it struck her as true, she would bring it into her life and live it. By this method she awakened and then spent the last 28 years of her life walking a pilgrimage for peace and teaching the Steps Toward Inner Peace. Many people were deeply touched by meeting her. We will look at the life and teachings of this extraordinary “Peace Pilgrim”. We’ll also consider how her teachings relate to Buddha Dharma.

Instructor: Bill Stauffer (stauffew@yahoo.com)

Class Objective: To provide an introduction to the life and teachings of Mildred Norman who is commonly known as “Peace Pilgrim”.

Body of Knowledge to be explored: Most of the information discussed will be taken from the writings of Peace Pilgrim as well as from recordings of her and from the memories of the people who knew her. We will especially look at how she lived her life and what she believed.

Instruction Style: Talks, readings, discussion and videos. Please note: this is a philosophy class so there will be significant time given to questions and discussion.

Prerequisites or Required Preparation: No preparation is required, but the interested student can prepare, if desired, by reading some of Peace Pilgrim’s writings and watching some of her videos. I recommend these materials:

· A Documentary on YouTube “Peace Pilgrim: An American Sage who Walked Her Talk”. This includes an interview with HHDL who admires Peace Pilgrim.

· A small pamphlet written by Peace Pilgrim entitled “Steps Toward Inner Peace”. A PDF copy is available for free at  www.peacepilgrim.org

· A book of her collected writings: “PEACE PILGRIM: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words.” This book is also available for free from www.peacepilgrim.org Peace Pilgrim believed spiritual truth should not be sold so her friends still give this book and pamphlet away for free to all who request it.

Class Schedule: Classes will meet from 3:00 to 5:00 PM EDT on three successive Saturdays: August 8, 15, and 22. The material will build from week to week so students are encouraged to not skip classes. However, if you need to skip a class please feel free to join the next class any way.

Week 1. An Introduction to the life and thinking of Peace Pilgrim. Students may want to read the first two chapters of her book but this is not required.

Week 2. Peace Pilgrim was dedicated to world peace and thought this could only come about when a critical mass of people had found inner peace. Thus, her main teaching was about finding inner peace. We will discuss her “Steps Toward Inner Peace” and consider how it relates to Buddha Dharma.

Week 3.  We will further discuss her thinking with stories from her pilgrimage and possibly a video (depending on how well Zoom is behaving).

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