Bali Millis Preview and Information: [bali-bali] Re: A Conscientious Objector

I think ,there is equality in power as stataed in America
constotution " All man are created equal ........
except , some of them more equal than the others...ooops...

ah.. well....

>
> Thanks, Sugi. This is an inspiring man.
>
> Interesting that he says, "We say, "Please don't do politics."" As
we bite
> our fingertips waiting for Barack Obama to be elected, I wonder
how these
> ideas could work in America or Bali or anywhere else where power
is too
> highly concentrated among the already-powerful.
>
> Do you think there's a non-political way to address inequality of
power?
>
> Best wishes,
> Diana
>
> On Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 3:05 PM, Sugi Lanús <sugilanus@...> wrote:
>
> > http://www.newsweek.com/id/118140
> > Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne
> > World Affairs
> >
> > A Conscientious Objector
> >
> >
> >
> > Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne, 76, founded the Sarvodaya
Shramandana movement
> > in 1958. The idea was to promote the development of Sri Lankan
society in
> > ways that would empower ordinary people. In part it was a
response to the
> > sometimes destructive demands of Western foreign aid
organizations, whose
> > requirements, Ariyaratne felt, often ignored the needs and
expectations of
> > the society they were ostensibly trying to help. One way of
surmounting this
> > problem was by organizing development according to familiar and
established
> > traditions of self-empowerment—particularly those embodied by
Buddhist
> > teaching. Today the group tries to inspire Sri Lankans to find
their own
> > hands-on solutions for the problems they face, in the hope that
they will
> > find individual self-fulfillment as well as improve life for
their own
> > communities. Along the way Sarvodaya Shramandana has become one
of the most
> > powerful groups advocating a peaceful solution to the country's
25-year
> > civil war. NEWSWEEK's Christian Caryl spoke with Ariyaratne on
the phone
> > from Sri Lanka <http://www.newsweek.com/related.aspx?
subject=Sri+Lanka>.
> > Excerpts:
> >
> > *NEWSWEEK: What is your organization trying to achieve?
> > *Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne: For the last 50 years we have been
able to
> > work in about 15,000 villages in the country. We are trying to
help people
> > to improve their living conditions by trying to meet their own
self-reliance
> > and potential, by trying to meet their own human needs.
Gradually, stage by
> > stage, we are trying to help them provide services to themselves
in health,
> > education, communication. Ultimately we are hoping to bring them
to a point
> > where they can manage their own affairs.
> >
> > *What is specifically Buddhist about this program?
> > *This is all based on the teachings of the Buddha. In the first
place,
> > Buddha advocated that we should obey the five precepts:
nonkilling,
> > nonstealing, non-sexual indulgence, nonviolence and
nonintoxication. These
> > five precepts are the fundamentals on which we work. We believe
that human
> > beings should develop four characteristics Buddha has taught us:
to practice
> > loving kindness toward all living beings, to engage yourself in
> > compassionate action, to gain joy out of serving other people
and to work in
> > a spirit of equality. These four principles help a person to
develop one's
> > personality. From them we can derive another set of principles
for the
> > community that we wish to practice. One is sharing, to share
your efforts or
> > whatever you have. The second is pleasant language, a language
of compassion
> > and respect. The third is constructive activity, the effort to
direct your
> > actions toward real and positive achievement. And the fourth is
equality in
> > association.
> >
> > *You've been remarkably successful. Now your movement
encompasses some 11
> > million people across the island. How have you managed to
achieve this
> > success?
> > *One thing is that we have a dedicated group of people who try
to live
> > according to these principles and who strive to organize the
communities and
> > to help them to help themselves. If you have a Buddhist
background it leads
> > you to help the people to understand and to get involved in what
we are
> > doing. So, yes, so far I think we have been very successful.
> >
> > *You're one of the few organized groups in Sri Lanka that has
consistently
> > lobbied for peace and an end to the civil war. Could you talk
about that?
> > *Right from the inception of our movement we have been insisting
that our
> > society should be a nonkilling society. In other words, we
should not accept
> > violence to solve any problems. Nonviolence is one of the
fundamental
> > principles of our organization. So right from the beginning
people knew that
> > we're an organization that does not practice any violence.
Second, in Sri
> > Lanka we have Sinhalese and Tamils and other groups as well, so
we have made
> > a point from the start of living equally with everyone without
any racial or
> > ethnic discrimination. People know we are not divided by
religion or
> > ethnicity or class. We are working with everybody, for everybody—
even those
> > who have taken up arms and done harm. We do not encourage anyone
to do
> > violence or bring violence. Therefore we are able to work in all
parts of
> > the country—even those controlled by the Tamil Tigers, except in
two
> > districts where fighting is going on.
> >
> > *Sri Lanka is a very polarized society today. Does your approach
meet with
> > resistance in some quarters?
> > *Not openly. We are also an organization with large numbers of
people
> > behind it. They don't like to antagonize us, because we are a
large part of
> > the community.
> >
> > *There are many in Sri Lanka today who see themselves as
Buddhists yet who
> > seem to favor violence as a solution to political problems. I'm
thinking
> > particularly of the JHU<http://www.newsweek.com/related.aspx?
subject=Jathika+Hela+Urumaya>,
> > the monk-led party that promotes a military solution to the
civil war in
> > your country. How do you view such forces?
> > *We keep away from party and power politics completely. As far
as the JHU
> > is concerned, we don't have anything to do with it. We don't
think that this
> > is the right way for Buddhists. We believe that we should work
in harmony
> > with other communities without bringing forward other issues. In
our
> > movement we are completely different from the parties in our
approach to
> > community-building and peace-building. We have no quarrel with
them. We say,
> > "Please don't do politics." We believe peace-building should be
done in
> > three sectors. One is to enable people to think that we are one
human
> > society, that we are all members of one living world. The second
is that
> > there is no place in this world for violence. This is one thing
that we try
> > to achieve through mass mediation programs. Sometimes we get
thousands of
> > people to participate. We try to promote development of poor
communities in
> > those areas which have conflict situations. Third, we try to
promote
> > self-government on the level of the community and the village.
We think
> > these are three things that are contributing to lasting peace.
> >
> > *(c) 2008*
> >
> >
>