Gajalakshmi Paramasivam – 20 April   2016

CHAPTER II

Buddhism.

The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring to all religions the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14(1)(e). – Article 9 of the Sri Lankan Constitution

God Lives at the Church

Buddha lives at the Parliament

As recommended by my friend Gwen, I decided to test out the   Q&A program on ABC TV. I chose at random and the episode that came up was  that of Monday 12 October, 2015 discussing the topic – ‘Social Cohesion, Offshore Detention & Factions’. It was as if someone was monitoring my interests and presenting me that very topic – months after the original telecast. An excerpt goes as follows:

WHAT IS IT ABOUT ISLAM?
Alice Deng asked: What is it about the Islamic religion or people that makes them susceptible to radicalisation and what can be done to mitigate this?

HILAL TAWAKAL: Yeah. My question is: there are black sheep in every community. I feel it's unfair to target one religion. So as far as the Muslim religion is concerned, it does not teach terrorism. It teaches only peace. So what will the Government do about this situation?

The above in Sri Lankan context could easily have been between a Sinhala Buddhist and a Tamil who has NOT excluded the Tamil Tigers.

At the workplace, it could be between a White Australian and those who have ‘assimilated’ on the one hand and a recent colored migrant on the other .

I identified fully with the following from Greens MP the Hon Adam Brandt.

ADAM BANDT: When you come into Melbourne down the Tullamarine Freeway and you get to those yellow and red sort of cheese sticks over it, if you look to your right you see a big tower block and it's a public housing block that's in my electorate in Melbourne and 50% of the people in that public housing tower block identify as Muslim. Now, I've never felt more welcome there than I have anywhere else. But one of the sets of stories that I hear time and time again, from people, is around this issue of engagement and employment, in particular. We’ve got people there who have got masters degrees who are driving taxis and what's become even worse is we are finding it now happening to the second generation. So picking up on the point before, there are children who are born here who have gone to Melbourne Uni or RMIT or Sydney Uni, get a degree. They send off applications for job interviews. They don't get a call. And, as soon as you change your name from Mohammad to David the phone starts ringing. And then when people are feeling that and when they’re looking at their parents going, well, you’ve worked really hard and you don’t seem to find meaningful work, then we, I think, ourselves, as a society, are helping create some of the conditions that make it easier for others to then come along and say, see, this society doesn't have a place for you.

It felt as if Mr. Brandt  was narrating from my book of experiences – some of which are written in Naan Australian (I am Australian). The experience of being demoted  does not stop with getting the job – but each time you seek to produce better/smarter outcomes as per your understanding of the job specifications – you are blocked. There comes a time that you know you do not belong in that part of Australian culture.  In the extreme case I went to prison for Peaceful Assembly at the University of New South Wales. One is not blocked only by White Australians but also by migrants who have already ‘Assimilated’. I was told to be like those who had assimilated. This Assimilation by Tamils happened in Sri Lanka too – especially through Public Service. A member of the audience confirmed this through his own experience:

JAMES FRY: Yeah, I'm confused and alienated from the mainstream society. I was looking to make sense of what I found to be an incredibly confusing world. I thought I found the answers I was looking for. As a young teen I joined a violent neo Nazi group. Had it been today, I’m sure I could have just as easily been persuaded by Islamic fundamentalists. History shows us that though extremist ideologies may come and go, those who carry out terror in their name tend to be always the same: young, marginalised men. So why does our Government’s so called counter terrorism strategy continue to focus on the failed approach of sending troops in to fight counter-productive wars when that money could be reinvested back here in our education and Mental Health Services so that we could reduce the available pool of young men and woman who are susceptible to radicalisation? 

The common factor here is the Order of the mind. Where this has a match in the government – the rebel becomes active through Natural Forces – the omnipresent ‘other side’. In Democracy, the risk of this happening is high due to bottom up election of leaders. Where the Administrative Head is intellectually weak and/or is lacking in self-sacrifice – this risk of isolation develops. One could work out the expectations from the questions of those who consider themselves to be part of the Government:

JACK DEEGAN: How do we expect Muslims to immigrate to Australia as refugees and assimilate properly when a Muslim leader in Parramatta has been here for 18 years and does not speak English? Surely we must he must be interested in assimilating and it just carries on from there that the people that come into this country would be influenced by him. It just seems wrong.

If immigration is for Assimilation – then the Terrorism anxieties are ways of punishing the recruiter through her/his/its own Truth. If the professional as per her/his True contribution deserves an opportunity and this is denied by the custodian of power using past knowledge from outside – and the former gives form to that pain through DUE PROCESS common to both – the pain returns to the perpetrator who denied the job. This philosophy is hijacked by rebels driven by shows of wins and the victims without courage to express themselves often willingly join such leaders who would ‘show’ quick and immediate returns. Where there are no protective walls for us to sacrifice the lower level benefits and have the higher experience – the infection spreads naturally – be it from an official leader or a rebel leader.

A non-English speaking migrant living in her/his community and realizing the higher values on Australian soil – belongs in the highest group of Australians. If on the other hand a migrant who speaks high class English and assimilates with the top administrative group by copying and/or through intellectual pursuits way beyond her/his needs – fails to share with those,  relative to whom s/he has taken the higher position s/he contributes to development of rebellion followed by terrorism. One with higher mind integrates and integration promotes specialization through diversity. One who promotes Assimilation automatically discards diversity. Most of the discussion in the above Q&A session was led by the panelists – as if the audience needed to hear them. The time allocated to the audience for them to speak their experience based Truth – confirms whether the group is really democratic. The audience were like lay litigants in Australian Courts where the cleverness of the custodians of power through knowledge of law is heard much more than the pain of a litigant. Where the litigant is self-represented the picture of Truth determines the highest level of law applicable to that matter. The time allocated to one who speaks above that, needs to be less than the time allocated to the self-represented litigant to present her/his case as per her/his interpretation of the law. That would be affirmative action, which would eventually lead to Equal time allocation once the old advantage to lawyers has been eliminated.

To my mind, Integration and Assimilation could be simply explained as to whether God is formless or has form. Last night I happened to watch ‘Frasier’ and the message about god is highlighted by a fan as follows:

The other night I watched the episode where (spoiler alert) Niles & Daphne get married. In one scene, Daphne’s mother, Gertrude, is trying to guilt the couple into getting married in a church instead of having a civil ceremony. She does not want her daughter to have a “godless union.”  Frasier tries to console Gertrude by asking her if God is omniscient and omnipresent aren’t we always in the presence of God? Her reply: “No, He lives at the church.”

In Sri Lanka, whose Constitution has ‘imprisoned’ Buddhism through Article 9 – Buddhism is the parallel of Christianity. Neither flows from the source but are personal / individual expressions cloaked with official position authority.

As per the latest Sri Lankan news: ‘Sri Lankan Christians cannot bury their dead in public cemeteries because Buddhist monks are stopping them from doing so, charity group Release International says.’

Since the Constitution requires the promotion  of Buddha Sasana – it is understandable that Buddhist monks would consider it their  duty to give priority to those following  Buddhist ways. The law says it. This may not be suitable for those aiming to hold positions in the UN but it suits majority Sri Lankans who are Buddhists. To beat them in their own territory, one has to invoke Buddha in the prison of Public Service. A Sri Lankan who followed the pathway of Hinduism, Islam or Christianity and realized Truth/Love on Sri Lankan soil has the power to invoke the True power of Lord Buddha – not the one who lives in temples but the global Buddha. I did that in 2009 – to get to the camps. I just sat and prayed to Lord Buddha as a realized soul and not one who lived in the Buddhist temple and shrines in Public offices. The Opportunity for Global participation in maintaining one’s Sovereignty is thus accumulated by practice of global principles and laws.

We are all children of God and every one of us is capable of invoking that Omnipresent formless God but only through our Truth and only if one were doing so on behalf of the Whole world that one thinks one  is a part of.  This includes the side we are being  punished by or we think of punishing. That was how I became global by taking action against Mr. John Howard who was then Prime Minister of Australia. By practicing the Equal Opportunity principles of the UN – I became a real citizen of the UN and did so at the highest level Administration in Australia – led by one whose real investment in UN was low. I needed to forego my earned benefits and opportunities in the official system so I would identify with my Truth alone. From then on – Truth did the work and hence the global opportunities to participate in experience. The Omnipresent God is experienced. The one who lives at the Church needs to be seen and known but cannot be invoked by a follower outside the Church environment.

In terms of Muslims therefore Jihad applies only to Muslims and it cannot be applied outside the Muslim community. Jihad is the message of the god living in the Mosque – the tribal part of the Muslim world. Likewise the Tamil Eelam based actions, including killings could be applied only to those who claim Tamil Eelam to be their world. It does not apply to those who voted in the Sri Lankan Presidential and General Parliamentary Elections. Given that majority Tamils participated in that process – they have by that very action rejected Tamil Eelam as a separate Country.  If majority Tamils seek to Assimilate – then the Land based separation of North and East is valid as per majority rule. But the call must come not from Jaffna – the Capital but  the East – especially Batticaloa where majority have the tendency to Assimilate. The Jaffna citizen is capable of Integration and maintenance of Diversity at the top level. If I can Integrate  in Australia I believe every Tamil of Jaffna can Integrate in Sri Lanka. Hence the proposal by the Chief Minister of Northern Province if accepted would devalue Northern Province. It may help claim a win against Colombo but would not contribute to Tamil realizing the Omnipresent self-governance  any time anywhere.