Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

29 December   2016

Buddha also; not Buddha only or Buddha foremost

I got into an argument with a close family member and decided to take a walk along Coogee Beach. Param, my husband joined me. The disagreement was due to cultural differences – not unlike the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka. The lowest common denominator is Subjectivity due to difference in orders of the mind. In this instance – age also was a factor. I believe that those within the same culture  would also have  different mind-orders and therefore come to different conclusions on a matter. In fact the same person could come to different conclusions on the same matter, at different times and/or at different places. Hence the saying that Change is the only Constant.

That which is right for Sri Lanka could be wrong for Australia and v.v. for the above reason. Where our ‘systems’ are different – our thinking order would be different. To the extent the outcomes are based on theoretical measures of rights and wrongs – there was would be ‘substance’ change due to time and place of manifestations. To the extent the outcomes are based on Truth experienced by us – that Truth would be the nuclear  force of the  manifestation.

The argument / discussion was about our home unit and my work in Sri Lanka and the funds needed for this work. Finally, unable to reach an amicable decision I asked the Home-Lord within me to guide me. Then I noted this young guy with some books approaching a senior lady. I sort of worked out that he was from Hare Krishna movement and that he was saying that the lady could make a donation if she took a book. The lady said ‘no’. Then the young guy came over to us. My husband with whom I had NOT shared my thoughts – said ‘no’. We already had the Bhagavad Gita by Swami Prabhupada, as the first gift from my father in law. But I wanted to donate because it was Christmas time – and the young ones were working to get some return. The one in front of us said he was from Orissa and that his friend was from Austria. I pointed to our home-unit within Coogee View block of units and said we were from there. The guy wanted to know whether we were from Fiji. I said ‘no we were of Sri Lankan origin’. After he departed – I said to my husband that I was reminded of a priest at the Martin Luther Kirche in Sydney where I went during lunch break when my complaint against the Police was being heard. That priest was the only one who asked me which part of Sydney I was from? To which I said I was from Coogee. The documentation before the Courts clearly stated that the Police listed me as Sri Lankan, despite my claim that I was legally Australian. The Judge did examine this but concluded that it did not amount to racial discrimination. That was the subjective judgment at that time at that place. Today, it is likely to be different here in Australia, using the same law and the facts. But to me that was some kind of Divine message. The matter after lunch was concluded with Magistrate Smith escalating the matter to trial level. The Australian Judiciary’s limits in Equal Opportunity values at that time were limited to that level of manifestation.

 The trial verdict effectively was that it was not Racial Discrimination. But now I realize that the real verdict came at the Kirche on Goulburn Street – that I was Australian and the Police listing me as Sri Lankan was as per the Constitution of the Police majority of whom were White Australians using hearsay value of  Equal Opportunity. I often recalled that experience at the Kirche and blessed that priest. The matter going to trial stage was the maximum I could achieve, given the players at that time. The place – Goulburn Street - common to the Courts and the Church – manifested its own Truth to enable escalation of the matter to trial stage – which was a first for my Human Rights complaints.

After recalling the above Kirche experience again in Coogee, I looked at the Bhagavad Gita book again. I felt it was somehow connected to Lord Krishna’s preaching / sharing with Prince Arjuna – right in the middle of the Battlefield. Prince Arjuna was advised by Lord Krishna to fight for Dharma/Rightousness – irrespective of the relationship with the one on the other side. In the case of Prince Arjuna – this included his own Granduncle  Bhishmar and his Guru Thronar. I opened the book at random and the messages were comforting and supportive. One said on page 300 - ‘One can avoid worshipping a respectable man or a demigod and may be called discourteous, but one cannot avoid serving the Supreme Lord without being thoroughly condemned. Every living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus every living entity is intended to serve the Supreme Lord by his own Constitution. Failing to do this, he falls down.’

His own Constitution was the phrase that caught my attention. I thought about the Sri Lankan Constitution in the making and my own continuous contribution by objecting to Article 9 which provides for Buddhism to be the foremost religion and which is in conflict with others that provide for religious equality. My Constitution in Australia is that of a migrant. If I therefore failed to serve Australia through my own constitution as migrant – I would fall down. I served the Truth I knew by going to Courts and this resulted in lateral sharing to become global.

The next question is ‘What is my migrant Constitution?’ It is NOT the theory of Equal Opportunity as a senior migrant or native. It is how I experienced my work and its returns in Australia. It was my experience at the University of NSW that led to the matter being heard at  the Courts. The work I had done previously to establish Democratic Resource Management systems produced far less returns for me, relative to others recruited for similar purposes and relative to the contribution to Democratic systems by others who made up the University at that point in time. ‘The gap’  matured into  the ownership value that invokes Divine powers, because I included myself and did not separate in my mind. Once our contribution goes beyond maximum range of our position, it is of ownership value and spreads laterally to invoke other true powers.  To my mind they are sources of  manifestations that we commonly call miracles.

I then knew that I had to act as per my Truth rather than theory and dreams of majority – however well meant they may be. With Truth one needs to conclude and/or act immediately when the decision affects other participants. Truth always answers to the needs of all – even though most of us do not know it at that time. Theory could be used to plan but such planning needs to be based on Truth, to have the power to naturally consolidate and manifest common solutions. This Truth could be as per the experience of one or more and/or the collective investment made by all concerned through a particular theory/common law  – for which the contributors have not received benefits of money and/or status relative to others covered by the theory/law.

I got the direction I needed to settle the family-home issue as per my home-constitution. On that day (27 December 2016) I received also the email regarding the memorial of the Hon Thiyagarajah Maheswaran who was gunned down while praying within Sri Ponnambala Vaneswarar  temple, Colombo.  I did not know much about the Hon Maheswaran but I identified with the temple as a place of art and high level religious order. I had seen Mr. & Mrs. G.G.Ponnambalam praying at that temple. Somehow the core value in my mind’s eye – Common mind – included the contribution of  its founder – Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan who also contributed strongly to Independence in Governance. The Hon Thiyagarajah Maheswaran  could be identified with as an heir of  Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan due to the common fight for Independence. I associated the passing away of the Hon Maheswaran with that heritage. Hence receiving the above memorial email strengthened the feeling of need for a common value constitution for Sri Lanka.

When Dreams and expectations of one part of  Sri Lankan society are included in the Constitution – they automatically dilute the Commonness of the Constitution itself. Likewise in any institution, including family. Sri Lanka as a nation needs to have its own Experienced Truth as the root of its Constitution. Then Peace is supported by Absolute value realized by others at various places at various times. This includes Buddha also but not Buddha only or Buddha foremost.