The Sri Lankan rebellion from both races was commenced through those who ‘saw’ reality of occupants in higher positions and therefore lost the opportunity to ‘dream’ and grow through those positions.
by Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam
(September 04, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) I read with interest, ‘The Guardian Story’ by Nilantha Ilangamuwa. I felt moved by this account of an individual’s search for Independence in a messy environment. Mr. Nilantha Ilangamuwa is able to identify with the individual ‘hidden’ in a ‘group’.
Yesterday, at our monthly group prayer meeting here in Sydney, in the consciousness of Saint Yoga Swami, the speaker emphasized the connection between the Universal Power and the Individual Power (Paramaathma & Jeevaathma). One way to make the connection was said to be to lose attachment in all else to develop attachment to the Universal Power.
Mr. Nilantha Ilangamuwa seems to have enough feeling at the individual to be able to connect to Combatants Murugan and Thileepan. The more such connections he makes the greater his contribution to racial harmony.
We connect naturally with each other, through our emotions as well as our Consciousness – the body and the soul. Former is collective power as in the voting system and latter is Universal power as in the University/Philosophical system of One. So long as we see only others like ourselves and nothing else, those of us who are driven by the seen would naturally connect to each other. The moment we ‘see’ something different – we start calculating due to differences and give less to those who ‘seem’ different to ourselves. Hence the emphasis on Equal Opportunity and Anti Discrimination Laws in a multicultural society. Once we separate we need to use discriminative thinking to assess. When we use discriminative thinking in thought or action – there has been separation. So long as this is on merit through common measures – it would contribute towards vertical progress. Discrimination without such merit would damage our opportunity to widen our world towards becoming Global. Hence the need to consciously think Equal where there has been separation but no merit basis available.
We do have laws against racial discrimination here in Australia. In most Australian Courts these laws are not actively practiced. It is rather a part of ‘general’ Equal Opportunity practices/consciousness in General Administration. I believe that once we eliminate unjust discrimination through one avenue, for example through gender – we have eliminated unjust discrimination through most avenues.
By genuinely applying the principles underpinning our Racial Discrimination Act 1975, to ‘what happened’ to me at the University of New South Wales and before that at other Australian workplaces, I was able to identify with the values of Unity without losing the value of my Diversity. Mr. Nilantha Ilangamuwa states ‘We as Sri Lankans have to find our own freedom within our diversity while protecting our unity and integrity.’
In a multicultural society, upholding our Diversity is essential in finding this ‘freedom’. This is a part that I am able to identify with in all those who truly fought for self governance, including Tamils. Those who are driven by physical similarities – including language but came outside their circles were ‘losing’ that ‘natural’ connection with their clans. It is Natural to feel attracted to the ‘opposite’. But the moment we try to ‘possess’ through assimilation, we lose that attraction due to diversity. Hence the need to ‘keep the distance’ with those who look different to us and approach them through regulated paths and structures including families. Those who ‘look’ different to us due to Time – for example – age - need to be approached through the vertical, hierarchical system and those who seem different to us due to space/place need to be related to, through the lateral system of democracy – starting with zero base/Level playing field.. The hierarchical system is driven by ‘status’ and the lateral system is driven by ‘money’.
In terms of Sinhalese and Tamils, areas Naturally dominated by either race, would have the tendency to strengthen ‘vertical’ systems of that particular culture. Devolution of powers – conscious and/or subconscious – would facilitate this growth. One with greater experience needs to lead the vertical system and only the outcomes of that leader needs to be ‘shown’ for the purpose of outsiders. Where the culture has not changed – age is the indicator of experience. The difficulty often arises when children become more educated than parents and get ‘certificates’ from outside the family and try to take up higher status than parents in the family. In other words, when the growth of the brain / intellect happens faster than the growth of the body, age is no longer the reliable indicator of status. External knowledge is brought into the family to pollute the hierarchical system.
This pollution could be prevented by consciously introducing the lateral system of Equal Opportunity. Often parents/leaders through age have difficulty moving towards the lateral system from the vertical system, due to ‘attachment’ to status and the cash benefits that come with such status. Likewise, groups – religious, racial and gender or caste-based - that habitually to occupy leadership positions.
But there is a way out for those apparently in lower positions/younger but have greater intellectual growth than their parents/leaders and are therefore able to include outsiders in their thinking. It is to place a ceiling (as says my Spiritual Guru Swami Sai Baba) on the status that we can have and move laterally towards other groups where we would be leaders.
Mr. Nilantha Ilangamuwa quotes President John Adams, (USA) “Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people". Those who emigrate in search of Status that fits their earnings need to first get to know the people in their new environments. Often one has to forego money towards this. Westerners donating money through charities often do this but without the appropriate structures and respect for local culture. This, to my mind was a major reason for the failure of Tamil Tigers in achieving their stated objective of separate state towards self-governance.
Mr. Nilantha Ilangamuwa quotes also “Illusion is the first of the pleasures.” (Voltaire). Those who ‘stay’ at home without the discipline of the hierarchical system, are driven by ‘reality’ as per the seen and the heard and therefore lose the opportunity to have this pleasure of illusion / maya. That is like losing one’s childhood. When parents/leaders are easily accessible to children/voters without an appropriate Administrative system and Regulations that flow from the principles of such an Administrative system – young ones are exposed to the reality of the individual in those higher positions and hence they lose their childhood where the individual fails to fit the higher position. The greatest value of the hierarchical system was this opportunity to ‘dream’ through the work of others who seem to protect us, until we are able to protect ourselves.
Those who fit the higher positions eventually become the positions and therefore are natural in their leadership. Their path becomes the form of the structure for the following generation. Those who are yet to travel that path / have the experience, need to consciously calculate and regulate their conduct when they are not able to ‘see’ a leader. When the individual in the lower side of a hierarchical position deserves a position more than the occupier – but is not able to get into that position without ‘bloodshed’ / ‘damage to the system’ – that position needs to become a ‘facility’ from which both sides could draw as per their earnings. The one apparently in the higher position needs to stay still and not block the path of the user.
The Central Administrators of the University of NSW failed to become the facility through the positions in whose higher side I believed I had invested more than the occupants. My authority to be driven by my assessment came from the ‘certification’ of my work not only from that University but also by my previous supervisors when I was in similar positions. Hence they had me arrested through armed officials – by use of subjective social authority – without a lawful/merit base. It’s not different to the Sri Lankan Government arresting citizens who demonstrate higher level of ownership than themselves in the country and using emergency regulations towards that. Here in Australia – we do not need those emergency regulations to arrest a migrant like myself – who seems to be an ‘orphan’!
With all that, we do not see race related violence to the extent we see in Sri Lanka. The reason is Australia’s stronger investment in Democracy in general, through the economic path. To my mind, this has been possible more due to Asian migrants who come for economic reasons and refugees who come here ready to start from zero base. What happened back in Sri Lanka at the physical level - is secondary to the demonstration of the ability of a refugee applicant to start from zero base. The extent to which a refugee applicant claims to have suffered needs to be not more than the benefits that the refugee would receive in the first stage of settlement here in Australia. The refugee would not know the level. The assessing officer needs to know. Otherwise the applicant, if apparently successful – would carry a heavier baggage than one which Australia is able to carry. It may result in violence or depression.
Recently, we heard at a community forum that most applicants were economic applicants. To the extent they are able to convert shortfall in status to economic benefits – they would succeed from zero base. Hence greater importance needs to be placed on whether our compensation – the compensation we can afford – would help the refugee applicants break even and have a new start. Otherwise, they remain UN’s responsibility and UN needs to fund the difference through ‘special’ services – in Australia or other UN countries.
The Sri Lankan rebellion from both races was commenced through those who ‘saw’ reality of occupants in higher positions and therefore lost the opportunity to ‘dream’ and grow through those positions. Sri Lanka as a whole did not have the economic advantage that Australia had – largely due to the latter’s parent country being economically richer than the former’s parent country. To make matters worse – Sri Lankans invested in Western educational systems and therefore started expecting jobs to fit those certificates. Sinhalese and Tamils respectively who felt more part of their respective communities than part of Sri Lanka as a whole – lost this opportunity to dream at global level. If they had followed their own cultures and reached the top through their cultures – they would have preserved their diversity and integrated through common bodies such as the UN. Both SWRD Bandaranaike’s Sinhala Only and LTTE’s Tamil Only – would have led to this vertical growth if they had not ‘seen’ anything other than their own system. The attraction towards Western systems was stronger with Tamils than with Sinhalese and hence they are better able to work the Western systems than Sinhalese who keep ‘seeing’ Global and Sinhala only alternatively. That is the way of Maya. It makes us unsteady if we see outside our own circles. Truth of our actions / Karma has manifested Itself through all those who are true to themselves and if their paths are followed, Sri Lanka would successfully move towards democracy – albeit more through minority races that have become more global than through those politically driven and favored by their leaders.
As per the statements by the Hon Douglas Devananda (published in Sri Lanka Guardian), the problems at the University of Jaffna are being addressed. To my mind, if the University of Jaffna does not measure up to the expectations of Tamils who lost their leadership positions due to the war and went overseas to make up and balance through economic returns, University of Jaffna would continue to experience instability due to loss of connection to the roots of Tamil culture. Tamils who brought credit to the Tamil Community through their academic achievements, need to be brought back in Science/Engineering/Law related studies and in terms of courses relating to Humanities – Tamil culture ( the older the better) needs to be the measure. The latter would need to grow at least as tall as Sinhala Buddhist culture in South to confirm our cultural Independence.
As I said yesterday at a community meeting – different castes in Jaffna that have remained separated over the years need to stay separated. The lower castes are showing greater tendencies than the higher castes towards economic progress – the same way Asian migrants show faster economic progress than European migrants who are able to ‘dream’ of getting into the higher positions more easily. Similarly, if Tamils are facilitated to pursue their economic pursuits more actively than the Sinhalese – there would be harmony in Sri Lanka. This I believe, is the best opportunity available to the Tamil Diaspora – not only to invest in Tamil areas but also keep developing global opportunities about which local Tamils could ‘dream’ and feel motivated by .
We could grow tall through our racial cultures or we could widen our world laterally through economic progress. If we seek to get even with the Sinhalese who use majority vote to ‘rule’ – we need to follow the economic path. If we seek to become independent of the Sinhalese – we need to follow the cultural path by ‘staying at home’ and being motivated by the higher positions we could get into. Either would work. The path best suited for us would be ‘seen’ / known through our own past. The main force that would lead us to success is to preserve the connection with each other anyway we can – including through Belief and prayers.
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