Dr. Ariyaratne and a call to service

Hello everyone, I hope you had a challenging and compelling time at the talk.

I have certainly been chewing on some of the lessons that were received as part of the event. We often become afraid when we think that there is something to lose--money, education, our lives--and this holds us back from being called.  Simply seeing a person who has been able to accomplish everything because he is not afraid of death is an inspiration.  Dr. Ari has shown that the fearlessness cultivated by the concentrated study of the mind can provide tremendous fuel for our community's greatest needs.

Another point which I find fascinating was his creation of this distributed political network.  The communities in Sri Lanka were motivated to begin a program of self-governance, where through active organization and effort events were held to give education and health services to the poorest members of society.  What arose from that is a communication network strong enough to bring a million people together for peace.  The responsibility shown by communities with a passion for their own livelihoods is the only thing that has enabled this.  They have understood that the change we seek cannot be waited for, it must arise from within our communities.

And so I offer a few questions to the growing Sarvodaya-Stanford community:  What are the pressing needs of ours and surrounding communities?  How can we create events and organizations that address these concerns and help the people take control of their own home?  What obstacles are in the way of this effort and how can they be addressed?  What will be different in our own lives moving forward from this talk? Do we ourselves have enough noble silence? Enough community communication?  

What Dr. Ari asked for was the continued work for our own, our community's, and our worlds liberation from violence.  This will not happen by writing books about it, this will not happen by making a million dollars and giving a small portion to philanthropy.  It requires nothing short of a realignment of what we think it means to live as part of a community, how to be present, how to connect the hungry mouth with the hand that is able to feed.  

So again, what do we need?  What are we hungry for? And what events will create the conditions for our emptiness to dissipate?  

Sarvodaya exists here at Stanford as an open question: HOW CAN WE HELP? And just like the Buddha who would not preach unless asked, so are we, waiting, ready to work to ammend any need so long as it is known, tell us, please, what is the next step.

-Michael Zeligs