NO New Nuclear Weapons - NO Star Wars - EVERYTHING SHOULD BE UNDER THE SUN - NO New Nuclear Targets...
NO Weapons In Space
-
NO New Pretexts For Nuclear War - NO Nuclear Testing - NO All Types Of Weapons & War & War Culture...
We have only one WORLD yet! If we destroy it, where else will we go?
YES For The Global Peace Movement, YES Loving & Caring Each Other, YES Greatness in Humanity, YES Saving Our Unique Mother Earth,
YES Great Dreams For Better Tomorrows, YES Emerging Positive Global Energy, YES National and Global Transparency, and YES Lighting Our Souls & Minds.

Dedication:

Dr. A.T. ARIYARATNE: "We are one humanity that we are progressing."

Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, Founding President of the Sarvodaya Movement in Sri Lanka. Amblem of the Sarvodaya Movement, founded in 1958 in Sri Lanka.
An Exclusive Interview with Dr. A. T. ARIYARATNE
Founding President of the Sarvodaya Movement

Interviewed by Light Millennium

For the 7th Anniversary of the Light Millennium


"We strongly believe in changing the consciousness of people from division to unity, from hatred to love, from violence to nonviolence, from war to peace."


"Let people realize that there is no time when violence is the solution."

"Sarvodaya's idea is awakening human beings to build a new world."

"
"Each person has to build peace within their own total mind and heart. Nobody else can do it."

"In a spiritual world, every atom in my body or your body, every moment tells."

.........................................................................................By Dr. A. T. ARIYARATNE, Sarvodaya Movement

Dr. A.T. ARIYARATNE, founder of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement of Sri Lanka. Dr. Ariyaratne and the movement he founded have survived years of government harassment and intimidation, assassination threats and malevolent neglect by politicians. He won the Gandhi Peace Prize in 1996, the Niwano Peace Prize, the King Beaudoin Award and many other international honors for his work in peace making and village development. 47 years of service to strife-torn Sri Lanka and humanity, Dr. Ariyaratne now strives for peace with an urgency. While separatists and the government have waged war on the island, villagers have struggled to make ends meet. More information about Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne and Sarvodaya Movement can be obtained at: www.sarvodaya.org  and www.sarvodayausa.org

Light Millennium ("LM") is inspired by the vision and accomplishments of Dr. Ariyaratne and his near half-century old Sarvodaya Movement that is considered one of the best role models of a non-profit organizations in the world. Within Sarvodaya Movement, there are close to 20 different divisions and independent units on the national level. The essence of Sarvodaya Movement is millions of people in thousands of villages, who are empowered to improve the quality of life for each other. Light Millennium re-visited the Sarvodaya Movement's Headquarter during the last week of November 2006 in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, and conducted an interview with Dr. Ariyaratne on November 29, 2006. We are very greatfull to Dr. Ariyaratne for his warm welcome, given time, and sharing with us his vision, thoughts and experiences.

Light Millennium: What are your accomplishments towards the rehabilitation process after the tsunami? Or in other words, do you think that Sri Lanka has recovered?

Dr. Ariyaratne: I don't think that we have fully recovered from the tsunami. It's true that the government and non-governmental sector and the people been affected have done a lot of work to recover from this tragedy. But still I am not happy about the volume of work that has been done. A lot of international private organizations have pledged to the government and agreed to construct houses for example, but many of these organization have disappeared and those that have remained have not done it completely. So, the government is all the time complaining that those who committed themselves to rebuild houses, etc. did not keep to their promise.

As for Sarvodaya, we didn't sign any agreement with anybody. From all over the world money was given to us through our website and all that money we spent on 12 items  including housing, water and sanitation, healthcare, and education. Afters six months of work we published a report. Then after one year we published another report that placed before the public how much we received, how much was spent and what we did from that. Even now we are in the eastern province and the north because of the problems there. Our work is still continuing in those parts and in the southern part of the country but we don't have finances now. We have almost exhausted everything that we have received.

LM: In terms of Sarvodaya Movement, what do you consider your best accomplishment after the tsunami?

Dr. Ariyaratne: As far as I am concerned, we look at this problem as whole. First thing is, we wanted people to be given the relief that they needed immediately. I think we did that to the best of our ability. Then came the next stage, where we tried to help them with rehabilitation, psychologically as well as physically. Psychologically means to face the real situation: this happened so we are to recover from it. Then physically, to see that they had clean drinking water and adequate food, sufficient healthcare, temporary access to shelter and permanent housing. Their children's education was revived. Those who lost their houses' bread winners were looked after continuously and the orphans were also looked after.

Then we started reconstruction. In the southern area alone we have constructed hundreds and handed them all to the people there. They are very solid houses, tiled, and there is a lot of space. In the north and east now a similar number of houses are being completed. Then we restored or constructed hundreds of preschools around the country, and hundreds of wells for drinking water. With help from USAID and Clinton-Bush Fund  we undertook to construct 80 children's playgrounds , and that process is still going on. So, in that manner we have now tried our very best to reconstruct at the same time the government did some work. Other organizations also did work but personally I am not satisfied with the way the government bureaucracy handled this whole thing right from the beginning.

LM: How has been the United Nations' effectiveness in the recovery process since the tsunami in Sri Lanka?

Dr. Ariyaratne: As I am not involved in the day to day operations and management of Sarvodaya I don't know very much to tell you about the United Nations. The UN did help us in our work with children. For that we are very thankful. But when a serious situation like this occurs UNDP should have summoned everybody who has already done good work in the field and said we will help you. They did some coordination but just as I am unhappy with the government, I am with the UN as well.

LM: What is the largest and richest non-governmental organization in Sri Lanka? And how do you evaluate international non-governmental organizations' contributions and collaborations in the rehabilitation process of Sri Lanka?

Dr. Ariyaratne: Of course, the Sarvodaya Movement is the largest and best known in the country but we are definitely not the richest. The richest organizations are receiving a lot of funding from foreign embassies and foreign organizations. After the tsunami the major organizations with big budgets were not localizing use. Foreigners used plenty of that money. I cannot say how many of them used that money properly. But Sarvodaya never used anything more than 7 percent from tsunami donations for administrative expenses. I know that some of the international organizations were conducting their affairs from five star hotels or office facilities that were quite expensive by Sri Lankan standards. They may have spent as much as 30, 40, and 50 percent of what people all over the world contributed for administration.

Ideally, it is much better for international groups to partner with organizations like Sarvodaya and work with local groups. But I don't think that happens very much. So overnight certain patterns sprang up, for example, cleaning up Sri Lanka after the tsunami  Much of the cleanup came from abroad instead of from Sri Lanka's own organizations. Sarvodaya is left and maybe certain other local organizations, but most of the foreign groups have gone. So it created a confusing state in the country. If an event like this happens in the future, my advice to the international communities is this: please come and partner yourselves with the local organizations who are doing the work; who are not just making a living. Some groups asked us to speak like they were helping us. Some organizations collected money in Japan and other countries and never sent one cent here. There were instances of fraud also in the process. So what I say is, consult reputable organizations in the country.  Find out what they are doing and work with them. Don't try to work independently

LM: What are your main suggestions to overcome corruption at both the institutional/organizational and governmental levels?

"I never waste money on food and lodging."

Dr. Ariyaratne: You see, unless the mindset --the consciousness of people-- is transformed from selfishness to selflessness, from greed to beneficence, whether it is the UN or government, nothing is going to change. My experience being in this field since the 1950s is that corruption has set in, not only in non-governmental institutions but in the government. It is very ethical to say this is the way it should not be done. As far as I'm concerned, I trust very few people.  When I see sacrifice by people who are not doing it to earn money, then I trust them. 

When I travel all around the country, until this day I never go to an expensive hotel and sleep. I prefer to stay in a house belonging to a member of the movement or one of our centers. Similarly, my meals are prepared at home and I take them on the way. When I see people spending thousand of rupees for golden lodging in their social life, I get angry. This money should go to the people.

I will only say that as a Buddhist, I believe in rebirth. This is not my last life.  But neither is it the first life, and there is another life. So that life into which I will be reborn will depend on the good and the bad that I do here; that means "karma".  Unless you believe in rebirth or karma you can do anything because you do it and you think it's finished. But as a Buddhist, I know that I cannot steal or escape. The next birth it will come back to me and I will be punished. I must do good. I must do honest work. I would advise everybody to think that way spiritually; to find out if they are doing the right thing for the people who are suffering.  

LM: What are your main focus areas to serve to your people?


Between 1-3 years old babies at the Orphanages House of the
Sarvodaya Movement.

Dr. Ariyaratne: You see, Sarvodaya is a development organization. We have people who believe that using their own stable lives, their own community participation, using their own simple science, they can make a difference to their village and their standard of living. Sarvodaya engages in all kinds of activity to improve the conditions of the people. We believe that self reliance, community participation, and a scientific program of work are most important. So we are working in over 15,400 villages on this self reliance, self development program. When we work like this, we come across children who have been abandoned. Women who have been left alone without their husbands; old people, disabled people, dependent people. After the tsunami there were many like that. So we have special programs for them. We have schools for those who are deaf and blind. We take them in and teach them. We have orphanages all over the country and programs where we help children return to their extended families in their villages. We have homes for elders. We have a home where mothers under 18 who have no one to look after them and their babies, can be cared for. There are many social problems we have been working on along within our development work.

LM: I am also aware of that you have AIDS/HIV and malaria programs.

Dr. Ariyaratne: Yes, we also have to educate people about AIDS and malaria--how to get rid of them; how to prevent getting the diseases.  Our community health programme carries out programs all the year round. We now have a mobile health unit.  our Our doctors go to those areas where our help is needed. Also we have a disaster outreach center. We established it after the tsunami, so we can warn people if certain disasters come, and help them be prepared.

LM: Did the tsunami contribute any to overcome the ongoing conflict in between north and south of Sri Lanka?

Dr. Ariyaratne: I think that if Sri Lanka had learned that lesson then people in the north and in the south would have faced these problems together. In many cases at the village level, that is what happened. But the government is guilty in the north of not finding ways that they could work together for tsunami victims. I am very unhappy about that.

LM: I joined your Movement's relief efforts in North in February 2005, and found out it was a tough challenge.  How do you feel about it?

Dr. Ariyaratne: Before the tsunami, we were working together in both the South and North. Similarly during the tsunami, we worked very hard. Then after the tsunami, we are continuing working with the North and East. We were many times the only aid organization present. The only problem is that if we put up a house for 500,000 rupees in the south, because of the difficulty to get cement and other building materials, the same house cost 900,000 in the North. Similarly you have high prices for skilled labor, carpentry and masonry. Also, because of the current war situation, we have to be careful physically, so that we don't face danger. Still we are doing what we can for the country regardless of whether it is in the South, North or East.

LM: Where do you see potential in order to reach the ultimate peace within the country?

"We are one humanity that we are progressing."

Dr. Ariyaratne: I don't see it in the current direction Sri Lanka is going.  There is not a simple solution. Nobody has a solution. If there was a solution the best people in the government could contribute to it, but they don't seem to do anything. Nor do I feel the answer will come from outside of the country such as India, Norway, Japan, Britain or America.

Instead, I see a solution in a different way: bring people together. That we are doing every day. Even this morning, you saw me with Tamil leaders from the eastern province, and they were welcome here for a meeting today. We are getting people and leaders together from Singhalese, Tamil, Burgher, and Muslim communities, and everybody together says, "let's build a new country; a new society." Let us get out of this temperament that is getting divided by race, class, religion and ethnicity. We are one humanity that we are progressing. That way we have hope. I have no hope in the other official processes.

LM: When and where will the actual solutions and collaborations come from?

Entry of the Meditation Center of the Sarvodaya Movement. Buddha's sculpture placed In the quite, green, with many flowers, beautiful and peaceful Meditation Center of the Sarvodaya Movement.


"The idea of the meditation was, to collect enough mental energy for peace and send it to people who are fighting not only in Sri Lanka but around the world."

Dr. Ariyaratne: It can be a very short time or it can be a very long time. On the 2nd of October 2006, just a couple of months ago, on Gandhi's birthday, we had between half a million and a million people in the sacred city of Anuradhapura. Singhalese, Tamils, and Muslims and also foreigners were seated together conducting a peace meditation. The idea of the meditation was to collect enough mental energy for peace and send it to people who are fighting not only in Sri Lanka but around the world. In Sri Lanka within two days we found that the two major parties came together. We found that very serious fighting going on became less. Then we found that those people who refused to come for negotiation agreed to go to Geneva. These three things happen within a week.

We also meditated on Nepal. There was trouble, and we are very happy that Nepal has now agreed to sign an agreement. We also meditated for the Middle East, and all the other places around the world where there is violence. We don't know how far we have succeeded, but we strongly believe that changing the consciousness of the people from division to unity, from hatred to love, from violence to nonviolence, from war to peace can be brought about by every single human being who releases thoughts of goodwill, love and peace. We really strongly believe in that. There is no other way. Of course, in addition to this consciousness gain; we do social and economic development work in all these areas which also contributes to peace. We work to decentralize politics. We try to create a people's participation system in the democracy of villages; self-government.

LM: I read on one your posters in your headquarter, which promotes your village program as "Heart to Heart". Would you elaborate on this?

"Instead of having bombs which explode and kill people, they should a bomb created of love and kindness which should explode and bring love to the heart of everybody."

Dr. Ariyaratne: Well, in the villages, at first, we work to bring people psychologically together as one community. Then we get them to satisfy their basic needs by using their own resources and their own labor for activities like environmental cleanups, ensuring an adequate supply of water, enough food, communication and healthcare, housing, and education.  We try to teach people in the villages how to start saving and using those savings to increase production and improve the economy. Then, we help them learn how to get themselves organized and establish a village bank so that their financial needs can be met. In that way, we build up a village in five stages.

The last stage is teaching the village how to govern themselves without outside interference. It is very difficult, but is the only way that we can bring peace not only in our country but in the world. If you can help village self-governments and make the whole country something of a commonwealth of village republics; if you can make the whole world a commonwealth or village republics, you would not need armies. 

Unless the world comes down to that we will always have the kind of violence we are seeing now. We don't need so much of big bureaucracies and big political systems. For example, in one of the leading countries in the world for peace, where Gandhi lived and preached, they are also making huge bombs. This is ridiculous! Instead of having bombs which explode and kill people, they should a bomb created of love and kindness which should explode and bring love to the heart of everybody. That is why people like us feel very sad when the right thing is not done by even countries which can do it. We have a culture of peace and kindness in mind.

LM: Within your operations of "Heart to Heart" program in villages, do you face with obstacles or oppositions by villagers?

Dr. Ariyaratne: In villages, we hardly get opposition. Only those people who exploit the villages, those who are involved in injustice; only they oppose it. But when the entire community gets together, those people are not very effective, and they can get over that. When there are political parties whose agents are in villages, sometimes those people harass the others.  We can even work on them if we are united. But then the government policies with party and power political systems, armies, the police, violations of human rights; these are things we have to face and sort out. We find some ways and means of working on them by demonstrating our philosophy and treating each other with compassion and respect.

LM: How many volunteers serve at Sarvodaya?

Dr. Ariyaratne: It is very difficult to answer this question.  That could be any number, such as hundreds of thousands. All we can do is predict that we know that those people are there when it is time to come together at the village or the national level. But generally speaking, I can say in theses 15,000+ villages where we are working, you will have at least 30-40% of the village community coming any time to get involved. These percentages can go up to 80-100% depending on the village. If the villages are remote, far away villages you get a higher percentage. In villages close to urban areas you get a lesser percentage.

We have 345 centers coordinating these villages, and 36 district level centers in the country.  One in Colombo also, a five story building where we coordinate work in the city. We have eight developmental educational institutes where we train skilled people for village development work. Then at a national level, we have specialized independent organizations like Sarvodaya Rural Technical Services and Legal Services, an Early Childhood Development unit and Community Health; even a central library and information technology services. We have 13 national level independent bodies in the Sarvodaya family, and many smaller programmes. Legally, we have Lanka Jaticka Sarvodaya Shramadana Sangamaya, the national association incorporated by an act of Parliament, so we work according to legally approved guidelines.

LM: As a total, how many part-time and full-time paid staff do you have?

Dr. Ariyaratne: A little over 2,000.

LM: Who are Sarvodaya's international partners today?

Dr. Ariyaratne: Well, I am not aware of all of today's partners, because I am not in touch with the organization on day to day work. I have entrusted this whole organization to the 2nd generation. They are the people who are looking after me. I know that we have international organizations that are sympathetic towards us in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Canada, New Zealand and Australia as well as the U.S. and U.K., Canada and several Scandinavian countries. Organizations in Japan have been working with us for many years.  Now with that we have 35 countries helping us but not continuously. They help and go away but there are 3 or 4 that are helping us continuously, including tHelvetas, the United Artist Foundation and Hilary Duff Organization in Switzerland and USAID. Some foundations have been strong partners, specially the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development and after the tsunami, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. We also now work closely with a number of Sri Lankan businesses who value what we do. I am particularly grateful for those organizations who see us as partners rather than merely as recipients of donor support. 

LM: What are your current ongoing projects and programs in Sarvodaya?


Pre-school at the Sarvodaya HQ, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.

"Everything is put together, it becomes a self development effort to change the thinking of people, the technology people use, the structure we use in modern society."     

Dr. Ariyaratne: You understand we are not doing projects. We are not doing programs. What we are doing is trying to build a new society; a society where we return to a moral, cultural, social,economic and political developmental state that reaches everyone. First, we develop the individual, then family awakening, then village awakening, then self government, then national awakening, then world awakening. So it is a movement, a very high philosophy and idea.

These are lessons that we learned in the very beginning of the Sarvodaya Movement. If you need an access road to the village and have an outside organization built it for you, that is a project. Sarvodaya is not trying to do projects. Instead, our role is to build your capacity to do it yourselves; with our help, perhaps, and the assistance of your neighbors and others.  The road itself is not the only goal. That is why we have a saying: "We build the road and the road builds us."  But the "we" is not a non-government organization (NGO).  It is the people of the village.  Sarvodaya's idea is awakening human beings to build a new world.

So, to answer your question directly, I don't know that what projects are taking place. I would say we are building wells and community water projects, roads and  houses, schools and preschools. When you are doing so many things, they become known as projects and programs. As everything is put together, it becomes a self development effort to change the thinking of people, the technology people use, the structure we use in modern society.     

LM: What is the percentage of people whose lives you believe that Sarvodaya has touched in one way or another?

Dr. Ariyaratne: We haven't done a scientific survey but I can give a general impression almost intuitively. Maybe 20-25 percent of the people in Sri Lanka have been affect directly by Sarvodaya's idea. Many things that the government has done today were  introduced by Sarvodaya. For example, when we started this movement, nobody spoke about village self government. Nobody gave a special place for villages. But now everybody's competing to latch on to the idea.  Then there are other ways to see the impact of the movement-thousands of pre-schools and village banks, not to mention all the leaders and decision makers who got their field experience through Sarvodaya. 

LM: As far as I know, Sarvodaya doesn't have a representative at the United Nations!

Dr. Ariyaratne: Maybe because we were not publicizing ourselves; that is one thing. We wanted to do work and that is what became publicity. The second thing is, many of these organizations are manned by ex-(or current!) bureaucrats.

LM: Do you suggest that the United Nations interfere in order to stop the ongoing civil war in Sri Lanka?

Dr. Ariyaratne: I am totally opposed to that. I am totally opposed to the Unite Nations interfering in Sri Lanka. I don't know about other countries.

LM: Since the ceasefire has re-activated violence in the north and south since last August, I still consider that the United Nations could be a channel that could bring in solutions to stop the ongoing civil war.

"Now they are telling us: don't violate human rights."

Dr. Ariyaratne: I would like to ask you the question, if there is United Nations or a United States of America. There is only one United Nations. Is it America?. If they want to bomb Iraq, then they bomb Iraq. If they want to stop the war in Sri Lanka, then they come and stop it. There are no nations that have not been affected. They are associated with each other, like in the World Bank. The United Nations, World Bank, IMF --if these people step out of our county and leave us alone to sort our problems, we can do it. Sri Lanka should enjoy equal status.

The problems of our country could have been solved without going to war. When people come from other countries they look at Sri Lanka's situation from their perspective, even when they talk about human rights.   For example, the British have forgotten how they cut the fingers and hands of the skilled weavers in India. They have forgotten how they changed the country so that malaria spread and our people died.

LM: Do you mean that the west deliberately brought malaria to destroy your people and country?

Dr. Ariyaratne: From the 6th century B.C. we slowly learned as a civilized country to build and protect our water resource, starting from a small village tank then building a bigger tank. From the 3rd century B.C., based on Buddhist philosophy and our own technology by 1,200 A.D we had built a system of 35, 000 reservoirs or tanks all over the country. Some are like oceans and every drop of water that fell from the sky was calculated to reach every inch of land going to the sea. We had such a marvelous system! It was praised by top engineers in the world. But  this system was completely destroyed under the influence of people who were not from Sri Lanka,  and now other funders are destroying the rest.  So a country with an excellent system of irrigation; which was self sufficient, had a very simple lifestyle and few major problems except when Indians attacked us and the Portuguese, Dutch and British attacked us, and we defended ourselves.

Other countries are coming and telling us, "don't violate human rights." In many cases they are the people who were responsible for the conditions which led to such violations. Now they come to bring peace in Sri Lanka ! I am not with them. That is why we are poor.  When they neglect to recognize the value of Sarvodaya and Sri Lanka's own cultural heritage, it is not that they don't know. Sarvodaya thought and practice has been taught in almost all major universities.

LM: There are human right violations in each and every country...

Dr. Ariyaratne: You see, all countries in the world without any exceptions have been violating human rights. Look at Europe during the Inquisition. They killed; they tortured. This happens everywhere in the world including Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka there were certain times when unbelievable punishment was given by dictators to their enemies, but not when Sri Lanka was ruled according to the principles of good government preached by the Buddha. Buddha said a ruler should have ten conditions to fill: Share power.  Be a man of high moral integrity. Be a person who recognizes talent in the country and promotes the talent. Be a very straightforward person. Be impartial in judgment. Be a man who is very composed, not getting angry. Be a man believing in nonviolence and non-hatred; giving forgiveness. What wonderful principles of good government!.

Unfortunately, people who could come to see this often end up exploiting Sri Lanka..  

LM: What are the solutions to overcome any sort of external exploitation?

Dr. Ariyaratne: That is what we are doing with our village people. I tell them "you have no other savior except yourself. Don't bow down to anyone else. You have your hands, your legs, your body, your mind. Let's work! If there is no water, let's dig a well. Let's find out the modern way of bringing water even from miles away." We have done it before and we are doing it now--350 community water and sanitation systems without a cent from the government. Sometimes they bring water from 10-15 miles away and they still function. So we can do it. The only thing is that we are not given a chance to do it.  

LM: Civil war is going on and has (I assume) deepened the aftereffects of tsunami in conjunction to hunger, poverty, health, education, housing and other crucial issues. How does your (Sarvodaya) Movement keep its strengths up, and remain able to work towards its mission and vision in this general context?

Dr. Ariyaratne with his colleague and foreign visitors at the
canteen of the Sarvodaya HQ.

"We believe violence must not have any place in our society, in our mind."

Dr. Ariyaratne: Yes, there is a war going on. There is a government. There is the LTTE; there is a third party, and there are other factions of people who believe in violence. Can they solve this problem? We don't believe in that. We believe violence must not have any place in our society, in our mind.

There are wars "out here," outside our minds. Is there war here, in our minds? No. Now if you go to the Sarvodaya headquarters canteen, everybody who works here is eating together. If you go to the hall, you can see a thousand people without any class, race, or religious difference. And there are many more places in the country where there is no war. So, in those places where there is war, let them fight the war, fighting each other.  In those places where there is no war, let them get together and eradicate hunger, eradicate homelessness, eradicate poverty, eradicate ignorance. What we are saying is this: this can only be done with people's participation; not by third breed politicians or bureaucrats or foreign experts who come here, can't speak a word in Tamil or Sinhala but in two days write a report about how to put things right. I am opposed to that.

India, for example, is a powerful county. India has big villages. Why can't India stop any arms being sent to Sri Lanka? From China to India, they come. They shut their eyes, close their ears but they don't talk peace and they advise our government. I am a very good friend of India. I have the highest award from India, the Gandhi Peace Award, and I am invited very often to lecture there. During last month, I was there twice to give university lectures.  But as a government they have faith, you see, in things other than nonviolence.

So let the people here take it up and promote development and peace. Let them realize there is no time that violence is the solution. Then they will come to us and say please help us to solve it. If the president asked me now to go the north, I would go there to see what I can do. But he didn't say anything. Not enough people want this war to stop because too many in power are getting benefits from this.

LM: When did the first idea of Sarvodaya Movement emerged?

Dr. Ariyaratne: I was working in a village in 1951, then I began teaching in a prestigious Colombo school. At that time, students and teachers worked together.  I thought that the students could get a better education, so I took them into a village where we started development work by living and working with them. From that village to another, another, hundreds of villages joined thousands of students and more joined us, and we became a mass movement of social transformation.

From an early age, I was working on this. Officially, the process began 1958. Since then, we slowly got a good philosophy, program and good structure. Now we are going on... 

LM: Who were your supporters, and where did funds come in at the beginning?

Dr. Ariyaratne: For 17 years we didn't have any major funds for our work but then the Netherlands organization Novib and Freiderich Naumann Stiftung Victims Fund in Germany came to us. Then Oxfam, SIDA from Sweden and all these organizations came.  After that, we were slowly trying to manage on our own. So, for about 85% we are on our own now.

LM:This is a remarkable accomplishment.

Dr. Ariyaratne: Right, but still we need a lot of financial support.  We are not in this alone.

LM: How do you select your volunteers?

Dr. Ariyaratne: We call the people to come with their tools and we do it physically. What cannot be done physically like a big stone… hand it over to the government.

LM: Where are your main financial resources come from?

From donations; our own donations and whatever people contribute within the country or internationally.

LM: How do you foresee the next 10 or 15 years for Sri Lanka? 

Dr. Ariyaratne: I am a person who lives at this moment. I don't daydream about what will happen in 10 years or 15 years. At this moment, I am in good health. I had a good breakfast. I am not hungry. I am very safe. Nobody is around with a bomb or a gun. You are here talking to me. You don't seem to be a terrorist. So I am very happy at this moment. That is the way things  happen. I don't know what will happen in 10-15 minutes. It is not in my control.  Suppose another tsunami comes, then everything will change. 

LM: Your approach is very impressive and positive.

Dr. Ariyaratne: That is vision. The vision is to be aware of every moment. Every moment look at it. Look at your breathing in and out so that you are on point with the mind. If any question or problem happens, you are there to look at it without a conditioned mind. The first thing is the spiritual gain within yourself, then you are not afraid of anything or anybody.

LM: How can an inner-peace achieve within self?

"Each person has to build peace within their own total mind and heart. Nobody else can do it."

Dr. Ariyaratne: Each person has to build peace within their own total mind and heart. Nobody else can do it.  All we can do is help. Now, we have an international peace and mediation center, where people come. Pregnant mothers and their husbands come and learn to meditate lined up with their children, so at the time they are within their mother's womb, they get influenced by love. There are other meditation programs where we help people learn to look at their body, feelings, and thoughts and the principles that that govern them--personal meditation/insight meditation. Knowing all this or practicing all this will be great to you or everyone. So, there is another world besides the physical world we see. This world is a spiritual world. In a spiritual world, every atom in my body or your body, every moment tells.

LM: Where can we start to build in an inner peace within ourselves?

Dr. Ariyaratne, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
November 28, 2006

"Do something! Light one candle in this darkness. Light the candle within you and others will come to you."

Dr. Ariyaratne:
Yes, forget about it. Think only about yourself in the sense of beautifying your mind, building peace in your mind. When you do that you will see so many others become attracted to you and ask you: in this confused society, how are you composed? How are you happy like you are when you come to me? You undergo transformation, then other people come to you. Teach them! Organize them!

At higher institutions, just look at people getting alienated, fighting each other, living a different culture and feeling sad. Do something! Light one candle in this darkness. Light the candle within you and others will come to you. Then get together and discuss with them how to in no time find peace waiting around.

LM: What would you like to add this interview as your conclusion?

Dr. Ariyaratne: We are all human beings in the world. Human beings, animals, the plant kingdom, and other beings we don't see. May all of them be content and be peaceful.

LM: Thank you very much. 


More information about Sarvodaya can be obtained at: www.sarvodaya.org  and www.sarvodayausa.org

© Photos: Light Millennium

The interview transcribed by: Beatrice ALMONOR
Special Thanks To: Richard BROOKS

Interviewee: Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, Founding President of the Sarvodaya Movement, Sri Lanka.
Interviewed by: Light Millennium - Interview date: November 29, 2006. Place: HQ of Sarvodaya, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. ©2006-2007, Lightmillennium.org


 

 

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