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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