Activism

[Guest guest]

I'm supposed to help with a workshop with the Women's Spirituality

Departmetn at New College. They are looking at what Amma has done

regarding tsunami relief and considering how women can bring peace

and justice to our world. Betweeen the time I got my MA in women's

spirituality and now, I've been involved in coordinating Circle of

Love and then Circle of Love Inside. I already shared how brother

Themba helped me to see how to focus on coming from love in

everything. In relation to this upcoming workshop, I realized how

different that is from the usual model of activism we see around

us. Usually activists define the bad actor--whether it is a

government or a corporation or an industry or an employer, etc.

The, motivated by righteous anger, they take action to correc the

wrong. First they establish duality: the good guys (the activists,

of course) and the bad guys. Then anger is the engine.

 

It's interesting to think how it would be different if you were

motivated by love. You wouldn't spend time identifying the

evildoers. You would include them in the solution. Your whole

outlook would be more inclusive and so more creative solutions would

be possible. There would be no division or separateness in terms of

resources or ideas.

 

Just recently I realized that this is what Amma has been trying to

suggest to us with all that hugging she does. I'm a slow learner.

 

Aikya