Below is something I wrote a few years ago after bumping into a friend I hadn’t seen for a long time. The feelings expressed, I think, are just as relevant today as they were then, when I, along with others, was preparing for the Woomera Action in Easter, 2002 with Hope Caravan.
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When I saw him yesterday, he seemed so at peace with himself. He was sitting in a half lotus, his bare feet crossing over each other on his sofa. The mandala tattoo above his ankle balanced the diamond-shaped crystal dangling from his neck. We shared some green tea, and he smiled as he closed the book before him. His calm demeanor was a stark contrast to my inner turmoil.
He was an old friend, someone I hadn’t seen for a long while, and in that time, our paths had diverged. He found spiritual bliss, and I found more reasons to struggle for peace. He found inner peace, so he told me, whereas I found inner warfare, so I told him. His holy war had been won, while mine had just started, as it had done so continuously for a long time.
“You are caught up in a duality,” he said, smiling with calculated humility, “You think that you can change the world, but all that you can change is yourself.”
He was referring to the fact that I had asked him to join me in action, an action to support those who cannot speak or act for themselves because of their current circumstances. I asked him to join me and others to act in support of the refugees imprisoned in the concentration camps of Australia. In particular, to join others in the Festival of Freedoms at Woomera in Easter 2002.
I replied, “But what if my self is larger than that circumscribed by my skin? What if I include the whole planet? When I see suffering and injustice outside my body, it is still within me.”
He laughed, “Well, in that case, your ego is bigger than mine!”
He adjusted his posture by letting go of his half lotus and allowing his leg to fall straight down over the side of the sofa. He leant forward, placing his elbows on his knees, and his dangling crystal swayed like a pendulum between us. Incense smoke spiralled upwards from the joss stick on the coffee table before us.
I could see his point, but it still didn’t feel right. I said, “Big or small, ego will always be here. Tell me, what do you do if you see your neighbour’s house burning down? Do you say your house is OK, so why worry about your neighbour?”
“I would immediately help extinguish the fire. For me, the plight of refugees and wars on the other side of the planet are things I can’t do anything about. I aim for inner peace through my meditation, and this in itself will do far more for the refugees and war than anything your protests and actions will ever do. Why? Because I am changing myself, I recognise that all true change must start with myself. Your protests and actions add more ‘noise’ to the whole situation. Create an oasis of silence and peace within yourself. This will have far more impact than going out on the street or facing the razor wire of the camps. Change yourself – that’s all you need to do!”
He took another sip of his tea and stared me in the eyes. Or was he staring at the point between my eyes on my forehead, the so-called third eye? I couldn’t tell, except that I felt a certain intensity of effort from his gaze, that he was trying to change my perspective by using subliminal energies directed at me. Of course, he was kidding himself if he tried to do this.
Yes, our paths had diverged. While I saw that it is essential to work on oneself and recognise that what goes on inside, behind one’s eyes, affects what goes on outside oneself, I also felt that one could not just rest in one’s relaxed navel and allow others to suffer. Can one carry the “oasis of silence” found within to external places of sorrow and injustice to share the peace? I asked myself.
I met his gaze and then wondered if it was within or without me as I walked away.
Ouraboros resting on a relaxed navel.
stavros
“The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis.” – Dante
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
Welcome — I’m glad you’re here.
Journeys and Star Gazing 
From:
Dr. Kevin Ryan,
School of Political Science & Sociology,
National University of Ireland Galway, Rep. of Ireland.
Email: Kevin.Ryan@nuigalway.ie
Dear Stavros,
I am writing to request permission to use an image relating to the Refugee Embassy at Woomera in 2002. The image would be reproduced in a non-commercial (i.e. not-for-profit) academic article titled ‘The Art of Democracy: Constitutive Power and the Limits of Dissensus’, to be published in the Journal of Political Power, which is distributed internationally by Routledge. The article discusses the plight of the inmates at the Woomera camp at that time, and the image I am hoping to use depicts the sign on the window of the bus that reads: ‘The Denial of Rights to Anyone is the Denial of Humanity to All’. If permission can be granted, I would be grateful if you could provide me with a good quality digital copy of the image for production purposes. I would be more than happy to supply a copy of the article, and also to provide a guarantee that the image is only to be reproduced in the above mentioned article.
Thank you for your time, and best wishes,
Kevin Ryan
I’m happy for you to use the image in your non commercial article. I will see if I can find a good digital copy in my archives. I didn’t use a super duper camera, but I may find a copy with better resolution than this one on my blog.
I will write to you directly.
kind regards
stavros
Hi Stavros,
many thanks for replying to my message, and for your positive response – I’ll cross my fingers and hope that you manage to find the original image in your files.
best wishes,
Kevin