On 'Moving On'
Why can’t you move on?
What - move on to the stifling of conscience?
So long as we understand that spiritual dimensions are importantly
connected to our conduct in the ordinary world, working for justice
where high crimes have left a tragic trail of victims can in fact be
an excellent component of spiritual practice. Leave injustice
unaddressed and ignorance, naiveté and lack of compassion will still
more overtake the world. The bullies, the dominators, the dictators
will then have a field day.
At the same time, it is important not
to get stuck in the aspects of sadness and struggle entailed in
making a stand in worldly affairs. This can be achieved by balancing
other interests in life, and in cultivating healthy life-style
choices
The work to bring a predator to
justice can be a service of joy, allowing for the interplay of many
types of skill and creativity. It calls upon the assertion of many
cherished human values, such as compassion for the victims; desire
to avert further crimes; duty of care; fearless honesty and
steadfastness in the face of repeated personal attacks and against
vast and corrupt obstruction by those partial to Sathya Sai Baba in
the Indian government, police, legal system and media; carefulness
in handling of the truth; refusal to stoop to the mean-spirited
methods of one’s antagonists; devotion of time and energy without
selfish motive; to mention just a few meaningful choices.
Our introspection and discrimination need to refer to our lives in
the world; and we need not to dwell alone among inner dimensions. We
are body, heart and mind, not disembodied spirits. The cave faces
the world, and the world faces the cave.
Cult members often do not think of
themselves as being in a cult. There is that superficial freedom
that comes of having one's thinking done for one, whereas, a real
freedom springs from the spirit that arises from the self-respectful
facing and working through difficulties, and in affirming our bond
with our fellow human beings, especially in the practical expressing
of our care for them - ever more so when it comes to the care and
protection of the young.
What could be more authoritarian and
cultic than the Sathya Sai Organisation’s refusal to listen to the
numerous allegations from around the world? What could more lend
itself to the hermetically sealed-off quiet life of pretending
problems don't exist, or that if they do 'Swami will take care of
them all'?
Is it not better, however
uncomfortable, to search out the truth and to be open and honest in
reporting one’s findings? Should we ignore the victims’ cries - or
is it better to stop to understand with the heart of listening and
to start to act with the hand of social responsibility?
Barry Pittard.