The Tenors of Sacred Activism

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

Jimi Hendrix

Yesterday, the 24th of July, 2021, I joined a demonstration in the heart of the old city centre of Padova in Italia. It was a warm sunny weekend evening, and many of my friends and students promised to be there. Against the preference of my wife and the advice of a friend, I brought my two little kids – who are six and three - along with me. Both my wife and my friend worried about the safety of my kids, especially wondering what if the law enforcement turn against the demonstrators.

Since the demonstration was for securing my kids’ future, I joined it. My kids are as much of this land as they are of my motherland. And the dignity and personal liberty of my kids and their generation of fellow beings was a worthy cause for me to step into the field, albeit that field not being the land to which I was born into.

However, the concern of my friend hurt me a bit, I must admit. “This is Italy we are talking about, not Libya, Iran or Burma where our fellow brethren cannot stand up for their personal liberty and social equality. If my kids cannot ask for what is bestowed upon them by virtue of birth, we should admit that Italy is a totalitarian state,” I responded with gentleness to my friend.

“I can’t argue with that,” is how my friend responded.

Among the thousands gathered at the demonstration, I was one of the few coloured persons and probably the only English speaking person. Some of my friends who joined the demonstration wondered why I was at the demonstration. Some were expecting me to speak about the pitfalls of the “vaccination certificate” and the explicitly declared large-scale social segregation that is planned (I still haven’t figured out why they call it ‘Green Pass’, since ‘Green’ is used to represent anything that is sustainable or regenerative, while the intended use of the certificate is exactly the opposite of sustainable).

I didn’t go to protest the planned segregation in Italia. In fact, I didn’t go to protest anything.

“My two kids and my wife are here. Several of my Italian friends are here. They want to champion civil liberties in the land to which they belong. That seems like a fair request to me.”

“The parliament does not seem to be represented in matters of democracy. The current affairs seem to be governed by Executive orders and Emergency ordinances. And though I am not of this land, I have a shared humanity with the people of this land.” This was the reasoning I shared with my friends for joining the demonstrations.

To my pleasant surprise, there were very few police presence at the demonstration. And where they were, they were dressed in their usual Summer uniforms, plus with the casual air that only Italian law enforcement professionals can put on (you have to admire that about Italian law enforcement!), and the easy-going banter that they were having with the demonstrators. [The last time I joined a demonstration was in Canada to support the cause of the indigenous people there. The law enforcement was in black and grey armoured machinery, all dressed like the military and armed with armaments that belong to the battlefield. That felt menacing].

The demonstrators yesterday seemed intense about their cause, yet there was an air of celebration and fellowship everywhere. For the most part, their demonstration was a reclamation of the highest common denominators that hold our precious humanity together. Things like democracy, liberty, truth and the famed Italian spirit of fraternity were what they were championing.

Yet, I noticed occasional shouts of dissidence and negativity coming through from the demonstrators. And each time it did, I could sense the oneness among the demonstrators disappear. It is as if the spirit knows what works and what doesn’t, what unites and what divides.

That brings me to the main reason why I am writing this article.

If there is anything we have learned from the activism of Gandhi, Mandela and ML King, if goodness and righteousness are to succeed, we must hold ourselves and our activism to the highest standards of sacredness. Nothing short of that would do justice to our children’s future.

Here are 4 standards of sacred activism we can adopt from the lives of the legendary activists. They are bottom-up and inside-out;

1. Our activism must be one of Love, Kindness and Play

Love is why we bear our sacrifices. It is an irony if we hold in our hearts resentment, bitterness, hatred or vengeance while our end-goal is to reclaim love. The means defeat the end. We are writing history for our children, and history remembers those who won through resentment, bitterness, hatred or vengeance as the villains.

Kindness towards our fellow demonstrators, inconvenienced commuters, law enforcement and even the antagonists is important. Everyone has his/her self-interest, and we must empathize with them for having so. In the state in India I come from, the demonstrators are renowned for their sole mission of harassing the general public through forced lock downs and violence. That disillusions people and the Universe towards their cause. Let’s be kind.

Let’s give ourselves a reason to come back and gather again. Let’s play. Play doesn’t make us seem un-serious or immature. It shows that we carry an unbreakable spirit. Nothing like an unbreakable spirit to show that we have turned an upset into a setup for something new. Not to mention, our spiritual fortitude is the best acknowledgment to our ancestors who brought us this far with their sacrifices. So bring out those drums and games, let's dress up in our magnificent splendours, and let's laugh and sing.

When we create a nurturing space, we've managed to live out our ideals for society. This has the power to replace all evils, including the replacement of those institutions that no longer represent us.?

2. Let us stand FOR something, rather than AGAINST something

No campaign that is against something experiences lasting success.

Italia knows this well from the recent experience of the rapid rise and decline of an anti-establishment populist movement. People do not believe in the movement's promise of representative democracy anymore. Why?

Because, at every turn this movement seemed to stand against an old political reality.

When we stand against something, we are still feeding that which we object to. Each time we scream “no green pass!” we are actually giving energy to the idea of a ‘green pass’. When the demonstration is a protest against the “Nazi government in Rome”, the government become the object of awareness. Instead, dismiss the pass and the government. Make them disappear from our awareness, and they will also soon disappear from the physical world.

When we stand for something like democracy, freedom, civil liberties and equality, we feed those ideas. They become our point of attention. They register in the collective field of awareness. And consequently, they will manifest and become real. So, let's defend our ideals rather than oppose our lowest common denominators. Let's demonstrate for civil liberties and democracy instead of against "dictatorship" and against the green pass. Let's hold up posters of our inspirational models rather than caricatures of representatives (not) elected.

So what is our inner state? Are you against the vaccine certificate and “Italian Gestapo”, or are you for liberty, truth and righteousness? Are you against the “un-democratic establishment”, or are you for a democratic future for your children? Where you hold your attention will determine your inner state. Important.

3. Practice moderation over extremism.

The more ideologically polarized we are, the more weakened we are against the forces that try to divide and dominate us. The more extreme we are in our positions, the less likely we are to reconcile and build allies across the spectrum. When we can stay centered, we inspire confidence in those for whom we are standing up. Even our opponents stop to listen to the voice of restraint.

At a personal level, extremism shows our ideological obsession with our cause. And the more attached we are to the outcome, the more it eludes us. Moderation helps us disentangle from the clutches of the results we chase and create space for the collective forces to contribute to our cause.

At the societal level, the majority voice is never inspired by extremist positions. When you advocate things like "death to the establishment" or "hang the tyrant" and present the face of the government as your enemy, it feels militant to the mainstream. Your energy feels threatening to others. And when you propound theories like "the dark demons of the cabal out to create a new world order", however true they are, you come across as unhinged and not in charge of your own reality. For the majority, that does not inspire leadership.

Moderation, on the other hand, shows self-authorship.

4. We must take a stand for self-governance.

If we believe that we can find fulfilment from within, build our own communities, create our own economies, have recreation on our own terms, and self-govern our lives, then not only our allies, but also our detractors and the policymakers will believe it. Remember, nothing is stopping you from spending your money in establishments that do not segregate, skip malls and cinemas that violate your privacy, have your coffees and spritz where you are welcomed with dignity. As a coloured man in foreign lands, I have had to make such choices on a few occasions, and I made them with a smile, inner peace and dignity. We are not the victims of circumstances thrust upon us, we are the choice-makers of our reality. Recognizing that is self-authorship.

Self-governance also calls for activism to create a world that is just and free. What would your activism look like?

Some are good with technology, others with communication, yet other with organizing. Some can build databases of establishments where freedom is a creed and where freedom is subject to commercial interest, others can inspire a whole community or even a nation to awaken and join their cause, others can organize signature campaigns, rallies and fundraising. Your activism can help you choose your new leaders, those who will run for office in our villages and towns, embodying your spirit of service.

Our activism becomes sacred when our actions are not motivated by punishment or retribution, but by the intention to start meaningful conversations and reform the status quo. Sacred activism helps unite different perspectives.

That type of sacred activism infuses us with power and confidence. We are no more rebelling like a hurt child against a parent, we are in a mature conversation with others, even the totalitarians.

Besides, self-authorship makes governance redundant. And nothing rattles the political ego more than the prospect of irrelevance.

As ML King once said, "The final measure of a man is not where he is in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy".

Wednesday, the 28th, there is another candlelight vigil planned. Let us pledge to uphold the above standards that evening.

One day soon the virus will disappear. All this divisiveness will end. And our children will be left with stories of those who fell on the right side of history and those on the wrong side. Which side do we choose?

This too shall pass.

Sujith