A. T. Ariyaratne, founder of Sarvodaya, has passed away after a fruitful life of 93 years. He leaves behind an example of life dedicated for universal well-being for us who survive him to continue. In addition to my acquaintance with him running into a little more than four decades, my most recent encounter was being invited to deliver the keynote speech at the inauguration of the curated mobile exhibition on the theme ‘Astounding Vision of a Luminary’ to celebrate the 65th anniversary of Sarvodaya Shramadana movement and the 93rd year of the fruitful life of its founder, Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne. That was the 16th of the last December. At this hour of loss, let me re-reflect on remarks I made that morning.
My aim is to reflect on ATA’s vision and activism from a very broad and general outlook, with our endangered common future in perspective, and not to try any academic analysis of his life and work, which has been discussed and debated extensively for the last 5-6 decades by many. I myself referred to Sarvodaya as far back as 1979 in my Minis Getalu Pilibanda Bauddha Vigrahaya- ‘Human Problems in a Buddhist Perspective’ and called it ‘a new experiment’ in ‘Buddhist economics’ worthy to be taken seriously by those who are keen on alternative visions of development. By that time, the attention of academics and activists alike had started taking note of Sarvodaya and viewing it, some with skepticism and many others with hope.
It is known that the initial inspiration for ATA for activism came from the Gandhian concept of Sarvodaya, starting from the individual, finally, encompassing and extending to the entire universe. The economic wellbeing particularly of the deprived segments of the society was at the heart of the movement, and it exhibited a will to transcend the narrow social limits such as caste and class, and deep-rooted ideologies motivated by religion and politics, factors that have been powerful in keeping the people separated and opposed to one another. The first-ever ‘shramadana’ organised by Sarvodaya conducted in a marginalised village, Kantholuva, in the Kurunegala district highlighted these orientations of the organisation. What appeared to be a relatively simple act of welfare was, infact, a public statement of a new vision and alternative model of development to the world, which was marked almost exclusively by drive for material abundance and consumption.
Gandhian philosophy
The philosophical basis for this new vision was to be articulated gradually. Inspired initially by the Gandhian philosophy and activism, ATA was discovering his own local religious and cultural roots concurrently with his activism. Born and grew up in a village in the Southern Sri Lanka, it is not unusual that ATA’s knowledge of Buddhism was what he gathered from the village temple, village elders and his school, Mahinda College, Galle, a school known for its Buddhist orientation. ATA’s association with Professor Kalupahana, who taught at the University of Hawaii, and lived there, began initially as school mates in the same Mahinda College.
They shared an interest in Buddhism, ATA as an activist and Kalupahana as an academic. Kalupahana, being a pragmatist in his own philosophical orientation, i.e. one who looks for ‘cash-value’ in philosophical thoughts, was obviously a good ‘theoretician’ for ATA. I remember, somewhere in the mid-1980s, ATA meeting with Kalupahana at his residence in Hawaii. They discussed, among other things, the Buddhist philosophical foundations of social activism.Being a graduate student of Kalupahana, I happened to be there mostly as a mere on-looker and listener.It was quite obvious that finally the two eminent people were influenced by each other. I know that Professor Kalupahana had a great sense of admiration toward ATA.
Much has been discussed on ATA’s Buddhist economics. But the term, ‘Buddhist economics’ was first popularised by E.F. Schumacher in his Small is Beautiful (1973),’ now a classic. Although ATA himself (to my knowledge) did not use the term at the beginning, many others saw ATA’s activism from this perspective. By 1990s, ATA had been identified as a leading practitioner of what came to be known as ‘socially engaged Buddhism.’ It was in fact identified with three of its key exponents -Thich Nhat Han, world famous Buddhist monk from Vietnam, and Sulak Shivaraksa of Thailand, and of course, ATA, its Sri Lankan practitioner.
Entire human society
A remarkable feature of ATA’s Buddhist orientation is that he demonstrated in his activism the principle that to be inspired by the great teachings of the Buddha is not tantamount to be drawn into parochial limitations of religious exclusivism. His focus was the entire human society, in fact, all sentient beings, articulated in the ancient Indian wisdom as, ‘udaracaritanamtu- vasudhaivakutumbikam’ – for the great minded, the earth is like his family’ and in Buddhism, ‘sabbesattabhavantusukhitatta’ – may ALL beings be happy.’ Sarvodaya, in ATA’s vision, is flourishing of all, ‘all’ meaning, all.
Ariyaratne’s broad outlook and vision was recognised by people all over the world including this country itself. It may not be out of context here to note that ATA was appointed by Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaranatunga government as a member of the Human Rights Commission of the country. That his impartiality and broad-mindedness has been uncontested is testified by the fact that he was appointed to the Constitutional Assembly and similar other apex bodies by the subsequent governments to represent the society at large. And, it must be said that he served in these institutions without accepting any financial rewards or remunerations.
Humanism and universalism of ATA can be elaborated on further. The reality, however, is that Sarvodaya has completed 65 years of its functioning and ATA has now passed away, a good enough duration to taking stock and passing a judgment. However, my approach is different. The world is not something that draws to a definitive end the story of which we maybe concluded as – “then all lived happily ever after.” One crucial thing that all the great movements in the world and all great personalities who have lived in the world tell is that nothing or none is final or ultimate. If it were the case, the world would have been morally perfect and peaceful ever since the Buddha taught in the 6th century BCE. Or the world would have been without war ever since Asoka gave up war after having won one decisive war-just two examples from the history of the world. In like manner, neither Sarvodaya nor ATA are concluding chapters of a great book. They will continue to remain as sources of inspiration for the world. They are on-going and continuing chapters of an ever-evolving book which the present and future generations need to continue writing in their own contexts.
Legendary life
Finally, all of us know that we have our own physical limitations. The legendary life of ATA has reached an end. For an elderly couple who complained about their physical ailments, the Buddha advised: “It is nothing but naive to expect our bodies to be perfectly and perpetually healthy; but make sure that your mind is healthy”! With his broad humanism and universalism, and the alertness he displayed up to the very last moment of his life,I feel, ATA exemplified what the Buddha said. The Buddhist dictum, manasambhaveyeaparimanam’ – cultivate a boundless mind- reminds us that we can, irrespective of our physical limitations, be limitless in ourattitudes, thoughts, words and deeds. And this seems to be the ultimate way of life to be rationally adopted in a globalised reality as ours today.
Even those who contest his vision for development would agree that Ariyaratne was nearly a saint. He had a perpetual smile on his face. He continued to believe his philosophy of non-violence–avihimsa–until his last moment. Perhaps, the details of his concept of ‘Buddhist economics’ may need revisiting and re-working. But what could continue and needs to be cherished is compassion and universalism Ariyaratne practiced throughout his life and his commitment to the philosophy of economics based universal loving kindness – metta.
May Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne realise the Supreme Bliss of Nibbana!
Asanga Tilakaratne-Emeritus Professor of Buddhist Studies, University of Colombo