The 1969 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership

RESPONSE of Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne

It is with deep humility and renewed faith in the service of humanity that I rise on this memorable occasion to deliver this brief response. This is an honor you have given to my country, to the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement of which I am a humble worker, and above all an honor given to chose simple village people who responded to our call of "love and service." I am only a medium chosen by destiny to assist the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation to carry the spirit of that great leader, the late President Ramon Magsaysay, into the minds and hearts of my own common people—for it was for the emancipation of the common man that he lived and died.

Great men of the caliber of Ramon Magsaysay do not belong to one country or one period or one generation. They are social phenomena that suddenly appear and disappear like flashes of lightning in darkness and show us the path. They belong to the entire universe and eternity. Lord Buddha says "Rupan jeerathi maccanan—Nama goththan na jeerathi" which means while all that is mortal in us decays our noble thoughts, words and deeds will live long after our physical remains are gone. The true greatness of a man is known only by the way his fellowmen hold him in esteem after his death. Judging from the name he has left behind to be honored and perpetuated in this manner, I am sure he must now be among the divine. May he bless us all in our endeavors to serve our fellowmen, particularly those that are considered the lowest—the lowliest and the lost.

I believe the Foundation has elected me for the Community Leadership Award on the basis of the external manifestations of my behavior in that particular field. Therefore, it is my duty to place before this august assembly some of my inner thoughts that motivated my external behavior.

In the culture in which I was brought up I was fascinated from my childhood by certain thoughts the implementation of which, however, was postponed by that same culture to the next life. Peetho bhavatu lokocha, meaning may all beings in the universe be well and happy, was one such thought. Working for a nobler ideal than the ideal of the greater good of the greater number became a passion in my life. Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave called this thought, the welfare of all, by the Sanskrit word sarvodaya.

For the awakening of all in society we have to awaken ourselves first. Again my own Buddhist culture showed me four noble goals towards which every individual should strive. The first is loving kindness, or metta as we call it. As a good mother loves her one and only child and protects him at the risk of her own life we are taught to love and protect all living beings. Secondly, we are taught to cultivate kanuna, or compassion, which motivates us to go in search of those who suffer and help remove the causes which have brought upon them that suffering. Thirdly, we are taught to train ourselves to take altruistic joy in others' happiness. We call this muditha. Fourthly, to educate oneself in upekkha, or equanimity, which gives one emotional balance to take fame or blame, profit or loss, success or failure with detachment and patience. These four qualities are called divine abodes because they elevate the follower to divine levels. It is this philosophy of life that motivated me for this silent mission which you have adjudged worthy of honor.

These are not impractical idealistic thoughts that have no relevance to the modern scientific and technological world. Modernity is not determined by time. It is determined by our attitudes and outlook to life and living. These thoughts we translated into practical application to bring about significant changes in the grass-roots of our society—changes for the better among our rural communities which are the foundation of our culture, freedom and human dignity. And wasn't it our revered Ramon Magsaysay himself who said that "democracy should start from the grassroots?"

The technique we adopted to translate thoughts into action was a call to all to share their "time, thought and energy" in the service of their fellowmen. We called it shramadana. Sharing (dana), compassionate speech (priya vacana), constructive activity (arthacharya) and equanimity (samanath-matha) are the four salient features of shramadana.

These thoughts and action in their own small way are laying a strong spiritual and material foundation for rebuilding a new Ceylon—a new Sri Lanka—where I assure you science and spirituality will be harmonized and the island deserve once again to be called Dharmadweepa—The Island of Righteousness. Here and now I declare in the name of that great leader, the Lord Buddha, that every cent of this monetary award and every element of personal recognition that you have given me today will be utilized for this noble end. For I believe as he believed that "you can find yourself only to the extent you can lose yourself." Lose yourself in what? Lose yourself completely and totally in the service of your fellowmen to free them from the causes of all suffering; namely, greed, ignorance and hatred.