Silent Warriors: The Dagger within Ahimsa*

Note: You need to read my previous entry on "The Eropagnis" in order to understand the characters of this entry.

*Ahimsa refers to non-violence

The High Priest preaches his faith to the villagers. The richness and grandeur that emanates from his church, while the rest of the villages looked murky and as if bowing down to the church, is in itself a strong testament of the power and ability of his God.

But the High Priest welcomes all villagers to the church still, just like how God welcomes all to his kingdom. All forms of aid was given to the villagers and if anything, that would only make his God seems more powerful as he successfully won believers over. And even if some villagers refused to believe in the faith which he subscribed to, he will still not deny these villagers aid for his generosity and the villagers’ insensibility will over time benefit the prestige of the High Priest and his church - making them seem more noble than before.

However these insensible villagers soon became a heavy burden to the High Priest. The Council Members representing these villagers are often seen appearing at the Church for confession - pleading guilty for the people’s licentiousness and begging for more and more and more aid. Too many problems. Too much time consumed. Too much resources in jeopardy. This time the High Priest contemplated longer and deeper. Should he continue his relationship (superficial though right from the very start) with the villagers as a noble benefactor, or will this relationship be the source where his very own church crumbles? Will this lead to great tension next, inciting a bloody war with each side insulting each other’s faith, beliefs and custom?

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The ‘parable’ above tells a story of how the presence of ‘the other’ (i.e. the enemy) is necessary to justify one’s own existence. The High Priest needs the villagers to flatter his ego while the villagers need the High Priest for resources and sustenance. Indeed as the saying goes, ‘good’ will not exist without the presence of ‘evil’.

What then happens in a war between the High Priest and the villagers? Who shall be portrayed as the ‘aggressor’ and who the ‘victim’? Who’s the ‘bad guy’ and who’s the ‘good guy’? The answer is simple. Each side will always see themselves as the ‘victim’ and the ‘good guy’ while the opponent is viewed as everything negative. Each side will argue that their faith is nobler than the faith of the ‘other’. But ultimately both sides will win some and lose some. Though sometimes one question who will win more and who will lose more...

Indeed as much as I despised the arrogance and condescending attitude of the High Priest, I sensed that the villagers could lose more in this war. To begin with most were dependent on the High Priest for sustenance. Could they go on fighting the bloody war, relying merely on their loyalty to their faith and ideology alone? Is this a ploy by the High Priest to relinquish the existence of the villagers for good? Or is there a better strategy to resist the High Priest - no, not by aggressive confrontation but perhaps by being a Silent Warrior? Do what Gandhi did: Keep strictly to his faith and endure. For I believe that as long as I persevere to keep the existence of my faith alive, that in itself will constantly be an attack to the power of the High Priest. As long as the human being is alive, breathing and fed, Hope becomes apparent. And with Hope, the battle continues for long...

An Old Poem Rediscovered!

The star shines

But in daylight
The friendly sunrays gleam
But refracted by the tyrannical clouds
I wish for the gentle breeze
But received only storms, hurricanes and tornadoes
I desire for that symphonic music
But what is heard is the capricious tone of primitive instruments
I pray for pleasure
But i see only destruction
I wish for the death of men
But men have long been dead
I decide to sleep forever instead
For only in sleeping, i get to see the star, the sun rays,
the breeze, the music, pleasure and humanity.

29 November 2001, Zila

Sunset - Cambodia

The Eropagnis Society

Eropagnis society has been a newly-discovered tribesmen in the 19th Century, amidst all modernity. Probably, the obscure position at the very tip of the Malay Peninsula has prevented its early discovery. Since then, Eropagnis society has been the subject of attention for anthropologists. One noticeable custom of the Eropagnis society is the ‘Cognitive Ritual’. It stresses the importance of purity of the mind, symbolizing individual holiness, which is seen favourably by the High Priest, also the head of the tribe.

Eropagnis society is obsessed with the holy water. It is special since it is excreted from the Eropagnis people themselves. All members will contribute their body fluids, while the High Priest is responsible to use his magical power to perform rituals to salvage the fluids from all impurities. This holy water will then be consumed and used for body ablution, binding the tribesmen together harmoniously in a unique way. Eropagnis society also faithfully read their sacred books and recites several chants daily. Some are so engrossed in achieving higher-thinking order of the cognitive that they will visit respective chapels and enthusiastically listen to the cognitive preaching of the Low Priests. On certain seasons, Eropagnis society will be tested on their cognitive purity. This will be the time where most will be in complete trance-like mode, murmuring and reciting several chants to themselves, a ritual totally incomprehensible to most of us.

Customs differ greatly in different parts of the world. However it is noteworthy that rituals performed by Eropagnis society are essential for their group survival. It is indeed arguable that ‘modern civilization’ will not have taken place if not for tribesmen worldwide surviving their landscapes and surroundings through such ‘primitive rituals’.

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I did the short 1-page essay above while I was an undergraduate and until today I still smile while reading this. Could you decipher who the Eropagnis is? (*Hint: Spell Eropagnis backwards and re-read the essay to see some ‘peculiar’ rituals which we performed everyday without us even realizing it?

The Evil that Resides in Loyalty

Loyalty is often touted as a desirable value. In fact all schools and governments would propagate and inculcate “Loyalty” in their youths and citizens. Oh why am I not surprised since Loyalty seems to bring in some form of security and stability to the country and community as one is expected to ‘remember’ one’s supposed roots, origin and identity? Somehow it is assumed that through the act of ‘remembering’, one will get into the act of repaying back the deeds to the country and community. Here I’m reminded of how loyalty indeed has the power to bind the people together amidst hardship and sufferings. In History, the colonised locals once pledged their loyalty to their own people, culture and leaders through the act of tattooing themselves on their bodies - a symbol of local defiance against the Western colonialists’ self-imposed leadership and culture. The Tattoo is a permanent mark cast to remind the locals of their identity. This mark never fails to amuse me as history has shown how it has the power to give birth to the spirit of Nationalism amongst the locals which would later see locals organising themselves and get into the action of resisting and throwing out the Colonialists from their treasured soil.

Traditional Maori Tattoo

But these phrases below made me rethink again of the value of Loyalty and very quickly Loyalty transformed itself into the shape of a Lucifer with 2 red horns:

“Do you pledge your loyalty to the King and to the Country and to the Church and to God such that you will serve to best of your capacity from ashes to dust?”

“We fight for God, We fight to uphold the God’s name! We fight to end Evil!”

“Long Live our God!!”

Here Loyalty seems to discreetly inculcate conformity in the people towards the authority and the already established system. It is one way to get people to remain subservient. It is one way to infuse blinded passion and enthusiasm in ordinary men and women such that there would be no qualms in committing torture, violence and atrocities to prove their loyalty - yes, all in the name of the King, the country, the community, the race, the tradition and sadly, God. Loyalty caused genocide in Cambodia. Loyalty caused Japan to enter the World War 2. Loyalty continues to discriminate and alienate those who do not conform, conveniently labeling them as ‘transgressors’, ‘criminals’, ‘deviant’ and/or ‘mad’.

Recovered skulls - Cambodia

Dried blood of tortured victims

Sure Loyalty makes one feel more human as one feels the ‘human camaraderie’ as one identifies with other fellow humans. But should we not forget that Loyalty too gives birth to some of the most inhumane actions amongst us by imposing unnecessary restrictions and rigidity in the free-will human?