In honour of Aaron Bushnell and all people who refuse to be silent and complicit (trigger warning: contains strong language, mentions of violence and self-immolation.)
For its passion, eloquence and truth. I see what is happening and can only think of my grandchildren, how it would feel if what is happening in Palestine was their reality. The notion that we can wall ourselves off, that we can keep silent, is unthinkable.
Grateful for your words, Elizabeth! I'm glad my article resonated with you. One day, this manic need for compartmentalising will be our ruin as species, this denial that we're all one with all humans and the entire planet. I wonder what will be left for my children on a daily basis. I don't have an answer, but I'll die trying to make it better for them and all children equally, any way I can.
I somehow missed the notification for your comment, but I guess it's never too late to say thank you!
I'm not surprised you weren't aware. The reporting on this was poor or outright false in most of mainstream media, in an attempt to demonise and pathologise what happened... But as the examples I mentioned show, self-immolation has always been present as a poweful form of protest.
I've seen learned of another case I was previously unaware of, that of the Tibetan pop star Tsewang Norbu 2 years ago. I opened a can of worms with that - turns out he was the 158th Tibetan to protest with self-immolation since 2009! That number is shocking, yet completely ignored by the media.
Ramona, thank you. For your powerful words and for not staying silent. I have (and do) struggle so much with the atrocities happening in our world. I struggle to sit with the knowledge of what is happening but yet feeling so helpless and guilty for the moments of joy I experience in my life while others are suffering. I often feel that the human mind has never evolved to manage such contrasts. Like you I can't comprehend how some people can be totally unaffected by the suffering of others and continue to mindlessly live their lives of consumption. But your words have given me courage. To be brave and allow myself to see and hear more fully what is happening, acknowledging that my discomfort is nothing in comparison to the reality that others are living.
Carolyn, I apologise for this very late reply, but I didn't want to leave your beautiful comment unacknowledged!
Thank you, I'm glad my words resonated with you. And I absolutely agree that our brains weren't designed to deal with such atrocities and traumas, yet there is a lot of potential for growth in discomfort. I don't think any significant growth ever happens in a comfortable status quo; growth comes from being challenged and finding ways to overcome those challenges.
Something Dr. Gabor Mate said personally helped me to cope with trauma as I was trying to make sense of it and harness it in a way that would allow me to keep living. He said that healing isn't the erasure and absence of pain, like Western medicine is trying to tell us. The society constantly teaches us that we must eradicate pain, that comfort is the ultimate objective. But Mate said healing is actually the capacity to hold pain. Realising this was completely transformative for me.
The righteous fire in this writing... and I mean that in a good way. Thank you, Ramona. As we say in the Buddhist communities I am part of, three bows. Free Palestine, ceasefire now.
Thank you very much Maia, this means a lot to me. And as a Buddhist you're probably well familiar with deep issues surrounding the occupation of Tibet and the hundreds of self-immolation protests that took place there... To Palestine, Tibet and beyond, may the shackles break.
Ramona you are total firebrand and I am so happy to find you. I feel the burning fierce depth of your consciousness, your anger, your condemnation for it all! Thank you for writing this piece. I feel like there is so much depth in this one essay and I need to keep revisiting this to remind myself of the disparity of power politics, of children dying in war, of the unfairness of it all and the necessity of doing the work that you are doing right now. Thank you so much Ramona for directing my attention here.
I don't think I've ever been called a firebrand, but I’d very much like to be called that again! Thank you so much my friend, and I'm likewise happy to find you. This was such an important and cathartic piece for me to write. I keep coming back to it myself, to remind myself and hold myself accountable.
‘To hold myself accountable’ I want to chant that till the world ends.. this is what everyone needs to, all of us, and specially the people who are at the helm
Thank you so much for this powerful post, Ramona,
For its passion, eloquence and truth. I see what is happening and can only think of my grandchildren, how it would feel if what is happening in Palestine was their reality. The notion that we can wall ourselves off, that we can keep silent, is unthinkable.
Grateful for your words, Elizabeth! I'm glad my article resonated with you. One day, this manic need for compartmentalising will be our ruin as species, this denial that we're all one with all humans and the entire planet. I wonder what will be left for my children on a daily basis. I don't have an answer, but I'll die trying to make it better for them and all children equally, any way I can.
Thank you for honouring Aaron. I was unaware of his powerful protest.
I somehow missed the notification for your comment, but I guess it's never too late to say thank you!
I'm not surprised you weren't aware. The reporting on this was poor or outright false in most of mainstream media, in an attempt to demonise and pathologise what happened... But as the examples I mentioned show, self-immolation has always been present as a poweful form of protest.
I've seen learned of another case I was previously unaware of, that of the Tibetan pop star Tsewang Norbu 2 years ago. I opened a can of worms with that - turns out he was the 158th Tibetan to protest with self-immolation since 2009! That number is shocking, yet completely ignored by the media.
Ramona, thank you. For your powerful words and for not staying silent. I have (and do) struggle so much with the atrocities happening in our world. I struggle to sit with the knowledge of what is happening but yet feeling so helpless and guilty for the moments of joy I experience in my life while others are suffering. I often feel that the human mind has never evolved to manage such contrasts. Like you I can't comprehend how some people can be totally unaffected by the suffering of others and continue to mindlessly live their lives of consumption. But your words have given me courage. To be brave and allow myself to see and hear more fully what is happening, acknowledging that my discomfort is nothing in comparison to the reality that others are living.
Carolyn, I apologise for this very late reply, but I didn't want to leave your beautiful comment unacknowledged!
Thank you, I'm glad my words resonated with you. And I absolutely agree that our brains weren't designed to deal with such atrocities and traumas, yet there is a lot of potential for growth in discomfort. I don't think any significant growth ever happens in a comfortable status quo; growth comes from being challenged and finding ways to overcome those challenges.
Something Dr. Gabor Mate said personally helped me to cope with trauma as I was trying to make sense of it and harness it in a way that would allow me to keep living. He said that healing isn't the erasure and absence of pain, like Western medicine is trying to tell us. The society constantly teaches us that we must eradicate pain, that comfort is the ultimate objective. But Mate said healing is actually the capacity to hold pain. Realising this was completely transformative for me.
The righteous fire in this writing... and I mean that in a good way. Thank you, Ramona. As we say in the Buddhist communities I am part of, three bows. Free Palestine, ceasefire now.
Thank you very much Maia, this means a lot to me. And as a Buddhist you're probably well familiar with deep issues surrounding the occupation of Tibet and the hundreds of self-immolation protests that took place there... To Palestine, Tibet and beyond, may the shackles break.
Ramona you are total firebrand and I am so happy to find you. I feel the burning fierce depth of your consciousness, your anger, your condemnation for it all! Thank you for writing this piece. I feel like there is so much depth in this one essay and I need to keep revisiting this to remind myself of the disparity of power politics, of children dying in war, of the unfairness of it all and the necessity of doing the work that you are doing right now. Thank you so much Ramona for directing my attention here.
I don't think I've ever been called a firebrand, but I’d very much like to be called that again! Thank you so much my friend, and I'm likewise happy to find you. This was such an important and cathartic piece for me to write. I keep coming back to it myself, to remind myself and hold myself accountable.
‘To hold myself accountable’ I want to chant that till the world ends.. this is what everyone needs to, all of us, and specially the people who are at the helm