The Mountains Can Teach Us
A fresh look at Reconciliation
In a recent post, Sissy Austin [via Clothing the Gaps] said “I challenge white Australia, to challenge Reconciliation Week. I am not asking you to go rogue on your allyship and set RAPs on fire – instead I challenge you to delve deeply into this honeymoon period, and ask yourself, your organisation, why not more?”
Over the years we have had similar introspections. We don’t want tokenistic activities for the sake of appearance. Indigenous leaders too urge us to look deeper and reflect on our contribution.
It is so tempting to play it safe and say nothing, but that would not be very loving. In her post Sissy points out that: “Even though this is a hard conversation to have and people are very much hurting, we want to talk about it and not avoid the issue.”
The article below won’t solve anything, but there is a need for voices to be heard, and by looking at collective and individual action we hope to evoke unity in action.
The Mountains Can Teach Us
Late in 2023 a collapse occurred in India during construction of a road tunnel piercing through the Himalayas. The eventual rescue involved the sensitive and patient guidance of Arnold Dix, an Australia engineer, lawyer, fruit and Emu farmer.
“The mountain was busy teaching us lessons, basically”
Glimmers of post-colonial hope exist in lovely stories like this. An Australian, who was in Europe at the time, was summoned by Indian engineers to come and help rescue 41 people stuck under a mountain during the construction of Australian-grade road tunnels. I’m glad for our recent contributions to India.
“As clever as we wanted to be from an engineering, geophysical point of view … every time the mountain would just respond by wrecking whatever it was [that we were trying], and it would often tease us too.”
I rode through some of these tunnels this year. Stunning to see rough Indian highways open up into a tunnel like you’d expect in Sydney, with big exhaust fans and big lights. And then such contrast when riding through others – like the infamous Aut Tunnel, lined with dark and damp slate, barely any lights. Like a high-speed dungeon!
How does this relate to Reconciliation Week?
The 200-year-old colonialisation project in Australia runs parallel with the British rule and ruin of India. Large-scale murder and exploitation to an extent that warrants repeated disclosure, similar to that suffered by First Nations people here. After the 2023 Referendum, Sissy Austin reports that some communities feel “reconciliation is dead”.
As a young culture on an old country, we have only scratched the surface of how sense of fairness and cultural unity could exist.
We can give back to the land in creative ways as a method of reconciliation. We can learn how to occupy it more respectfully and sustainably. Even when it means cutting and drilling, it may be possible to do so in a way that acknowledges the import of the structure.
A method that collaborates with the land. It is appropriate to use the gifts we find on the Earth around us, but this capitalistic and exploitative method of allowing companies to hide the evidence of harm cannot last.
What about direct action?
What of our own behaviour, actions, and contribution? For example, whether you voted “Yes” or “No” in The Voice to Parliament referendum last year, whether you think that it went too far or not far enough, there is still a moral duty to do something yourself.
Whether you favour the modern materialistic view of the world or prefer the idealist and nondual view of Eastern systems, there remains an imperative to make decisions in full view of your truth.
A common criticism of government is that it does not represent us properly. Of course! How could it possibly represent the voice of all? It will only ever be a slow-moving and generalised tool. We have our own voices and they should be used. Democracy is not a once-every-four-years affair, it is a constant dialogue. Government can help instate principles of fairness and justice, but it should not be used as a surrogate for our personal responsibility.
Yoga Australia is occasionally asked to make political statements as topics of interest come up. Sometimes popular causes are closely related to yoga but the links are often strained, and we defer instead to the individuals’ privilege and duty to act.
There is no substitute for personal activism. Just as we cannot delegate our health and autonomy to another, we must recognise that freedom is in our hands and cannot be outsourced.
We are fortunate in this country, and we must step up and protect it. Indian workers trapped in a tunnel don’t have the liberties we enjoy. Indians in general are still clawing back their dignity and self-determination after centuries of colonial subjugation.
Take it to the streets
India in the 1970s had no problem with litter and pollution. They had an organically growing population and an eons-long sensitivity to the needs of the land. They had systems for carrying food that did not involve plastic – wrap up fresh food in a biodegradable leaf, then toss it aside for compost after you eat. Now they, like us, have plastic everywhere.
The difference between India and Australia is that we have wealthy Councils to pick up after us and whisk the rubbish somewhere else, out of view. India doesn’t have that same civil infrastructure, and so they have waste on their streets. Turns out it doesn’t work as compost. They see the volume of consumption firsthand, while we live in a state of pious delusion.
Try holding on to every piece of rubbish you generate in one day. Do an experiment like that, see how much plastic you have midwifed into the world. This is a great way for us to give back to the land – just by being aware of what we are doing. This is your personal truth telling. Even if you don’t want to participate in the political discussion, just be aware of what’s passing through your own hands. Indigenous cultures do this.
Let us agree that yoga involves taking personal responsibility for your own health and your own waste, and by extension that of your village, city, country, and planet. When one additional person flourishes, all others rise. Every piece matters. Your divine purpose is permanently linked to that of others. Through yoga we understand that the inside and outside worlds are not separate but mirror each other.
If you want your consciousness to be calm and happy, then pick up your trash. If you want to feel automatic happiness instead of automatic anxiety, help the people you see doing it tough on the streets. Consider not buying up fruit wrapped in plastic. Consider not eating so much distressed animal carcass.
If the “Yes” vote had succeeded, we might have then washed our hands of personal responsibility. Those in favour would have been satisfied and proud of their bare-minimum effort, and those against would have resented any future initiative in that direction. We must aim higher.
Grassroots action is important
Let’s give back to the land. Not so much in terms of the economic asset called “land”, but as a field, a subtle layer, a kosha. There are a lot of wide-open fields on this continent, one of the newer colonial projects that we named Australia. It is field of consciousness, an interesting hybrid of ancient and modern thought. We can create something new here, on this red earth where so many have consecrated, learned, borne children, gone through puberty, died, danced, and suffered.
Giving back to land is more than biodiversity, agriculture, and land title treaty. It’s any action that you can take. Regardless of political climate, all of us need to pick up rubbish and plant trees. A shift occurred last year. The voice of a new generation was amplified.
Let’s do what the Indigenous custodians have done for thousands of years. Chant and sing so that the energy is calm and the vibrations are high. Look after the flora, look after the fauna.
How strange that I found it such an easy gesture to pick up rubbish while on holidays in the Himalaya compared to in Australia. We don’t need governments or a yoga associations to speak for us. Even though organisations like Healing Himalayas and Clean Up Australia Day do incredible work in spurring activity, we could still start right now, here ourselves at home. Yoga Australia has a good record of engaging with the RAP process, but its meaning is dilute if not backed up with meaningful personal action.
Let’s create a positive imprint right now and for thousands of years to come in the sky of the imagination, on the land that sustains us, and deep inside the tunnels of our own psyche.
About the Author
Josh Pryor is CEO of Yoga Australia and a Level 3 Registered Teacher. A specialist in Mysore Style yoga, Josh’s approach is light-hearted and enthusiastic, encouraging practitioners to reimagine limitations of the physical body, translating into clear vision and heightened states of awareness.
