From Shambhavi with love on October 7, 2024

Transcript

Hey everyone, this is Shambhavi. It's October 7th, 2024, one year after the start of the current phase of the genocide against the Palestinian people. And I wanted to say something about this day, marking this past year. I didn't really know what I wanted to say, but what I've landed on is I want to say thank you.

First and foremost, I want to say thank you to all of the Gazans and Palestinians in the diaspora and all of those living in Palestine who have educated us, who have shared their lives with us, who have shared their music and their art and their poetry with us, who have shared their pain with us, who have shared their analysis with us, who have shared their understanding of their own history and our history with us.

And who have really served as a mirror and as mentors to us who live in the West or elsewhere and who are in need of education and heart opening and clarity. They have shared this with us.

And they have shown us about ourselves even while they are in the midst of the most extreme trauma, pain, loss, grief, anger, starvation, and torture. They have still addressed us and spoken to us and even befriended us.

And I hope that there are more of us now globally that Palestinians both in Palestine and in the diaspora can also count as friends. And I hope that they can feel that we are in some respect more reliable than we were before and more of a support for them as we all try to work together in whatever way we can, not only to free Palestine, but also ourselves and to bring about a different situation for all of the beings and creatures and lands of this earth.

I'd also like to thank the journalists who have lost their lives, who have continued to report under the most egregious circumstances. And I want to also particularly thank the Electronic Intifada. I did not watch their weekly livestream before October 7th, but they have been in this struggle for decades.

They are wise and compassionate and really, I have never seen a newscast like theirs where they cry and comfort and share, and it is so real. I urge everyone to watch it. It's on Wednesday mornings.

So thank you to all of you who I just mentioned and so many more. And I'd also like to thank all of the people who are somewhat in my circumstance: who were not educated enough about what is going on in Palestine, nor about our own governments and how things actually are. And I'd like to thank you for going on this intense journey with me this past year, for sharing, for learning, for seeing what's very difficult to see and digesting what's very difficult to digest.

We're crying together and commiserating together, We're arguing and in some cases resolving arguments. We're facing things in our own histories and spiritual traditions that are very difficult to face and see. And we’re becoming, as much as we possibly can, beings that are going to help to bring in a kinder and more compassionate future with true kinship and equality.

So thank you. Really, words aren't enough.

I feel that the community that is forming, the connections that are forming globally, the greater understanding that is arising, is really the leading edge of where we're going if we can survive what's happening right now. And so I do feel some sense of a possibility of a different future.

I'd also like to thank all the people who have marched and protested and lost their jobs and spent time in jail and given up time with their families to get out on the streets and protest and show the world that human beings are worth saving.

So thank you so much. And my heart is with you as we unimaginably enter into this second year of this intense phase of the genocide. And I hope everyone will find the courage and the resilience and the heart to keep going, keep forming connections and opening our hearts to each other in real ways that are lasting and that reflect the world we actually want to live in.

Lots of love to all of you.

Shambhavi Sarasvati

Please join Shambhavi and the Jaya Kula community for satsang & kirtan every Sunday at 3:00pm Pacific. Come in person to 1215 SE 8th Ave, Portland, OR, or join Jaya Kula’s newsletter on Substack to get the Zoom link for satsang. You can also listen to my podcast—Satsang with Shambhavi—wherever podcasts are found.

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