50 years ago .. May 4th

(Puntas the Vacas Park of Study and reflection)

The Healing of Suffering (*)

This blog related the background and difficulties of the Humanists members and his founder, Silo. In many places in South America humanists were banned to give talk and organizes public events. Even in North America, has a Humanist myself I had difficulties such as been exclude and discriminated by various people and «progressive» organization. But Today I will exposes mainly the difficulties of Silo, that was living in Argentina. 

Than I will exposes Silo position on two talk he give in Argentina, «Healing of Suffering» and «Religiosity in today’s world». Than in conclusion I propose a ceremony from Silo Message book, called «Recognition». I believe this ceremony is appropriate on this day of the 50' anniversary of Silo first speech «the Healing of Suffering». Moreover the Recognition is a ceremony of inclusion, inclusion through common experiences, shared ideals, attitudes, and common procedures. I feel that in Today's World were many things are falling apart, been include in a project, in a community of ideas is giving me hope in myself and in the human being. 

Who's Silo?

Mario Luis Rodríguez Cobos (**), also known by the mononym Silo writer and founder of the Humanist Movement.  In the 60st Silo attempt to speak publicly were forbidden in Argentina. When the authorities were consulted about whether Silo could give the speech at a location far removed from any urban center, they granted permission with the sarcastic remark that there was no ban on “speaking to the stones.” So, on high in the Andes at a place known as Punta de Vacas,  Silo spoke before a small group that had had to endure interrogation and harassment by armed security forces. Despite these difficulties, CBS broadcast the message beyond the stones, reaching 250 television channels around the world.

One of his last public addresses was made in Berlin at the Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, on 11 November 2009, during the passage through that city of the  «World March for Peace and Nonviolence» (***) . On this occasion Silo called for global nuclear disarmament as the main urgency of the moment.

His last years were spent in a town on the outskirts of the city of Mendoza. He died at his home on 16 September 2010, after suffering for more than a year with renal disease.

His figure, until his death, was highly controversial, since he was considered a «spiritual guide» by his followers, while his critics call him messianic leader. He referred to himself as a writer and practitioner of what he called an «inner religion».

Punta de Vacas, Mendoza, Argentina, May 4, 1969 

So on May 4th 1969 Silo has gave a first public speech in Punta de Vacas near Mendoza «the Healing of Suffering». Since the military dictatorship was in power in Argentina they had banned all public gatherings in urban areas. 

Consequently, a bleak spot known as Punta de Vacas, high in the Andes on the border between Argentina and Chile, was chosen as the location for the speech. 

Early in the morning of May 4, the authorities placed roadblocks on all roads leading to the site. Machine-gun posts, military vehicles, and armed soldiers were stationed along the roads, and everyone was required to show identification papers to pass through the checkpoints, which led to disputes with some members of the international press. Against the magnificent backdrop of the snow-capped Andes, Silo began to speak to an audience of some two hundred people. The day was cold and bright, and by noon the event was over.

This is Silo’s first public expression of his ideas. In poetic language, he explains that the most important knowledge for living (“true wisdom”) is not the same as the knowledge found in books—knowledge of universal laws or things of that type—but is a question of inner experience. The most important knowledge for living is related to comprehending suffering and how to surpass it.

In this speech, Silo presents a very simple thesis, which is divided into several parts:

(1) It begins by distinguishing between physical pain and its derivations, on the one hand, maintaining that they can be made to recede through progress in science and justice, and mental suffering, on the other, which cannot be eliminated by such means. 

(2) Suffering comes through three pathways: the pathway of perception, the pathway of memory, and the pathway of imagination. 

(3) Suffering reveals a state of violence. 

(4) Violence is rooted in desire. 

(5) There are various degrees and forms of desire. By attending to these factors (“through inner meditation”), one may advance.

Thus: (6) Desire gives rise to violence (“the more gross the desires”), which does not remain inside people but spreads to others, contaminating the space of relationships. 

(7) Violence can be seen in various forms besides its primary form of physical violence. 

(8) We need simple forms of conduct by which to orient our lives (“keep simple commandments”): Learn to be a bearer of peace, joy, and, above all, hope.

In conclusion he said :  «To conquer physical pain, science and justice are necessary; to conquer mental suffering, it is indispensable to surpass primitive desires.» 

(Healing of suffering video)

Silo in the 80'

Later in the 80' a democratic government was back in Argentina, then Silo and the humanist have returned once again. On this occasion Silo offer his thoughts on «religiosity in today’s world», on another occasion he will speak on politics, and in the future he will spoke on still other subjects. Finally it was said that the humanist trust not to encounter any further difficulties in regard of freedom of expression. 

So only on June 6, 1986, Silo was able to give an other public speech. This speak was given in « Casa Suiza» in Buenos Aires. The event was organizes by the Community for Human Development. But before the talk the following comments were explanations given to the public.  

« In the state of siege imposed by Argentina’s military government during the latter part of the 1960s, On July 20 of that same year in Yala, a town in Argentina in the province of Jujuy, police dispersed those who had gathered in a field to hear Silo speak; there was no speech that day. On September 26 in Barrio Yapeyú in the province of Cordoba, tear gas was used and sixty arrests were made; again no speech was allowed. On October 21 at a press conference in Buenos Aires, despite harassment by the authorities, it was announced that Silo would attempt once more to speak publicly. On October 31 in Plaza Once in Buenos Aires, this attempt, like the previous ones, was met with tear gas, there were thirty arrests, and again no speech was permitted. 

When a new military regime came to power, officials gave authorization for Silo to give a short course privately on specific subjects. This course was to take place August 16–19, 1972, and in the interim a supposedly democratic civilian government was elected by the people. On August 15, Silo gave a private talk in Cordoba, and the authorities arrested eighty people. On August 17 in Mar del Plata, the police blocked yet another attempt to speak. The result: 150 arrests. And the final attempt, in that same auditorium on September 13, 1974, resulted in 500 arrests, with Silo jailed in Villa Devoto. All of this took place during a time of “democratic government.”

On October 15, 1974, in Mendoza, the house of a member of the Movement was bombed. On July 24, 1975, in La Plata, eleven participants in the Movement were arrested and imprisoned for six months, and two others were assassinated. In the ensuing persecution, hundreds of Movement activists were fired from their jobs and many were exiled, with the result that they were dispersed to numerous other countries, taking their message with them.

Following a new military coup, there could be no thought of giving speeches, but word was circulating that Silo had been invited to give a series of talks in Europe and Asia since it was not possible to do so in his own country. Then on August 12, 1981, just a week before he was to leave, shots were fired at Silo in an attempt on his life.

Upon his return from abroad, Editorial Bruguera was just publishing one of Silo’s books, and he was invited to speak on the book’s publication at the Eighth International Book Fair in Buenos Aires on April 10, 1982. But the authorities allowed only twenty people into the room to hear Silo speak, because, they explained, “it appeared that the floor was not in good condition.”Add to all this the sustained, malicious distortions in the reporting of these events by the press under every one of these regimes, and it is clear with what coin the advocacy of a methodology of nonviolence and pacifism has been repaid. » (Silo, Speak, 78 p.)

In Silo speech on «Religiosity in today’s world» he is ending his talk with a «question»  which is more accurate, I believe in this present moment, than in the 80'.

«It seems very clear to us that religiosity is advancing—here in Latin America, in the United States, in Japan, in the Arab world, and in the socialist camp: Cuba, Afghanistan, Poland, the U.S.S.R. Our question regarding this matter lies, rather, in the issue of whether the official, established religions will be able to adapt this psychosocial phenomenon to the new urban landscape, or whether they will be overwhelmed by it. It may happen that a diffuse religiosity will continue to grow in small, chaotic groups, without constituting a formal church, and if this is the case it will not be easy to grasp the real magnitude of this phenomenon. »

Silo in 2002

In early 2002, Silo announced his retirement from the Humanist Movement, after being its driving force for 32 years. He did it by moving the orientation of the Humanist Movement to an assembly composed of the general coordinators of the movement. By August 2007 there were about 400 members in this assembly.

In mid-2002 he launched Silo's Message understood as a book, an experience and a path.Among his more recent projects he gave impetus to the construction of complexes known as Parks of Study and Reflectionin Argentina, Chile, Spain, USA, Italy, India and Egypt, among other geographical locations.The money to build these parks was gathered from voluntary donations.

During the first decade of the 21st century he returned to speak at Punta de Vacas on several occasions with proposals of reconciliation, access to the profound and the sacred of human being, accepting invitations to speak about his Message and going to more humble places, like family homes, or small halls (salitas) in the same neighbourhood of Mendoza, and in greater Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile and Quito (Ecuador). He also attended events organized in Lisbon, Rome, northern Italy and elsewhere. Furthermore, as well as organising Halls of the Message and Parks of Study and Reflection around his works, Silo attended various opening ceremonies in places such as in La Reja (Buenos Aires), Las Manantiales (Santiago de Chile), Carcarañá (Rosario, Argentina), Toledo (Spain), Attigliano (Rome, Italy), etc.

On a final note, since we are celebrating Today the 50' anniversary of Silo first speech «the Healing of Suffering», I would like to share with my reader the ceremony of Recognition, which is available in the book the Message of Silo. I feel that been include in a bigger project, bigger ideas than my ownself is the way out of this crazy anti-humanist moment.

RECOGNITION (****)

Recognition is a ceremony of inclusion in the Community, inclusion through common experiences, shared ideals, attitudes, and common procedures. The ceremony is carried out at the request of a group of people and following a Service. Those who will participate should have the written text. During the ceremony two persons are assisting the group of people, the officiant and the assistant.

Officiant «This ceremony has been requested by people who wish to actively include themselves in our Community. Through this Ceremony they express a personal and social commitment to work to improve their own lives and the lives of those around them. »

The Assistant invites those who wish to give testimony to stand.

Officiant: « The pain and suffering that human beings experience recedes when good knowledge advances, not knowledge at the service of selfishness and oppression. Good knowledge leads to justice. Good knowledge leads to reconciliation. Good knowledge also leads us to decipher the sacred in the depths of our consciousness. »

Assistant (and those giving testimony the group of people read): «We consider the human being to be the highest value—above money, the State, religion, the models, and social systems. We promote liberty of thought. We promote equal rights and equal opportunities for all human beings. We recognize and applaud diversity in customs and cultures. We oppose all discrimination. We consecrate just resistance against all forms of violence: physical, economic, racial, religious, sexual, psychological, and moral. »

Officiant: « Just as no one has the right to discriminate against others for their religion or their non-religiousness, we affirm our right to proclaim our spirituality and our belief in immortality and the sacred. Our spirituality is not the spirituality of superstition, it is not the spirituality of intolerance, it is not the spirituality of dogma, it is not the spirituality of religious violence. It is the spirituality that has awakened from its deep sleep to nurture the best aspirations of the human being. »

Assistant (and those giving testimony and the group of people read): «We want to give coherence to our lives, to make coincide what we think, what we feel, and what we do. We want to surpass bad conscience by acknowledging our failures. We aspire to persuade and to reconcile. We make a commitment to increasingly fulfill the rule that reminds us to “treat others as we want to be treated.”

Officiant: « Let us begin a new life. Let us search within ourselves for the signs of the sacred, and let us carry our message to others. »

Assistant (and those giving testimony read and the group of people): « Today we begin to renew our lives. Let us begin by seeking mental peace and the Force that gives us joy and conviction. Afterwards, let us go to those closest to us and share with them everything great and good that has happened to us. »

Officiant: « Peace, Force, and Joy for everyone. »

Assistant (and all those present and the group of people): « For you also, Peace, Force, and Joy. »

_________________________________________________¸

Notes:

(*) To read «the Healing of suffering» speech visit the webside Silo.net

(**) Wikipedia references

(***) The regnotion ceremony is available on webside Silo.net - the Silo message is a community of various people from various background. It's not an organization or a religion, bur rather a group of people gathering together on a weekly or monthly basis. They exchange on various topic such as: difficulties in daily life context, communication difficulties, religious and spirituality sentiment.

(****) The 2nd World March for Peace and Nonviolence was announced during the Conference for Nonviolence that took place between the 15th and 18th of November in Madrid, Spain. It is scheduled to start on the 2nd of October 2019 (International Nonviolence Day) and end on the 8th of March 2020 (International Women’s Day). The March will start and end in Madrid.

The conference was organised by World without Wars and Violence with support from PNND(i), the Peace Culture Foundation, WILPF (Spain), the Spanish campaign “Nonviolence 2018”, Ecologists in Action, Pressenza and the Spanish Peace Research Association among others and was held in several locations of the Spanish capital: from the symbolic Congress of Deputies to the more humble district of Vallecas, passing through the Madrid City Council in Cibeles Square. The organisers’ interest was to introduce the subject of nonviolence in its various expressions in all social fields, from national, to city and neighbourhood level. This will be strengthened by the development of the 2nd World March which will try to impact all sectors of society with the subjects of peace and nonviolence.