“If you are neutral in situations of injustice,

you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

– Bishop Desmond Tutu (1931- ) Nobel Prize for Peace 1984

“Great minds have purposes, others have wishes.  Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above them.”

Washington Irving

The Spiritual Side of Whistleblowing

Each of us, as Medical Whistleblowers, are injured and traumatized by the retaliation we suffered.  Each of us is on our own pathway to recovery.  During that healing journey we will many times revert back to an earlier stage of vulnerability or lapse in our forward momentum.  But when we work together as a team, we can accomplish great things and will change the system in ways, even we, can not anticipate.

“Acquire knowledge. It enables its possessor to distinguish right from wrong; it lights the way to heaven; it is our friend in the dessert, our society in solitude, our companion when friendless; it guides us to happiness; it sustains us in misery; it is an ornament among friends, and an armor against enemies.”

Muhammad (570-632)

Many a successful movement has been accomplished by ordinary people doing extraordinary even heroic accomplishments.  No one who was ever perfect led a successful movement for change.  These tasks were accomplished by ordinary people,  not waiting for perfection or sainthood.  You do not need the most perfect understanding. You do not need to have more perfect moral consistency of character.  You do not need to be gifted with perfect eloquence.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

Lao Tsu

Non-Violent Dissent

"Whenever two good people argue over principles, they are both right.”

Marie Ebner von Eschenbach

The great Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King, Jr. called it “Fearful faithfulness.”   In Fearful faithfulness – one does not have to feel courageous to be an effective activist. Dr. King explained that those opposing evil or the abuse of power, may not feel particularly courageous, or embody inner peace but could still effectively strive to attain their goals. 

"With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity."

Keshavan Nair

Dr. King did not hide the fact that to oppose evil would expose the truth sayer to possible violence.  Violence begets violence. Toughness begets toughness, Force greater force.  Dr. King told his followers that the path of non-violent resistance required great courage.  The non-violent dissenter is just as opposed to the evil he resists as the violent resister.  It is not a method for cowards.  MLK also noted that if the only alternative to violence was cowardice,  it was better to fight.   Non-violent dissent is not stagnant passivity but instead an act of spiritual strength to stand up confidently and even militantly to challenge the abuse of power.  It is passive physically but aggressive spiritually. 

"Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander."   

Holocaust Museum Washington D.C.

In opposing evil with non-violent dissent, the mind must always be active, alert to new ways and means to persuade the opponent that he is wrong.  Non-violent dissent is a means to shame and awaken a sense of conscience in those who abuse power.  It does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent but instead win his friendship and understanding. Through non-violent dissent one can not only defeat the evil system and stem the abuse of power but also win over the hearts and minds of the perpetrators of the system and thus make meaningful and lasting change. Non violence brings love into being along-side with the determination not to hate.   Non violent dissent is a means to an end not the end in itself.  The aftermath of non-violence is beloved community while in aggression or violence the aftermath is bitterness. 

“Taking an interest in what others are thinking and doing is often a much more powerful form of encouragement than praise.”

 
Robert Martin

  "If there is a shadow of a doubt someplace, that will cause a weakness."


               --Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA

Qur’ān verse 47:17 says that God is the ultimate source of the believer's taqwá which is not simply the product of individual will but requires inspiration from God.

Medical Whistleblower Network’s Faith in Action Project is designed to expand our successful advocacy network to communities of faith.  We reach out in an interfaith manner to persons of all faith and even to those of no organizaed faith persuasion.  We wish to train citizen advocates in creating the political will to end human rights violations around the world by starting here at home.  Although Medical Whistleblower Network is not a religious organization, we recognize the strength the faith community brings to this work.  Communities of faith bring amazing power, commitment, and clarity to the cause of ending poverty. However, faith communities don’t always know how to connect with up-to-the-minute policy research and legislative activity so that they can speak truth to power in appropriate, efficient, and effective ways. In other words, they are abundant in the why — the moral authority to act — but may need help with the how — putting it into action. This is where we hope to make the difference. By partnering together, Medical Whistleblower Network and communities of faith can work together as a testament to the power we all have to affect lives of those in need. Faith calls for compassion and compassion calls for action. Faith communities can take their justice work forward in significant ways by using their passion and commitment.  Working together, Medical Whistleblower Network and communities of faith can serve justice by ending the causes of human rights violations and and relieving suffering around the world.

"Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man."

Mahatma Gandhi

"Prayer is not an occasional nod

Given in passing to God.

It is more like marriage - a closeness in living,

A constant receiving and giving."

 Louie Horne, 1987

from Britain's Yearly Meeting Quaker Faith & Practice, 2.25

        “Let everyone regulate his conduct . . . by the golden rule of doing to others as in similar circumstances we would have them do to us, and the path of duty will be clear before him.”

  William Wilberforce

Mysticism is the art of union with Reality. The mystic is a person who has attained that union in greater or less degree; or who aims at and believes in such attainment.
--Evelyn Underwood, Practical Mysticism

The essential characteristic of it is the attainment of a personal conviction by an individual that the human spirit and the divine Spirit have met, have found each other, and are in mutual and reciprocal correspondence as spirit with Spirit.
--Rufus M. Jones, The Trail of Life in the Middle Years

"So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith."

— James 2:14–18

"The supreme Reality stands revealed in the consciousness of those who have conquered themselves. They live in peace, alike in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, praise  and blame."

Bhagavad Gita 6:7

Qur’ān. V49:11–13: "come to know each other, the noblest of you, in the sight of God, are the ones possessing taqwá".

No one sets out in life to become a Medical Whistleblower.   We instead choose our pathway over time.  Many smaller decisions -  to do one thing or another - to resist certain influences - to make certain ethical choices.  Each and every whistleblower makes a moral and ethical choice that is a defining moment in their whistleblower pathway,  but this choice was  built on many previous choices and decisions and thus is in concert with a life's pathway.

Once that decision is made, there is no going back - no return to the life before the decision was made.  There is only going forward.  Make no mistake that it takes great courage to take this pathway and that is a journey with many perils and losses along the way.   But for those brave enough to attempt it, it is the only pathway that they could consider because they could not live with themselves if they did not at least try. 

"The purest treasure mortal times afford is spotless reputation; that away men are but gilded loam or painted clay."

William Shakespeare 1564-1616, Playwright and bard, The Tragedy of King Richard the Second

"First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the communist and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionists. Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me."

-Pastor Niemoeler (victim of the Nazis)

Non-Violent Dissent

"Whenever two good people argue over principles, they are both right.”

Marie Ebner von Eschenbach

The great Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King, Jr. called it “Fearful faithfulness.”   In Fearful faithfulness – one does not have to feel courageous to be an effective activist. Dr. King explained that those opposing evil or the abuse of power, may not feel particularly courageous, or embody inner peace but could still effectively strive to attain their goals. 

"With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity."

Keshavan Nair

Dr. King did not hide the fact that to oppose evil would expose the truth sayer to possible violence.  Violence begets violence. Toughness begets toughness, Force greater force.  Dr. King told his followers that the path of non-violent resistance required great courage.  The non-violent dissenter is just as opposed to the evil he resists as the violent resister.  It is not a method for cowards.  MLK also noted that if the only alternative to violence was cowardice,  it was better to fight.   Non-violent dissent is not stagnant passivity but instead an act of spiritual strength to stand up confidently and even militantly to challenge the abuse of power.  It is passive physically but aggressive spiritually. 

"Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander."   

Holocaust Museum Washington D.C.

"True peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice"

-Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. took many of his ideas from Mohandas Gandhi and the teaching of Mahayana.  Mahatma Gandhi told his followers “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  Gandhi used the method of non-resistance effectively in the struggle for justice in India and to free his people from British political domination, economic exploitation, and humiliation.

“”We become human only in the company of other human beings. And this involves both opening our hearts and giving voice to our deepest convictions.”

Paul  Rogat Loeb

Mahayana

Mahayana which means in Sanskrit:  "Great Vehicle" and is a classification of Buddhism. “The Buddhadhatu is the True Self and, like a diamond, for example, it cannot be destroyed".  It is the acknowledgment of the transforming redemptive value of suffering.   Compassion, or Karuna is linked to the idea that acquired merit can be transmitted to others. Thus the gift of inner peace you acquire for yourself can be transforming to others as well.

“Show me the stone that the builders rejected: That is the cornerstone.”

Jesus

(c.6 B.C.E. –30)

“It does not require many words to speak the truth.”
"Wowi©aíe uñiaöi kta ©a, wi©oie oþa uñöi ßni."

Sitting Bull

"They give food, out of love for Allah, to the poor, the orphan, and the slave, saying “We feed you only for Allah’s pleasure — we desire from you neither reward nor thanks.”

— Q’uran 76:8–9

Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.
John F. Kennedy

In opposing evil with non-violent dissent, the mind must always be active, alert to new ways and means to persuade the opponent that he is wrong.  Non-violent dissent is a means to shame and awaken a sense of conscience in those who abuse power.  It does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent but instead win his friendship and understanding. Through non-violent dissent one can not only defeat the evil system and stem the abuse of power but also win over the hearts and minds of the perpetrators of the system and thus make meaningful and lasting change. Non violence brings love into being along-side with the determination not to hate.   Non violent dissent is a means to an end not the end in itself.  The aftermath of non-violence is beloved community while in aggression or violence the aftermath is bitterness. 

“Taking an interest in what others are thinking and doing is often a much more powerful form of encouragement than praise.”

 
Robert Martin

“We become human only in the company of other human beings. And this involves both opening our hearts and giving voice to our deepest convictions.”

Paul  Rogat Loeb

"He that oppresses the poor blasphemes his Maker, but he that is gracious to the poor honors God."

— Proverbs 14:3

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right....”
―Martin Luther

Each of us, as Medical Whistleblowers, are injured and traumatized by the retaliation we suffered.  Each of us is on our own pathway to recovery.  During that healing journey we will many times revert back to an earlier stage of vulnerability or lapse in our forward momentum.  But when we work together as a team, we can accomplish great things and will change the system in ways, even we, can not anticipate.

“Acquire knowledge. It enables its possessor to distinguish right from wrong; it lights the way to heaven; it is our friend in the dessert, our society in solitude, our companion when friendless; it guides us to happiness; it sustains us in misery; it is an ornament among friends, and an armor against enemies.”

Muhammad (570-632)

Many a successful movement has been accomplished by ordinary people doing extraordinary even heroic accomplishments.  No one who was ever perfect led a successful movement for change.  These tasks were accomplished by ordinary people,  not waiting for perfection or sainthood.  You do not need the most perfect understanding. You do not need to have more perfect moral consistency of character.  You do not need to be gifted with perfect eloquence.

“The journey of a thousand miles

begins with one step.”

Lao Tsu 

 Mahayana

Mahayana which means in Sanskrit:  "Great Vehicle" and is a classification of Buddhism. “The Buddhadhatu is the True Self and, like a diamond, for example, it cannot be destroyed".  It is the acknowledgment of the transforming redemptive value of suffering.   Compassion, or Karuna is linked to the idea that acquired merit can be transmitted to others. Thus the gift of inner peace you acquire for yourself can be transforming to others as well.

“Show me the stone that the builders rejected: That is the cornerstone.”

Jesus (c.6 B.C.E. –30)

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” -- Gandhi

"The goal of attention, or shamatha, practice is to become aware of awareness. Awareness is the basis, or what you might call the “support,” of the mind. It is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which the flag of ordinary consciousness is attached. When we recognize and become grounded in awareness, the “wind” of emotion may still blow. But instead of being carried away by the wind, we turn our attention inward, watching the shifts and changes with the intention of becoming familiar with that aspect of consciousness that recognizes Oh, this is what I’m feeling, this is what I’m thinking. As we do so, a bit of space opens up within us. With practice, that space—which is the mind’s natural clarity—begins to expand and settle." - Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

"Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach." -- Clarissa Pinolla Estes

"Love thy neighbor as thyself." -- Jesus Christ

"This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century -- solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others." -- Elie Wiesel

"That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow." --The Torah

"None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." --The Prophet Muhammad (a hadith of Islam)

"Who burns with the bliss and suffers the sorrow of every creature within his own heart, making his own each bliss and each sorrow; him I hold highest of all the yogis. "

Bhagavad Gita

When body repeats the Holy Name the Self benefits,

When Self (Soul) repeats the Holy Name, the World benefits.

Baba Narinder Singh Ji

"Respect means listening until everyone has been heard and understood, only then is there a possibility of "Balance and Harmony" the goal of Indian Spirituality."

- Dave Chief, Grandfather of Red Dog

Interfaith dialogue can unlock the power of religious traditions and provide the inspiration, guidance, and validation necessary for our Medical Whistleblowers to “Tell Truth to Power” and move toward more effective means of resolution of social issues. 

Each faith group can make its unique contribution to the common cause by spiritually supporting the Medical Whistleblowers within their own congregations. They can also contribute to the interfaith dialogue of common goals for social change.

• Religion has been, and will continue to be, a spiritual grounding and place of spiritual guidance for Medical Whistleblowers of all faiths.
• Spiritual Support is especially important to Medical Whistleblowers as they face the day to day challenges of “Telling Truth to Power”.  During the Holiday season the need for companionship and camaraderie are especially important.
• Being a Medical Whistleblower can often strain one’s spiritual strength to a breaking point.
• Interfaith dialogue brings people of different religious faiths together for conversations. These conversations can take an array of forms and possess a variety of goals and formats. They can also take place at various social levels, and target different types of participants.
• At the individual level, we are concerned with factors that may influence our ability to effectively support the Medical Whistleblower participants and improve long term and short term outcomes.
• The spiritual support network for Medical Whistleblowers must include, but not be limited to, personal, face-to-face contact with program participants.

Social transformative change clearly requires many hours of open dialogue within a context of tolerance, understanding and compassion.  Interfaith dialogue occurs in the broadest of senses, because each faith community shares a common underlying feature: reverence, the shared devotion to high ideals. Reverence enables participants from many different faith traditions to jointly affirm transcendent ideals such as honor, justice, truth, compassion, forgiveness, and freedom.

"I cured with the power that came through me. Of course, it was not I who cured, it was the power from the Outer World, the visions and the ceremonies had only made me like a hole through which the power could come to the two-leggeds."

Black Elk, Oglala

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful commited citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever does"

-Margaret Meade

Traditional Jewish Yemenite music comprised of prayers, stories and chants sung together with drums or clapping.

It is sung before the ceremony of havdalah, religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat or holidays, and ushers in the new week.

Translation from hebrew: : My soul longs for the candle and the spices. If only you would pour me a cup of wine for Havdalah. O angels high, pave a way for me, clear the path for the bewildered and open the gates that I may enter, My heart yearning, I shall lift up my eyes to g-d, who provides for my needs day and night.

"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act!" George Orwell

"The Wise Man believes profoundly in silence - the sign of a perfect equilibrium. Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind and spirit. The man who preserves his selfhood ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence - not a leaf, as it were, astire on the tree, not a ripple upon the surface of the shinning pool - his, in the mind of the unlettered sage, is the ideal attitude and conduct of life. Silence is the cornerstone of character."

Ohiyesa (Charles Alexander Eastman) - Santee Sioux

• སངས་རྒྱས་ཆོས་དང་ཚོགས་ཀྱི་མཆོག་རྣམས་ལ།

Sang-gye cho-dang tsog-kyi cho-nam-la
I take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
諸佛正法眾中尊

Maka' sito'maniyan uki'ye,
Oya'te uki'ye,
oya'te uki'ye,
Wan'bali oya'te wan hoshi'hi-ye lo,
Ate heye lo, ate heye lo,
Maka o'wancha'ya uki'ye,
Pte kin ukiye, pte kin ukiye,
Kanghi oya'te wan hoshi'hi-ye lo,
A'te he'ye lo, a'te he'ye lo.

Translation

The whole world is coming,
A nation is coming, a nation is coming,
The Eagle has brought the message to the tribe.
The father says so, the father says so.
Over the whole earth they are coming.
The buffalo are coming, the buffalo are coming,
The Crow has brought the message to the tribe,
The father says so, the father says so.

-The Ghost Dance

"Having taught the Vedas, the teacher says: "Speak the truth. Do your duty. Neglect not The scriptures. Give your best to your teacher. Do not cut off the line of progeny. Swerve not From the truth. Swerve not from the good. Protect your spiritual progress always. Give your best in learning and teaching. Never fail in respect to the sages. See the divine in your mother, father, Teacher, and guest. Never do what is wrong. Honor those who are worthy of honor. Give with faith. Give with love. Give with joy. If you are in doubt about the right conduct, Follow the example of the sages, Who know what is best for spiritual growth. This is the instruction of the Vedas; This is the secret; this is the message."

Taittiriya Upanishad