Diary 1963 - Murshid Sam's Living Stream

Diaries 1963My dear Norman:The other day I went and called on some Africans—which you know. But you don’t knowwhat else I am doing. Asia is much larger than Africa or America, maybe larger than both and certainlymore people—and more problems.I have again been refused entry to a conference on Asia—my money not accepted. This hasgone on and on. And in the past three weeks, without any blare of trumpets, I have been called inor attended affairs of Arabs, Hindus, Indonesians, Japanese and Chinese, and most of these peoplehave a very, very dim view of Conferences on “Asia.”For example Sunday I attended the first successful effort to have Chinese, Americans andJapanese unite in a Buddhist celebration. I can assure you there was nothing in that celebration thatanybody who ever attended the American Academy ever heard of and the only former student hadto ask a simple elementary question which almost every Buddhist knows and almost every Westernstudent of something called “Buddhism” does not know.My relations with the Chinese are going up and it makes me wonder about Elijah Mohammedwho does not seem to realize that Allah created more Mongols than Blacks and Whites together, forbetter or for worse. And the starving in Asia are far greater than those in Africa and America combinedand we have plenty of guns but no butter for them.This morning I am going to the Egyptians (Arabs) on an errand which ought not to be secret.But our present policy in this country is freedom of speech for Birchers and Marxists but not for Indonesiansand Arabs. Here our good Elijah Mohammed is alive and he knows this and has referredto it. But other “protestants” are not universal, very few people are universal, they only see the harmdone to their own kind and not the universal ills.Dick called my attention to some speeches by the NAACP and my attitude toward them andtoward many Muslims is their unconscious or conscious unconcern for depressed classes—they seedepressed races but not depressed classes. I still remain about the only one I know who has workedside by side with share-croppers in the South (silently) and with the lowest level of workers in Pakistan(as a Muslim). People don’t do such things.Right now I may be the man behind one or two revolutions and close to those who are behindother revolutions but there is no use saying anything because one is not believed. I was called on toattack the communists in Asia and refused because I told the Foreign Service they gave me neithermoney (which I did not want) or recognition (which I did.) So I sent a stand-in who walked off withfirst prize and the commies are therefore not bothering me. But they did. There is little differencebetween the bad boys (commies) and the big boys (the “ins”).But I have a secret (by society not actually) weapon which has raised my fame in Pakistanabout ten times since I left. If I called it humanity that is near enough, but not enough.