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As someone dedicated to living a life of service to others, I have been struck recently by how little attention is paid to the amount of suffering in ... Read more: Congress, Poverty, US Poverty, Spirituality and Politics, Democrats, Tea Party, Compassion, Libertarians, Republicans, Buddhism, Culture News
By my rough estimation, we spend perhaps 50 percent or more of our waking hours in storytelling. Humans make stories but, in some sense, we are also made by our stories. Read more: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, History, Islam, Sri Lanka Civil War, The Bible, Postmodernism, Science, Quran, Morality, Psychology, Religion and Science, Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, Stories, Myths, ...
Foreign writings on Sri Lanka are an important source for information on ancient Sri Lanka. There are many Greek and Roman references to Sri Lanka. These are largely based on the Greek experiences in the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka was mentioned by Onescritus (4 Century BC) and Megasthenes (3 Century BC,) Onescritus was a pilot attached to the navy of Alexander the Great. Megasthenes was an ambassador...
Gautama the Buddha and Buddhism have made excellent contributions towards strengthening the Indian Way, which is based on universal acceptance, particularly in making it dynamic and bringing the common man into its fold. Buddha’s contribution for taking this way in his time, when it was a narrow path, cannot be underestimated.
Stars may come and stars may go but barely a handful of artistes remain immortalised in the hearts and minds of the people. More than 20 years have elapsed since the demise of the inimitable playback vocalist of the Sri Lankan silver screen, H.R. Jothipala but his songs are still among the most demanded numbers in the country today.
I came across an article in The Daily Beast the other morning entitled ""America the Angry"." In it, political consultant Douglas Schoen discusses the findings of a recent Newsweek/Daily Beast poll revealing that the vast majority of Americans are in a bad mood. As unemployment, gas and grocery prices are on the rise, so are people's levels of anger, anxiety and frustration. Three-quart...
Attending a silent meditation retreat can produce deep, lasting rewards. But for short-term pleasure, nothing beats that magical moment when you perceive that, having slogged through several difficult days doing nothing and saying even less, you're as high as a hippie in the seventh hour of a Grateful Dead gig. My most recent "far-out" flash arrived midway through a week-long affair a...
There is a famous Buddhist saying: "It is not the appearance that binds you, it's the attachment to the appearance that binds you." What does that really mean, and how might it apply to you and me? If you and I are anything alike, then I know there is a constant hunger in you that longs for something. Just stop and look for a moment, and you will find it. You may be successful, yet stil...
Last week I attended the festive opening of the Guibord Center at St. John's Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles. Founded by the Rev. Dr. Gwynne Guibord, former Officer of Ecumenical and Interreligious Concerns for The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, the center's mission is "to bring people together, to challenge assumptions, unleash The Holy and affirm the faith that transforms the wor...
Over the past month, there has been some speculation among members of the global Tamil community on whether Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Texas to obtain cancer treatment in secret. The story in itself is not particularly interesting, but it does have relevance for the post-conflict situation in Sri Lanka. Many reacted to the news not with sadness, but with a sense that c...
By Vishal Arora Religion News Service NEW DELHI (RNS) India plans to lend rare fragments of the Buddha's bones to Sri Lanka for the 2,600th anniversary of Buddha's Enlightenment in May, and some see it as part of India's strategy to gain a regional edge over neighboring China. Indranil Banerjie, head of New Delhi-based think tank Security and Political Risk Analysis, said India's mov...
Brain drain can be identified as a significant feature which can be seen in developing countries. It is an important pattern of international human migration. Brain drain refers to ‘Migration of the highly skilled professionals to the foreign countries in search of better opportunities’. In modern world large number of intellectuals leave their native lands and settle in the developed...
A decade ago, having recently begun Buddhist meditation practice, I attended a lecture/Q&A with a Tibetan master at a Buddhist center in Hollywood. The warm vibes and the stunning icons and paintings suggested a sacred, healing space. The speaker -- I knew so little at the time, I thought his name was "Sri" -- seemed the embodiment of enlightenment. He described how we can foster spiritua...
Human beings are only temporary ‘able-bodied’. Irrespective of positions and possessions, our abilities to stand up, move, see and hear are sure to be taken away at some stage in life. No one can escape from these inevitable happenings. Only difference is for some it happens sooner and for others, later. The Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons, the first United Nations Human ...
How did Buddhism survive in Sri Lanka? This issue came up at a public lecture Dr Ananda Guruge, Vice President of the World Fellowship of Buddhists gave last week at the auditorium of Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, Colombo under the title ‘Sri Lanka’s role in the spread of Buddhism in the World.’ It is the first in a series of lectures under RASSL auspices to mark the 2600th...
With President Mahinda Rajapaksa assuming the second term of office on November 19, the country is poised to become the Wonder of Asia. In keeping with Mahinda Chintana, the Government has taken several action in the past five years to fulfill the healthcare needs of the people by upgrading health facilities in Sri Lanka. Re-constructing and upgrading hospitals by the Government in a number of are...
Extracts from the Olcott oration delivered by Sri Lankan Ambassador to Beligium, Luxembourg and the European Union Ravinath Aryasinha at Ananda College, Colombo on November 6, 2010 First part of this article was published yesterday It is also significant that while the joint letter by HRW, AI and ICG, received wide international coverage, the response by the LLRC and later External Affairs Minist...
Broadly speaking, one can identify five distinct constituencies that shape Sri Lanka’s image abroad: First Western Governments - which I define from a politico-cultural standpoint, as countries that are geographically located in North America, Western Europe, as well as Australia and New Zealand, second, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) - these include both International NGOs, as well ...
On a day like today, election results confirmed my victory. Today is the last day of my first term. I now say goodbye to this term and will begin my new term of office tomorrow. I recall the pledge I gave my nation five years ago, when after casting my vote at the polling station at Medamulana, I promised the nation that I would bring an honoured peace to this country and also to build a new Sri L...
President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term commences on a manifestly futuristic note signifying a creative approach to governance. Political observers credit the President for being remarkably accessible casting himself as the proverbial safe pair of hands, an unmatched leadership quality. Many favourable trends mark the event: First and foremost his adroit prosecution of the war would prove...
Adopting the six-colour Buddhist flag, the symbol of faith and harmony as the official flag of the international Buddhist Community was the most significant move at the first session of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) held in 1950, 60 years ago in Colombo and Kandy. The Buddhist flag which was born on April 17, 1885 in Sri Lanka as a result of efforts by prominent Buddhist leaders led by ...
The 25th General Council meeting and 60th anniversary commemoration of the founding of the World Fellowship of Buddhists’ (WFB) is being held from November 14 to 16, 2010 in Colombo On February 20, 1953, Asoka Weeraratna (Founder and Secretary, Lanka Dhammaduta Society) left Sri Lanka for West Germany. He was requested by this newly formed Society (later re-named in 1957 as the German Dharm...
Keynote Address delivered by External Affairs Minister Professor G L Peiris, at the symposium organized jointly by the Centre for Security Analysis, Chennai and the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Sri Lanka in Colombo on October 26, 2010 I am very happy to associate myself with your discussion of a topic which I believe to be particularly relevant and important at this time. I recall with ...
Except for the single piece by an Indian columnist (a former senior civil servant), there is hardly any mention, leave alone assessment, in the Sri Lankan newspapers, of a portentous event with (at least) indirect implications for our country and which has been discussed in publications and seminars from Washington to Delhi, Islamabad, Tokyo and Djakarta. That is the Deepavali visit of President B...
In writing many years ago about the Indo-Lankan Accord of 1987, the single most crucial element in bilateral relations since the independence of both countries, I made the following assessment; The full text of the Accord, revealed only after it had been signed, indicated that in order to win peace Jayewardene had gone far down the road he had tried to avoid. It had already been let slip the previ...
Most martial artists are familiar with the extraordinary powers of the Shaolin monks. They train in the use of 36 weapons, and each monk picks two animal movements and styles to specialize in. (See my previous article "The Transformative Powers of Kung Fu.") When I first watched the mesmerizing DVD "Shaolin: Wheel of Life," I got goosebumps. The monks seemed to be beings of pure spiritu...
Many people look to Siddhartha Gautama as an example of someone who attained nirvana, a buddha. Every other week in this column we look at what it might be like if Siddhartha were on his spiritual journey today. How would he combine Buddhism and dating? How would he handle stress in the workplace? "What Would Sid Do?" is devoted to taking an honest look at what we as meditators face in th...
Liberals and conservatives have chosen sides over the Muslim community center near Ground Zero and plan to use the anniversary of September 11 as their battlefield. Abortion polemics are out; the debate over Islam is in. And so, come this Saturday, there will be two massive demonstrations: one protesting the Muslim community center near Ground Zero, and one supporting it and religious fre...
August 31 marks the fourth death anniversary of the Venerable Dr Kirinde Sri Dhammananda, the Sri Lankan-born Buddhist Scholar monk who was the foremost Theravada Buddhist Bhikku in Malaysia and Singapore. His many books contributed greatly to introducing Buddhism to many English-speakers in Southeast Asia and beyond. Born on March 18, 1919, Martin Gamage in Kirinde, Matara, Ven Dhammananda was o...