Yet, I refuse to believe that the entire public sector is corrupt.  There are many ethical, dedicated and loyal employees in the public sector who do an honest job of work.  I have come across them be it in the health care, education, banking, port and other sectors.

Unfortunately, the public sector is tainted with the image of being corrupt and lazy.  Of course certain public sector departments are prone to corruption much more than others and these problems have to be rooted out with great political will and courage.

Whatever it is, this is a very complex issue with implications on poverty, status and power.  Yet, if Sri Lanka is to become a successful nation where every citizen can live with fairness, dignity, justice and have a good quality of life, we need to chip away at getting to the root cause and weed it out.

Maslow’s Story

I am optimist when it comes to human beings.  I believe most people are initially driven to corruption out of necessity.  The income in the public sector may not afford many the money required to lead a dignified middle class life.

We only need to look at the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs here.  If people’s basic physiological needs for food and shelter are not met, by hook or by crook they will take it from others.  As one moves up, a typical clerical employee of the government is higher on Maslow’s ladder and seeks to meet their esteem needs – the need to be a unique individual with self respect and to enjoy general esteem from others.

Unfortunately, today’s society judges people by what they have and if this judgment leads to our esteem, then we will measure it through money and material wealth.

This then leads many a good person to be tempted to take.  It makes it even easier as our politicians who come to power with not much end up amassing vast amounts of wealth in a matter of a few years in office.   So, with such poor examples of leaders, the public sector employees turn their own internal moral compass over and begin to take.

The public sector ploy is to provide poor service for what people need – be it solving a simple pension issue, clearing goods at the customs or providing an approval for a new venture.  Out of desperation, the public ends up paying to get better service.

As such, graft is now institutionalized in many government organizations.  There are systems and processes in place, not written in a manual, but might as well be.

Given this level of institutionalization and entrenchment, to reverse it will take time and a great political will and courage from the top, as well as a commitment and change from the bottom-up.

Our Selfish Nature

To add to this, the global capitalist ideology is intensely competitive and individualistic encouraging us to put self first.  Indeed in a deeper sense, for survival, humans are selfish, driven by the reptilian brain.  Fortunately, we also have a neo-cortex, the limbic brain which is the seat of compassion and positive emotions to balance the reptilian side which focuses on feeding, fighting, fleeing and reproducing according to writer, Karen Armstrong.  This allows us to reflect on the world and more so ourselves and to check those primitive reptilian impulses seeking status, power, control, territory and personal gain.  Meditating on these, we realize they need external material attachments which are fragile, fleeting and impermanent.

As such, being corrupt for survival at Maslow’s lowest level for food and shelter – I loathe to judge, but when one is corrupt to accumulate wealth for status and power for a few generations, I have an issue with.

Our own spiritual learning and culture has a foundation to bring out the limbic brain based on consideration for others – maître (loving kindness), karuna (compassion), muditha (sympathetic joy) and upeksha (even mindedness).  Meditating on these, we can overcome our selfish natures.  We realize that compassion is natural to human nature and the practice of pranayama (conscious breathing) and meditation helps us to curb our ego and have empathy towards others.

However, this practice takes commitment, discipline and a will to change and grow to a higher state of being.  If those corrupt public sector employees realize the personal benefits from such a practice not only to themselves, their health and wellbeing but also to their families, children, and the community, they may make this commitment to change.

As such, I believe we must also begin this process of transformation from the bottom up.

Training and Transformation

A national level initiative with all the public institutions can work towards this transformation.

For that, there must be a basic foundation of a vision, mission, values and objectives to work from.

Training should help participants see an intrinsic benefit to them first, in order to move them to be better human beings.   As such, there should be a focus on the following three pillars of the mind’s intelligences;

• Rational and logical intelligence
• Emotional Intelligence
• Spiritual intelligence

Spiritual Intelligence

The foundation is spiritual, not in the context of religion, but we all have an innate sense of spirituality and a moral compass that tells us what is right and wrong.  Our integrity, values, ethics arise from this core. Unfortunately, our society and the system have denigrated these in the interest of zero sum competition and a ‘survival to the fittest’ mentality, which is an antithesis to our own eastern philosophies.  People also get easily corrupted without this spiritual foundation.

Yet, the human can curb the reptilian instincts and transform through experiential training which includes meditation and reflective practices.

Emotional Intelligence

Our values, morals and ethics help us to behave in a certain way to become more emotionally aware of ourselves and others.  This intelligence is about managing our own emotions and other’s whether they are our own family, team members, staff or the public needing the service.

When we look after people who have less power than us in the way we respect them, listen to, appreciate and recognize them, we build self esteem which is the cornerstone of human performance.  Sadly, our traditional systems have been hierarchical and does not allow for initiative and creativity to take responsibility.  We have to build these processes into the workplace systems, the human resources processes and communications by training people experientially. This will demonstrate how vital they are to motivate and inspire people to be honest and do what needs to be done.  The limbic brain comes alive and our deep seated angers subside.

Logical and Rational Intelligence

Logic and rational thinking is crucial to finally meet our objectives, goals and targets.  This is our left brain at work to get the job done – sometimes at the cost of human relations.   Yet most of us, through modern methods of education are predisposed to weigh towards this linear way of thinking and acting.

Getting the job done balanced with managing emotions and that people are looked after based on a set of values and ethics leading them to feel what they do is meaningful, even if it seems the most mundane of jobs, people feel a sense of pride and organizations become more efficient and sustainable in the long run.

Can this be achieved ?

There are scores of examples both in Sri Lanka and overseas proving organizational success through meaningful work.  These successes are created first of all by the will of the leaders to change and walk the talk to embrace and balance the three pillars of the mind.  This is done through carefully designed interventions, training and coaching to suit the culture and the nature of the organization.

One maybe cynical about government organizations, but many public sector organizations have shown great success when there is a good balance.  Australia Post was one of the most troubled public sector organizations up to the 1980s, but with the will of the political leadership and a commitment to changing management styles and culture, they have become over the last 20 years, one of the most successful government business undertakings in the world.

Our own People’s Bank in the late 1990s transformed with political will and good leadership and fresh intake of people who turned the losing business into a profitable one in a matter of a few years.  When the political interference of the operation and its business was stopped for a number of years, it turned the cash flow of the bank around.

Political Will

Political will becomes an important aspect of changing the public sector.   As it is only with a commitment from the leaders that we can help to create a public sector that will truly serve the people and become sustainable at the same time, giving people a sense of pride of being a coveted public service official that was once an honor in the era past.

By changing the public sector, paying better salaries on par with the private sector, looking after their needs for growth and appreciation, we can build a nation of high esteem whose people’s dignities are cherished and protected, so not only a few, but everyone can benefit.

Helping people to become conscious of their conscience will help to make a slow change to give more than taking.  Once this ethos starts taking root and it is recognized, we will witness a sea change in the public sector to become honest, efficient and effective.  Most of all, the employees will have a sense of meaning and a pride for the work they do in serving the public in the spirit of Dhane.  That will further build their self esteem and give more power to building nation to be fair and just. This way, we will help to bridge the yawning gap of haves and have nots.

A recent book called The Spirit Level by Robert Wilkinson and Kate Pickett has clearly shown that equality makes for the most prosperous, healthiest and happiest nations.

I live in hope.  In the meantime, every time I am given chance, I am on my mission – urging people to look inward, reflect, meditate and be an accountable and a responsible citizen of this country and this planet.   That means, I have to put a mirror on myself too and I dare say, it is not easy !

• How high is our Social Esteem in Sri Lanka?
• Saving the World from Ourselves through Spirituality
• The Rise of “Peace” Professionals in Sri Lanka: Rent-Seeking in the Peace Sector
• Bus Terrorism and Justice
• Corruption in the Education sector

© TechNation

As Sri Lanka eases away from the emergency and security phase to a growth and development phase, there is a wonderful opportunity for us to create a balance between growth and the beauty of its nature and people – in fact pacing and sequencing the growth by being thoughtful, planning well not for now, but for the next one hundred years – will be prudent to recreate the pearl of the orient.   Yet, the force against this kind of restraint and balance is great as the world marches to the drum of ‘growth is great’. We have put too much stock on the notion that growth will help everyone, except, what we see is that the rich usually get richer, unless there are carefully planned social, educational, health care and environmental systems in place backed up by an exceptional process for justice to serve and protect every citizen.  This may bring about a kind of a social equality for all balancing with nature.

Yet we know that everything hinges on economics.  The world is dictated by the economic value of GDP where the combined value of paid work and what we produce complemented by growth is the measure ingrained into our heads from the beginning of our conscious journey in modern life.   As such, we are emotionally attached to the concept of growth.

I encounter this regularly as a business consultant when a CEO tells the management team at a strategic planning meeting; “This year we had a turnover of 10 million dollars, so lets make it 12 million in the next year”.   I realize this is often a number plucked from the sky for the sake of growth.  One year later I am called in to solve the problem of turnover of employees as they walk out the door in protest of not having a work-life balance and too much stress.  Investigations by talking to all levels lead me right back to the CEO’s growth proclamation.

Economics and Assumptions

The key assumption in economics is – we grow or we languish.   Yes, in many cases for survival, whether it is a country or a business, growth is needed, but my contention is that it has become so mindless where growth is the mantra at any cost, even if it will eventually bite you back.

This happens as leaders are not mindful of the co-dependencies that exist with everything we say and do.   The CEO asking for a 2 million dollar increase in turnover may see the market potential to grow, but often ignores the nitty-gritty of the organization, especially the people at the lowest levels who have to carry the burden.  In the name of efficiency, the organization does not invest in more machinery and people, so the growth happens at the expense of existing people’s well being, family life and health and we wonder why they are walking out.

So, there are limits to growth when we bring the human element into this equation.   Extend this to the country, to nature and our planet and we know well enough, there cannot be limitless growth, as it means polluting more, cutting trees, clearing forests and hurting people that hinder the very sustenance for all beings.

Just like the employees need the sustenance through nourishment, rest and rejuvenation our earth needs it too.  We cannot keep taking and taking from either without a breakdown.

Interestingly, this growth has happened only in the last 500 years or about 8 generations of over 125,000 generations that has inhabited the earth, and it is a result of a separation of our mind and matter – ala Descarte the French philosopher.   We have kept nature and the human spirit separate from material growth and prosperity, forgetting that the very container for all this is mother earth.

We can see the physical evidence of this decay on our earth through melting of polar ice caps, desertification, drying lakes and weather changes all around us.  Yet, like the typical CEO who cannot understand why people are so unhappy, our attachment to the growth ideology keeps us blinkered and carrying on.  We are so attached to this growth ideology, as soon as someone questions it they are attacked with a vengeance.

Sane Minds Prevail

Luckily for us and especially for our future generations, there is growing body of people who are courageously questioning the growth mantra and looking at new paradigms.   Could there be such a thing called a ‘no growth’ economy ?.

Peter Victor of York University in Ontario, Canada (author of book Managing Without Growth – www.managingwithoutgrowth.com ) is exploring this along with many others.  Victor has created a computer model replicating the Canadian economy.  He combined and adjusted the various elements such as productivity, consumption, the population up and down and found that he could find a steady state through a combination of reducing the work week, taxing the rich and for carbon without hurting the standard of living.   We just need to release our emotional attachment with the growth ideology to explore new possibilities.

In the 1960s Rachel Carson in her book Silent Spring reawakened people to the perils of mindless growth that it inspired the Club of Rome – a group of industrialists, scholars, diplomats and professionals.  They teamed up with Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) systems thinker Dennis Meadows to create a computer model which showed clearly that we may have short term prosperity with limitless growth, but with nature going against us, resources will become scarce, prices will skyrocket collapsing the world economy.  Published in 1972 the book Limits to Growth became a global best seller and scared the world only to wake the mainstream economics fraternity to resist.  Supported by big business, they attacked the book and the findings with a vengeance calling them ‘alarmists’ and questioning their ‘pseudo-science’.   The economists argued that business would adjust to nature’s realities by changing materials they used and the way they did business when the time comes and the system should not be interfered with.  So the growth mantra continues unabated.

Spiritual Growth ?

As a person inquiring into marrying the material world and spirituality, influenced by both science and philosophy such as Buddhism, I have realized that these battles run deep as ideologies clash.

Economists have laid their stake religiously on the primacy of growth.  They are emotionally attached to this through an indoctrination supported through logic and mathematics, albeit with a lot if assumptions about values and human behavior.  As such, resistance to change is understandable as people fear that “no growth” will hit their standard of living and their pockets.  Of course there are the vested interests of big business working with academia to resist new thinking as their markets will shrink if people move away from consumerism.  So, there are great dilemmas.

This battle is also rife between the oil interests coupled with climate change naysayers vs. climate change activists, as it is with the pharmaceutical industry supported western medical establishment against alternative health supporters.

It is the same ideological clash, but there is a lot at stake either way.

My inquiry is, how do we change this and create a better balance?.

For that we have to focus on the individual, as it all begins with personal responsibility.

I often wonder how a person can compartmentalize away information based on what we learn or is happening in front of us.  For instance, we all know that trees give us oxygen for our sustenance, but we continue to support economic principles that allow for forests to be mowed down in the interest of growth.   There is also no economic value given to the oxygen we breathe, but for a cut tree there is value.

How can a person, who maybe a parent knowingly allow for an action that may jeopardize his child’s future well-being?.

How can an executive of an oil company whose job is to scuttle the climate change activist’s work to negotiate a reduction of carbon emissions at a global climate meeting have a conversation with his children about their future on this earth?.

Deep down many of these people maybe torn between what they see and what they have to put up with in order to eke out a living or to support their lifestyle.

If its ideology that has trapped people in these dilemmas and ideology that keeps them going, we need to question ideology after all we humans create these in the first place.  Maybe it is too late to deal with adults on this.  Maybe we have to start by educating the young about developing their minds to a level where they do not have to depend on one ideology, but to become inquiring, question and find a balance, based on a set of values that espouse respect to the very earth that gives us our life and to each other as fellow beings sharing this planet.

In my inquiry and practice, I research ancient and modern philosophies and find Buddha’s teachings to be both rational and logical to find a path to a better balance.   His message was to never take anything he said at face value and for us to question, explore for ourselves, learn and decide.  In fact, it honors the human mind and gives us the responsibility.

Buddha’s philosophy is anchored on a concept of “dependent arising” which is a denial of permanent and eternal substance, a law or an ultimate structure, but also an explanation of how human experience comes to be.  Everything changes but is interconnected and interdependent.

The cornerstone of the practice is mindfulness through meditation and with this inward journey to witness the world as it evolves.

Through my practice, I am seeing a link between the world of matter and the human spirit.  Consciousness is dependently arisen and is experienced through our senses.   We can condition ourselves to be attached to an ideology to numb certain parts to deal with the current realities, so we become blind to the consequences of our actions, even if it hurts the earth and people around us.

When we realize there is no permanence, like the ideologies we cling to, our behaviors will change as we will become open to the consequences.   So, the oil man will become conscious of the industry’s impact on his children and theirs and may begin to address the dilemma.

As I said, all this can be traumatic to an adult unless, he or she is ready to start this journey.

The New Generation

In the meantime, let us concentrate on the new generation in order to help them to continue their inquiring minds to grow, learn about the way the world works, but be confident and keep questioning fearlessly.  Teach them that ideologies are man-made concepts, not cast in stone and if certain ideologies hurt this earth and its people, make them violent and ill have the courage to question and change, as nothing is permanent.

We need to teach them young to be reflective, meditate, do yoga to find the balance between mind and body and build their self esteem by engaging in martial arts to learn to move to the edge and back with skill and balance.  That will give them the courage to face new challenges they are bound to encounter in a world where mother earth’s balance has been disturbed already.  They will also make informed decisions on the kinds of professions they will get into and may stay away from areas that do harm to people and this earth.

So, it is time we seriously start to inquire into this growth ideology that we are so attached to.  Maybe we will then seek a new economics that will help us to live in a peaceful co-existence with people and nature around us.   Sri Lanka can lead the way, as we have the chance now.

• “Don’t be stupid! The climate deed is done, so let’s move on to solutions!” – President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives
• SRI LANKA MAY WANT – AN ECONOMIC VISION 2030
• Sri Lanka can Lead the way for us to Win at the Game of Climate Change
• Restoring Shelter
• The Breadwinner or the Nurturing Mother

I could only imagine a conspiracy here, whether or not it is supported by the school’s administration.  Nevertheless, it unfortunately taints the school too, but there are much bigger implications for all of us.   This is about our world, our collective future as a humanity, and yes, even this unethical behavior by the referees is just a microcosm of what is happening around the world for short term gain; selfishness, win at any cost mentality has us in a game of zero sum competition and we hurt each other at a larger level.

Biology of the Brain

In biological terms, this behavior from the team condoned by the coach, parents and the referees is reptilian as this part of the brain acts only as a survival mechanism.  We do have a limbic part of the brain too driving the neo-cortex, which is the seat of compassion, cooperation, fair play and nurture which gets shut off to survive in a dog eat dog world.

The reptilian brain kicks in when we are under threat, the same way I become reptilian when I get behind the wheel of my car in Colombo – I am responding to an unsafe environment, where I have to fight for space, put up with aggressive Leyland buses, dodge three wheelers and more.   I think the only way we can reawaken our limbic part of the brain is to condition it to be more skillful under threat with techniques such as meditation and yoga.  So we have to start with the young to teach them differently to respond more skillfully to the dog eat dog world out there to make it less so.

This seemingly insignificant bad behavior of the referees means a lot, because we are dealing with our future who are very impressionable.  They will define and live the values they learn from their parents, teachers and coaches.  If the parents, teachers, coaches and the school says win at any cost, even at the cost of honesty, integrity and the honor of sportsmanship, that is the way they will live their adult life too and we see plenty of unsociable behavior all around us.

The world we are leaving behind…

I feel guilty as an adult having passed the half way point in life, as we are leaving our children a world behind in tatters, when it comes of social and environmental responsibility.   I really wonder whether we have done enough to change this in our lives so far.

This came to light for me when I attended an Authentic Leadership workshop in Halifax, Canada a few years ago, at an intergenerational session.  Over 30’s went to one side of the room and we discussed the kind of world we are leaving behind to our children.  The under 30’s went to the other side to discuss the kind of world they are inheriting from us.

We regrouped on either side of the room and faced each other for the discussion.  I was blown away when one young person got up, pointed finger at all of us and said, “Your generation gave us, money and materials like great houses, gadgets, cars, food, but you did not give us love”.   He went onto say that, most of his friends in the room like him feel a great void in their lives, an emptiness as a result of not having their parents around to talk to them, play with them, touch them, read stories to them, instead they were out there making money to give them things.  They do not want to repeat this with their children, but can they as long as the world’s way of life is to be reptilian?.

I am not blaming our generation alone, but this session was very emotional for all of us over 30s and it certainly gave me a jolt into thinking how I am with my own kids amidst my busy professional life.  Fortunately, we live in Sri Lanka with its social support network, from the domestic help at home to extended family and friends, very different to the loneliness of the west.

Yet, I amended my ways to spend more time with them, to play with them, make dinner a regular family  meeting time and looking back as they grow up, I am so happy I made the time to give them our love and a bit of wisdom too.   We are rewarded with a great relationship and more so I marvel at how they inspire us all the time with what they do out there in the world.   Likewise, I also realized that we as adults and parents have to focus on our children to nurture them differently through a foundation of respect and positive relationships.   This will empower them through a higher self esteem.

So, when I see, adults like these referees, for whatever reason, ethical or not, using children as their pawns to meet their own selfish ends, I feel sad.  The coach wants their school to win, maybe his job is at stake and the referee for friendship or favor, is helping him to keep his job, but the children, they are innocent, but learning that putting an elbow into the opposing teammates face or a kick in the shins is all ok as long as they win.   Some day they may become victims of this thinking, but even if they do not realize it, they come out to the world thinking winning at any cost is important.

Micromanaging

A while ago, I facilitated a British Council sponsored Sportsmanship, Leadership and Ethics, a pilot program for school cricket captains of central and the north western provinces through Sri Lanka Cricket.  In both programs, I was appalled to hear from the captains that they were not allowed to set the batting order, the field or decide on the bowlers or make any other decision as a captain. All these orders came from the coach in the sidelines.   As I had heard it in both provinces, I asked to meet with some of the coaches in Kandy.  When I asked them this, they reluctantly agreed and said, “We are under tremendous pressure from the Principal and parents to win at any cost, or we lose our job”.

So, this was very clear, that the leadership of the school and parents set such a bad example for their own egos to win matches on their behalf, and the coach is under tremendous pressure to deliver, so he or she will go to great lengths to win, losing the plot of why all these sports are there in the first place in schools – to teach children leadership, values, ethics, fair play cooperation, teamwork, sportsmanship…

So, we wonder what is happening to our world full of zero sum competition, violence and hatred.

We are compassionate beings:

It is doubly sad, as the human is a compassionate being with the limbic part of the brain operating in default.  The reptilian brain comes into play only when we are in danger and have to fight to survive.   In this world of ours, the reptilian brain has become default driving the neo-cortex into acting like animals and not humans, as if we are in danger all the time.  This danger is an illusion created by man himself – not evolved and deceived by a large ego.

The only way to change this is to guide our children.  Let us teach them young to look inward, to meditate, do yoga and martial arts, so they can be centered, confident and skillful even in the face of difficulty to be ethical, compassionate, to respect self and each other and win in life.   For that, we have to walk the talk too…. Checking on the difference between what we say and what we actually do… as parents, teachers, coaches and referees.

• The Breadwinner or the Nurturing Mother
• Crows and Reptiles
• Can we End this Cycle of Hatred?
• School admissions
• Measuring (After Nandikadal)

We were both amazed at this teenager’s knowledge in this remote corner, yet he knew and he had formed an opinion. Such is the result of a communications revolution that is making the world truly global village. No longer can the west have an advantage over others by hoarding information and knowledge. World is becoming level.

Yet, it amazed me when the likes of Milliband, Koucher and other western nations tried to force Sri Lanka to stop short of militarily destroying the LTTE, when the world knew of its reputation as the most ruthless terrorist organization. Many people in Sri Lanka figured out that, their local Tamil constituencies supporting the LTTE were behind these moves.

On the other hand, indeed many of us in Sri Lanka were concerned about the civilians innocently caught up in the war. Yet, we also know from history the amount of collateral damage any terrible war inflicts. The allied forces and Hitler’s Germany caused each other mayhem bombing cities like Dresden from one side and London on the other killing so many innocent people. Yes, the Nazi’s were brought to book, but were any of the allied forces indicted for killing all those German civilians by bombing so many cities ? Yet, we accept that as a cost of war to stop a criminal like Hitler.

Of course, there are international rules Sri Lanka should have adhered to in conducting the war.  Many were flouted, from the stories we hear. The Sri Lankan government also took a hard line on any opposition or dissension on its focused war effort.   The government’s line “If you are not with us you are with them” was taken straight from Bush’s war on terrorism. There were many other tactics used with impunity to keep its war effort going. These were the very same the US used in its war on terror, including forced abductions and torture.

Now I draw the line when it comes to these kinds of extra judicial actions that violate our rights. Yet, we do not have an international benchmark anymore to measure against. The moral authority, which the USA and west seemed to have, at least to many of us who did not know any better, had diminished for sure with Bush openly squandering it with his swagger, rhetoric and action.

Sermons of the Cowards

Singaporean author Kishore Mahbubani in his recent article The Sermons of the Cowards highlights the double standards of the west when he states;

The first flaw of western discourse is its inability to practice what it preaches in this respect: to speak truth to power. This is revealed in the reluctance of western governments to discuss the most catastrophic reversal in the field of human rights: the decision by the US government to defend the use of torture.

No longer are we dealing with an ignorant and uneducated world. Not only are people in most countries in the loop through communications technologies and mobility, they are wiser now and make sound judgments of what is happening around them.  As Mahbubani says, as the west conducts a self-congratulatory conversation on the subject, the rest of the world sees an emperor with no moral clothing.

Revelations from the likes of John Perkins in his brave book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, more of the emperor is being bared.  Some day the USA will have to redeem itself to right the wrongs that were committed in the name of developing and sustaining the lifestyle of the Americans while fighting the communist threat. Who will answer to the deaths of enlightened leaders like Panama’s Omar Torrijos, Ecuador ’s Roldos, Chile’s Allende, and countless others just because they wanted to look after the interests of their own people and not the US government’s and its business interests.

Chevron Texaco ruined Ecuador’s Amazon region and its indigenous people with its oil explorations and extraction.  In 1954, United Fruit with the CIA overthrew Guatemala’s democratically elected people’s President Arbenz who promised his people a fair government and land reform and installed the ruthless right wing dictator, Colonel Carlos Castillo who danced to their tune and hurt his own.

This pattern continues in other parts of the world too. Reading Martin Meredith’s, State of Africa describes appalling stories of western support to African scoundrels who bled their countries of people and money just because they looked after their interests.

France was notorious in its support of the likes of Central African Republic’s Bokkassa, the flamboyant Houphouet-Boigny of Cote d’Ivoire who ran their countries to the ground.

Meredith states;

Jean Bedel  Bokassa’s  career as a dictator combined not only extreme greed and personal violence but delusion of grandeur.

Bokassa looked upon President De Gaulle as his adoptive father and after him a close friendship with Valery Giscard d’Estang who used the republic as his hunting ground.  D’Estang has the dubious honor of killing over 50 elephants and many other animals in the 1970s.  No wonder they had the double standard – the blind spot – as long as their personal and national interests were looked after, while millions of people suffered.

Another African scoundrel, Mobutu of Zaire was deemed the great plunderer with good reason.  He too amassed a huge fortune, while the country ran dry and people starved.   He was also a nasty man, vindictive and brutally silenced any critic.   Yet the US government provided more than $ 860 million of aid from 1965 to 1988. Not only that, Vice President George Bush senior heaped praise on him, just after he had imprisoned his opposition in 1982;

“I have come to appreciate the dynamism that is so characteristic of Zaire and Zairians and to respect your dedication to fairness and reason” said Bush senior and as if that was not enough went onto to say “I have come to admire, Mr. President, your personal courage and leadership in Africa”.

Incredible!

In the meantime, fifteen Zairian parliamentarians had published a 51 page indictment in 1980 against Mobutu summarized below;

After fifteen years of the power you have exercised alone, we find ourselves divided into two absolute distinct camps.  On one side, a few scandalously rich persons.  On the other, masses of people suffering the darkest misery.

The US government obviously did not have their eyes and ears open or just chose to ignore.

Nuclear Doublespeak

Then there are other glaring double standards every time the US and allies take on countries like Iran, Pakistan and India to task for their nuclear developments as they are not part of the old boys club. Anyway, the notion of possessing nuclear capabilities for security is an oxymoron. Using it even once will lead to the destruction of humanity. So, the US and others sitting on a high horse and pontificating to anyone they think should not have nuclear capability is comical. If at all Japan has the moral authority in today’s context to protest against any nuclear arms development anywhere including the west, as they possess none.

Having studied, Nuclear Energy in my tertiary education I am anti-nuke as I think, the power industry is inevitably linked to the arms industry in many of these countries as nuclear waste’s usefulness gets extended in weapons. A world with evolved human beings should not need nuclear weapons for security. What are we so afraid of ?

But then again, we maybe evolved in technology and other material domains, but not evolved in the mind.

Narcissus Lives

The Buddha saw us humans 2500 years ago as Narcissus, captivated by our own image and reflection, reveling in our own seeming self-sufficiency and ignoring all the reminders of our own precarious and impermanent being and natures. We live in illusion about our own flawed sense of egoistic self and not even conscious about it.

2500 years later, we still live in illusion and fear, hoarding material wealth, technology, wielding power over others, just the same way the west conquered the east with weapons of destruction, it’s just that the modern arms could wipe us all out in seconds.

Wake Up and Presence

So, when will the powerful west wake from this slumber to realize that the whole world, including that boy on the hill, is watching and wondering that there is a huge gap between what they pontificate, ‘espoused theories’ – as Agyris and Schon, the social scientists say – and what they do, their ‘theories in action’. The difference is they are getting angry enough to blow themselves up in frustration.

In our leadership interventions with organizations we play a game called the Winning Game to see how even good people, when they are wronged are willing to lose while taking revenge. Our complex humanity is hanging on a thread, so the west, with all its material wealth and power needs to build its credibility to be a shining example of graciousness to the rest so every human on this earth has a life of dignity. The only way to reach that is to evolve the individual mind through spiritual practices such as meditation, yoga and martial arts, so the collective will transform into a more humane world.  In the meantime, people in glasshouses should not throw stones at the rest.

• The killing of Osama Bin Laden
• Lashkar-e-Taiba in Sri Lanka?
• The Nobel Peace Farce: President Obama
• Barack Obama: Hope for America, but not for the world?
• Western baloney on “human rights”

One of the leaders, Deepa (fictitious name) walked up to us in curiosity and introduced by the Girl Guide trainer.  She had a presence but seemed restless.

Deepa was abducted by the LTTE at age 16 from her Aunt’s home in the Wanni and was trained as a soldier.   She had not seen combat as she was found by the Army in a Wanni camp only three months after.    She has not heard about her parents since then and thinks they are in London.  The other thirty odd girls had suffered similar fates.  Another, Ramani (fictitious name) told us through the interpreter, the LTTE had come to her home and she was picked out of the three sisters as she looked the strongest.   She said, “They took children over thirteen and only one from a family”.   She had been trained for 25 days and had seen combat.  When asked about the training and her time in the LTTE, she said, “I do not want this to ever happen again” and evaded the question.   This was the sentiment of the others too.

The Girl Guide trainers volunteering their time, one Sinhala and the other Tamil former teachers were volunteering their services for this camp administered by the Army.  They were preparing for the Girl Guide and Scout Investiture ceremony planned for the next day.   In addition to the girls there are about 40 boys in this camp.

The Guide trainers told us tales of how these children were distraught and disoriented when they were brought here seven months ago.  Most would not smile or speak much as they were scared.   Obviously there has been a tremendous transformation through this programme as to us they seemed normal as normal can be.  Later when I was looking for a toilet, the Guide trainer asked one of the boys to show me.  I suggested, I use theirs’ which was closer, but he very politely took me to the guest toilet on the other side of the compound.   He looked so innocent that I could not imagine him as a terrorist.

The Guide trainers were full of praise for the Army officer in charge and his staff who administers the camp for the way it is run.  They said that uniforms were not worn by officers when they visit the camp and that these young people were treated with dignity and respect.  Both the boys and girls had made great friends with their warders too, the Police constables who guard the premises.  I saw a few boys bantering and laughing with them as they drank tea together.

Deepa graciously invited Samantha and I to join them for tea.   She continued to engage Samantha in a conversation in a combination of Tamil, Sinhala and English asking about her personal life, who I was to her and then when she found out we had children of our own she backed off, as if she was hoping we would take her home with us.  Later we found out, of all the girls, she was the only one without a family or extended family to go home to.

Another girl came to Samantha and spoke in Sinhala and told her in a matter of a few minutes that her father is Sinhala and mother Tamil and they had lived in the Wanni.   As she was relating her story, the girls were called to regroup to practice.

Watching these girls act and interact, I just could not fathom the fact that they were trained killers and I would have had no chance if I encountered them out there just over a year ago.

Later, we met the Army officer and his staff and I could see why all the children called him Appah.   He was indeed a father figure, a tall handsome man, gracious and well spoken.    He was there to go through a rehearsal  for the investiture and getting impatient as the children were trickling in when they should have been in their seats in the make shift campfire circle. He turned to me in exasperation, “They are behaving like civilians” and with a chuckle went on “I suppose that is a good thing”.

Indeed, undoing the combat discipline and violence out of these children would have been a tremendous challenge and what amazes me most is that it was spearheaded by the very army which was their enemy.

The Young Diaspora
In a conversation with the Army officer, I highlighted the irony of so many of the young Tamil Diaspora of a similar age group growing up in another world,  many who had never been to Sri Lanka, yet espouse hate, at times militantly, towards Sri Lanka and Sinhala people.  He said, “We cannot blame them as that was their reality when they ran away from Sri Lanka at the time and sadly they have passed it onto their children too”.

Such are the contradictions of this complex situation, where a nation has shared its soil between these two communities for two thousand years, distinct in many ways, yet similar in so many and every so often like siblings drawing battle lines, fighting it out.  This last battle of thirty years seemingly the most brutal, full of hatred for each other, spreading like wildfire, thanks to the information age and in this camp bringing them back to a life of dignity they deserve with love, compassion and a determination – this seeming side story has tremendous significance as we work towards peace one year after the war ended.

“After all these very girls are going to become Mothers some day and bring up children, so this is the least we could do to help them back to normal life” said the Guide trainer.   No doubt the scars will remain, but the nation has to come together, to heal the wounds, as we share a common karma.

The True Unsung Heroes

The Girl Guide and Scout trainers volunteering their time tirelessly for the love of humanity, the Army personnel, the Police guards and the other volunteers, they are the true unsung heroes as the nation heals the wounds of war.

These are the stories that keep my spirit alive and that there is hope for humanity to someday overcome our selfish and fearful behaviors to understand that suffering is the default human condition, but we overcome by being centered, balanced and a middle path of compassion for self and others through our common humanity.   This is the message of the camp.

All these unsung heroes are the proof of this human spirit as they work selflessly to ensure that these children do not become a burden to society, but useful contributors to humanity.

The other heroes are certainly these youth who lost their childhood to a force beyond their control as they commit to become useful citizens again.  Hopefully they will be champions of peace themselves as they grow and they rightfully said, “We do not ever want to face that again”.   This is our collective responsibility to prevent a war from ever happening in this beautiful land again as war brings out the worst in all of us.

If you say, “war is a necessary evil for human existence”, then I ask “have we not evolved?”
If you say, “guns are necessary to protect us”, then I ask “protect from whom?”
If you say, “fear, hate and conflict is being human”, then I ask “where is the love?”
If war is ugly then peace is beauty is then human!

• Liberation
• Travels in a Militarised Society — 2
• Dancing In Sympathy (Mullaitivu)
• ‘I want a decent Education’ – A twelve year old’s plea
• The Right to Respond

Yet, when there is so much at stake – playing in a big match means a life-long recognition – this must be a difficult choice.  Therefore, I admire this young man and his parents for taking this stand.  Obviously, they live by a set of values and ethics in the long run will hold them in great stead.

I sincerely hope that life will reward them – as I do wonder at times when I see so much ‘in your face’ unethical behavior with impunity by the very leaders who should live by example for us.  Corruption stems from merely breaking a traffic law like running a red light, defacing walls with election posters when there are laws against it to acts of bribery for political favours to killing people who question.

Sri Lanka’s Reputation

Sri Lanka has the dubious honor of being 97th, tied with Liberia and below Rwanda in the Corruption Perceptions Index – 2009 of Transparency International.  This rank shows how one country compares to others indicating the perceived level of public-sector corruption in a country.   Hearing more and more appalling stories of connivance and graft amongst the inner circle of politicians and business on a daily basis, we are sure to slide further.

How can I have pride in the country of my birth when we are judged in this way by the rest?.

No matter what I do, this image is an impediment by association as I work and travel around the world, even if it is totally opposite to my personal values of integrity and respect.  This lack of respect for us is stark by the way foreign missions and immigration officials treat us as we travel the world.

Sri Lanka is where it is today through a steady erosion of some of the basic ethics and values of governance by a succession of leaders since independence.  It has gone down to such a depth, permeating every aspect of our society including our education system, which is the bedrock of any good society.   This grates me as I come from a family of educators and am one myself.

No wonder people are leaving our shores in droves as when the country’s values are not aligned with theirs, the only option for those who can is to up and leave.  So, Sri Lanka loses its best and the brightest.

My father who loved this country dearly decided to immigrate to Canada in 1973 when he encountered this erosion of values after election-day in 1970.  A party supporter of the winning SLFP government came to hoist a blue flag on the St. Sylvester’s College flag mast which is reserved for the national and the school flags.  As the Principal, he chased him away to be presented a week later with a ‘punishment transfer’ to Kurunegala.

After he ended his career at age 57, without enjoying a comfortable retirement here, he decided to risk moving his family to cold and alien Canada.  He sacrificed for us as his values were at loggerheads with what was beginning to happen to his beloved country.

It is unfortunate that this abuse of power has gone from bad to worse.  It is a symptom of the caliber of people who have got into politics in recent times and their lack of learning, ignorance of history and politics.  History continues to repeat itself around the world over the last many centuries where egocentric, corrupt leadership has meted out misery and mayhem to nations and its people through an arrogant compromise on ethics and values for personal aggrandizement.  Nations have been set back for decades and everyone has lost at the end.

Look at Africa

We only have to look to Africa – many of the failed states who had so much promise as they became independent in the 1950s and 60s to be plundered dry by a ruling elite leaving entire nations in misery.     As a result, think of the general reputation Africans have even amongst us.

Martin Meredith’s  book, The State of Africa – A History of Fifty Years of Independence quotes a distinguished West Indian economist Arthur Lewis who wrote in 1965 about West Africa;

Much of what is going on in some of these countries is fully explained in terms of the normal lust of human beings for power and wealth.  The stakes are high. Office carries power, prestige and money.  The power is incredible.  Most West African Ministers consider themselves above the law, and are treated as such by the Police.  Decision making is arbitrary.  Decisions which more advanced countries leave to civil servants and technicians are made by Ministers often without consulting experts.   The prestige is also incredible.    Men who claim to be democrats in fact behave like emperors.  Personifying the state, they dress themselves in uniform, build themselves palaces and bring all traffic to a standstill when they drive, hold fancy parades and generally demand to be treated like Egyptian Pharaohs. And the money is also incredible. …… There are also vast pickings in bribes, state contracts, diversion of public funds to private uses, and commissions of various sorts.  To be a Minister is to have a lifetime chance to make a fortune.

Sound familiar ?.

What is sad is that fifty years later Sri Lanka may be embarking on this path with many of our leaders living what was then called the “Platinum life”.   When people at the top live this life with impunity, by example everyone else aspires to a Platinum Life too.  The entire system becomes corrupt, even the gentleman’s game of cricket, and everyone loses and at the end, even those at the top.  I am hoping that our leaders and the people in Sri Lanka are more enlightened than the Africans were.

I am also banking on three other factors;

• our Buddhist heritage founded on compassion and the middle path
• A highly literate and educated population
• Our tradition of democracy

Yet, I get scared as I read Meredith’s book illustrating the unimaginable misery, loss of life for millions, continued sadness and suffering in many African nations whether it is Nigeria, Ghana (who seem to be finally getting their act together with righteous leaders), Liberia, Corte d ‘Ivoire, Kenya, the Congo, Angola, Zimbabwe and the list goes on.

Going Mad with Power

Ghana’s Nkrumah came into power in 1960 creating a republic that gave him unlimited powers.  He was revered at the time as Africa’s savior and promised to build a post colonial superpower.   He had spurts of developing the country with schools and hospitals but ended up being one of the worst scoundrels of Africa amassing millions of dollars for him and his cronies, wreaking havoc and hurting his own people as many of them do to stay in power.  In the middle of all this he also promised to tackle the scourge of corruption as it had got entrenched by then.  All this was hollow promises as there was a huge gap between and what he said and what he actually did.  He finally met his downfall as such leaders cross the line eventually from thinking invincible.  On 24^th February 1966, while he was away the army took over the country.  An army taking over a country is hardly liberation, but things had to change and Ghana went through misery for many more years until now where some good leaders have emerged.

The list of names of these reptilian leaders who came into power with so much promise are endless – Mobutu, Houphouet-Boigny, Kaunda, Arap Moi, Mengitsu, Banda, Abacha, Savimbi, Mugabe and the list goes on – one would have lost all hope for Africa.

Then came Mandela….

The world was fortunate indeed for Mandela – an aberration, a saint whose authentic leadership is based on set of values founded on respect and dignity for all human beings.   For Africa to produce such a visionary leader gives us all hope.

Reading the Mandela life story in Long Road to Freedom confirms his resolve and strength of character to take the more difficult path of peace and reconciliation, when he could have been tempted to take revenge in a reptilian manner.   His limbic brain, the seat of compassion and positive emotions, certainly overcame the reptilian brain which is the default mode for survival (many reptiles eat their own) which would have clamored for the lowly response of hate and revenge.    From a Buddhist view he is an evolved being, developing his compassion through reflection, contemplation and meditation in his 30 years of confinement, rather than wallowing in the dregs of anger and violence.

Rugby and Reconciliation

Not only was he compassionate, he was savvy and creative to see opportunities by bringing unlikely bedfellows together.  That is the way he brought Rugby and Politics together with incredible consequences.  The movie Invictus shows his foresight to use the Afrikaner pride of Rugby to build trust and hope between the once divided communities.    He had the strength of conviction and confidence to pull this off as the majority native Africans saw the Springboks, Rugby and the colour green as symbols of oppression.  The mostly white Springboks team, being underdogs at an international level at the time, never expected to be supported by every colour and class nationally at the 1995 Rugby World Championships hosted in South Africa.  The Springboks led by François Pienaar who Mandela developed a close relationship with were inspired to win against a New Zealand All Blacks onslaught led by the power house Jonah Lomu.  It was a masterstroke as the entire nation came out to celebrate, which had a lasting emotional effect of togetherness.

Mandela kept winning for South Africa and the world, but then he also knew that his time was up and stood down before he got entrenched and lost perspective with age.   When people resisted his impending departure, he said, “A young nation like this cannot be run by an Octogenarian like me”.

I keep wondering how Mandela is so different to Mugabe who clings to power well past his ‘use by date’ of sanity.  I believe every one of us has the Mandela potential within us.  Mandela is an incredibly aware human being living in the present, balanced and fearless as a result whereas Mugabe is full of hate and fear, unaware and untouched by the misery he has spread to a once beautiful nation. We have to only follow our own Buddhist doctrine of the Noble Eightfold Pathway and live a life of mindfulness in the middle path to become Mandela.

Our ethical foundation emerges through Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood.  For that we have to be wise through our conceptual foundation of Right Understanding and Right Thought.  In order to get there, we have to have the mental discipline through Right Effort, Right Concentration and Right Mindfulness.

Mandela embodies the following words of wisdom I found in the business book, the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook by Peter Senge et al –   quoting our very own Sage, Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne

The Most Dangerous Stage is Respect

When we try to bring about change in our societies, we are treated first with indifference, then with ridicule, then with abuse and oppression.  And finally, the greatest challenge is thrown at us. We are treated with respect.  This is the most dangerous stage  - A.T. Ariyaratne

Mandela overcame the most dangerous stage and he is a truly free human being now – a true saint.

Hope for Sri Lanka – Dharma Mahinda ?

We do have hope that in Sri Lanka too in victory this regime will provide a leadership that is magnanimous, ethical, humble and compassionate, while creating a discipline and accountability within the political system, the judiciary, the bureaucracy and the security apparatus to give every Sri Lankan a life protected by justice present with dignity.   This way we would have truly learned from history and not take the Africa route fifty years later.

Sri Lanka beating the biggest scourge of terrorism has shown the world it can meet this ultimate challenge and now we have an opportunity to be a beacon of stability and sustainable growth by being    a well governed nation.

In the meantime, we honor and applaud the kind of behavior the cricketer and the family showed when the pressure was on.  This is the true spirit of our nation founded on a Dharma where Right Action is the cornerstone.  It is our own individual choice and action that makes for a collective positive outcome.  The true test is the path we choose when temptation is offered to us.  Nowadays, it seems the path less travelled is the right one, but the more difficult one to take.  Everyday is a test for us and we hope we can endure even in the most difficult of times.   There is a good reason according to Venerable Nyanaponika.

Today’s danger is over-development of one-sided brain activity devoted solely to material ends, in the service of thirst for sense pleasure and the lust for power.  The concomitant danger is that mankind might one day be crushed by the very creations of its own hypertrophied brain – its body killing inventions and its mind killing distractions.  The remedy that will prevent catastrophic developments is the Buddha’s Middle Path.  It is the eternal guardian that, if listened to, will protect humanity from shipwreck on the rocks of extreme – mental, spiritual and social.  – Venerable Nyanaponika

May all beings be well and happy!

• The long wait for a President…
• Beam Me Up to Planet Football!
• How high is our Social Esteem in Sri Lanka?
• In Praise of the Devil’s Advocate
• The HOPE in Sri Lanka after war

A young TV journalist asked me whether Martin Luther Kings’ philosophy of non-violence will work in bringing true peace to Sri Lanka ?

I cannot remember how I answered it facing the camera, but I hope I would have said something like this.

Martin Luther King Jr. paid the ultimate price violently driving a non violent campaign to win freedom for African American people who gained their official freedom 100 years earlier.   In my eyes, Martin Luther King Jr. was spiritually a fearless warrior.  He took on a system, a society and a people who were fearful of what he was asking for.  These fearful people though, had the power and guns to resist his dream of white and black people living in harmony.  He fell prey to one of those guns, but his dream is slowly being realized.

Sri Lanka too is ruled by a spiritually fearful people who need protection from their own.   In ruling fearfully, there is little justice everywhere.    Resistance by asking questions makes one a traitor, judged and condemned.   This judgment comes from a place of fear, the same kind that judged Jesus and nailed him to the stake, gave Aristotle the death sentence, oppressed Gandhi and Mandela as they fearlessly went about asking for justice for everyone.

Just like in those times, in taking on King’s Gandhian philosophy of ‘ahimsa’ to bring about justice has huge personal risks in Sri Lanka today.   So, how do we go about this?

I am sure there are many people within this system who’s conscience is tugged at every time a non-violent resistor, a questioner is attacked, abducted or killed.  After all we humans have an in built cosmic spirituality deeply rooted in us.  This spirituality is founded on the oneness of all beings, our interconnected natures so when we hurt another, we hurt ourselves too.  We have to reach out to them.

The difficulty is years of conditioning where spirituality is well hidden by the sensory defilements that excite through material gain, which derive them superficial power.  The challenge is how do we help them see this?

Turning to Religion ?

Religion is supposed to address these very issues, but the institutions have divided us as people more than uniting us in humanity.   These divisions are ingrained too.  The differences – mine is better than yours syndrome – when the original message of the prophets were essentially the same in terms of inward individual inquiry, finding peace within self and enlightenment.   This is happening here to Buddhism as it is externalized through a focus on rituals, loudspeakers and linking it to politics and Sinhala nationalism.

Islam for instance has been branded to be a violent religion for obvious reasons as followers have been misled by subsequent leaders who have shaped it that way to meet their needs for power.   Ms. Jezima Ismail, a panelist at the Interfaith Panel Discussion Session at the Martin Luther King Jr event spoke of the pacific nature of real Islam and went on to redefine Jihad to mean going back to the original book for guidance, meaning the Koran when facing a challenge and not holy war that even many Muslims believe it to be.  Koran has no place for violence in it.  So, it is clear that religious institutions over the years have used a doctrine of violence to seek and hold power over people to meet their leader’s selfish ends.

As we get older, many of us seek more meaning in life and become spiritual, but we see around us though a few stupid old men who are drunk with power not realizing life’s impermanence and the karma of it all.  In the meantime, many people around them suffer.   Yet, I live in hope that there is room for this philosophy of non-violence for us in Sri Lanka through a Dharma Asoka like transformation with our political leaders to create Justice Everywhere – or is it a pipe dream?

Focus on the Young

There may be hope for the future if we start with the young.  Another panelist at the Interfaith Discussion, Brahmacharya Darshan Chaitanya said, we have a great opportunity in Sri Lanka as religion is offered as a subject in the school system.  Yet we squander this opportunity by teaching religion the same way we teach science and geography – the external systems, the rituals, memorizing stanzas, stories and subjecting them to regurgitation at an exam at the end of the year – which has no link to personal spiritual development to bring meaning to their lives through inquiry and mindfulness.    Another panelist, Fr. Mervyn Fernando said that we are teaching religion but not teaching the young to be religious.  To be religious is the inward journey seeking the real truth.  This requires reflection, contemplation, prayer and meditation and we have to help develop these skills.

Then and only then will we create a generation of fearless warriors who will not need big egos and guns to protect them.   They will have the power and the confidence to change this world of contradiction, a world where everyone of us contribute to violence in the form of the oil and arms industry (every time we switch on a light or get on vehicle to travel) which rule us by controlling small nations like ours too through their corrupt practices.  At least the younger generation may make these linkages and work to make this world less violent and less polluted in every way by seeking alternatives to oil and arms, for instance.

Our challenge then is find Justice Everywhere through non-violence against these huge odds and there will be a price to pay.   Then again, if we become fearless warriors we will not fear death.

Personally, there is yet a long way for me for that…. So I keep working on myself towards mindfulness……towards that goal……to end Samsara, the cycle of life, as life is suffering, as another panelist Ven Bellanvila Wimalaratana said and then in the meantime, we may just realize our dream of Justice Everywhere.

May all beings be well and happy!

• A Matter of faith
• Saving the World from Ourselves through Spirituality
• Spirtuality, Religion and Human Conflict
• Dhamma or Violence in Sri Lanka
• Akon and Buddhism in Sri Lanka

In a recent article in the Daily Mirror, alternative energy advocate, Asoka Abeygunawardena wrote, “our education system should focus on spiritual development rather than economic development”.

Let us explore this further.  What does spirituality mean ?.

To me, spirituality is about integrity.  It helps us to find meaning in life, provides a foundation of our values to guide us in the way we behave with self, others and the world around us.

In contrast, our education system has shaped us to be more left brained, analytical, linear thinkers and become efficient at achieving targets at any cost.  The value is in the results not integrity.  Religion which is supposed to teach us about spirituality and to live a life of integrity is a rote learning process of stanzas, fables and stories with not much application to real life and individual practice.  If at all, it focuses more on ritual and not personal inquiry.  We cannot analyze spirituality, so we avoid it.  Yet we misconstrue it to be worshiping external deities and statues rather than focusing on self, where our spirituality resides.

Descarte’s Folly

If we are to redesign our education system we have to get away from the traditional Cartesian mind – matter divide which has been the focus of our global education system for the last 500 years.   This system promotes IQ based rational, target based learning.  It has done well to develop science and technologies to make some of our lives comfortable.

Yet, to put it bluntly, this system has the entire planet on the edge now, with the social challenges of a divided world of ‘haves and have nots’, steeped in insecurity, fear and violence for the ‘have nots’ and the environmental challenges we all face – both the rich and poor.   Only a few fortunate of the 6 billion people on this earth live life of dignity for now.  The disparity is outrageous, when one thinks that 80% of the world’s wealth is held by a mere 5%.   Something has to give and we may lose it all.

Sri Lanka is no different in our disparity, but we are fortunate that our foundation is spiritual, based on a focus on self emancipation through mindfulness and meditation.   Yet, the entire nation has gone far away from this practice.

The other day, when a lay friend told me that he had been teaching Buddhist monks meditation, I was surprised.  I have spoken to so many since who agreed that many of our monks do not meditate.

I am still trying to get my head around this.  I do not want to jump to conclusions here, but it is worth a discussion.   I have taken for granted that monks are synonymous with meditation.   I have had the benefit since I was young to associate with monks like Ven. Nyanaponika, Piyadassi, Sobitha theros who were my father’s friends and later in life with Banthes Punnaji and Vannasara in Canada who made meditation their fundamental practice.

In his book “The Heart of Buddhist Meditation” Nyanaponika Thero states, “This ancient way of mindfulness is as practicable today as it was 2500 years ago.  Right Mindfulness is in fact, the indispensable basis of Right Living and Right Thinking – everywhere”.

If some of our Sanga have dropped this practice, I am not sure where we stand as a Buddhist nation today.

Leaving that aside, let me ask how do we bring this kind of spiritual development into our education system ?

Spirituality and Education

This will be a challenge as our nation is multi religious and spirituality has been equated with religion.  Maybe we should look at spirituality in a more secular manner, from the human psychology point of view.

Spirituality is a way of facilitating a dialogue between reason and emotion, between mind and body.  This provides a base for growth and transformation from our ego centered material self to an active, unifying, meaning-giving centre.

Spirituality is about a transpersonal vision of goodness, beauty, perfection, generosity, graciousness, and sacrifice.  It hinges on dignity for self and others and the foundation is true integrity.  Love and compassion is its cornerstone.

It is now universally accepted that the focus on the breath and meditation is a way to rid of the ego.  Ego clouds our perceptions as it gives us deceptive messages about our sensory encounters.   It inflates our self worth and is driven by fear.   Meditation focuses our mind to see things clearer as they are and not clouded by the ego centered self importance.

Now there is scientific research using electroencephalogram (EEG) technology proving that meditators have a higher gamma activity (25 – 40Hz frequency in neural oscillations) and increased synchronization across the entire brain. This integrates the brain function, resulting in a confidence arising from clearer perception of the realities. (Research is done at the W.M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior, University of Wisconsin, USA).

Better understanding of self and the surrounding world takes away fear.   When fear is taken away, we become more skillful and centered to deal with the suffering that life is.  We do not need the ego to protect us.  This will help us to become inquiring and mindful and to follow a path of moderation.

As such, meditation, yoga and martial arts as a practice should be introduced to children from a young age in schools.  It will center them and provide a power of balance that will make them skillful in life, see other beings and nature around as collaborators rather than adversaries.  Unconditional loving-kindness and compassion, the natural way of our being will surface and they will become fearless about suffering and change.   They will be more creative to complement the logical left brain and emotionally better balanced through a foundation of spirituality.

Knowing the Realities of the World

Seeing the world clearly will enable the realization of the folly of a world dominated by the oil industry, protected by a weapons industry making puppets out of politicians and controlled by a handful of people.   Emotional and spiritual intelligence will enable them to see that and IQ based world founded on reductionist science is not sustainable.   Fearlessness coupled with benevolence will give them the courage to get together to act against these corrupt, power hungry, ego centered forces not with violence but with skillful compassion.

Together it may become easier to convince those few Narcissists to see the folly of their ways through skillful dialogue and crucial conversations to help them get free from fear, the high walls and the guards that are needed to protect them and their wealth.

We have failed our Children

All I know is our generation and the many previous ones have failed our children.  We are leaving them a mess of a world.  The least we could do is to equip them to now clean up this mess, to help them see clearly who the real adversaries are and that they are not out there but within us first and our selfish ego centered natures have to be tamed first.

This focus on self will help us to live and love in this world differently.  It may mean tumultuous change for the way the world is now or are we too scared to make those changes.  It just may be that the tumultuous change is foisted on us by nature anyway.  I do not think so, as we humans are more knowing than that as benevolence and compassion pervades the basic nature of our being.  We just need to become skillful to find it and nurture it.

May all beings be well and happy !!!

• Meditation for a divided nation
• The Ethical Public Servant
• Reptiles and Bad Referees
• Dhamma or Violence in Sri Lanka
• Crows and Reptiles

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it” said Voltaire after reading Rousseau’s Social Contract in 18^th century France. We respect the courage and honesty of Voltaire and other leaders of the time for they laid the foundation for an enlightened century.  Medieval  dogmatism, prejudice and narrow mindedness was set aside at the political level to allow for more mature acceptance of questioning and criticism.  This laid the foundation for recognizing the individual and the concept of the democratic ideal.

Contrast that with the 21^st century political dictum first uttered by George W Bush in the aftermath of 9/11 – “If you are not with us you are with them” a line followed closely by the Sri Lankan government as it fought the difficult war with LTTE. By extension, asking questions is treachery and not condoned through threat driven by fear.  The questioners are ridiculed and even silenced by death.  Yet the questioners are few and far between to begin with as the masses are shaped to be left brained linear thinkers and not encouraged to creatively ask questions.   Our logical and rational education ensures that.   Who sets this agenda ?

Most of us have been shaped through specialization to only use the left brain for the purpose of providing centre stage to human beings based on natural selection where the strong few dominate.   So, it is the strong few that set the agenda but they will selfishly guard their right to leadership and hate being questioned.

The brave few who question or play devil’s advocate are creative.  Much of the time they seek better ways of doing what is being done but may not be against the people who act – only their actions.   This may require them to stop and re look at their process and the methods – so it is disruptive to a plan of action, especially if there is a firm goal set, like how the government went after the LTTE.   How do we find the middle ground on this ?.

There are a few things at play here.  The level of openness and transparency of the people being questioned, the intentions of the questioner and the way questions are being asked.   Of course the actions that are being questioned and what is at stake also matters.  Yet with whatever we do as a civilized and a humane society, there is a foundation for our existence based on a code of ethics and practice enshrined to respect and protect human beings and their right to exist.   Many leaders break this code freely and not many people hold them accountable.

One cannot blame us ordinary people as being a devil’s advocate is deemed a trouble maker, a non conformist, a heretic and many other brands that have been foisted on people who question.  So most of us remain in our left brained comfort zone and not make trouble.

Unfortunately, many of us by our nurture and training have little capability to be reflective ourselves, ask self inquiry questions which extends to us being uncomfortable too when others ask questions.   Therefore, we do not ask questions of others.

Asking questions is to engage the right brain to be creative, to push the limits.  If we do not ask questions, we will not progress.   It is the likes of Aristotle, Lincoln, Gandhi, Mandela who have inspired our imagination as they went against the grain and questioned the status quo at a great personal cost to them.   They all challenged injustice to human beings based on a universal moral code of what is right and what is wrong.  They found creative ways of expressing their message and their actions have made the world a better place.

Leaders looking at you through a barrel of a gun saying, “If you are not with us you are them” may achieve their immediate goals but is bound to leave a mess behind as their goal orientation and narrow focus does not lend them to be open to feedback and look at the bigger picture.  The effects of their words and action, the impacts, good and bad they may have in the wider world around them are not considered.   Often this kind of leadership is driven by their fear and insecurity, which negatively impacts on the psyche of the people.   As a result, they may win battles but lose wars.

Politically, allowing the masses to engage the right brain makes it difficult for leaders to control them.   When the masses ask questions the leaders are in the spot light and will be held accountable.  This makes it a challenge for leaders to act with impunity without thinking about the people they lead.  This puts corrupt selfish leaders on the spot.

Unfortunately, Sri Lanka has been plagued with this kind of leadership since independence.   I lament for Lanka in recent times for allowing the loss of life for many just because they asked questions.

I was not a regular reader of The Leader nor did I agree with some of Lasantha’s professional ways, but it hit the core of my being when he was killed – for Lasantha the fellow human being.  He did put a lot of people on the spot with his questions, but a death sentence was too harsh of a response for which the entire nation has to suffer the karma.  This kind of behavior in the last twenty five years has left the country with a fear psychosis leading to low social esteem and stifled progress.

History is dotted with stories of great leaders – Alexander, Napoleon, Marcos, Suharto – who changed their world for a time but lost the plot to end their days without dignity.   We have had others, the winners who left an inspiring legacy behind like Gandhi, Churchill, Anwar Sadat, Corazon Aquino and the ones yet living like Mandela, De Klerk, Gorbachov who transformed the world in our life time and will go in dignity.  Even India’s honest, humble yet steely Manmohan Singh in the way he is quietly changing India to be a superpower is a wonderful example for us.  They will be remembered in history immemorial.

For us, apart from the fortune of a righteous leader now, one way to transform is through education so at least the next generation will be creative and have the courage and confidence to ask questions. The spread of communications technology will complement this as it will be easy to mobilize the country when questions need to be asked.

As a 14 year old when I moved to Canada, what stood out most was my new ability to question the teachers.  I was naturally uncomfortable with this at first, but realized the power and confidence I gained through it.   It is no surprise that Canada is one of the most just and progressive countries in the world, a country with high social esteem.

We yearn for a time soon in Sri Lanka where leaders will transform their style to become more open and inquiring, reflective and welcome questioning; who realizes the link between justice and the health of a nation; who understand the concept of ‘dependent origination’ – the laws of karma; feel the impermanency of life and take seriously the legacy they will leave behind – cool like Voltaire and friends or un-cool like so many leaders, once great, but caused so much suffering for so many at the end.

I praise the devil’s advocates as it is their courage and persistence that will help make this world more compassionate.   I salute and pay tribute to those who lost their lives being so.

• Sri Lankan cricket and social work: Interview with Kushil Gunasekera
• Saving the World from Ourselves through Spirituality
• The ‘Grease Devil’ Phenomena in Sri Lanka: A Brief Collation of Reports
• The Breadwinner or the Nurturing Mother
• Fear Factor

I was eager to learn about the current science of climate change and how well nations around the world are responding to it.  To my dismay, I found that global carbon dioxide emissions have increased by 70% in the last 20 years.  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that the evidence is even stronger that human factors have exacerbated the climate change process.   In fact, we are knocking on the doors of a Climate Catastrophe, if our planet’s temperature rises more than 2 degrees Celsius and the atmospheric carbon levels move towards 400 parts per million (ppm), when it should remain below 350.

Almost every country had not met their promised commitment to the 1992 UN Framework Convention in their national economic interest, except the European Union coming close.  I was really disappointed that Canada, a country that is normally socially and environmental conscious had dropped their commitment in favor of squeezing oil from the Alberta Tar Sands.  Japan and Australia were also way behind and of course US did not commit at all.

Then there is India and China moving into carbon regime like a freight train out of control. They are going to win the prize for the highest rate of increase of carbon emissions as they post 10% plus annual economic growth rates and displace the US as highest emitters in the next few decades.  According to Asoka Abeygunawardana, Executive Director of the Energy Forum, even Sri Lanka has increased its rate of carbon emissions by 230%  from 1990 with all the new thermal energy generation and will take it over the top when the first coal power plant comes on line in 2010.

As developing nations, the argument goes that we have to play catch up and the only way to do so is through oil and coal technologies. With lower standards in emission controls in the developing world and the use of cheaper high sulfur coal, there is going to be huge adverse impacts on the local population, agriculture and the ecology, let alone the globe.

The end result for humanity is  –  we may all suffer together when the climate change curve hits the point of no return.

How ironic I thought as I sat through session after session in Kathmandu feeling helpless and musing at the contradiction, that we live in a world of high technology doing things beyond the wildest imaginations of science fiction writers of yore, yet we are primitive and selfish when it comes to sharing and caring for our planet and humanity.

When I was asked to facilitate the last session to plan CANSA’s activities for the future, I felt the urge to do something innovative to get everyone’s attention at a different level.  One of the challenges we face is that we externalize and compartmentalize all the negative evidence as a survival mechanism.   So we tend not to act as long as we feel a semblance of normalcy and balance in our personal lives.   As such, we do not inquire and reflect on how we act and contribute to the status quo, even though intellectually we know about all this and talk a good game. Therefore, we need to put a mirror on our selves first.

At the same time, we are selfish in thinking in relative terms – we feel owed in relation to others who may seem to have more materially than us. This is the problem we face in the developing world as we shirk our responsibility to act in the greater interest of this planet and its future generations.   So, I needed an activity to provoke people to become mindful about individual and collective responsibility – both the haves and have nots –  if we were to avert a Climate Catastrophe as it is described now.

At the spur of the moment, I thought of a game my friend and business partner Robert Vanderwall of Sage Training introduced me to that brought out our true selfish and competitive natures.  It is called the Winning Game.

Playing the Winning Game

The Winning Game is designed to play between four teams where the objective is to win as much money as possible.  I named the four teams with the areas identified for strategic focus in taking CANSA forward.

I played five rounds with them where each team had to make a choice of selecting  X or Y on  a piece of paper per round.  If all four teams scored X, they all lost $ 1000 a piece and if they all scored Y, they all won $ 1000 a piece.  However, in the combinations, if one or more teams scored X they won while the teams who scored Y lost.

In the initial two rounds the four teams were not allowed to talk to each other.  On the third round where I offered a two times bonus they were given an opportunity to communicate with each other and a chance to collaborate. There was one team which was committed to scoring Y throughout the game as they realized Y was the only way to win in the long run. When they all met to negotiate, they tried to convince the others that scoring Y was for the common good. Everyone made a commitment to do so, just like they did at the UN Convention back in 1992. However, two teams decided to deceive the others in the interest of a short term gain by scoring X while they knew for sure at least one team will score Y.  They got well ahead as they sextupled their earnings.   As a result of them breaking their promise by being selfish, everyone lost trust in each other and became competitive and even vindictive.

Round four, was a five times bonus round and again offered an opportunity for the four teams to speak to each other.  They all refused to talk as they said the trust is lost and three teams ended up scoring X.  Round five was the same as everyone decided to be silent and the end result was a collective loss of $ 24,000 for everyone.

Taming the Reptile within us

Some realized that the game was about cooperation, open communications and trust as there was an interdependency.  What one team decided impacted on all the other teams.  Yet, it was interesting how everyone got competitive, emotional and even vengeful when it was about protecting one’s self interest and winning. Our reptilian nature was coming out. Finally, breaking the promise made most of them angry and irrational. Even when they knew scoring X meant a potential loss for everyone, all scored X and everyone went down together. How interesting that our minds act to destruction when the chips are down.

There was rich learning in playing the game in revealing our psyche when it comes to protecting our turf, building fences and then acting irrationally when emotions are hurt. This is a result of centuries of left brain driven linear and reductive thinking protected by the ego – an ego that deceives us with its self talk.  IQ in terms of logic, reductive and rational thinking linking economic profit to power alone is dominant, but makes us reptilian – eating our own for our survival.  We do not need to do this as there is enough to go around if we let our limbic brains tame the reptilian fears. In the process, we ignore both our emotional (EQ) and spiritual intelligence (SQ).  We demean the common good, let alone sacrificing for it.

If we were emotionally and spiritually intelligent, we would care about our planet as a living system and realize our own sustenance is dependent on its bounty. Instead, we have created a system where a tree, the very tree which gives our breath of Oxygen, has its economic value when its cut.  How much farther should we look to our own stupidity ?.

To stop the Climate Change Catastrophe, we all need to sacrifice.  The west will have to sacrifice on its high per capita use of energy and the east will have to find a way to short cut the bell curve by moving boldly towards more environmentally friendly technologies immediately.  Therefore, India, China and even small Sri Lanka saying we have to catch up and not care about the environment is like all four teams scoring X in the hope of winning, but everyone losing together, eventually.

The Folly of the International Responses

Finally, having learned and dealt with various mechanisms that were concocted over the years since 1992 in the name of reversing climate change, seems to me nothing but a big game for some to make money when others lose where the status quo never changes.   If you say CDM, only the rich, whether in the developed or the developing world, can play the game with all its sophistication and costs.  So, money changes hands at the top and nothing much moves at the lower end, so the reptilian response continues. It also absolves the polluters to continue unabated, the same way a sinner goes to confession to redeem self, but continue to commit the sin, as long as there is a way to redeem, but the sin continues to be committed.

EQ and SQ

Therefore, if we are to win this game of climate change for survival we need to put a mirror on ourselves first through our own emotions and spirituality to complement our intelligence.  If we acknowledge our spirituality we will think twice about destroying the earth and its beings as we will have compassion.   Spirituality is about integrity, generosity, graciousness and dignity.  We have to awaken and nourish our limbic mind to control our reptilian fears and desires.  These attribute do not sit well with the values that stand for the oil and coal industries.  They are aligned with nature and if we need its energy for us to live comfortably and in dignity we have an abundance to harness it from.  Surely, having been to the moon and mars, we can use the sun to power our needs.

Change takes time but I wonder whether we have the time. We need to ask ourselves, is it short term, logic and rational thinking, reductive, highly analytical  – winning arguments by manipulating information, like we justify our current power generation expansion plan which calls for 3370 MW more of coal power by 2020, increasing our carbon footprint by 820% or will it be high touch through the understanding of the subtleties of human interaction; high concept to combine unrelated ideas by seeking a balance through renewable energy technologies – the mix of the two will give us energy security and democratize the energy sector.

So, as Asoka Abeygunawardana asserts in many of his writing, we need to urge the government to revisit the generation expansion plan and be open, creative and innovative in exploring a mix of both thermal and renewable energy to generate and provide services in Sri Lanka.  This way, we can forge ahead and be an early adopter to show the world the way to win the climate change game together.

Lalith Gunaratne

Colombo

September 2009

• Climate Change
• Reptiles and Bad Referees
• Restoring Shelter
• “Don’t be stupid! The climate deed is done, so let’s move on to solutions!” – President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives
• SRI LANKA MAY WANT – AN ECONOMIC VISION 2030

We have all been affected by this ruthless conflict. I had close relatives and friends lost to LTTE attacks and bombs. Yet, I differentiate the LTTE from Tamil people. In my daily life in Sri Lanka, we work, play sports and socialize together. I am sad this is not the case with the international Tamil community in separating the government from Sinhala people. Like in any community there are Sinhala extremists but I find most are compassionate towards other communities as I come across a diversity of people on a daily basis as an organizational trainer.

Young Minds of Hate
Back in Ontario, my Canadian friend Kerry was excited when her 7 year old daughter came home and said she has a Sri Lankan friend in her new class. They invited the new friend home after school one day. When Kerry told her that she too has a close Sri Lankan friend, the visitor came back with, “Is he Tamil or Sinhala ?”. Kerry was taken aback by this and said, “I am not too sure but I think he is Sinhala”. To Kerry’s surprise, “Oh we hate the Sinhala” was her reply. When Kerry asked her whether she had met any Sinhala people, she said no.

Many months later when I met Kerry during a visit to Canada, she related this story and we lamented that this impressionable seven year old had been taught to hate. Maybe her parents were subjected to hatred or violence back in Sri Lanka, but is it wise to burden a child with such a strong toxic emotion, which she will carry for the rest of her life ?

The Diaspora
So, I am sad at the fact that the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora, especially, the young, many of whom have never been to Sri Lanka, are growing up with such extreme feelings towards the Sinhala people.
A friend, a Canadian of Sinhala parentage told me recently that a long time friend of his had told him, “As a Tamil Canadian, I should not be hanging out with you”. He was shocked by this, but that is what it has come down to. Even friends who never looked at race before are now putting their identity as a Tamil or Sinhala before friendship.

Sad this happens in a place 10,000 kms away from where the real conflict is taking place. The irony is that in the old country we are already talking about reconciliation and rebuilding relationships.

An Intercultural Dialogue
I was part of such an event last week in Pollonnaruwa, not too far from the conflict. Seventy university students – Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala – from around the country were brought together by a core- group of sixteen multi -ethnic students from Colombo based universities through a British Council sponsored project called Intercultural Dialogue – to explore culture, identity and history to look towards a common future as Sri Lankans.

It was an emotionally charged three days. One session had the distinct races exploring a ‘Time Line’ to inquire how the three communities see history shaping Sri Lanka to what it is today. The Sinhala team presenting the turning points in History as Bandaranaike’s Sinhala only policy in 1956, burning the Jaffna library and black July in 1983 struck a chord with the Tamil team who got up and said, “We never realized Sinhala people looked at our history in this way”. The Tamil team had the same events in their presentation and immediately found common ground to work from. Ironically the Muslim team felt marginalized when they said, “See, neither Tamil nor Sinhala team mentioned us and this is what is happening to us, we are caught between both sides and ignored by all”.

The programme used dialoguing techniques such as the ‘Fish Bowl’ to discuss difficult emotional issues to create better understanding. One young Tamil student studying Arts, Drama and Film Making in the Eastern University lamented his parents not letting him go to Colombo to continue his studies. A Sinhala student then spoke and said, “Yes, your parents are right in discouraging you coming to Colombo. This is a difficult time with all the security. When I see a young Tamil person in the bus, I too wonder. But all this will change soon enough”.

When a Muslim student said, that the Sri Lankan constitution forbids a non Buddhist to become President, the leader of the Colombo based core team of organizers, a law student, said, “ I have studied the constitution very carefully and it does not state anywhere that the person has to be a Buddhist. It just states that the President must safeguard Buddhism as the national religion.” He went on to state in fluent Sinhala, “I am a Tamil and I aspire to become the President of Sri Lanka in twenty years” to which there was great applause from everyone, and surprise from the Tamil students who did not realize the leader of the core team was a Tamil.

Teaching the Biology of the Brain
As a part of the learning for the programme, my colleague and I as facilitators made a presentation on our emotions and spirituality. We based this on the biology of the brain and how our reptilian brain, which ensures our basic physical survival and the limbic brain, which balances our emotions have to work together. This way our natural moral compass gets activated through the strong limbic nourishment first from our parents and then our close relationships. When this nourishment is positive and appreciative, it makes for emotionally well balanced individuals with high self esteem and good physical health. We also worked with some practical breathing exercises to illustrate how the breath is a powerful tool in controlling emotions and the ego to develop a positive attitude towards life.
A combination of learning new theories on the brain and emotions to dialogue made these three days a rich and a novel experience for everyone.

The programme ended with mixed teams producing plays done in a combination of Sinhala and Tamil languages to depict Tai Pongal, a Tamil wedding, a Muslim wedding, Sinhala New Year celebrations, a Sinhala wedding and a comical rendition of “Nari Bena”, a folk tale about a fox wanting to marry a beautiful girl.

I came away from these 3 days with a renewed sense of hope that these university students will eventually make a difference to this troubled nation. They will approach the future not from the male dominated Military Industrial age of the past, which is left brained and reptilian. They will approach it from the new Conceptual age, which is a partnership between the right and left brains, male and female, the yin and the yang and in limbic balance. It will be based more on dialogue, understanding, creative relationships and a sense of community through the power of balance.

I really hope that the young people in the Diaspora will eventually visit Sri Lanka to see for themselves that amongst all the negatives that is shown through media which is to do with the government and the LTTE, there is also compassion and understanding between people and a shared past to build a common future on. I see that acted out in the way civil society made up of all the communities are mobilizing to help the displaced people.

I also hope that they are able to transform their toxic emotions of fear and hate to a more balanced one of openness and flexibility in the way the university students in Pollonnaruwa found out.

• Law students write against 18th Amendment
• A turn for the worse? Undergraduate protests and unrest in Sri Lanka
• Blast Outside Eastern University Batticaloa
• Discrimination in Law college entrance?
• What Is The Future Of The Eastern University?

It all began when one bird attacked me while I exercised. I then hit back with stones and shooed them away and thought it was sorted.  Not so.  The next morning was a shocker.  As I entered the garden I felt a bad vibe in the air and sure enough there must have been over a hundred crows  – they were waiting for me.  They got into a noisy formation and dived at me.  I have been in some major scrapes in my life with fellow humans, but this scared the hell out of me.  The gang leader looked mean, would sharpen its beak on the wire it was on and swoop down on me with others following.  I saved myself from a major assault by running for cover under a roof. I reluctantly skipped my exercise routine and jumped in the pool in dismay, but the gang agitated the entire time I was there.

It took me a few days to get back to the club again so I thought the dust would have settled, but not at all. This time there were not so many, but they kept diving down at me in intervals, so I had to get aggressive. That morning I got my exercise shouting, running at them and throwing rocks to take control of my space.

Ever since then it has been a matter of me getting aggressive with any crow that entered my air space.  I created a no fly zone for myself while I exercised.  It became a part of my routine.

Reflection
While all this was happening I pondered on how things had got out hand and questioned myself as to whether I was contributing to this stress on both sides.   Samantha was quite amused at all this as she never got attacked.  I was further perturbed as my work and general inquiry into life has been how to live in harmony with people and the world around me.  I teach these things and counsel people in the business world, but here I am at war with a bunch of crows.  Even though I attempted to compartmentalize the two – the crows and humans – deep down I knew I could not. We are all interconnected.   I realized this bad blood between us is my doing too and maybe I could change the situation.

One day, Samantha suggested that I call a truce – “Why don’t just leave them alone and do your thing”.   So, I took it to heart, minded my own business and left them alone.  Not two minutes had passed when one dive bombed me and that was the end of the truce.

So, I went back to my old ways.   When I was in there, it was zero tolerance and I enforced the no fly zone even more vigorously with stones flying everywhere.

Yet, over time, my exercise routine has got tedious with this bother.  I was beginning to not look forward to it anymore.  Something had to change.

Truce
So, one morning I thought I must call a real truce with the crows.  As usual, when I entered the garden, the war cry started, I forgot all about the truce and I got back into my old routine easily to find rocks and young coconuts on the ground to clear the air space.   Over the last few days, I had also noticed that two aggressive crows did not get frightened away easily and kept coming back.  Throwing rocks became tiring and I realized it took my time away from relaxing and exercising.   I may have exercised my body but mentally I was stressed.  I had enough of all this aggression, so I made up my mind.
That was it.  I faced the sun, stood straight and took a deep breath and exhaled concentrating on the center of my belly.   In exhaling I imagined my breath spiraling down to the core of the earth, inhaling I imagined it moving up to the sky, linking them through me, gaining the energy, giving me strength and confidence.  I then focused on my head, heart and belly to ensure that they were aligned and meditated for a few seconds on my breath.  Now I felt centered and balanced to act with the intent of making peace.

I learned this practice at the “Embodied Leadership through Conscious Embodiment” programme from Wendy Plamer, an Aikido teacher at the Shambhala Institute in Canada last year.  I learned the huge potential we have in our mind and body with intent to change the way we feel and act, even in the most trying situation.

Feeling centered and skillful, I spoke out to the two gang leaders who were cackling from the wires above and told them in a soothing voice – “Hey guys, I have had enough of this, we are both agitated, there is a lot bad energy around and we both loose if we continue like this.  Let us call it quits and leave each other alone”.  Then I said a silent prayer wishing them well and happiness.  My intentions were made clear.  I actually felt a release – no more hatred, no more violence with the intent of hurting.
At the same time, I am aware that, I may yet get attacked, but I am going to think of those as exceptions, as it takes time to settle these things.   After all we do speak different languages, so there could be some misunderstandings.  Nevertheless, I will not react, but keep showering love and compassion on them.   I must have spent another ten minutes there exercising and I did not notice the crows being there anymore.   Maybe this will work.   Why did I not do this earlier ?

Breath for Life
In going back to my breath, I went to the basic sustenance of my life.  Breath is controlled by my Reptilian brain, in the same way this part of the brain prompts me to eat when I am hungry or drink water when I am thirsty.  My reptilian brain also ensures that I breathe even as I asleep, so I take it for granted – it is all on auto pilot.

Also my ego is very much attached to this breath.  Not paying attention to my breath unleashes my ego, as it gives me superficial confidence and strength.   This ego occurs automatically without me even knowing in my subconscious mind.   So, my attachment to possessions, my achievements, my reputation and notion of separateness from other beings and the world, are all driven by my ego.
Often egoistic reactions are childish and embarrassing because it promotes and protects ‘me’ and what is ‘mine’ at any cost.  All this happens on auto-pilot, without me even being aware.   Letting my ego dominate I say, “How dare you crows attack me, the all important ME”.

Reptiles like snakes only have the reptilian part of the brain.  So, when they are hungry, they eat whatever that is around, even their own. Luckily for us humans, we have another part developed called the Limbic brain, which gives us emotions.  This way when we are hungry we don’t eat our own.  When I pay attention to my breath, I prompt my limbic brain into action, so the emotion  activate my moral compass, makes me aware of my values and ethics in the way I live.  Focus on my breath helps this self inquiry and ebbs away my fears and the ego slowly dissolves.  The limbic brain allows the power of my intention to manifest.

When I reflected, I realized my behavior with the crows was egotistical and went against the values that I live by – respect other beings.   So I centered with my values consciously with the intent of not going to battle with them anymore.   I realize that this intention cannot be accessed through my ego.  I have to become aware, let go of my ego and become humble, so I forgive and forget for a new beginning.
So, what is the moral of this?

There was a great lesson for me in this battle with the crows – How we forget our values and good intentions when we are under threat and how revenge becomes the preoccupation.   As I look around Sri Lanka today, be it in homes, in schools, sports fields, in workplaces, in private clubs, on the roads and in the political arena, the ego dominates and battles rage.  The reaction is so primitive and childish.  This is reptilian and destructive.

I certainly recognize this in myself now with more awareness.  Only through mindfulness and reflection do I catch myself reacting to situations before it goes the easy route of retaliation and revenge.

Stop and Reflect
If you have read up to this point, let us stop and reflect.

Put a mirror on yourself.  Think about a difficult relationship you have at home, at work, at the club.  Try to focus on the emotion that arises when you see or hear the person speak. Is it anger or an annoyance and does it give you stress ?

Now think about the fact that this anger is actually your own response and you do have control over it.  Remember, you have a limbic brain, unlike reptiles.  Becoming aware of your breath activates it.  Then focus and meditate on it and see your ego fall away.   This will take the edge out of your bad energy.   Then it is up to the other person.

All this sounds easy, but it is not.  It takes concentration, persistence and patience.  Patience as the other person may not be ready to forgive and forget.  Yet, you have broken the cycle of negative energy.   That has come with your good intentions and you have taken control of your mind.   Now you can be skillful, even if you have to defend yourself – and sometimes, you may be compelled to attack in defense – but you will be in control.

A Durable Peace
I have gone back to my exercise place twice after I changed my reaction to the crows and I am determined to keep my peace.  As I walk into the area, few yet get agitated and begin to scream.   It does unnerve me, but I have a choice. I could pick up a rock again or take a few deep breaths, exhale, center myself, say a few soothing words and carry on in peace.  I am taking the second and the not so easy option resulting in much less stress for everyone.

If they want to be aggressive, it is not my problem anymore.   They cackle for a little bit and move on leaving me in peace.  The bad energy has dissipated and there is peace within me.    It always takes two to tangle ………..so go on take a deep breath…

• Reptiles and Bad Referees
• The Breadwinner or the Nurturing Mother
• Can we End this Cycle of Hatred?
• Measuring (After Nandikadal)
• The Ethical Public Servant

Sri Lanka boasts about the foreign exchange income earned through the labour of our women overseas.  Yet, we do not place much importance to the social cost of this.   Sri Lanka will face a major epidemic of social misfits into the future as so many children are growing up in a motherless home.    Intuitively, we all know the crucial role a mother plays in a home.  Now, science is proving this further.

Our limbic brain requires social interaction to grow healthy.  It has been proven over and over again that a baby will not survive without the mother’s or another permanent care giver’s loving touch and care.  There is a process of limbic nourishment and regulation that happens with the baby through proximity to the mother.  This is called limbic resonance akin to a cell phone connection where two signals meet.  Therefore, the mother also has to be in tune to read the baby’s needs and wants and respond accordingly.

Human beings are a combination of open and closed loop systems.   As babies we are totally open loop and get all the emotional nourishment from the mother.  The foundation a mother provides with her love and care shapes us into emotionally balanced adults.   With time, the child will become independent, but close human relationships will continue to nourish the limbic brain throughout life. 

This emotional nourishment gives us our self esteem and confidence while stabilizing our physiology too, so we stay healthy through our life.  

Our Motherless Homes
With the mother absent, our next generation growing up without that special love will be handicapped both psychologically and physically.   The social esteem of the nation will suffer as a result and hamper progress in balancing humanity and development.   Globalization exacerbates this as we now have to interact and compete with the outside world, whether its business, sports or politics.  

So, I wonder whether the rule the Sri Lankan government brought into restrict overseas work for young mothers with children under one year is well founded.  

I am generally averse to regulations like this and this is an infringement on our freedom and fundamental rights.  However, is the decision to leave a child to make money an informed one ?.  

Does everyone know the long term implications of this abandonment ?.  

Then, of course there is the traditional Sri Lankan man, who generally stays aloof from the nurture of children and other responsibilities of running a home.     

When the man is left alone he may not be ready for the responsibility, which may have been taken for granted when the mother was around.  So there are other social issues such as the man’s confused role, alcoholism, violence and abuse that have resulted in many motherless homes.

The Allure of Independence
The foreign employment carrot is a compelling one for women for many reasons.  As such, this issue is also more complex.   In addition to money, it’s the allure of an overseas job or maybe liberation from a stifling life in a village or a difficult marriage that make mothers leave.  However, my point is, if awareness is created and people are educated on the impact of their absence on their immediate families and the larger implications on the entire nation’s social fabric, will these mothers make a different decision ? 

While, I am ambivalent about the ruling to restrict certain mothers from leaving their homes, I also wonder whether it is alright in the larger interest of society.  That is why this issue needs a dialogue from both the male and feminine point of view.  

The scientific fact of limbic regulation between the mother and child also applies to urban families where both parents follow a career path.  So this dialogue has to widen its scope to both urban and rural families.

How the Brain Works
The human brain has formed in three stages as a part of the mammalian development process.  

Reptilian is our primitive brain, to take care of basic functions such as breathing, eating when hungry, sleeping and keeping all organs working.  

Limbic brain is our emotional centre enabling us to manage them and the relationships with people and the world around us.  We nurture and protect our young, form our close knit relationships but also play mind games and manipulate each other through our limbic brain.

Neo-cortex is our rational brain which enables us to live our daily lives, based on the mostly superficial sensory information we get.  Science is yet to uncover the deep workings of this part of the brain.  So far we know that our ability to reason, speak, write, plan and strategize comes from the neo-cortex.

We also know that the neo-cortex action works from the limbic base.  So the basic imprint or the foundation of how we act comes from the limbic brain, based on our moral fabric and values.  These get imprinted in us through a combination of the limbic nourishment we get from our mother and other loved ones complemented by the example of their behavior.  So, the neo-cortex is driven by the limbic conditioning we have.

Who we are now, our beliefs and our actions is based on the balance between the reptilian, limbic and the neo-cortex parts of the brain, but very much based on a limbic imprint which our mothers and other loving relationships give.

The Reptilian Sri Lankans
When I look around now, whether its politics or driving on the road or running a business, many people seem to be acting from their reptilian brain.  With the reptilian brain, we take what we want – never mind the consequences.   So, we have become akin to a crocodile, which only has a reptilian brain and no limbic or the neo cortex function. 

When a crocodile gets hungry, it eats anything that is around including its own offspring.   When we humans have a malnourished limbic brain, we become reptilian, selfish, not think about the consequences of our actions – so it becomes a dog- eat-dog world.  

We seem to have gone the reptilian way partly because of our conditioning and nature.  Over 500 years of Cartesian conditioning based on a mind /matter split allows us to separate man from nature.  So, man in the centre uses the rational mind to develop materials that will make life comfortable in a selfish manner.  

Lack of proper limbic conditioning has moved us to become reptilian.  So, we have the rich world taking more and more, eating its own, whether it is other human beings, justified as different nations, races and religions or nature around us, whether it is destroying our habitat or polluting the earth.  On top of that, the establishment has brainwashed us to separate the mother and child at birth, not to breast feed infants, to keep them in separate rooms, all things to sever the limbic connection.  Is it a wonder, that we have become reptilian ?.

The economy our Sri Lankan mothers feed is this same Cartesian one, so it is based on money and little humanity.  

The Symptoms and the Solution
I work in many rural schools and administrators are frustrated by the poor self esteem, depression, the violence and a lack of interest amongst the new generation.    All these are symptoms of a greater problem – our motherless homes.  

Now that we know the root causes for this social predicament we need to find practical solutions.  

Scientific research shows what we as humans intuitively know about our interconnectedness, especially the mother – child bond that is crucial to developing strong and balanced adults.   Therefore, we must honour this nature’s need, in the way we educate people, run business and lead the country. 

So, I propose, we focus on this root cause, create a dialog first and shape our national policies to ensure that the role of the mother gets recognized as the foundation for a well balanced society and give it the respect and recognition, both socially and economically.  

This will be the investment we make for a society which is intellectually, emotionally and spiritually balanced.   This may even lead to a more peaceful and a happy world for us and the new generation.

• Reptiles and Bad Referees
• Can we End this Cycle of Hatred?
• The Ethical Public Servant
• Crows and Reptiles
• Measuring (After Nandikadal)

 It is such a relief in these countries not to be subjected to this aggressive noisy behavior on the roads.   One can almost gauge the social values and discipline of a country by people’s behavior on the roads.   Sri Lanka certainly does not score well here and our image suffers for it.

Driving without a Horn

In Sri Lanka, the horn has become more of a tool for aggression.  Often, even the calmest of people seem to become aggressive behind the wheel when there is a loud horn.  My wife, Samantha has decided to opt out of the horning fraternity.  She tells me, since she stopped using the horn, her driving has improved.   She he concentrates better to compensate for no horn and has become a more responsible driver. 

She is challenging me to do the same, but I have not succeeded as yet, as old habits die hard.  Then again, as I get behind a wheel in a place like Canada where the horn is never used, I fall into that driving culture immediately.  Funny, how the brain works on this.  As I land in Colombo again I fall right back into noisy Sri Lankan style.   With the horn, I palm off some of the responsibility to behave on the road to others in front of me, whether a car, a bicyclist, pedestrian even a dog.   However, it is easy to exceed this limit and use it aggressively to force people out of the way.  This is the line that we cross often with the free use of the horn, which then becomes a problem to everyone.  It is akin to screaming at the top of my voice “get out of my way or I will move you down” as I drive – only it is done by pressing a button.  

 So, this is my latest project for self-improvement – to check my horn use.   I wonder how fast I will change if the Police impose a no horning law.  I am sure I will force myself to change.  Even though I am not a supporter of laws and enforcement where humans can motivate themselves to change behavior, in Sri Lanka’s case I think there should be a strict laws and enforcement at first.  Eventually horn-free driving will become habitual.    

On the Buses

Horn seems to have become an essential tool for public buses.  This may very well be one cause for misbehavior from public buses as the loud horn gives them power.   Just check how many times you get harassed by a loud intercity bus as it travels at unsafe speeds on the Galle Road, either coming at you on your side of the road or trying to overtake you.  This power is misused with the aggressive horning to get from one destination to another as fast as they can. They also use it liberally to inform commuters of their arrival at the bus stand, when people can well see the bus coming in or they just seem be having fun.   In the meantime, the cacophony of noise makes Colombo a strain on the ears and the head.   Research clearly shows that noise pollution adds to the stress of people.   Why should we all have to put up with this silently?.

Ban Bus Horns First

Therefore, first thing we should do in Sri Lanka to improve discipline on the roads is to ban the bus horns starting with urban areas.  Then we can move to ban all horning within the limits of urban centers and extend it further.   I can already see an improvement in my road behavior by controlling the horn as I have become more mindful.   So I can imagine everyone having to be more careful without the horn.  It will contribute towards a general improvement in road manners and discipline which can be contagious.    Just as when I drive in the west, I fall in line with general behavior there, very disciplined, obey all the rules and do not use the horn, I am sure if we start a no horn movement here, first with this law, we should see a change.   As I land here, it is like the devil got into me – I change to the local behavior which is for the worse.   So, let us all commit to make a change so Colombo becomes a better environment for all of us.     

I propose the following steps;

Public Transport

Public transport is for there for a common purpose – to serve people.  It’s operation must not be a burden to society.  Therefore, the system has to have discipline and a code of practice as it effects people’s lives.   Therefore, I propose the following rules first for bus operators, both public and private

• Ban the ‘fog horn’.
• Ban loud bus exhausts.
• Introduce a speed governor to limit bus speeds to 60 km/hr max.
• Introduce a better scheduling system (use the rally method where early or late arrivals get penalized)
• Train drivers and conductors on good road manners, general behavior based on values and ethics.

General Use of the Horn

For all motor vehicle users, there should be a ban in the use of the horn starting in certain areas and imposing it.  For instance, the ban could begin with Green Path and sequence and pace the ban on all major roads over a period of one year.  This way, people will gradually learn to drive without the horn and if everyone is subjected to this, there will be a common effort to change.  

We can do it.

• Bus Terrorism and Justice
• Colombo goes under water, and not for the first time
• Like Slaves In Jaffna
• E01: The spectacular beauty & life-threatening dangers of Sri Lanka’s Southern Expressway
• Air raids and airports

I live in Sri Lanka, a developing country with GDP of about US $1,000 per capita. In western terms, this is a poor nation. I became a resident of Sri Lanka in 1988 having lived in Canada for 15 years. Economically, Sri Lankans have less material wealth than an average person in the west. In happiness, I am not sure.

I am confused about the word because in the last 20 years I have had a fulfilling life of abundance of whatever is needed to be healthy, happy and lead a meaningful existence. I have been fortunate to encounter an abundance of colourful, interesting people and nature’s bounty. I have had experiences where I have seen the best and the worst in people and the beauty of the greenery and the wrath of nature like the Tsunami. I have had some of the most memorable times – happy and sad – celebrating the wonder and the fragility of life here. We need only a small excuse to get together for a party. In fact there is a saying in Sinhala, which goes; “People here will continue the party even as the ship sinks”.

In material terms, I have not been obsessed with creating a nest egg. I do not own anything and I have had a life where I did not worry myself into thinking too much about the future, so I have enjoyed much of my life in the present. I earn well and spend well. However, I do not have the latest gadgets and technology in anything. The vehicle I drive is 15 years old and the 3 year old mobile, the 4 year old computer, they all do the job until they break. I spend money learning new things, seeing places, giving our children the best opportunities for education, novel experiences and other activities such as sports and the arts so they become balanced individuals. Then I give generously of my time, knowledge and money to the needy.

My lack of interest in the latest designs in technology is because some of the happiest people I have met have so little in material wealth. I learned my generosity from people who have not much to give, but willing to give the shirt off their back when someone is in need.

When I ran the solar energy venture two decades ago, the people who bought a system were in remote rural areas. They were mostly farmers earning about US $ 2,000 per year at the time. For them, a US $ 350 investment for a solar electricity system was significant.

Whenever visited a customer, I felt awkward when they showered gifts of rice, fruits, vegetables and a sumptuous meal on me. I would ponder on the fact that they were customers who paid good money for the product I sold them, but were still generous in their appreciation. When I asked, they said this was their way of showing me gratitude for bringing them light. I encounter these kinds of wonderful generosity on a daily basis, so that is why the word poverty and its western connotations confuse me.

The confusion comes from not understanding the narrow definition based on economics and money the west has given it. I do. However, I also realize how much this narrow measurement hurts people and nations in their dignity, esteem and confidence. If you are economically poor you are not valued and respected. So, it is easy for western nations to use their power to invade, subjugate and control as “those people are poor and they cannot look after themselves”. If people are poor, life is deemed cheap too. So, when western troops kill and maim innocent people in Iraq or Afghanistan or when people kill each other in Africa, they are not valued. The implication is they are poor so they are insignificant. In effect, there is an assumption that if they are poor and different, ‘they do not think and feel like us as humans’. On the contrary, it is a catastrophe when people in the west are killed like we saw with 9/11. So, the word poverty has created a double standard.

The west’s solution is aid. However, the western model of aid creates a culture of dependence and does not build sustainable economic wealth. So the cycle continues with aid agencies doing projects mostly at a superficial level to help the poor economically and dictate terms in the name of the market and democracy that actually hurt societies, livelihoods and cultures who have managed themselves very well through another measurement – happiness, balance of nature, contentment and self sufficiency. So, we need to rethink the definition of poverty and come up with one that is broader than the current economic measure of it through GDP. This way, we will help build the esteem of those people deemed economically poor and become a part of a true globalized society based on equanimity and dignity.

A version of this essay appears in Ode Magazine.

• The rich man in his castle, The poor man at his gate
• (Mis)-apportioning the Public Money
• How high is our Social Esteem in Sri Lanka?
• Salute to Tissaranee, Sara and Jehan
• Thoughts For Discussion – A JVP View

A few weeks ago while in the Uda Walawe area I met an opposition party MP who had come to help in the provincial election campaign for the local candidates.  As I listened to the interesting stories he was relating, I could not help but be amazed as to what we have come to accept as normal, even if the behavior was total unacceptable to civilized society.  He told me of the impending violence, the gangs of thugs coming into the area to support the government party and at the same time how they were mobilizing their own thugs to respond.   It was related as if it was normal to have this kind of boorish behavior from the so called leaders of this nation.

So, we wonder why we are still lagging far behind in our system of justice, freedom of speech, economic prosperity, education, ability to compete in business and sports internationally, to have an acceptable quality of life for all and to live in dignity.  

Accepting this type of behavior, in an era of advanced technologies to connect the world, for space travel and more is a real contradiction.   We have focused on the physical world and ignored developing our minds.  That is why when two people disagree, the response is often the primitive one of violence.   At the same time, I am not a pacifist yet.  The Darwinian principle is well and alive in me as a martial artist.  If my survival is at stake, I use violence.  However, I strictly follow my martial arts philosophy of never ever strike first, but defend when you have to.  The response has to be skillful and we must be mindful of the consequences.

In many parts of the world, these issues are being debated and addressed in terms of emotional intelligence and spirituality, but in Sri Lanka, unfortunately our unskillful, or in youthful terms, “un-cool” violence is even perpetuated at the highest seat of the government – the parliament.  This un-cool behavior comes through the gross misuse of power.  It comes from people who do not respect themselves and have large egos to compensate for it.

Where does this all start ?.

The Home

If charity begins at home, then we have to focus on the importance of positive parenting.  This is where it all starts.   We as parents set the values and behave accordingly to live those values to be a wonderful example to our children to emulate.   This is our biggest challenge as we tend to take parenting for granted as natural. 

We may have qualities to be good parents, but it is also a skill.  If we are not aware, we could use our power as a parent in un-healthy ways to steer children. 

Apart from our natural capabilities, we emulate the way we were parented, how our teachers treated us and finally how our leaders, at work and at play treat us.  The model we have in Sri Lanka is yet very traditional and hierarchical.   

This system does not value the powerless, beginning with our children, so we impose our will on them, wittingly or not treat them poorly and essentially hurt their self-esteem.

Children can get negatively impacted in many ways.  It is not violence alone that would hurt them.  Lack of love, neglect, no appreciation, negative thinking, lack of support and other types of mental abuse will hurt them.  When a child grows up in a home where they have to protect themselves from their own parents, naturally they will develop their own survival mechanism.   This develops in the form of ego to envelope fears they have so they can continue to face their daily challenges outside the home.  This leads to low self-esteem and a fragile ego which is protected by being mean spirited and even violent. 

Lack of understanding the psychology behind parenting perpetuates a system that is fraught with fear, jealousy, hatred and finally a violent response we come to believe as normal.

To add to it, because we as parents do not have time, children spend many hours a day sitting in front of a TV watching violent acts, reinforcing this further.

Treating children with love and respect, listening to them, appreciating them will build their esteem and confidence.  They will become generous and open as love will dominate their hearts.

The School

Then comes the school.  If we have to hit students to discipline them, we have failed as a society.   I am so happy that many schools do not tolerate the degrading corporal punishment anymore.  I know my streak of violence comes through the school cane as my parents never hit me.  Therefore, a more skillful non-violent response to discipline should become the norm for the entire education system.   Schools should be positive environments to encourage young people to learn and think freely, instead we have a system based on fear, control and the final verdict coming from an exam.   The exam focus makes the system target driven and not process oriented.   Coming to school becomes drudgery when young people cannot relish the joy of learning, playing sports, the arts and culture – making music, acting, singing, dancing – or just hanging out with friends.   The system is teacher focused where the power is concentrated on the establishment and not shared with the students. 

To add insult to injury, when the school day ends, they have to continue with their books to tuition classes.  This is another kind of violence the system unleashes on the students who are driven to be narrow focused, competitive and selfish.    Fear drives the system and naturally the response is violent.

Schools have to become more student centered and cater to the needs of the world around them.  For instance, in teaching religion they should not be made to memorize stanzas, but to teach them real values and behaviors coming out of these philosophies that will help them to decide what is right and wrong.   Finally, they should be appreciated for who they are and given the freedom to make choices based on their abilities and interests.   This respect will build love for self and compassion for others.  They will then have the esteem and confidence to make right choices.

Our Universities

Then comes our universities.   I have never heard of a university system in modern times anywhere the world where the students hurt their own through the ancient ritual of ragging and vandalize their own property.    This kind of barbaric self infliction of pain and violence is yet thought to be normal by many.   Recently, I met with a number of university students and when I asked them whether they have been ragged, most hands went up.  As they were final year students, when I asked them whether they had ragged anyone else, reluctantly a few male hands went up.   When I asked them why they hurt others when they themselves were hurt when they were ragged, they responded; “it is the accepted norm”.    So, we perpetuate this cycle of violence as normal.  

Next, a common response to implementing novel progressive ideas to keep up with a changing world or any disciplinary action taken by the management is to take violent action against those even with death, damage to property or equipment.   I do not even have to delve on this barbaric behavior, but it is clearly action of people who do not respect themselves, so they are not inclined to respect others.

There is also a two way process here, where we have to examine the way the university system is also managed.   Like the school system is it also hierarchical, archaic and teacher centered ?.  Maybe, if students are given more power and responsibility they may not hurt what is their own.    

We do not have to look far to see best practice in university education.  India is world class now.   Universities have to become open to the outside world, be it the business sector and even international students in order to become broad based and increase diversity.  There has to be the will to change this closed system through dialogue with all the stakeholders, then we will see universities playing a lead role in shaping a positive future for Sri Lanka.

The Working World

Then comes the world of work.   Many organizations are yet run in a very hierarchical manner.  Even though physical violence may not be a norm anymore, verbal abuse continues.  All you need to do is to talk to some of the women working in the garment industry.  When I ask managers why this continues, I yet get responses such as; “if we don’t shout they don’t work”.   The result is an acute shortage of workers as they rather stay at home and be poor than face the violence of the abuse. 

There are wonderful Sri Lankan examples in progressive businesses such as MAS and Loadstar where their charity begins with their people.  The focus on positive employee relations is relentless and they do it as it is the right thing to do.

Then there are the rural communities where thousands of women have left their homes to the middle east of earn money.   The mother‘s void has broken the cohesion of the family unit and often the father squanders the money on alcohol and commits violence against their own families.  The social fabric of our once tranquil and value based rural areas have been broken and violence has become the norm.

The Government

Then comes the government.  The ongoing war, acts of violence and bombs directed at civilians both in the north and the south has made violence a part of the routine of daily life.   In the name of the war, the government has turned violent on its own citizens.  Whether it is taking the LTTE head on or checking innocent people in the north and the south, the response is violent.  There are uniforms and guns involved.   These youth are often not trained enough on responsibly balancing the power they get with the uniform and the gun.  If this balance is not there, the focus is on a training to kill.  So, can we blame these soldiers when they respond violently as that is how they have been conditioned by the system.   So, we accept their violence too in the name of freedom, nationhood, race and religion.

We need to also be thoughtful of the need to help these youth on both sides where violence has been their vocation to live in peace in peaceful times expected ahead.

Religion

Then I come to religion.  I could proudly proclaim that in history Buddhism was a religion that never ever used violence or shed to blood to perpetuate or protect the Dhamma.    History of Christianity and Islam cannot claim this and the violence continues to date in different forms.   However, I lament at the way Sri Lanka perpetuates and protects is Dhamma and the Sangha.  We go to temple and do the ritual but we fail to live the non-violent philosophy of the Dhamma.  The other day seeing a Sangha representing the people protected by a gun was the ultimate contradiction.

In our Dhamma we have all the answers.   Love and compassion to fellow beings and nature around us and to live life mindfully and skillfully in the middle path is the undisputed call of the Dhamma.   

Therefore, we need to examine how we perpetuate our Dhamma now.  How can I be proud when we call ourselves a Buddhist nation and act in total contrast to the very nature and the values of the Buddha Dhamma?

So, why should I be so surprised that we have also fallen prey to the most basic of human frailties – fear, in the name of globalization where money and economics share the top spot for god.   Studying history we learn that violence has perpetuated the dominant western  system over the last 500 years.  French philosopher Descarte’s statement “I think, therefore I am”, separating mind and body has disconnected us from each other and nature around us.  We in Sri Lanka have finally been dragged down to their level.

At least in the west, they have set up systems of justice to look after their own.  The violence is unleashed at outsiders only.   Our violence is directed at ourselves.

The west is also waking up to the fact that money and power has not brought inner peace and contentment.  So, they are embracing our Dhamma vigorously.   Therefore, we need to re-examine our present.   It requires us to inquire and question the way we think and live and to assess how far we are moving away from the real philosophy of the Dhamma.       

Back to Self

To end, I come back to self.   As individuals we need skillful reflection and dialogue with an open heart.   We have to put a mirror on ourselves and become aware of the consequences of our thoughts and action.   We have to be mindful and aware.   Finally, we do not have to accept violence as a normal part of the human condition.   My quest is then to become a true pacifist like my father.

May all beings be well and happy!

• The transformation of Buddhism in Sri Lanka
• Interview with Vajira, Sri Lanka’s Prima Ballerina Assoluta
• School admissions
• Justice Everywhere?
• Reptiles and Bad Referees

I don’t want to end up being a stupid old man
Just look at what they have done to our world in vain
What’s the big deal in going to the moon
As he yet settles score by inflicting pain
War on terror, crusade or witch hunts
Stupid old men run scared to ruin
Peace on earth has little chance to shine

I wonder whether it’s the testosterone drain
that give men the jitters when age is on the gain
I need to wise up and control this mind game
Or else I will end up a stupid old man

Dig not my heals in the old men’s club
When science of Descartes takes the quantum leap
Calling it mumbo jumbo quackery they oppress
The new magic of now you see and now you don’t
Prophesies are fulfilled with the power of belief
Believe love and happiness, we get well
Believe hate and sadness, we get sick

The new science says we are all joined at the hip
The birds, trees, stones and oceans of hope
Effects have a cause so it is all linked up
So I better be mindful of what I say and do
Compassion and love for everything too
Or I will also end up a stupid old man – hell no !!

 

In our desperate search for truth, we cling on to explanations supposedly scientifically proven and then anchor our beliefs on them.  Once we decide on such a truth, it becomes gospel and we defend it at all cost.   When we are certain, we invest in this truth, build infrastructure and create empires.  When we invest our time and wealth, we are entrenched and then defend this truth at all cost. 

Such is this truth that matter and mind are separate.  We have had 500 years of this truth and shed much blood to defend it.  Now we see our folly, yet reluctantly, as we have invested too much in it.   We are still shedding blood for it, like we see in the middle-east and other wars that are going around in the world.

The mind – matter separation undeniably destroys our environment and society, as we are not looking at our universe as a part of one system.   As long as we live on the truth that the human is supreme, we will continue this destruction. 

Yet, we have now a new generation of humans who have a more balanced view.  The old truths are being questioned, especially in the industrialized world, who will be most impacted by any change for the larger good.   Call them ‘cultural creatives’ or ‘tempered radicals’, they will no doubt have to and many are willing to give up a certain lifestyle they have been used to through this change. 

Yet, the wealth and power lies in the hands of the ‘old men’ who cling to the old truth.  The arms, oil industry and the medical establishment are their pillars. 

Say to them, oil destroys the environment and they fight back.  Say to them ayurveda and homeopathy is more holistic, they condemn it. 

By the time we change all this it may be too late for us. The establishment maybe old but they have a lot of life in them yet.

So how do we get these old men to question these old truths?

How do we nudge them to think about this world as a part of one system ?

How do we help them to get out of their Cartesian slumber ? 

Ideas are welcome !!

• I think it’s stupid, do you?
• Media watch: To write or not to write the truth
• Blood wanted, urgent!
• A Plea from a Muslim woman in a Western Country
• “Don’t be stupid! The climate deed is done, so let’s move on to solutions!” – President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives