Opening our Minds to Thrive with our Neighbours
We can feel diminished by the tragic events that happened in Sri Lanka when our neighbours were targeted in the anti-Muslim riots or we can consider it an opportunity for everyone to…
Author: Lalith Gunaratne
Is it too much to ask for emotionally Intelligent mindful leaders in the 21st Century?
Photo courtesy Dwight D. Eisenhower said “I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have…
Emotional People and Emotional Nations
Photo by REUTERS/ Mariana Bazo, via Time magazine There is no getting around it, we humans are emotional beings. Thereby, nations made up of humans will possess an emotional psyche which is reflected…
Healing from the Horrors of War: The Amazing Effects of Yoga on PTSD
Featured image courtesy New York Times If only political leaders knew the horrors of war first hand, they might find other ways to solve differences, to meet threats – perhaps go to…
Silence in the Courts, Silence in Society and Women at Peril
Featured image courtesy The Justice Project – South Asia As I watched ““, a documentary movie by award-winning Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage aired at the University of Ottawa Human Rights Film Festival…
“It’s 2015” – The Return of Trudeaumania
Picture courtesy cbc.ca Trudeau mania is back, albeit another kind at this different time. Now it is Justin Trudeau, son of Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada from 1968-79 and again 1980-84. …
As Canada Goes to the Polls
Picture courtesy the Prime Minister’s Office of Canada. I write this on the day of elections in Canada, a country excited about change after a dark period of conservative rule. I have…
Storming to Performing in 100 Days
Photo courtesy The Business Times Taking over the country’s governance, especially under the current circumstances in Sri Lanka must take an emotional and physical toll on the politicians. At this level of…
Karma and Politics
Photo from Api Sri Lankan – French-Russian Philosopher Joseph de Maistre in 1811. Politics the world over is going through its test of time, as most “democratic” governments are now influenced either…
War, Peace, Pluralism and Prosperity
Image via Whole Planet Foundation “The victor belongs to the spoils” F. Scott Fitzgerald observed, and this is being played out in Sri Lanka as it tries to find its balance five…
Time Out: Breaking the Cycle for a New Conversation, a New Vision
Image courtesy Reuters It was 2007, at the height of the war, when one hundred youth (Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala) from every part of the country except the north gathered in Thanamalvila…
Cultivating a Partnership Culture of Compassion
Image from As we lament the brutish culture that has taken root in our lovely paradise, it is interesting to delve deeper at the underlying physiology, norms and values that promote war…
Keeping Up with the Times: Old Men, Power and Values
I was wondering how Deepa Mehta would put to the screen Salman Rushdie’s Midnights Children and then heard from her at the Ottawa premier that he wrote the screen play. The movie…
Sad Passing of a Creative Genius: Nimal Lakshapatiarachchi
Nimal Lakshapatiarachchi was an icon. I first met him with my partners Viren Perera and Pradip Jayewardene when we established our solar energy company in 1987. Nimal has to be credited for…
Bully Boys and Bully Girls
A few evenings ago, parents were invited to our son’s school which goes up to Grade 8 for a presentation on Bullying. Dr. Tina Daniel, Asst Professor of Psychology at Carleton University…