Proper observation of ata-sil when we go to temple on Poya day
When Mahaprajapathi Gothami with 500 Sakyan ladies went to the Buddha and asked for permission to join the order, there may have been among them, a mother and daughter who were ordained. But in the present world, it is a very rare occurrence. Meewaturé Dhammadinna Mehenin, formerly Dr. Neeta Jayasinghe and Peradeniyé Dhammashanthi Mehenin, formerly [...]
Revisiting ‘The Light of Asia’ and its global impact
Indian MP Jairam Ramesh’s new book ‘The Light of Asia: The Poem that defined the Buddha’ has just been released and is available on Kindle. The author says he is not a Buddhist nor a scholar of Buddhism but a life-long student of the Buddha and his ‘teachings’. An economist and former Minister, Jairam Ramesh [...]
Letters to the Editor
People must resolve to spurn those who ‘serve’ them from the comforts of SUVs The recent fiasco regarding the intended purchase and subsequent suspension or postponement of obtaining a fleet of super luxury vehicles running into over Rs.3 Billion by the state bank (Bank of Ceylon) on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka should [...]
Appreciations
An outstanding clinician Professor David Chanmugam At the time I started my undergraduate clinical work in the late ’60s, Prof. David Chanmugam had the reputation of being a brilliant academic clinician. He was highly respected by the members of the profession as an extremely clever young clinician with great potential. As I got to know [...]
Getting to know so many facets of a great sub-continent
When a professor, novelist, writer, politician, educator, international speaker, teacher, former university Vice Chancellor and respected academic writes a book on travel, it jumps, perforce, onto the “must read” list for all serious readers. Add to the above that he is much in demand as a judge at literary competitions both in Sri Lanka and [...]
Nutritional boost to sea cucumber industry
Sea cucumbers are soft-bodied, elongated, worm-like marine organisms. The catching of sea cucumbers is one of the oldest activities of commercial fisheries in Asian and Pacific countries and was introduced to Sri Lanka by the Chinese in the late 1800s. They are not usually consumed in this country but exported, mainly to Singapore, Taiwan and [...]
‘Xenophobia, homophobia, big words for me…’
Kamil de Chickera’s class at Norbury School in Harrow was sober and serious – for once. The third graders were discussing ‘discrimination’, with the Black Lives Matter Movement in full cry outside in Britain. Kamil, especially, was ‘upset’ when he heard about George Floyd getting killed ‘for the colour of his skin’. Thus when the [...]