Letters to the Editor

Boundless compassion: Our individual path to dharmishta society
I asked several devout Buddhists whether the "boundless compassion towards all sentient beings" preached by the Buddha, includes Hindus, Christians and Muslims. According to the Dhamma, the answer should have been a straight "yes", but the answers I received were vague and evasive. These devout souls were either confused, or did not quite know their Dhamma.

Religious devotion does tend to intensify one's feelings and harden one's attitude against other beliefs. But the Dhamma preaches exactly the opposite - that we try to develop equanimity of mind - that is, progressively reduce the intensity of our feelings. Devotion has its place, but too much of it may actually hinder the practice of the Dhamma - it may even lead to militancy, which is quite out of line with the Dhamma.

Someone asked me whether it is "all right" for a Buddhist to kill cockroaches. He told me he had asked this question from learned Buddhists but had not received a proper answer. The answer of course, in terms of the Dhamma, is a straight "no". But life is a compromise, and so too is the Dhamma to a lay Buddhist. His decision will depend on the degree of his commitment to the Dhamma compared with how much he values health and hygiene, and on the severity of the cockroach infestation in his home. He must consider karmic repercussions - the act is deliberate and repeated over and over again. He has to decide this the way he decides problems at his workplace.

I too had a cockroach problem - a deep-seated aversion towards the creature that I could not overcome through reasoning. Metta meditation (boundless compassion) helped me reduce this. Metta is the simplest of the many types of meditations. It is only a sort of half-meditation, but is surprisingly effective. With practice, one becomes more accommodating towards others, and their responses naturally become more positive. Both help relieve stress and find calmer waters.

The Dhamma, which my nephew aptly calls the science of living, was what the Buddha described as "the way it is". He gave it to us as the route map to Nirvana, but it is no easy route and it is up to us whether or not we take it. The Buddha said the only way (ekagmagga) to fully understand the Dhamma, is through meditation - one cannot grasp core concepts like "impermanence" through the intellect, but one realizes these experientally through sustained meditation.

To fully practise the Dhamma, one has to step aside from society and seek the isolation of some forest abode - this will be the fast track to Nirvana. Lay Buddhists with job and family commitments are on the slow track, but we can nevertheless still practise the Dhamma consciously, and as fully as we can, within the limits set by our social obligations. We can achieve much by doing that.

It was said to me, jokingly, that if everyone practised the Dhamma fully, we would all die of dengue fever, and it will be the end of our society. What we must understand, is that the Dhamma is a prescription for the individual and not for society. Not many can take that fast track, but if as many of us consciously practise the Dhamma to the fullest extent possible within the restraints of our lay life, society will benefit enormously. We can all practise boundless compassion (metta), which other religions also advocate - I know Christianity does.

If our politicians and just twenty percent of the rest of us practise metta daily, we may actually realize the dharmishta society that J.R. Jayewardene thought he had given us years ago.

Ouch, now they are hurting!
The recent recommendation of the ICC Bowling Committee has put to shame most of those so-called 'cricketing greats’ (past and present), whom we respected as 'gentlemen cricketers'!

By most, I refer to those cricketers who have, after their illustrious careers, continued to be involved in the game in some capacity or other. Such cricketers, whose comments and opinions were accepted as the last word on the subject, should bury their heads in the sand or give up their jobs or better still keep their mouths shut on the subject of the bowling controversy.

A section of the cricket community, in countries such as England, Australia, South Africa, India and the West Indies went after Muttiah Muralitharan and labelled him as a 'chucker'. This gave confidence to even amateurs like John Howard of Australia to also join the bandwagon of 'Murali-bashing'. Yet, all the time, there existed in the laws of the game, the degrees of flexion permitted for the different categories of bowlers of which either these cricketers knew about and didn't reveal to the public in their comments, or they were totally ignorant of. The revelations of the ICC committee have now proved that most of the present day bowlers are chucking (as per existing laws) and most of their flexion far exceeds that of Murali.

This means that the recommendation to permit flexion up to 15 degrees simply would not only enable Murali to bowl his 'doosra' but also all these other 'chuckers' (more than 20 of them) bowl their stock balls which are reported to be measured well over the permitted mark! Murali can now feel vindicated after all the flak he received from professionals, amateurs and idiots and he can rightly afford to question the actions of most of today's bowlers.

Suddenly everyone is hurt. Some of the Aussie players are hurt. They say Murali will lose friends. The pundits are also hurt. The Smiths, the Boycotts and the likes are hurt because they find it so hard to accept scientific facts which prove that their kind chucked or still chucks! None of them however is hurt over the bashing Murali received from all over. What a hypocritical world we live in!

NawalaIt's our hearts that should be lit up not the streets
Once again, Christmas is around the corner. Is it the birth of Jesus Christ we are remembering or is it the tinsel, goodies, and all the merriment that goes along with it that are important to us? There is a suggestion to light up the city of Colombo as was done by the previous regime.

There may be a few Christians who feel the lights coming up in Colombo will, bring to mind, among the non-Christians that there is a saviour by the name of Jesus Christ. But there are also some who feel that all the tinsel and decorations are put up by these commercial establishments, as their best sales targets are achieved during this time.

Let me remind those who may be ignorant about the situation in the country that 60% or more of the people in Sri Lanka live below the poverty line. I am not referring to the urban poor, but the poorest of the poor villagers who have been completely forgotten, namely those in the Badulla - Moneragala Districts.

Poverty remains high, school enrolment, access to drinking water and basic health facilities, and accessible roads remain well below national averages. The agriculture base which provides the main livelihood to the people is vulnerable to severe drought and other climatic conditions. They have poor infrastructure facilities and hence no jobs are available to the masses. There are children, who due to lack of roads, have to cross rivers by foot, and when they get to their respective schools situated in cadjan huts have to sit on the ground to do their school work.

During heavy rains, parents do not send the children to school as crossing the river is dangerous. There are many more people living in similar conditions right round the island, and in the light of all this suffering and misery for just the basic amenities, is it correct on the part of us Christians to promote, condone, or approve such colossal waste on lighting up Colombo for Christmas?

God does not need lights to illuminate him, or revelry or carnivals. He is a God of compassion and mercy especially for the downtrodden. The ministry of Jesus Christ was for the poor, the downtrodden and the lost. If anyone wants to promote some business let him do it, without bringing in the birth of Christ into it.

We don't need the lights in Colombo to remind anyone of the birth of Christ. Let there be the light of Jesus in our hearts which will be seen by those who do not know him. God will see the heart not the lights.

One govt. department that works
If there is a government department in this country with courteous, efficient and dedicated officers, I would say without any hesitation that it is the Department of Pensions headed by its genial Director K.A. Tilakaratne.

As a pensioner, I had a problem which was referred by me to the Director Mr. Tilakaratne and he set the machinery in motion. With the able assistance of the chief accountant, Indrani Cooray, who is efficient and kind, the problem was solved to my satisfaction. The officers in the Department of Pensions are working under trying conditions with only a few staff members. I hope other departments will adopt it as a model .

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