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Friday, January 25, 2008

Priyantha De Silva and Media History In Sri Lanka

A few months ago, I've seen on a blog of TV radio Sri Lanka, a person had insulted me as "What do you know about Media?".I newer gave them an answer and laughed.When my childhood, a music group called "SHA", had came our house to stay about one week. (There was a one who had some relationship with us, in the band). Many singers and songstress like M.S. Fernando, Mariazell Gunathilaka and many others have came our house and had dinner , that my mother had cooked. Those days I was very familiar with singers, specially , with Abewardana Balasuriya.


One day from the SLRC ( Sri Lanka Brodcasting ) had came our house to observe the information that I've posted by a letter.And they came to Matara from Colombo for that reason and got my sign to prove their attendance.They'd erected a antenna to get all the signal from other parts of the island ,in our home garden to search more.
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In 1994 , I've posted a letter to The Sunday Times and It has published .The most important thing is, The Father Of Television History" in Sri Lanka,Shan Wikramasinghe (Pinier of ITN and TNL ) , had given me a replay next week.As a very reputed man in Sri Lanka, Shan Wikramasinghe, I'm very much glad to received a replay from him.Specially, that was my first letter I've posted to a newspaper and also it has published. Now you can see the copiers.





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When receiving a certificate from a minister , Mahinda Wijesekara at BMICH, Colombo.



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After that I've followed a "Media" course in the BMICH, from Mr. Sunanda Mahendra, Palitha Perera, Edvin Ariyadasa, and many more from the media sector.This's the certificate I've received for whole media"



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This the 1st place Media certificate Ive won
from the SLBC a long time ago.I've won , got the 1st place from the Island wide

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Why ? Sri Lanka ....

WHY SRI LANKA ?


Extracted from,
sujata.wordpress.com


Why does anybody want to live in Sri Lanka, if there are other choices? Why deal with corruption, stupidity, headless bodies and bodiless heads, if you have a choice.

These are questions that seem to come up more often than I like.

What did the great sage of India have to say about location? I turn to the Mangala Sutra, A discourse on blessings, in Buddha’s own words, and translated to English by Henepola Gunaratana Thera.

To reside in a suitable location

To have past good deeds doneTo set oneself in the right direction

This is a blessing supreme

(Patirupadesavaso ca; Pubbe ca katapunnata;

Attasammapanidhi ca; etam mangalam uttamam)

There it is. The second verse in the Mangala Sutra. Buddha did not go as far as realtors to say location, location, location, but he did say to get your location right. First decide what is suitable for you.

For me what makes Sri Lanka unsuitable as a location is not the usual list of corruption… etc., but the Buddhist monks who are calling for war, and the chanting of pirit that nobody understands and pansil nobody intends to keep. Mixing of Buddhism and Nakshtra can be added to the list.

What attracts me also has much to do with Buddhism. Picking Sepalika flowers off the meadow on a poya morning and visiting Mihintale on Poson night. Those associations tie me down to this place. [Sepalika is the only flower (?) that you might offer after it has fallen. So delicate with a fragrance so subtle.]

If a truly Buddhist community is the object, one is perhaps better off in Los Angeles, USA or other foreign place where there are communities of true practitioners. To me, somehow, the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha there fail to connect with the sounds, smells and sensations that I associate with Buddhism.

What else does Sri Lanka offer or not offer?

Mangala sutra begins with,

Asevana ca balanam panditanan ca sevana;

Puja ca pujaniyanam etam mangalam uttam

To associate not with the foolish

To be with the wise

To honor the worthy ones

This is a blessing supreme.

To find a monk worthy of obeisance or a friendship worth sustaining is indeed a blessing supreme. As a returnee home after many years I have much to discover. At first glance I saw all monks here either as hate mongers or mudalalis, but, then I found you need to look deeper. For example, until recently I did not know that the very old monk I have seen round the temple I visit is the most venerable Davuldeniye Gnanissra thero, the chief incumbent of Amarapura Nikaya. One of these days I might get a chance to talk to him.

Interestingly, the Mangala sutra, [according to my limited understanding], has very little to say about social action. It essentially says to care for ones mother, father, spouse, children and relatives. Be good and do good to those around you.

Fourth and fifth verses in Mangala Sutra:

To be well caring of mother, of father

Looking after spouse and children

To engage in a harmless occupation

This is a blessing supreme

Selfless giving, living the just life

Open hands to all relatives

And blameless action

This is a blessing supreme

But take the last set of blessings. It is that set that grabs me most and makes me want to repeat it day after day, moment after moment, hoping the real meaning would sink in.

Last set of blessings, Mangala Sutra:

A mind unshaken

When touched by the worldly states

Sorrowless, stainless, and secure

This is the blessing supreme

How can you remain unmoved by corruption, stupidity, headless bodies and bodiless heads? Apparently, in later years, the Buddha watched his Shakya clan get decimated by the Kosala kings and did not intervene [Pankaj Mishra in, An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World]. Buddha intervened in a fight over a river but at some point he had to give up, I suppose.

Michael Ondaatje got it right. To me, the running theme in his two seminal works—English Patient and Anil’s Ghost—is about finding inner strength through your craft when the world around you is falling apart. In the English Patient, the young Canadian nurse Hana saw her best friend blow up in a land mine and decided to opt out with one hopeless patient and care for him. What I remember most about Kip, the young Sikh mine sweeper, is his almost robotic attention to his task.

All the characters in Anil’s Ghost find solace in their craft and in each other in the middle of a strange war. Anil, the forensic anthropologist; Sarath, the archaeologist; Ananda the artist, and lastly Gamini the doctor even as he tended to the body of his brother’s body, a victim of the same war.

Mangala Sutra, third verse:

Great learning and craft

And a discipline well-trained in

And whatever utterance is well-spoken

This is a blessing supreme

Difficult times or not Sri Lanka is the place for me and the Mangala Sutra tells me to stay put, apply my craft as best as I can, take care of those around me, speak kindly, speak well, and above all, stay unshaken or try at least.

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Mangala Sutra or Great Discourse on Blessings

(Translation, by Dr. Henepola Gunaratana Nayaka Thera, Bhavan Society, High View, West Virginia, USA)

Thus have I heard. One time the exalted one was living near Savatthi, in Jeta’s Grove, the monastery of Anathapindika. Then, in the middle of the night, a certain deity of astounding beauty, lighting up the entire Jeta’s Grove, approached the exalted one. Drawing near, she paid homage to the Exalted One and stood to one side. Standing thus the deity addressed the Exalted One in verse:

Many deities and humans have pondered on blessings,

Desiring their well-being. Tell me the blessings supreme.

Buddha’s reply:

To associate not with the foolish

To be with the wise

To honor the worthy ones

This is a blessing supreme.

To reside in a suitable location

To have past good deeds done

To set oneself in the right direction

This is a blessing supreme

Great learning and craft

And a discipline well-trained in

And whatever utterance is well-spoken

This is a blessing supreme

To be well caring of mother, of father

Looking after spouse and children

To engage in a harmless occupation

This is a blessing supreme

Selfless giving, living the just life

Open hands to all relatives

And blameless action

This is a blessing supreme

To cease and abstain from evil

Complete restraint from intoxicants

To be diligent in virtuous practices

This is a blessing supreme

To be reverent and humble

Content and grateful

To hear the Dhamma at the right time

This is a blessing supreme

To be patient and obedient

The seeing of recluses

To discuss the Dhamma at the right time

This is a blessing supreme

To austerely and purely

To see the Noble truths

And to realize Nibbana

This is the blessing supreme

A mind unshaken

When touched by the worldly states

Sorrowless, stainless, and secure

This is the blessing supreme

Those who have fulfilled all these

Are everywhere invincible

They find well-being everywhere

Theirs is the blessing supreme


http://sujata.wordpress.com/2006/05/30/why-sri-lanka/

Meditation and Ultimate Happiness 1

Calming the Mind

Meditation can have several functions. It is about calming the mind but it is also about freeing oneself from habitual states of greed, hatred and delusion. Each of these is a source of suffering and therefore unhappiness. Although the Buddha's teaching starts with suffering or dukkha, the first noble truth, it ends in freedom from suffering - nibbana or nirvana (the third noble truth). The Buddha's teaching therefore is about achieving this freedom from suffering - ultimate happiness (though beyond what we might ordinarily conceive as happiness).

Though nibbana is the ultimate goal, how is it that Buddhists might find happiness in a world that they know is full of change, uncertainty, unsatisfactoriness? Even when happiness is possible, there is no escape from old age, sickness and death. What Buddhism does teach is that there are skilful ways of living. These include, following certain moral precepts and working on various meditation techniques that are conducive to well-being.

The five precepts are moral guidelines that - because they are skilful - lead to happy states. Not killing or harming living beings, not lying, not stealing, not indulging in inappropriate sexual activity, not drinking or taking drugs, mean that unhappy states are less likely to occur. To harm a living being, for example, has bad karmic consequences. It can lead to feelings of remorse and regret for what one has done. It will lead to suffering, whatever, according to the Buddhist doctrine of kamma.

Metta

A strong element of Buddhism is cultivating strong states of mind. These include resisting a tendency towards anger and fostering loving kindness (metta) and compassion (karuna). Many Buddhists actively practice meditation techniques that develop good will to all beings. In certain schools, there is the practice of seeing each individual being as if they were your mother. The kindness and good will you would extend to your mother, you extend to others universally. Also there is the compassion of empathizing deeply with another's suffering. If they suffer, it is your suffering too - there is no separation!

So, how do we find happiness in this world? One message from Buddhism is the deep truth that one finds happiness by seeking the happiness of others. There is no other way. This isn't a soft option. To love is to give endlessly, to fail repeatedly, to see the weaknesses in oneself on a daily basis, to fail an to fail again... but then to get up and try again.

Extracted from : http://buddhism.about.com



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