On Dayan’s ‘logic’, mildly
This refers to Dayan Jayatilleka’s response (Anti-BBS Vigil: A critique of the critique) to something I wrote on the subject of a candle light vigil organized by a group that named the event ‘Buddhists...
View ArticleWhat is ‘Bodu (Buddhist)’ in the ‘Bodu Bala Sena’?
Way back in the year 2004, when the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) was formed to contest the April elections, I objected on grounds that the political/historical role of the Bikkhuwas advisory. The mayor,...
View ArticleWhat’s sauce for Canada…
Canada, it is reported, has joined the United States in calling for the removal of Richard Falk, a UN human rights rapporteur who opined that American policies were the impetus of the Boston Marathon...
View ArticleThe garrisoning of the Indian Ocean
A leaked draft MoU between the governments of the USA and the Maldives indicates that plans are afoot to set up a US military base in the Indian Ocean. While the US Embassy in Colombo has...
View ArticleGemunu Wijeratne’s ministerial recommendations
The President of the Private Bus Owner’s Association, Gemunu Wijeratne, has demanded that the Ministry of Private Transport Services be taken off C.B. Ratnayake. He wants President Rajapaksa to handle...
View ArticleVesak!
The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) is alleged to have warned that those who do not adhere to the BBS’s preference with respect to how Vesak should be commemorated will be caned. The BBS finds the festivities...
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Faith and healing
Not all diseases are known. Not all known diseases have cures. Then there are ailments of the body and ailments of the mind, cures for the latter being more elusive than those for the former. Both...
View ArticleDevelopment without human capital will be stillborn or deformed
SUBTERRANEAN TRANSCRIPTS[This article was first published in the Daily Mirror, April 30, 2010]Jehan Perera is not talking about the LTTE. He’s not even talking about the Tamil National Alliance. No,...
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Cornering Sri Lanka, US-Style
On May 22, 2013, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was entered between the Public Affairs Section of the Embassy of the United States of America (USA) and the Trincomalee Urban Council (UC) at the...
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Thushara’s Vesak
We live in an era of ‘flexible capital’. Money moves, industries move, people move. Things are supposed to move around and fit together in locations that make for best returns. Theoretically....
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Anuruddha Pradeep Karnasooriya must be reinstated forthwith
The University of Sri Jayawardenapura has decided to terminate the services of Anuruddha Pradeep Karnasooriya , Lecturer (Probationary). This decision was taken, based on a stipulation that a...
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FILM REVIEW: ‘Siddhartha’: an exploration of the abhinishkramanaya oddity
As a Buddhist growing up in Sri Lanka in a household where there was a time and place for religious activity (limited to Poya Day visits to the temple and nocturnal recitation of gathas), the story of...
View ArticleThe China ‘choice’
Before July 1987, few Sri Lankans had heard the term bhoo-deshapaalana yathaarthaya(geo-political reality). It was tossed around liberally by those who sought to give legitimacy to the infamous...
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How Leo Burnett Solutions skinned a Lankan lion to get a Cannes Lion
K.A. Dharmadasa the Vegetable VendorK.A. Dharmadasa the ModelIt is my contention that a sizable proportion of the most creative writers (and artists of course) in the country are in the advertising...
View ArticleCherishing all living beings
‘Metta’ or compassion is one of the four divine abodes (Sathara Brahma Viharana) recommended by the Buddha for the cultivation of harmony and meditative focus. It is also one of the ten perfections...
View ArticleVen. Bowatte Indrarathana Thero’s silence
Ven. Bowatte Indrarathana Thero’s act of self-immolation has generated much debate. The act has been condemned as being ‘un-Buddhistic’. The bikkhu’s past was commented on. This included his...
View ArticleEthics is a traditional homeland without claimants
The self-immolation of Ven Bowatte Indraratnana Thero raised many questions. Whatever the late Thero’s intentions may have been, it is unlikely that ‘media ethics’ or lack thereof was something that...
View ArticleIt is customary to bury the dead
A form of drama that emphasizes the absurdity of human existence by employing disjointed, repetitious, and meaningless dialogue, purposeless and confusing situations, and plots that lack realistic or...
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Cresside Collette weaves a distinctive tapestry
Collette is not a common name in Sri Lanka and it became even less common post 1956 for historical reasons many have written about. There’s one Collette who was so in-your-face that it is hard to...
View ArticleA hit team for hire?
The area around the Borella Kanatte turned into a battlefield one late afternoon in late April, 1993. Crowds attending the funeral of the assassinated Lalith Athulathmudali turned violent. The Police...
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