'In war there are no winners..."

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email from Lesley Sirimane	May 22 (3 days ago)

'If you ask me to point out the most important message that I can derive from Buddhism for reconciliation in our society, I would like to remind you of this verse in the Dhammapada.

Jayam veram pasavati – Dukkham seti parajito
Upasanto sukham seti – Hitva jaya parajam

(Dhammapada, Sukha vagga verse 5)

This means, "Victory breeds hatred; the defeated sleeps in sorrow; the peaceful sleeps happily, abandoning victory and defeat." Accordingly, I can say any sort of victory celebrations certainly negatively affect the idea of reconciliation. As long as we keep 'the victorious and the defeated' dichotomy in society, we are keeping alive the "hatred and the anger". If we want to have reconciliation and a peaceful country, we need to get our people away from the "victory and defeat" mentality. It is not my word. It is the word of the Buddha.'

- Ven. Galkande Dhammananda Thera, Lecturer, Department of History, University of Kelaniya.

http://ceylontoday.lk/59-38898-news-detail-religion-for-reconciliation-is-it-feasible.html

Teaching.

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email from Lakshman Karalliedde	May 21 (4 days ago)

All over the world, teachers say to each other "I didn't really
understand this until I had to teach it". Or as researcher and
inventor Mark Changizi quipped: "I find that no matter how badly I
teach I still learn something".

PS by Philip GV

' It is a very ancient saying,
That
 'When you are a teacher,
By your pupils you are taught'

From the Musical 'The King and I'.

A very good lecture on Buddhism - Priceless

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email from Daya Jayasinghe

May 23 (2 days ago)

Click on the link below and watch it to the VERY END.  The last 30 minutes is very good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX2f6QHkU-I

Narendra Modhi and Buddhism.

Part of an email forwarded by Senaka Weeraratna.

'The Video clip of a speech (see below) made by Narendra Modi in 2010 at an International Buddhist Heritage Seminar held at the cultural capital of Gujarat, Vadodara amidst the presence of Dalai Lama and other religious dignitaries provides a valuable insight into Narendra Modi’s thinking on Buddhism and the increasing emphasis he can be expected to place in maintaining and strengthening ties between India and pre – dominant Buddhist countries in Asia.

An alliance between the largely Hindu India and predominantly Buddhist Asia may provide the long awaited counter weight to the hegemony we see in the conduct of the European Union (an Union of European Christian heritage countries) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) ( An association of 56 Islamic states).

Sri Lanka has much to benefit from this new political development in India because its new leader though committed to the cause of Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma) is also a great admirer of Buddhism and very much conscious of the great contribution Buddhism has made in elevating the moral and spiritual stature of India through out the world, and its huge potential to influence humanity and global thinking in a positive direction.

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DTW5wZJXpQ8

The duration of the Video clip is 23.32 minutes. Narendra Modi speaks in both English and Hindi intermingling and translating his statement in English into Hindi.

To any one interested in studying the thoughts and ideas of Narendra Modi on religion this video clip provides an ideal opportunity.'

Courtesy: Buddhist Channel

Religion and capital.

email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai


A Catholic, a Protestant, a Muslim and a Jew were in a discussion during a dinner.

Catholic: "We have a large fortune.... we are going to buy Citibank!"

Protestant: "We are very wealthy and will buy General Motors!"          

Muslim: "We are fabulously rich ..... we intend to purchase Microsoft!"

They then all wait for the Jew to speak....

The Jew stirs his coffee, places the spoon neatly on the saucer, takes a sip of his coffee, looks at them and casually says: "We are not selling!

A typical Sri Lankan hearth used to cook all the food in the household.

Now firewood is used less to do the cooking. LP gas has replaced it in most households. The days of  high pressure stoves and kerosene cookers are also gone.

AN INSPIRING CLIP MUST WATCH

email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai

Inspiring Clip . . . A Must See

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https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=724601407564676