email forwarded by Senaka Weeraratne.
Click on the link below:-
http://www.globalpost.com/
Click on the link below:-
http://www.globalpost.com/
This blog is about the entrants in the year 1960, to the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ceylon, Colombo. The email address for communications is, 1960batch@gmail.com. Please BOOKMARK this page for easier access later.Photo is the entrance porch of the old General Hospital, Colombo, still in existence. Please use the search box below to look for your requirement.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Thursday, May 29, 2014
India has its own 'soft power' - Buddhism
| ||||
By Sudha Ramachandran
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/
BANGALORE - As the Sino-Indian battle for influence in East and Southeast Asia intensifies, India is backing its political and economic diplomacy with soft-power diplomacy. To counter China's efforts to keep India out of the region on the grounds that it is an "outsider", India is drawing attention to its solid Buddhist credentials.
Buddhism originated in India around the 5th century BC. But after flourishing here for many centuries, it declined in the land of its birth. However, it spread across Asia, winning adherents in such countries as Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Tibet, Mongolia and China.
Buddhist monks traveled far to spread the religion. Scholars came to India to study at its universities. There was a healthy exchange of ideas, of philosophic, religious and cultural traditions right from ancient times. The impact of this interaction and exchange can be seen and felt to date across Asia. It is this shared Buddhist heritage that Delhi is now emphasizing in its engagement with East and Southeast Asia.
"China has sought to keep India out of regional arrangements in Southeast Asia by portraying India as an outsider. By underlining the multi-millennia-old bond of Buddhism that it shares with these regions, India is quietly clarifying that it is not a gatecrasher," said an official in India's Ministry of External Affairs.
Although the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, or the Buddha as he came to be called, was born in Nepal and not India, all the important milestones in his life, whether it was his enlightenment, his first sermon or his attainment of nirvana, happened in India. Most of the important sites of significance to Buddhists the world over are in India.
While India has emphasized its cultural and civilizational links with East and Southeast Asia for decades, this diplomacy has received a boost with the pan-Asian initiative to revive Nalanda University.
An ancient seat of learning, Nalanda University was primarily a center of Buddhist studies, but it also imparted training in fine arts, astronomy, politics and languages. The university died a slow death around the 12th century AD.
A giant, multinational effort is now on to set up an international university at Nalanda that will capture the grandeur, spirit and essence of this renowned seat of learning. Several countries, including India, Japan, Singapore and China, are part of this effort.
And while India is at the center of the Nalanda initiative (the university being located here), China is ensuring that its links with the university are not forgotten. Besides being part of a mentor group (headed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen) that will provide vision and direction to the Nalanda initiative, China has contributed funds for the Xuan Zang Memorial Hall in the university. "It is making sure that its links with Buddhism are noted," said the Indian official.
Xuan Zang was a Chinese Buddhist scholar of the 7th century AD who spent two years at Nalanda. His contribution to Buddhism is substantial. Not only did he translate Indian Buddhist texts into Chinese during his years in India, but it was from his translated Chinese copies that scholars recovered Indian Buddhist texts lost in subsequent years.
Buddhism might have arrived in China several centuries after it was born in India, but China has more Buddhists than India does today. In fact, with 100 million, it is home to the largest number of Buddhists in the world.
In recent years, China has been making a concerted attempt to project a Buddhism-friendly image of itself, drawing attention to its Buddhist heritage. Monasteries and temples destroyed during the Cultural Revolution have reportedly been rebuilt. Last year, China played host to the First World Buddhist Forum at Hangzhou in which Buddhist monks and scholars from 37 countries participated.
China's projection of a Buddhist-friendly image today has to do with its Tibet policy.
"Having destroyed Tibetan Buddhism and put in its place a state-sanctioned version of Buddhism, Beijing is making grand gestures to shore up its Buddhist credentials. It wants to soften its image for East and Southeast Asia but, more importantly, Tibet," said the official. "Hence Beijing's bonding with Buddhism."
The Hangzhou meet, he said, was aimed at presenting China as a country that is in favor of harmonious living with its neighbors. More important, it provided Beijing with an international platform to present to the world Gyaltsen Norbu, the Panchen Lama (Tibet's second-ranking spiritual leader) it appointed in 1995, and to showcase its Buddhist credentials. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists who fled to India in 1959 in the wake of the Chinese occupation of Tibet, was not invited to the gathering.
China's effort to project its Buddhist credentials has been tarnished by its record in Tibet. Indian officials say that so long as the Dalai Lama lives in India and millions of Tibetan Buddhist refugees remain in India, China's claims over Buddhism will be weak. While China's Buddhist credentials are questionable thanks to its blood-soaked record vis-a-vis Tibetan Buddhists, that of India's is impeccable. China cannot match India's formidable record as a protector of Buddhism. India has provided refuge to millions of Tibetan Buddhists fleeing Chinese oppression.
Indian officials admit that in the past India neglected highlighting adequately its central role in the Buddhist world and its Buddhist legacy. In the process, "it surrendered the mantle of being the custodian of Buddhist heritage and its leadership role in the Buddhist world, which was quickly appropriated by countries like Japan and China", said the official. This is being corrected now.
Indrani Bagchi writes in The Times of India: "In the past five years, India has fought back, to reclaim what the government believes is India's by right - that it is India which is at the heart of the Asian civilization, that in many ways, India has been the cultural trend setter."
Last year, India built a Buddhist temple in Luoyang in China. The temple is in the Baima temple complex where a Chinese emperor welcomed Buddhist monks from India 2,000 years ago. "The temple in Luoyang has been built in the Indian style," said the official. "It marks the fact that Buddhism traveled to China from India." It underscores the fact that Buddhism in China is an Indian export.
India has made Buddhism the core of its soft-power push in Asia. This is aimed not only at reminding countries of their long-standing links with India but also that the roots of their cultural heritage lie in India.
The dispute between India and China over territory and their race for military and economic supremacy are a familiar tale to the outside world. The outcome of these contests will determine who will dominate Asia - if not the world - in the coming decades. Less visible but equally important is their tussle over ownership of Buddhism. This keenly fought contest will determine which of the two is Asia's "mother civilization".
Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.
Courtesy: Asia Times (2007 Asia Times Online Ltd.)http://www.atimes.com/atimes/
BANGALORE - As the Sino-Indian battle for influence in East and Southeast Asia intensifies, India is backing its political and economic diplomacy with soft-power diplomacy. To counter China's efforts to keep India out of the region on the grounds that it is an "outsider", India is drawing attention to its solid Buddhist credentials.
Buddhism originated in India around the 5th century BC. But after flourishing here for many centuries, it declined in the land of its birth. However, it spread across Asia, winning adherents in such countries as Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Tibet, Mongolia and China.
Buddhist monks traveled far to spread the religion. Scholars came to India to study at its universities. There was a healthy exchange of ideas, of philosophic, religious and cultural traditions right from ancient times. The impact of this interaction and exchange can be seen and felt to date across Asia. It is this shared Buddhist heritage that Delhi is now emphasizing in its engagement with East and Southeast Asia.
"China has sought to keep India out of regional arrangements in Southeast Asia by portraying India as an outsider. By underlining the multi-millennia-old bond of Buddhism that it shares with these regions, India is quietly clarifying that it is not a gatecrasher," said an official in India's Ministry of External Affairs.
Although the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, or the Buddha as he came to be called, was born in Nepal and not India, all the important milestones in his life, whether it was his enlightenment, his first sermon or his attainment of nirvana, happened in India. Most of the important sites of significance to Buddhists the world over are in India.
While India has emphasized its cultural and civilizational links with East and Southeast Asia for decades, this diplomacy has received a boost with the pan-Asian initiative to revive Nalanda University.
An ancient seat of learning, Nalanda University was primarily a center of Buddhist studies, but it also imparted training in fine arts, astronomy, politics and languages. The university died a slow death around the 12th century AD.
A giant, multinational effort is now on to set up an international university at Nalanda that will capture the grandeur, spirit and essence of this renowned seat of learning. Several countries, including India, Japan, Singapore and China, are part of this effort.
And while India is at the center of the Nalanda initiative (the university being located here), China is ensuring that its links with the university are not forgotten. Besides being part of a mentor group (headed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen) that will provide vision and direction to the Nalanda initiative, China has contributed funds for the Xuan Zang Memorial Hall in the university. "It is making sure that its links with Buddhism are noted," said the Indian official.
Xuan Zang was a Chinese Buddhist scholar of the 7th century AD who spent two years at Nalanda. His contribution to Buddhism is substantial. Not only did he translate Indian Buddhist texts into Chinese during his years in India, but it was from his translated Chinese copies that scholars recovered Indian Buddhist texts lost in subsequent years.
Buddhism might have arrived in China several centuries after it was born in India, but China has more Buddhists than India does today. In fact, with 100 million, it is home to the largest number of Buddhists in the world.
In recent years, China has been making a concerted attempt to project a Buddhism-friendly image of itself, drawing attention to its Buddhist heritage. Monasteries and temples destroyed during the Cultural Revolution have reportedly been rebuilt. Last year, China played host to the First World Buddhist Forum at Hangzhou in which Buddhist monks and scholars from 37 countries participated.
China's projection of a Buddhist-friendly image today has to do with its Tibet policy.
"Having destroyed Tibetan Buddhism and put in its place a state-sanctioned version of Buddhism, Beijing is making grand gestures to shore up its Buddhist credentials. It wants to soften its image for East and Southeast Asia but, more importantly, Tibet," said the official. "Hence Beijing's bonding with Buddhism."
The Hangzhou meet, he said, was aimed at presenting China as a country that is in favor of harmonious living with its neighbors. More important, it provided Beijing with an international platform to present to the world Gyaltsen Norbu, the Panchen Lama (Tibet's second-ranking spiritual leader) it appointed in 1995, and to showcase its Buddhist credentials. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists who fled to India in 1959 in the wake of the Chinese occupation of Tibet, was not invited to the gathering.
China's effort to project its Buddhist credentials has been tarnished by its record in Tibet. Indian officials say that so long as the Dalai Lama lives in India and millions of Tibetan Buddhist refugees remain in India, China's claims over Buddhism will be weak. While China's Buddhist credentials are questionable thanks to its blood-soaked record vis-a-vis Tibetan Buddhists, that of India's is impeccable. China cannot match India's formidable record as a protector of Buddhism. India has provided refuge to millions of Tibetan Buddhists fleeing Chinese oppression.
Indian officials admit that in the past India neglected highlighting adequately its central role in the Buddhist world and its Buddhist legacy. In the process, "it surrendered the mantle of being the custodian of Buddhist heritage and its leadership role in the Buddhist world, which was quickly appropriated by countries like Japan and China", said the official. This is being corrected now.
Indrani Bagchi writes in The Times of India: "In the past five years, India has fought back, to reclaim what the government believes is India's by right - that it is India which is at the heart of the Asian civilization, that in many ways, India has been the cultural trend setter."
Last year, India built a Buddhist temple in Luoyang in China. The temple is in the Baima temple complex where a Chinese emperor welcomed Buddhist monks from India 2,000 years ago. "The temple in Luoyang has been built in the Indian style," said the official. "It marks the fact that Buddhism traveled to China from India." It underscores the fact that Buddhism in China is an Indian export.
India has made Buddhism the core of its soft-power push in Asia. This is aimed not only at reminding countries of their long-standing links with India but also that the roots of their cultural heritage lie in India.
The dispute between India and China over territory and their race for military and economic supremacy are a familiar tale to the outside world. The outcome of these contests will determine who will dominate Asia - if not the world - in the coming decades. Less visible but equally important is their tussle over ownership of Buddhism. This keenly fought contest will determine which of the two is Asia's "mother civilization".
Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.
Bottled Water
|  03:04 (2 hours ago) | | ||
| Click on link below to save this power-point presentation. You could then click the saved file to watch it. | ||||
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Heaven.
|
email from JKS Weerasekara.
Perhaps,
The Best Poem Ever..... Its more than a poem... The truth !
No offense intended
to any denomination please ...
|
How To Improve Immigrants' English (Pathe filmlet).
email from "J. K. S. Weerasekera"
Subject: FW: How To Improve Immigrants' English (Pathe filmlet)
How to talk intelligibly. Short. 4 minutes. Very useful.
jksw
Subject: FW: How To Improve Immigrants' English (Pathe filmlet)
Sinhala to EnglishHow To Improve Immigrants' English (1940s Instructional Film) [HD]
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Musings.
Email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai:-
We seldom get what we want,
We seldom want what we get,
We seldom have what we like,
We seldom like what we have.
And still we live & love.
That's life...
The best kind of friend,
Is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with,
Never say a word,
And then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.
It's true that we don't know
What we've got until it's gone,
But it's also true that we don't know
What we've been missing until it arrives..
Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back!
Don't expect love in return;
Just wait for it to grow in their heart,
But if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours.
It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone,
An hour to like someone,
And a day to love someone,
But it takes a lifetime to forget someone.
Don't go for looks; they can deceive.
Don't go for wealth; even that fades away.
Go for someone who makes you smile,
Because it takes only a smile to
Make a dark day seem bright.
Find the one that makes your heart smile!
May you have
Enough happiness to make you sweet,
Enough trials to make you strong,
Enough sorrow to keep you human,
And enough hope to make you happy.
Always put yourself in others' shoes.
If you feel that it hurts you,
It probably hurts the other person, too.
The happiest of people
Don't necessarily have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
Happiness lies for
Those who cry,
Those who hurt,
Those who have searched,
And those who have tried,
For only they can appreciate the importance of people
Who have touched their lives.
When you were born, you were crying
And everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so that when you die,
You're the one who is smiling
And everyone around you is crying.
Please send this message
To those people who mean something to you,
To those who have touched your life in one way or another,
To those who make you smile when you really need it,
To those that make you see the brighter side of things When you are really down,
To those who you want to know
That you appreciate their friendship.
And if you don't, don't worry,
Nothing bad will happen to you,
You will just miss out on the opportunity
to brighten someone's life with this message...
~~~~~
We seldom want what we get,
We seldom have what we like,
We seldom like what we have.
And still we live & love.
That's life...
The best kind of friend,
Is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with,
Never say a word,
And then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.
It's true that we don't know
What we've got until it's gone,
But it's also true that we don't know
What we've been missing until it arrives..
Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back!
Don't expect love in return;
Just wait for it to grow in their heart,
But if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours.
It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone,
An hour to like someone,
And a day to love someone,
But it takes a lifetime to forget someone.
Don't go for looks; they can deceive.
Don't go for wealth; even that fades away.
Go for someone who makes you smile,
Because it takes only a smile to
Make a dark day seem bright.
Find the one that makes your heart smile!
May you have
Enough happiness to make you sweet,
Enough trials to make you strong,
Enough sorrow to keep you human,
And enough hope to make you happy.
Always put yourself in others' shoes.
If you feel that it hurts you,
It probably hurts the other person, too.
The happiest of people
Don't necessarily have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
Happiness lies for
Those who cry,
Those who hurt,
Those who have searched,
And those who have tried,
For only they can appreciate the importance of people
Who have touched their lives.
When you were born, you were crying
And everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so that when you die,
You're the one who is smiling
And everyone around you is crying.
Please send this message
To those people who mean something to you,
To those who have touched your life in one way or another,
To those who make you smile when you really need it,
To those that make you see the brighter side of things When you are really down,
To those who you want to know
That you appreciate their friendship.
And if you don't, don't worry,
Nothing bad will happen to you,
You will just miss out on the opportunity
to brighten someone's life with this message...
~~~~~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)