In memory of Late Comrade Wesley Muthiah, an epitome of the old LSSP.

The Sri Lanka Sama Samaja Party founded in 1935 marking the beginning of a great Marxist movement that changed the political scene of Sri Lanka, is today moving into history. Marxism merely means adhering to the political theory of Marx and Engels , that human actions and institutions are economically determined and that class struggle is needed to create historical changes to offset capitalism.

LSSP which was based on these theories was called a Marxist party which drew lot of venom from the opposition capitalist based parties. LSSP however was once the main Opposition Party and even the second Largest Party in the Parliament way back in the 1940s.

It started as a workers party and resorting to theoretical rhetoric to attract the workers in the government and private sector to unite them for a revolution of the proletariat against the ruling class. It failed to advent beyond urban workers to the peasants and villagers which doomed it from the beginning to an early death unwept, unsung and unlamented. Yet perhaps breathing its last, it remains today the oldest of all the political parties in Parliament.

But unfortunately the JVP which attempts to replace that great political moment trying to identify it as a Marxist political party has not even a Marxist political programme. But what it has is a program of disruption, creating political mayhem to withhold the economic and social development of the country . JVP hopes to gain popular attention and win their support by critical vituperations and mudslinging at the policies and progressive projects of the Government in power.

JVP has neither Marxism nor Socialism, but manifestations and orations of criticism, of all activities of the Government to keep in tow a loosing political base.

It had been accepted as a dictum that political parties based on Marxist socialism in order to gain popular political support should ride behind the political movements which have already gained the approval of the masses. JVP as a self proclaimed Marxist party should have therefore followed suit, to find a political space to eventually come out as a major political force.

JVP had the potential of being a popular political party, but withdrawing its support to the government has resulted in its falling headlong in to a political morass , with nothing new to propose to the people other than criticism of the party in power.

Any political party calling itself a socialist or a Marxist movement should in the present political context of Sri Lanka unite its forces not only to assist the government’s socialist programme of development but also to defend the country against foreign forces gathering together to undermine the development processes of the country, destabilize it to break its unitary status.

In this situation it is sad the once active Lanka Sama Samaja Party has failed to make a significant contribution either in presenting a progressive programme, or taking a more prominent role in the activities of the present Government’s effort of development. In the political debates in Sri Lanka there is a marked absence of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party. Its incapacity to find a means to be heard and seen in the public arena has made it already a “dead” political voice.

In this situation we cannot forget the contribution of an ordinary member of the LSSP the Late Wesley Muthiah, who did not seek office or favours but even living in UK in the latter part of his life carried out and organized very effective publicity programmes to bring the party sympathizers together, and organized and carried out many projects to help the under priviledged people and unemployed youth in Sri Lanka, and kept the Lanka Sama Samaja Party alive, heard and talked about.

In parallel to such programmes, Wesley organized lectures , social functions, and get togethers of party sympathizers as measures to keeping the Party alive without allowing it to fall in to oblivion. .

But unfortunately the lack of this type of organizations, meetings and social events by the LSSP in Sri Lanka has resulted in its falling into the category of “vanishing species” and the younger generation of Sri Lankans to-day seems to have already forgotten the existence of the LSSP . The last of the “ Mohicans” of the Party Comrades Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Tissa Vitharana despite being Ministers in the present Government do not play active roles to whisk the LSSP back to the political lime light.

The Late Comrade Wesley Muthiah was a man with an abundance of energy, he was able to meet people, speak to them and arouse their interest in the Socialist movement. That was how he was able to capture the imagination of his friend Comrade Sydney Wanasinghe to participate with him in his project to write the land mark “epic” of the history of the Lanka Sama SamajaParty that went into several volumes -"Britain, World War 2 & the Sama Samjists" in January,1996, followed by, " Bracegirdle Affair" (1998), " We Were Making History" (2002), "The Case for Socialism"(2004), "Two Languages One Nation-One Language Two Nations" (2005), " Socialist Women of Sri Lanka" (2006), and "Colvin R de Silva: Selected speeches and writings", (2007)- each covering a specific period of its history.

When eventually the Lanka Sama Samaja Party would be relegated to history, the future generations of Sri Lankans will at least have the written history of it- thanks to the Late Comarades Wesley Muthiah- and read the story of a great leftist movement that started with the Suriya Mal movement of Comrade Dr.S.A. Wickramasinghe, and branched out to be the Lanka Sama Samaja Party.

Late Wesley Muthiah where ever he was, did not fail to organize small groups of LSSP sympathizers and organize activities to bring the party to even a few people inclined towards socialism. In Matale, Wattegama, Elkaduwa, Nuwara Eliya, Talawakelle, Moratuwa, or in London Wesley did not fail to leave a remarkable imprint of the LSSP. Wesley was a rare individual overflowing with energy which he used immensely to keep alive the LSSP , unfortunately today the LSSP cannot count on any one to fill the empty space left by his premature departure.

Comrade Wesley Muthiah had not envisaged an eventual dwindling insignificance of LSSP to which it has fallen to-day. He once referred to Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and said there would always be some one who will rise from an unexpected quarter to bring back to life LSSP and infuse into it the former vigour and popularity even if it would not be what it had been before.

Therefore on this fourth death anniversary of the Late comrade Wesley Muthiah it is apt in his memory to hope for some one to arise from an unexpected quarter to bring back to life and infuse into Lanka Sama Samaja Party its former vigour and popularity before it breaths its last.

UNESCO- turns away from Indian, Chinese, and African philosophies to celebrates the World Philosophy Day 2010, with a hybrid philosophy of its own.

Philosophy is a subject apart from Education, Science and Culture which are within the purview of UNESCO. But Education being knowledge, philosophy could fall well within Education.

But philosophy is a diversity of knowledge, it is hence representative of different Cultures.
Therefore, probably as the religion, philosophy and culture of a nation are interrelated, in UNESCO Philosophy finds its place in the Sector of Social and Human Sciences.

Where ever it is placed, it is important that UNESCO has philosophy among its specialised programmes not only to popularise different philosophies among its member States, but also to exchange thoughts of philosophy among the member States to understand better each others religious and cultural philosophies to make that knowledge an instrument of international unity.

Many of the Nations among the 193 member States of UNESCO, had been colonised and their religion, culture, language, their way of life , and even their philosophies have been drastically affected by the introduction of the religions, cultures and languages of the colonial rulers.

Therefore, the time has come for these nations to re-discover there own uncontaminated cultures and philosophies, while learning to appreciate and enhance there own knowledge of the cultures, religions, and philosophies of other nations that share the world with them.

However, European philosophers prefer to acknowledge Greek philosophy as the foundation of their philosophies. The most ancient of philosophies for them is therefore, the pre- Socrates philosophy , and thereafter Socrates, and the Greek philosophers after him influenced the modern European philosophies.

Greek philosophy is based on nature, “The first of these were the naturalists. They were the first true Greek philosophers. The naturalists used logic and reasoning to attempt to answer all questions regarding nature. They had decided that most phenomena were not acts of the gods as previously believed. They believed that a logical and mathematical reason could be found for everything.” (helium.com)

UNESCO seems to be satisfied taking as its source the European philosophers, who have roots in Greek philosophy. There is also another source from which the philosophers in UNESCO derive inspiration. It is the Islamic philosophers. Islamic philosophy is also influenced by the Greek philosophers like Aristotle and Plato whose philosophies were found translated in to Syriac language.

Therefore, there is a link between the Islamic and European philosophy both having roots in Greek Philosophy. This then is the root from which UNESCO draws inspiration for its philosophy.

But UNESCO says that it has been closely linked, not to speculative or normative, but to a different type of philosophy which is “..critical questioning which enables it to give meaning to life and action in the international context”. Does that mean, what UNESCO calls philosophy is a mutilated aspect of it, which is not linked to the speculative or normative-aspect of philosophy ?

Not being a student of philosophy it is rather difficult to gather the meaning of what exactly is the philosophy UNESCO is propounding . To an outsider to philosophy it seems that a philosophy cannot be changed, but one philosophy could be influence by another. With such admixtures will the modern philosophers of UNESCO discover a philosophy which is any where close to a universal philosophy ?

However, UNESCO explains its philosophy by stating that, “…UNESCO was born from a questioning process on the possibility of and necessary conditions for the establishment of long-term peace and security in the world. It is therefore an institutional response to a philosophical question, one that had already been asked by the Abbé de Saint-Pierre and Emmanuel Kant.”

It goes further , “…. one could also declare that it is a philosophical institution, since it intends to contribute to maintaining peace and security by heightening collaboration between nations through education, science and culture in order to ensure the universal respect of justice, of the law, of human rights and fundamental liberties for all, regardless of race, gender, language or religion, that is recognized for all people in the Charter of the United Nations. This end goal involves the recognition and implementation of a certain philosophy of law, of human rights and of universal history through means that are also philosophical.”

To an amateur it sounds that philosophy in UNESCO has altogether a different connotation from the accepted meaning of philosophy, “….a rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics.”

If you start gathering together all subjects, democracy, justice, law, human rights , fundamental liberties, perhaps terrorism as well and put it into one copper caldron, to make a hybrid philosophy, it becomes a sort of a witches’ brew of a herbal melange, with dried frog legs, blood of cats, dragon nails and what not.

This is what happens to most of the things not only philosophy, but also human rights or elimination of terrorists by non Western Nations, when they come to the United Nations System, where they take a different dimension not within the understanding of the ordinary folk.
A politician of a leading nation speaking at a press conference when she was asked what is terrorism, she said: “…..The bottom line is that you cannot lump all terrorists together. And I think we’ve got to do a much better job of clarifying what are the motivations, the raison d’etre of terrorists. I mean what the Tamil Tigers are fighting for in Sri Lanka or the Basque separatists in Spain or the insurgents in al Anbar province may only be connected by tactics……….I think one of our mistakes has been painting with such a broad brush which has not been particularly helpful in understanding what we are up against those who pursue terrorism for whichever ends they are seeking.”
In the context of the above declaration, it would not be surprising if UNESCO were to put into its mixture, a universal respect to a certain category of terrorism calling it a philosophy of terrorism.
As in the case of UN where its Secretary General has set up a panel to investigate whether a developing nation that eliminated terrorism did not in its process of eliminating terrorism, violate human rights. If the panel from a distance after a lapse of an year finds that there were violation of human rights, it plans to take the country which successfully eliminated terrorism before a Tribunal for war crimes. That absurdity may be “speculative philosophy”, which UNESCO says is outside its philosophy.
However, for an ordinary person with common sense, if for whichever end, a group of people were to take guns, bombs, trains people as suicide bombs, and terrorises a country and its people, that group of people comes under the “broad brush” of terrorists, along with those who fly planes loaded with passengers in to Twin Towers, massacring people for no apparent reason, other than to satisfy the whim of a God that they believe in.

Does this come under the philosophy UNESCO is proposing as being, “..critical questioning which enables it to give meaning to life and action in the international context” ?

In other words speaking frankly, philosophy is philosophy without having to add new subjects and take out others to make it suitable to an imagined objective of an International Organisation.

UNESCO has 193 member states, covering different regions of the world. It is therefore a very rich Institution in terms of the wealth of knowledge, cultures, languages, religious beliefs, spoken and written languages, and philosophies. But yet UNESCO has a very poor Section of Philosophy. That is not a conclusion that I have come to, but it is stated by the Philosophy Section of the UNESCO itself.

In this disarmingly frank introduction to the subject, “ There can be no UNESCO without philosophy”, it is modestly stated, “…….But it is better to say that UNESCO does not have a philosophy in the literal sense of the word since it wants to be a privileged place for exchange and dialogue on the pluralism of experiences of thought and of world cultures.”

And it creeps out of this contradictory statement by saying, “… One could then state instead that UNESCO is a philosophy…..” If that is what UNESCO is trying to ladle out as philosophy it is not very encouraging.

It does not fall within the classical definition of philosophy, if it has some things added, and other things removed from the accepted norms. Then what is the philosophy UNESCO has in place of the “ literal sense of the word Philosophy”.
The introduction, “ There can be no Unesco without philosophy” states:
“Patrice Vermeren gives one of the possible interpretations of this tradition through his description of the philosophy used by UNESCO in his book La philosophie saisie par l’UNESCO.
It deserves credit for strengthening our commitment to revitalizing this tradition and to contributing, by all possible means, to popularize an international philosophical culture.
On this path, the “philosophical detour” – expression borrowed from Jeanne Hersch in her famous study on human rights from a philosophical point of view, undertaken at the request of UNESCO – is called for every day, and today more than ever.”
Hence it is seen from the above quote, that the Philosophical Section of the UNESCO’s contribution to the modern world is to popularize an international philosophical culture based on a “philosophical deviation” proposed by philosopher Jeanne Hersch on her “famous”,study on human rights from a philosophical point of view, and a modern philosopher Patrice Vermeren who wrote the book “ La philosophie saisie par l’UNESCO”.

We can make philosophies of many things, not only of Human rights, but also terrorism, as pointed out earlier, all that may be possible, but what is wanted today is a philosophy to bind, together, the different philosophies along with the people connected to those philosophies.

For that, one should learn to respect the philosophies and the cultures of different Nations from different regions of the world, not confining knowledge and respect to just European philosophy or concoct a new hybrid philosophy that will be a means to dilute all philosophies into one, in a sort of globalisation of philosophy.

To respect those philosophies of “others” one has to know what they are. It is the same with the different religious philosophies of the world, there should be an effort to understand the religions in the context of the modern world, not taking them “lock, stock and barrel” from ancient books, in the context of the Nations getting closer to each other through a highly developed technology.

There should not be any faith in the world which could claim to be the only true faith. We cannot allow representatives of any one religion kill or massacre people of other faiths in the name of the God they believe. It is the same with ethnic purity, people should not be allowed to break away territories or separate people to set up ethnically pure States.

Making use of human rights as a philosophy to make the UN or International Community to demand member states to recognise ethnic groups as separate entities, and give them political rights to set up separate States or Regional governments, would be a dangerous corruption of human philosophies.

Such a dangerous situation could be avoided not by introducing new philosophies but in bringing the old philosophies within reach of the ordinary peoples of the world in keeping with the evolutionary process of the civilisations. This popularization of philosophy is some thing that could be undertaken by the UNESCO, by organising workshops and preparing pictorial publications to be distributed in schools or to associations of elders.

It is like a multi-ethnic country, where each others cultural and religious differences could be made a means to unite the different communities, through an understanding, tolerance and respect to each others cultural and religious difference, not making them a means to divide and separate communities. The same principle should be applied to the whole world.

In order to organize such a universal unification, what better place is there other than the UNESCO. The British Minister of Education Ellen Wilkinson President of the UNESCO Conference held in UK in 1945, said:

“It is for us to clear the channels through which may flow from nation to nation, the streams of knowledge and thought, of truth and beauty, which are the foundations of true civilization”.

But these great words of wisdom of the past, are mutilated to day in the UN System. There is in recent times a move to use human rights as a weapon to keep the developing countries from rising above their state of under development. Terrorism which is despised by every correct thinking person had been used by certain countries along with the UNO, to punish a country for eliminating terrorism. These new philosophies based on human rights are therefore not being used for the benefit of the developing countries, but to keep them poor and dependent.

Hence UNESCO’s effort should not be to lie comfortably on a cushioned sofa of European philosophies, and invent deviation from them, to make UNESCO a privileged place for exchange and dialogue on the pluralism of experiences of thought and of world cultures, but to embrace all philosophies without distinction of their being European or non –European philosophies, and popularise world philosophies through its programmes of Education, Science and Culture, to make philosophy a rallying point for all Nations.

Very noticeable absences in UNESCO’s Philosophy programme are the Indian Vedic philosophies , Confucianism, Tao and other Chinese philosophies, Japanese Zen philosophy, Buddhist philosophy, and even the philosophies of Africa the cradle of humanity.

India has a long history of different schools of philosophies, but UNESCO’s failure to recognise it in the international context seems a part of a concerted effort to minimise the importance of Indian, Chinese and allied Asian philosophies, to give dominance to European philosophies and popularise it in the world.

When the Buddha was born in India 2600 years ago it is said there were 62 different schools of philosophies. They were mostly based on human life, and the suffering of the people. Suffering is universal . One should not come to the conclusion that suffering exists only in poor undeveloped countries.

Suffering is every where among the rich and the poor without distinction. And most of the ills of the world come from attachment, aversion and delusion. And all the conflicts in the world are rooted in one or the other, or all three of these causes.

Now with regard to the Preamble to the Constitution of UNESCO, there is the most unforgettable phrase "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed."

It was included into the preamble by the American poet and the representative of USA at the creation of the UNESCO- Archibald McLeish. He was not a Buddhist but as a poet and the Librarian of the Congress. He was certainly not a stranger to Buddhist philosophy.

Because, it was the Buddha who spoke of the importance of the mind in man. The first verse of the Dhammapada which contains the sayings of the Buddha reads:

“Mind is the forerunner of all states. Mind is chief; mind-made are they. If one speaks or acts with wicked mind, because of that, suffering follows one, even as the wheel follows the hoof of the draught-ox.”

The draft of the Preamble to the UNESCO Constitution was made by the British Prime Minister Clement Atlee quoting from “The General Epistle of James, Chapter 4”. It was refined by Archibald McLeish, to include his now famous words-“"Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed" ,
in place of “The General Epistle of James, Chapter 4”

That is the history, but today in the UNESCO’s programme of the Celebration of the World Philosophy Day 2010, none of the Countries in Asia-India, Japan, China, or Africa is represented.

Perhaps they may have been relegated to the “concert”, which is rather the cultural, than the philosophic aspect of the celebration of the Philosophy Day.

Could there be a Philosophy Day without respect to all philosophies of the World ?

Eva and the Sacrament of Baptism

We attended Eva’s sacrament of Baptism on the 10 October, 2010 held at the Chapel of……at Vaires sur Marne. Eva is 3 years old. She is a very talkative sweet little darling of three years.




She was dressed in a beautiful white dress. She was very proud and happy being the little star of the day.

Her brother much older to her is Hugo. Hugo seemed very proud of his little sister.
Giselle and Pierre took us to the small chapel where the Religious Ceremony was to take place was taking place there were three other little children baptised on the same day.

The Ceremony was conducted in Portuguese. I wondered whether the children understood what it all meant to be baptised. One little girl refusing herself to be baptised took refuge in her mothers arms. She would not allow herself to be taken to the water of sacrament, therefore the water had to be taken to her .



Eva was very brave.She allowed herself solemnly to be consecrated in the water of baptism.

Baptism -baptême in French, is the Christian sacrament, a water related ritual by which the believer is admitted to his or her faith. It may have been a ritual initiate by Jesus himself. In the New Testament it is said that, “ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.”

John the Baptist immersed himself in a river, but he poured water on Jesus. Later the ritual was reduced to pouring water on the upper part of the body while the believer was standing in water. Now it is only a token of sprinkling water on the head which is called aspersion or pouring a little water on the head –called the affusion, where the water is poured thrice on the forehead. In what ever way baptism is performed, it signifies the admission of a believer to the Christian fold purified from the impurity of disbelief.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" John 3:5 RSV.

The baptism is also the means to save a Christian soul. A martyr who sacrifices his life refusing to renounce his religious belief is saved by identifying him as having baptised by blood. Those who have failed to receive ritual baptism in time, before death are accepted for salvation as having received a baptism of desire. All this indicates the necessity of baptism as a Christian.

However, the baptism as a necessary Christian purification was denied in the 16th Century by a Swiss reformist Pastor Huldrych Zwingly. Quackers and the Salvation Army both of Christian faith do not perform the rite of Baptism.

The words of Baptism is usually, “ in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”, while other do it in the name of the Jesus only.

The Jewish “mikvah” is an initiation ritual similar to Baptism. Mikvah is also used to cleanse a person from impurity of being in contact with a corpse, before he is allowed to participate in religious performances.

The equivalent of such initiation into the religion is the Islamic practice of circumcision. Jesus was circumcised eight days after his birth. Though Mikvah could be repeatedly practised, both Baptism and circumcision are unique. The circumcision has been ruled unnecessary though not prohibited for the Christians through Apostolic Decree in 50 AD.

our little Eva was baptised of holy water before our eyes and is thus “ born of water and spirit” to become a true Christian.
























After the ceremony we were to celebrate the event and Eva’s parents invited about a 100 friends and relatives to a cocktail and a sumptuous dinner at a very homely Portuguese Restaurant. The dinner was animated by Susana Lopes a Portuguese singer who sang tunefully melodious songs, and songs of love and patriotism.

After the dinner there was a much hip shaking dances brilliantly participated by Eva herself shaking her little hip to the maximum.

All that I watched from a distance sipping a tastefully bitter Lavazza cafee. We offered our best wishes and long life to sweet little Eva still not tired after the tiresome accession to her Christian faith, she was overjoyed receiving lots of gifts.

It also happened to be the Birth Day of her God Father Antonio, and naturally there were two big cakes one for the Birthday and the other for the Baptism.

Prohibited as I was from eating sugar I could not resist from sharing the Cakes, which I found were delicious. It was finally time for us to give our parting kisses and shaking lot of hands and say good night ….

L.S.S.P should take a lesson from one of its exemplary members the late comrade Wesley Muthiah.

On the 4 August,2007, our dear friend Wesley, parted from us leaving an empty space among his friends, all those who loved him, and had come to know him well.

Looking back at what a fiery political party LSSP was, and what it represented to Wesley, one feels sad that Tissa Vitarana and Vasudeva Nanayakkara are only the remaining embers of a dying fire.

If Wesley was there today he would still have refused to believe that, he would have rather said that they are like the glow of an ebbing sun that announces its rising again, like the LSSP coming back again to revitalise socialism in the uncertain political scene of Sri Lanka, where the people have not given up their resolve to weather the storms to chase political uncertainties, to await the hopeful message of Socialism that LSSP once brought to the historical political scene of Sri Lanka in the nineteen thirties.

That was the political commitment of Wesley. He sought no name, gain, or public applause. He was satisfied being in the background, doing his utmost to bring the message of the LSSP where ever he found himself. He was a dedicated “Samasamjist” who kept LSSP vigorously alive from his youth to end of his life .

More often, people are taken for granted when they are living and active. But once a person has departed, we begin to see him differently, for what he was in reality, we question, we begin to see what is missing since he had left us, and we measure him from the memories and the work left behind.

Wesley did not seek to convert any one to LSSP. But when speaking to those he met, his loyalty to the party and the principled attachment to socialism showed in his convincing arguments such that, those who listened understood that LSSP has more to it than what they had thought , and did not hesitate to accept an invitation to a meeting he organised.

That was Wesley , whether in Matale where he was working as a Labour Officer, or in UK where he was a teacher, and a Student member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn.

In Matale, his work took him to the tea plantations, where he came in contact with the poor, then neglected Tamil Estate Workers. The contact with these poor people, gave meaning to his political work. He was determined to help them to rise above their suffering. He organised the Matale Estate Workers Union, with a liaisons officer as a contact man between the Estate workers and the LSSP Group in Matale.

Even after leaving Sri Lanka, Wesley did not forget his dear Estate workers. He collected Sewing machines, type writers, and computers, at his own expense, and with the help of his friends, set up workshops around Nuwaraeliya, and Talawakele to help the children of the Estate workers.

Wesley was a socialists, who did not seek fame, popularity, political position, financial gain or self aggrandisement. He was a selfless man- a kind we rarely meet. He had taken away the " I , and Me " concept from him, giving himself selflessly to the cause of LSSP. He would willingly sacrifice even his own personal aspirations for the cause of the Party.

When he started organising the LSSP Group in London, he was preparing for the London Bar Examinations from the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn. But organising the LSSP Group took most of his time. He therefore had to choose between the Organising of the London LSSP Group, or preparing for the Bar Examinations. He chose the former, hoping to do the Bar Examinations later.

He was dedicated to the cause of LSSP, but significantly not as a political activist, but a loyal party member to promote the party among the people. Unfortunately, the LSSP lacks members like him today , and that is why the LSSP is in a sorry state, slowly fading in to oblivion.

Wesley stood by the Party giving his time and energy, through out its different phases of existence. Even when every thing seemed bleak, and the future of the party uncertain, Wesley did not relent his enthusiastic support, he intensely believed in a resurgence of the LSSP.

Wesley was a Christian not merely because his father was a Pastor, but Jesus was for him the symbol of the suffering poor exploited by the owners of the wealth and capital, LSSP was a way out for the mass of the poor people exploited by the rich and wealthy, to rise above their seemingly hopeless conditions of existence.

Wesley was always present as a member of the LSSP, to gather the sympathisers for a meeting, at an informal party, at his home or some place, to talk about matters relating to the LSSP , and inform them of the role they have to play to have a different political system that embraced the working class without any ethnic difference.

In the context of the sad state into which the LSSP has fallen to-day , one bitterly feels the absence of the people of the calibre of Wesley to revitalise the LSSP and keep it alive , organising workshops, lectures, and meetings to attract the attention of the sympathisers and well-wishers of the party. Wesley believed that if LSSP is to find its rightful place in Sri Lankan politics, it has to be with the people all the time not just during elections, to fold camps afterwards, until the next election time.

Wesley did not impose his point of view. He accepted criticism of the LSSP, and gave possible reasons for the errors committed by the Party. However, if the criticism was not justified he would quote from books, relate incidents and go all out to prove that the criticism was not justified.

The greatest contribution of Wesley, not only to the LSSP and the Left Moment of Sri Lanka but also to future generations of politicians, historians, and students, is his writings. When the Public Records Office of London released the secret files documenting Britain' s persecution of Ceylonese anti-war freedom fighters, Wesley conceived the idea of writing the history of the LSSP and the Left Movement in Sri Lanka.

He contacted late Sydney Wanasinghe, a fellow member of the Party and got him interested in his projected. This partnership, resulted in the issue of the first book, "Britain, World War 2 & the Sama Samjists", in January,1996, followed by, " Bracegirdle Affair" (1998), " We Were Making History", (2002), "The Case for Socialism"(2004), "Two Languages One Nation-One Language Two Nations" (2005), " Socialist Women of Sri Lanka" (2006), and "Colvin R de Silva: Selected speeches and writings", (2007).

These books tell the story of a wonderful political adventure, at times romantic, some times tragic , and often of an absorbing interest, about those who wanted to change the attitude of a people who were allowing themselves to be exploited by those who owned the land and wealth.

It also tells how the people, despite their cultural traditions and religious fervour were inspired by the pioneers of Marxism in Sri Lanka, and changed their way of thinking forcing the existing political system to accept principles of socialism.

This recorded history of the left movement of Sri Lanka will stand a monument to the memory of Wesley Muthiah.

Another letter from Godwin

Another letter from Late Godwin Samararatne. Click on the image to read content.

In this letter Godwin speaks of "depression". H says there are two types of depressions, one with a cause and another without a cause. And he says one with a cause is easy to deal with.

But I do not agree with this. Because according to the teachings of the Buddha every thing results from a cause. When a cause is absent there is no result.

Yo dhamma hetuppabhava
Thesa.n hetu. Tathagato aha
Thesa.ngcayo nirodho
Evam vadi Mahasamano

That is what is paticcha samuppada is all about. Of course he refers to negative thoughts, which again is a cause for depression. When there are positive thoughts there could be no depression.

Sensation without the word may be helpful he says. That is to look at the sensation as it is without labelling it as a pleasant or an unpleasant sensation.

But again his saying that Yoga can help depression, is conditional. Yogacannot help depression, as thoughts are the cause of depression, and yoga helps to keep the body fit. Nevertheless, healthy body they say is a healthy mind. Therefore there is a point……

So what do you think Godwin meant when he wrote of a depression without a cause ?

Food for thought….
__________________________________________________
A reply:



Hi!Sometimes you know the cause of depression means you know that it was arisen from a loss of a family member, constant associations and complaints of a sick parent, losing a job etc etc.

But without any of the above, when life goes smoothly there is depression from time to time. The cause for such depression (depression without a cause) is really in the sphere of attachment (to concepts, ideas, self image) and it is directly related to ‘dukkha’ in the Buddhist parlance. The basis for ‘depression without a cause’ lies around the self identity and attachment. It is not easy to see as in the first case since it is not direct as the first one. One cannot know the beginning of it. May be when one goes in to meditation and spends sometime on a regular basis, one can slowly see the clues and root seeds in such a depression. But it can surely take a long time. Such understanding comes with the clarity of the observation of the meditator.

Depression without a cause enters to the body in a subtle way. Although the original cause of depression is a thought or emotion (reaction) it can have many unconscious layers. So without the knowledge, it enters the physical body (the cause of psychosomatic diseases start from an aberration of thought or from a negative emotion and its impact reflects in some part of the body). But it is very difficult to identify which thought or which emotion created that result in the beginning.

So one has to have multidimensional approach to deal with such a situation. One way to deal with it is to be a witness to pain of the body part. And also practice yoga. Those practices can detangle the impact of the negative emotion or negative thought which impacted the body part.

Sometimes it is recommended not to label the pain, sensation or emotion. The reason is when one starts without a label, one is open to learn from such experiences rather than starting already with a label such as anger, hatred or resentment. (given in a book)

Emotions and thoughts are very very complicated and there may be many layers inside them. So when one approaches them without a label (with moment to moment choiceless awareness), one can see many operations going along with it. Also as soon as one sees this entanglement, one automatically drops that negative emotion or the negative thought. (You do not have to know theoretically what you dropped or released even)

So there are advantages in labeling as well as not labeling depending on the situation.

Godwin seemed to use lots of his personal experiences and experiences with his psychiatric clients in answering your question in this situation. He uses what he really saw and experienced to answer your question. I am sure when you think about Godwin’s answers and used those tools for sometime; one can relate and get an explanation from the Buddhist textual angle as well.

I do not see any contradiction with Godwin’s answers and the textual explanation. Only thing is Godwin does not start like an explanation in Buddhist sutra. He just starts from where the problem is and help the client to see the full operation (experientially) and find a way to drop /release the negative association in that process.

If you start from the book explanation, one cannot independently explore and experience and drop the unwanted self associations. One always looks for words given in the text/book and tries to explain things from the concepts used in the book. It will become a very theoretical approach and one will not transform the ‘idea of self’ in such an approach. One will limit his or her exploration always to the concepts used in the books.

It is a very narrow approach as far as independent exploration and ultimate liberation is concerned. Also one cannot make oneself transformed if you take such a book approach. One should come to a point to interpret dhamma from one’s own experiences rather than using the terms and concepts in the texts.

Hope this explaination helps.

With Lots of Metta,

Sampath
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P.S. (1)

In trying to explain mind in Western Psychiatric terms the Buddhist doctrinal “concepts” get distorted. In Buddhist terms there is only mind and matter. Conceptual terms and labels are necessary tools to explain that which cannot be explained any other way. That I thought was why Godwin used the term” depression without a cause”.

It is some what like trying to explain meditation experiences, where the conventional terms do not fit into the description of the experience.

Everything is around the mind. No sensations and emotions arising as a consequence of a physical condition is independent of the mind. Because mind always intervenes to feel, experience, or suffer (dukkha). Therefore, it seems to me, that it is difficult to speak of depressions without a cause.

If “depressions without a cause’ lies around the self identity, as you say, then that it-self is the cause of the ‘ depression without a cause”.

The mind and form are two different entities working in coordination with one another. The mind, feels and directs, but the form neither feels nor directs. These are called sarammana dhamma and anarammana dhamma. Sarammana Dhamma are those that possess consciousness, which is the mind, and anarammana dhamma are those that do not possess consciousness, which is matter. Therefore, the form cannot feel pain or emotions because it is matter and an anarammana dhamma- without consciousness.

A depression is a mental state. The arising of a mental state should, therefore, necessarily have a cause.

All thoughts arise with a sense faculty coming in contact with an external object. Mind is also a sense faculty and the “external objects” it comes in contact with are the thoughts. Therefore, the thoughts are the cause of all mental states, which include “depression”

That is how I see it.
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P.S.(2)

However, it reminds me that you spoke about text book ideas put forward as concepts , which denies the independent approach to a problem.

In that respect it is important to note that the Buddha’s Sutta Desana are based on concepts. That was because the real Dhamma beyond concepts would have been incomprehensible to the ordinary people. We knot that the Buddha hesitated before he began the teaching of the truth he had realised, thinking that the people submerged in ignorance may not understand his great teaching.

Therefore the teaching as disclosed by the Buddha is two pronged, one is in conventional terms, in which he explains his discovery to his disciples in terms which they can understand the teaching, and the other in ultimate terms which he left for them to experience through meditation. This does not mean that there are two truths, but there is one truth which is explained in two different ways.

The teachings of the Buddha which is also described as a “ Doctrine of Cause and Effect”, emphasises that nothing arises without a cause. That is also fundamental to the theory of “no-self”- another definition of Buddhism, as the Doctrine of Anatta.

In view of this I do not say that Godwin was contradictory, but I say that he put his idea in “contradictory terms”. Like the Buddha explaining the ultimate truth in conventional terms.

I think what Godwin meant when he said “ depression without a cause”, is –a depression the cause of which cannot be defined. Or to go further along with Godwin's way of expressing dhamma, when he said " depression without a cause " he may have meant seeing it as a mere "depression", without searching the cause for its arising, and giving it a label.

That happens in meditation. There may arise an "emotion" in the mind which disturbs the concentration. This emotion will continue as long as the meditator has identified the cause of its arising,such as through anger, attachment, jealousy and so on. These emotions are so subtle that a meditator may find it difficult to identify the cause, as if it had arisen with out a cause.

But there is always, even a subtle cause for an emotion to arise.

A letter from Godwin

I had problems with one of my French neighbours. I wrote to Godwin about it. And he wrote to me what I should do about it as a meditator. The letter was undated



Kandy

My Dear UCS,

Many thanks for your letter. I was sorry to hear about the problems you are having- There is no doubt that it must be most unpleasant and difficult to have such neighbour . And when Annie becomes depressed it is natural that you are affected by it. How can a meditator handle such a situation – I propose the following;

(1) do not be surprised /shocked because it is natural that there are such cruel human beings in this world.

(2) It is possible to allow the emotions –anger resentment whatever and to realise it is O.K. to feel that- choiceless awarenerss !

(3) To try to see the situation as a learning experience-see how each day your reaction can vary-so they become your teachers !

(4) Sometimes it is also necessary to learn to assert your self- speak out – bang your own door…. But not without control. It is done and it is over.

(5) Is it possible at some moments to send them loving kindness.

(6) Is it possible to some times laugh at the whole play ?

What is the next problem pl.

with lots of love,

Godwin.


A Reply

It is really a nice letter. It summarizes almost all the tools available for a meditator to deal,explore ,learn and laugh at such situaions...............

With Lots of Metta, Sampath

YouTube - Kandy Esala Perahara

YouTube - Kandy Esala Perahara

Remembering the late Godwin Samararatne the Meditation Teacher of Nilambe, Sri Lanka.

On the 22 March, it will be nine years after the death of Godwin Samararatne. I still think of him when ever I am faced with a problem, for which I cannot think of a solution. Godwin could look at a problem with more clarity as his mind was not clouded with defilements of the sort that I had to deal with.

The problems in our every day lives which seem complex and complicated are most often simple and not so complicated as they seem to be, if we could learn to look at each one of these problem as a whole, with an un-fractioned mind. Godwin had an un-fractioned mind . Therefore he could look at a problem with his whole mind, understand the cause of it and find a solution.

Godwin was able to take me out of predicaments from which I could not have extricated myself on my own. But these situations dealing with those problems of every day life created a friendship between us that lasted unto his death.

I accompanied him with Francis Story in my friend Karalliadde’s battered old car when the two of them were investigating into cases of re-birth. I went with him to Kanduboda, when his friend Bhikku Seevali was ordained under Venerable Sumathipala. We also went together for Venerable Seevali’s higher Ordination in Kurunegla, in a place where Venerable Maliyadeva had lived.

This privilege of being very close to him , sharing his thoughts and participating in some of his activities prepared me to follow his foot steps in meditation. I learnt more about the teachings of the Buddha, reading the books he lent me, attending lectures, and meeting people along with him.

He had a wide range of interests. He did not restrict his reading only to books on Buddhism, other religions, and philosophies. He could be quite at home discussing English classics or Modern Fictions. I remember him talking at length on Collin Wilson and his book the Outsider. He also liked reading Jiddu Krishnamurthi. His mysticism fascinated him. He stimulated my reading habits, creating an interest in looking for books following these philosophical traits.

When I was selected for Foreign Service, it was Godwin who encouraged me to accept the appointment, when I was hesitating for personal reasons. It was thereafter that Godwin was transferred to the Kandy Municipal Council Library. I had by then left to London to study Law, but nevertheless kept in touch with Godwin writing to him regulerly.

When I heard from him next he had left the Kandy library, and accepted the offer of the management of the Nilambe Meditation Centre, which was situated on a land presented by Late Mr.M.B.Alahakone, together with the buildings to house the Centre.


together with the buildings to house the Centre. I had by then married and settled down in France.

On my visits to Sri Lanka I did not fail to see Godwin at Nilambe. I did several retreats with him. Godwin was then a well known teacher of Meditation with his reputation gone beyond the frontiers. He was being invited to Switzerland, Italy, UK and Singapore and South Africa to give lectures and conduct meditation sessions. When ever he visited the countries of the West he telephoned me. As he was busy during the day we arranged to call each other in the night.

Some times it was very late when I called him and the person with whom he was staying in Switzerland was not very pleased with the midnight calls, but had agreed to put up with them as it was a diversion for Godwin. Some times he stayed with Dr. Mirko Fryba, Godwin was gentle, polite but not very orderly in arranging things. He once told me trying to hide his laughter that Dr.Fryba taught him how to fold his trouser correctly once he had taken it off ,and put it on the clothes rack before going to bed.

When Godwin took the trains to UK after his visits to Geneva, Dr.Mirko Fryba with whom he was staying had come to see him off at the station and waited until the train left the station. Godwin is very generous, and always willing to sacrifice his comfort for the sake of others, Dr. Mirko Fryba knowing this had given him “strict” instructions before the train started off that the seat had been reserved for him in the train and that he should not part with it to make a generous gift of it for the comfort of another.

Dr.Mirko Fryba-now Ven.Kusalananda

Once when he was on his way to UK after his visits to Geneva, he broke journey in France to stay a few days with me. He told me that it was quite a change to just relax without having a schedule to follow. My son was nearly two years, and Godwin loved to play with him. We went to the near by park and went for walks, Godwin carrying my son piggyback. I went with him to Mont Matre, the Sacred Heart Church, and watched the artists painting on the road side. When he left us we missed him very much.

Later on when I met him at Nilambe he was an accomplished teacher of meditation. I had visited him several time at Nilambe. I had the good fortune of doing a retreat with him the last time I saw him, alternating it with another retreat with Venerable Rahula. Godwin was a good teacher of meditation. He allowed the meditator to follow the practice on his own pointing out essentials of concepts and reality at daily interviews.

Some times Godwin was invited by a Professor in the University of Peradeniya to meet a group of people at his home, where Godwin conducted discussions on Meditation..

I accompanied him to these discussions once or twice. On one of these occasions the Professor presented to Godwin a young man who had a serious illness and had a few weeks or months live. I saw Godwin speaking to that young man with so much of kindness, tender interest and giving him so much of himself that the young man reacted with smiles and laughter as if he had been given a new lease of life. I saw Godwin extremely at peace with himself, while making the young man happy and almost hopeful.

The “metta” or loving kindness is the theme of meditation at his Nilambe Meditation Centre. Metta or Loving kindness was an innate characteristic of Godwin . He did not get ruffled over problems. When I was talking to him, I saw him closing his eyes to be absorbed into a moment of mindful silence. He was nevertheless very alert and remained present at the moment without letting the mind wonder away. At such moment, I thought he had perhaps attained several stages of mental perfection.

Godwin often told me that the best way to understand Dhamm is to read the Sutta-the discourses of the Buddha. Following his advice I read quite a lot on Buddhist teachings, and even read the Abhidhamma Pitaka. When I think of Godwin now with a little more knowledge of the teachings of the Buddha, and having written a book on Mind and Meditation, it seems to me that Godwin had more than what I perceived in him. He did not impose himself on a meditator .

I could think this way of only two teachers of meditation with whom I had the privilege of being in close contact. One was Godwin and the other the late Venerable Amatha Gavesi of the Pallekelle Samatha Vipassana Meditation Centre. When I asked Venerable Amatha Gavesi what he thought of Godwin, he said that Godwin reflects his inner peace.

Meditation is the turning point of a disciplined path of a virtuous living. Godwin was a disciplined being who followed the path diligently to reach the stage to meditate for the purification of the mind for emancipation from suffering. That was his ultimate goal, and he had no other ambitions in life.

In that path of purification the mind reaches its zenith of purity overcoming the ten obstacles or fetters first by completely shedding the concept of I, me and mine( sakkaya ditthi)

In Godwin one perceived that he had abandoned that attachment to a self. He was indeed a selfless being who would go any distance to relieve the suffering of another. When I was informed of my brothers sudden illness and that he had been taken to hospital, I wrote to Godwin. He put off his other commitments to visit my brother in the hospital. He wrote to me immediately after to give details of his condition. He was so compassionate that he would go all the way to help others who he thought needed help.

He had dedicated his whole life to the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, not deviating for an instance from his devotion to the Triple Gem (vicikiccha). He adhered to no other religious views (silabbata paramasa). He had no attachment to religious rights and rituals, directing his mind to the goal of meditation. He may have attained the first stage of the purity of the mind of a stream entrant (sotapanna).

These mental attainments are difficult to be perceived by a layman or any one whose mind has not attained the level of the mind of a Noble One-an Arahat, but nevertheless one may guess these attainments, rightly or wrongly , from observable behaviour of the person. Godwin was not bent on satisfying his sense desires(kama raga). One could observe in him a certain laxity in dress, his tastes were elementary, and one noticed a careless simplicity in choice of worldly pleasures which he did not seek to satisfy.

Godwin was a being with out hatred, anger or ill will (vyapada). That purity of his mind almost seeped out into the area surrounding him and one was comfortably at ease in his company. He seemed to have over come the first five fetters or obstacles to mental purity. His mind may have reached the stage of a once returner (sakadagami) , and may have even reached the next stage of a non-returner an Anagami.

Had Godwin’s mind reached further development even beyond that of an Anagamai ?

Reflecting further with these thoughts in my mind, I remembered that Godwin was not conceited at least as we the ordinary laymen understand “conceit” (mana). Did he crave for material(rupa raga) or immaterial existence(arupa raga) ?

However, his mind seemed peaceful and calm showing an absence of restlessness (uddhaccha).

A keen observer listening to his explanation of Dhamma, reading his writings, or watching his discussions of Dhamma elucidating difficult problems as simply as possible for any one to understand, accompanied with his delightful humour, may have justly suspected that his mind showed signs of coming out of the clouds of ignorance (avijja) to allow the light of wisdom to glow.

On certain occasions he gave the impression of knowing what was in the mind of a person coming to see him. Could we take all these as evidence that his mind had evolved to reach the realm of an Arahant- a Noble One ?

A saintly person reaching higher stages of Meditation may go through physical suffering as a result of the fruition of a past unwholesome kamma, draining out remaining defilements from the mind for it to be release into Nibbana.

The Buddha suffered from acute diarrhoea after taking a meal with cooked mushrooms offered by Cunda the blacksmith, of which he died, or attained parinibbana.

Venerable Sariputta had severe abdominal pains and fell ill with dysentery before he passed away in the house where he was born.

Venerable Moggallana on the other hand suffered being beaten up by bandits who “pounded his bones until they were as small as grains of rice”

Therefore, could we assume that we saw in Godwin a saintly being dying with physical pain , perhaps in expiation of a past unwholesome kamma that reached its fruition by way of a liver failure ?

Once a friend told me that some visitors to Nilamba had seen in the nights coloured lights that appeared over the roof of Godwin’s “kuti ” which suddenly disappeared as if it had entered into the room. Some thought Godwin was visited by the deities-divine beings. When I asked Godwin whether he had an explanation, he closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders with a smile.

May he attain Nibbana !

The Meditation Teacher Godwin Samararatne -the Man I knew

He was a meditation teacher, loved and respected by all who knew him. His fame went beyond the shores of Sri Lanka. He worked with European Psychiatrists of the Jungian school, and with them he was involved in experimental application of Buddhist meditation methods for the treatment of psychiatric patients diagnosed as suffering from neurosis. He assisted Mr. Francis Story, and then Professor K. N. Jayatillake, in rebirth investigations and was later invited by Professor Ian Stevenson, to follow up the cases of rebirth in Sri Lanka, he had included in his well known book ‘ The evidence for Survival from Claimed Memories of former Incarnations.’

He was a very popular Meditation Teacher and travelled extensively in Europe, India, South East Asia, USA and South Africa, conducting retreats. His retreat in Ixapo in South Africa early this year was to be his last.

He was not interested in politics, though his sympathies were with the left. However, when late Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali, was still in the UNP, and perhaps considering the formation of a new political party, is said to have consulted many leading personalities in different walks of life in Sri Lanka, and Godwin was one of them he consulted. After the discussions, the Minister had offered to provide electricity to the Nilambe Meditation Centre, which Godwin had refused on the ground that he would like to preserve the primitive, other-world atmosphere in Nilambe which is more congenial to meditation.

I met Godwin Samararatne for the first time at the Matale Municipal library some where in 1959. That meeting was to be a long friendship, which was to last until his death. We were constantly in contact through correspondence, telephone calls whenever he was in Europe, and long conversations when we met. His last letter to me from Sri Lanka is dated 22 February, 2000- exactly one month before he died.

He spoke less and listened more and provoked others to talk. He was very clever at picking a word and make a pun of it, laughing mischievously like a child. He was one of about fifteen or twenty Government Servants travelling from Kandy to Matale by train, who had the second class compartment all for themselves. He took part in all fun and frolic, that was going on, and laughed while others were caught in their mischief, which sometimes ended just short of fist fights. He was full of humour and never a spoil sport. Nevertheless, he was careful to stay away from mischief himself, though he was sometimes a sly instigator.

He whetted my interest in religion. He read a lot on religion, philosophy, psychology, extra sensory perception and novels like those of Colin Wilson, Herman Hess, Albert Camus and those great Russian writers. He was even then when I met him, a meditator. He remained the epitome of meditation unto his last. I sometimes, visited him at his home, on the Peradeniya Road, Kandy, on Sundays, and saw how he talked and discussed with numerous friends that dropped in to see him, on subjects varying from politics to religion, letting others, for the most part, do the talking. He did not try to impose his opinion on others. Even in discussing a question of Dhamma, he did not flaunt his knowledge, when the other person was wrong, he tactfully put a counter question that showed his error. He was not judgemental, when others were critical, Godwin always pointed out a good quality in the person in question. This he used as an axiom in his Dhamma talks, later, at the Nilambe Meditation Centre — "you should not always give ‘minuses’, you should also give ‘pluses.’"

Unaffected

His pleasing unaffected comportment with his friends, he extended to others he respected. I have seen him with Venerable Nanaponika, Venerable Piyadassi, and with Francis Story. Even with them he had that ease of conversation and a quiet interrogative manner of speech to get them to talk at length on a subject. Late Venerable Seevali was a very close friend of Godwin, from his school days at the Dharmaraja College, Kandy. When Venerable Seevali was to be ordained, I accompanied Godwin to the Kanduboda Meditation Centre in Kelaniya, where the ceremony took place. And later for his higher ordination we went to the Maliyadeva Forest Meditation Centre, somewhere near Kurunegala. Godwin too, would have liked to have donned the robes of a Buddhist monk but I thought it was because of his love for his mother that he wished to remain a lay meditator. Venerable Seevali later went abroad and died there of a heart ailment. Godwin was deeply saddened by his death. Despite his detached attitude towards life he could be moved by the news of someone’s death. Death had taken away his father when he was yet a child, and his elder brother and his wife, in a tragic accident.

When I was selected for an appointment in Paris, I was hesitating to accept the post for family reasons. When I asked Godwin for his opinion, he said it is better that I go and not regret later. From Matale, he was transferred to the Kandy Municipal Library and resigned from there to take charge of the Nilambe Meditation Centre, at the request of Mr. M. B. Alahakoon, who constructed the buildings and provided all the material support to the Centre. Godwin became a popular and much sought after meditation teacher, and was invited to conduct retreats at various Meditation Centres in Europe — Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Holland and U.K. Conducting retreats in these places far apart from one another was a physically exhausting exercise, however dedicated he was to the cause. During one of these visits he was able to get a visa to France, to come and stay with me, on his way from Germany to London. I was to meet him at the Gare du Nord Railway Station in Paris.

As scheduled, the train by which he was to come arrived, but Godwin was not in it. I thought he had missed the first train and decided to stay for the second. That too arrived, but there was no sign of him. I was worried not knowing the cause of his delay. But, finally from the third train, to my great relief, I saw the tall figure of Godwin emerging from a compartment, tired and worn out, but still with that unfailing smile on his face. He told me, hardly able to stop laughing, that he had been arrested by the Swiss Frontier Police. The policeman had apparently asked for his visa to Switzerland, through which the train was passing. The policeman spoke only French and Godwin only English, there was none in the compartment who could help one or the other. He was taken to the police station, for further questioning. Godwin kept his broad smile and repeated that he cannot understand French. Quite exasperated the policemen took him back to the station and put him in the next train to Paris.

The few days he spent with me he really enjoyed. There was no getting up early in the morning, or sitting through meditation session, and making Dhamma talks. He was relaxed, and played with my baby son. The children took to him very easily and they loved him. We went to Sacrecoeur Church in Montmatre. He was fascinated by the wayside artists painting portraits of those sitting for them. At the Church Notre Dame de Paris, which was almost empty, he thought it a good place in its sacred silence, to meditate. We sat down and waited in silence watching the great gothic structure with its beautiful windows.

The day he left us, my wife and I, accompanied him to the railway station, from where he was to take the train to London. He said that every next visit to Europe for retreats, he will come and stay with me for at least a week just to relax, (provided of course, I had improved my cooking). It was never to be as he was unable to get a French visa, however much he tried !

Magic Touch

Later, he told me of an incident in that train to London. He was seated in the train in his characteristic manner, with his arms folded, and eyes closed, when someone tapped on his arm. He looked up, and saw the anxious face of a woman. She told him, showing an aged gentlemen seated in a corner seat on the other side opposite to him, that he was her husband and they were travelling to London, to take treatment to him, for his headaches, probably migraine. He had observed Godwin from where he was seated and told her that he was sure, " ‘that man’- showing Godwin, "can cure my headache", and she asked him whether he could help. Godwin gave his seat to the woman and went and sat by the side of the man, and having spoken to him for a while, told him to take a deep breath, and then breath normally, and inhale conscientiously, saying to himself ‘Bud’, and exhale conscientiously, saying to himself ‘dho’, and asking him to continue, went back to his seat. When he got down at the Victoria Station in London, the old couple came to him, and said with gratitude in their face that his headache had disappeared.

I followed a few retreats with Godwin at Nilambe. What I liked there was the liberty given to the meditator, to meditate at his or her own pace without forcing them to follow a method or a system. Evening discussions were a stimulating deviation from the days silence and meditation sittings. Godwin did not like making long Dhamma talks on a subject. He allowed the meditators to talk and selected a subject as the discussions proceeded. The main theme for discussion was ‘ loving kindness’. This covered the whole aspect of human behaviour, and was cleverly manoeuvred to bring out into open discussion, problems among meditators, any acts of indiscipline he had observed during the day, or complaints or abuses of freedom. He often said that the retreats abroad, were well organised, and when the time came for his Dhamma talk at the end of the day, he was given a subject, and was provided with an alarm clock to time his talk for one hour. But, he said he preferred the disorder in Nilambe, through which positive results emerge.

Though he was of the Theravada tradition, he sought to accommodate meditators of all traditions in his retreats and introduced ‘choiceless awareness’, leaving the traditional ‘in and out breath’ as an object of meditation to those who were comfortable with it.

He stressed the necessity to cultivate ‘aloneness’, during a retreat, and live without creating psychological wounds in oneself, and quoted J. Krishnamurthi, "...an innocent mind is a mind which cannot hurt oneself, and therefore incapable of hurting others."

Though he was happy to be in Nilambe, which he told me on several occasions, his responsibilities restricted the time he could devote for meditation. In his later years he had the ‘habit‘ of closing his eyes, in the course of a conversation or in listening to someone. Godwin told me an anecdote concerning this ‘habit’ of his. An American who was meditating with Godwin at Nilambe, had met a meditator from another meditation Centre. Speaking about his teacher, this latter meditator said, that his teacher is very clever, and has a third eye, and they are all open all the time. And the meditator from Nilambe said to him, mine too, he is very clever, but he has only two eyes and they are both closed, most of the time.

Psychatrists

Godwin came to be known not only among the Buddhist circles in the West, but also among the Western psychiatrists. This was because of his involvement in the field of application of Buddhist meditation for the treatment of psychiatric patients diagnosed as suffering from neurosis. In an interview given to Stephen Coan, a journalist from South Africa, Godwin said "when they come to see me, in the frst place I give them an opportunity to speak out....then I try to build up a friendly relationship, and then they describe the neurotic symptoms. I tell them not to consider it as a mental illness, not to consider themselves as different from others....The third thing I try to communicate with them is some aspects of meditation. I encourage them to be their own psychotherapists so to speak - to work with the symptoms and states of mind that seems to affect them."

When he was still working as a librarian, and engaged in investigating into cases of memories of previous lives, he assisted Mr. Amarasiri Weeraratne, who was using hypnosis to study previous life memories by regression of selected subjects. Later on Godwin himself became an adept at it, and had successfully regressed several persons.

He was a meditator calm, gentle and serene, but he was also, a handsome and an attractive man, and he had his share of problems with the opposite sex. He was even proposed marriage by a woman who was already engaged to be married. This was, before he became a full time meditation teacher at Nilambe. Unexpected as it were, Godwin summoned his experience as a meditator to act with utmost tact, first, not to hurt her feelings, and second to dissuade her from acting foolishly. He used his gentle persuasion to change her mind, and parted good friends.

Not as serious, but to a lesser degree, were the experiences he encountered when he was conducting retreats abroad, and they were altogether new to him. In retreats a time is set apart every day for personal interviews and the meditators discuss their progress, or difficulties in meditation with the teacher. But to these retreats, there are those who come with the hope, that through meditation they can find a solution to their emotional problems. Godwin was taken by surprise at an interview in one of his first retreats abroad, when a woman meditator in tears, almost hysterically, spoke of her pains, anguish, frustration and fears she goes through, and taking hold of his hand, held tightly onto it, pleading with him to help her. Godwin spoke to her calmly, and gently, and releasing his hand laid it gently on her head, and then asked her to go and relax. After that, when similar situations occurred he was armed to deal with it - place his hand gently on the head, and stay silently for a few seconds. Some of them found in this act a healing power. All emotions are, after all mind made.

An Indian meditator had once told him that his first name Godwin was too Christian for a Buddhist meditation teacher, and therefore he should change his name to Jayadeva. When he told me this I suggested ‘Anagarika Jayadeva’ Godwin shrugged it off with a smile.

My attempt so far was to describe the man, who I knew as Godwin Samararatne, and the words were easy to find. But to describe, the meditator that he was, a being of great spiritual stature, the words are inadequate. Where-ever he was, he created a fertile void, a pregnant emptiness, around him, where all barriers melted away. He infused the environment with gentle compassion, such that his friends became your friends and yours his. That was the inexplicable phenomenon he was. His kindness, selfless benevolence, and genuineness, influenced those he came in contact with, and without exaggeration, they became different, their attitudes changed, there was an irresistible desire to be like him, think like him and act like him. He was generous. He gave, but did not take. He lived simply and carried no baggage. He traversed his chosen path — the path of a Bodhisatwa.

May he attain Nibbana.

Why do Buddhists believe that an Anti-Conversion Bill is necessary ?

For Buddhists, being born into a Buddhist family is not a coincidence, it is the fruition of accumulated wholesome Kamma. Therefore, any one who tempts a Buddhist with money and gifts to reject Buddhism into which he was born, to accept another’s religion is in a way a “criminal offence”. In Sri Lanka there are the Buddhists , the Hindus and Muslims and none of them practice conversion. It is only the Christian Church and the Evangelists that practice this “criminal” offence of stealing faithfuls of another religion to their own.

National Christians Fellowship of Sri Lanka had organised a protest campaign against the Anti Conversion Bill at the Vihara Mahadevi Park in Colombo. It is they who thrive on conversion, and there is no reason why they should be given the freedom to continue their “criminal “ activity. The proposed Anti conversion Bill will put a stop to their continued damage to our Nation, its own religions and culture.

If these Christians and Evangelists are generous humanitarians who want to help the people to rise above their poverty and suffering they my certainly do so, without asking the poor people to change their religion in exchange for their generosity. If not that would be a commercialisation of religion.

The necessity for an Anti-Conversion Bill, arises from the fact that for number of years there had been an effort by certain Churches and Evangelists to infiltrate into rural areas in Sri Lanka, some in the guise of good Samaritans constructing roads and bridges, seeking at the same time poor people in villages to be converted to their Christian faith by allurement, or offer of incentives such as financial aid and gifts.

It is known in some of the villages in Sri Lanka, that these pseudo “Samaritans”, after converting a family to their Christian faith on promise of offers of gifts and aid, make them stand on the floors on which the images of the Buddha and Buddhist books had been laid and covered with mats, to conduct prayers to their new God. It marks their renouncement of their old religion, accepting the new divine faith.

The conversion of Buddhist, and also Hindus in Sri Lanka began with the advent of the conquerors and the establishment of colonial rule. The converts at the beginning were mainly from the urban maritime areas. The Catholic Missionaries carried out large scale conversion of the poor fisher folk from the maritime villages.

But the rural villages within the country remained Buddhist “uncontaminated” by the Missionary efforts of conversion. It is these villages that are being targeted now by the present day Christian Missionaries, and Evangelists. They convert poor villagers in developing countries, perhaps to outnumber the Christians from Western Countries giving up Christianity to accept Buddhism.

Buddhism had never employed conversion as a means to propagate its teachings. The Buddha himself was against conversion, and told his disciples to be an example. It was that example that attracted many persons of other faiths to Buddhism. Many Brahmin ascetics who came to defy the teachings of Buddha in dialogue, at the end of their questionings asked the Buddha to accept them as his disciples. The Buddha asked them on many occasions to go back and reflect on the decision, and accept it only if they are convinced of the truth of his teachings.

Therefore, the Buddhists believe that no body has the right to take away from any one, the religious faith into which one had been born and in which one remains. To do otherwise would therefore amount to a “stealing” of another’s birth right.

An individual may of course on his own change his religious faith, and that is his right which no one will contest. What the Anti-Conversion bill opposes is the inducement to change one’s own religious faith in to which one is born, to another religious faith. It could also apply to Christians as well. No body has the right to force or induce an Anglican to become a Catholic which would also amount to an unethical conversion. Or to convert a Christian to Buddhism by force or inducement would also become an unethical conversion.

Apart from the fact that no one has the right through force or inducement to change the religious faith into which one was born, and accept another faith, the Buddhists believe that it is a rare opportunity to be born a human being. It is only a being who has accumulated wholesome kamma that is born as a human being. And to be born a human being into a Buddhist family one should have accumulated still more wholesome kamma. Therefore, converting a Buddhist by all types of inducements to another faith, is to make him forfeit his karmic “gift” to find an end to a seemingly endless cycle of births and deaths in Samasara.

The Buddhists also believe that it is the:

( a) ignorance of the four noble truths: the truth of suffering (dukkha), the truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya ) which is the clinging attachment, the truth of the cessation of suffering (nirodha), and the truth of the path to cessation of suffering (magga), and

(b) not living according to the eight fold path: the right view( samma ditthi), the right thought ( samma sankappa), the right speech( samma vaca), the right bodily action (samma kammanta) , the right livelihood( samma ajiva), the right effort (samma vayama), the right mindfulness( samma sati), and the right concentration (samma Samadhi) are the causes of a being’s continued suffering in the endless cycle of deaths and births in Samsara.

Therefore, to the Buddhists , the believers of other religions have false views, and wrong understanding. The early Christian Missionaries by converting the Sinhala Buddhists to Christianity had taken away from them the essential kammic gift of acquiring right view and right understanding making them aimless wanderers suffering in Samsara.

The Buddhists do not interfere into the freedom of those who believe in other religions or other Gods, but they would like those of other religious faiths not to interfere into their and their children’s freedom to follow the teachings of the Buddha.

During the Colonial rule the children of Buddhist families had only Christian Missionary Schools for their education. In these schools the catechism classes were compulsory for all students which became a means of converting Buddhist Children to the Christian faith. The Sinhala Buddhists were an under privileged group under the Colonial Rule. Towards the end of the 19th century many thought the Buddhism will disappear from Sri Lanka.

It was when Buddhism in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) was at its lowest ebb that the Great American benefactor Sir Henry Steel Olcott came to Sri Lanka on the 16 May,1880 along with Mme Helena Blavatski. They were the pioneers of the Theosophic Society and later declared themselves Buddhists. SirHenry Steel Olcott was disliked by the Colonial Rulers of the time, because of the welcome he had received from the Sinhala Buddhists.

When Sir Olcott and Blavatski were invited to give a lecture in Kalutara ,the Government Agent of the district had ordered that no government building or the veranda of a school or even its steps should be given to hold any lectures by Sir Olcott. Such was the colonial attitude towards the Sinhala Buddhists at the tim.

It was Sir Olcott who gave new life to Buddhism and Buddhist culture in the then Ceylon. It was thanks to him that separate Buddhist Schools were founded for the Sinhala Buddhists. We have come a long way since then . Sri Lanka is now an Independent Sovereign State and has to reorganise itself without leaving any one to plunder from our people their birthright. Therefore it has become necessary to the Sinhala Buddhists and the Hindu Tamils to safeguard their religions, and culture from being mutilated by intruders, by legal enactments.

There are unscrupulous, Christians who attempt to convert unbelievers by allurements, they are not of God’s choice and should be weeded out, as Mr. Charles Schokman says. For that purpose a Legal Instrument to dissuade such attempts of conversion is essential. There are no possible dialogue to stop conversions, there fore the availability of a legal prohibition would be a deterrent for those who attempt to convert persons from one faith to another.

Love and compassion are not the monopoly of one religion. Buddhism a religion or a philosophy discovered by a “man” and not a creator God, is a philosophy of love to
all beings. It teaches its followers to pervade universal love to all living beings. Buddhism is pragmatic with a philosophy based on what is perceptible and could be experienced to arrive at what is imperceptible.

Where as religions with a God head is based on unseen, imperceptible concept of a God’s love, to arrive at another unseen and imperceptible concept of a Paradise, Buddhism is based on suffering, to arrive at a state of non-suffering.

These are facts that should be left for people to realise on their own, by reading, listening and discussion, but not converting them to other faiths by allurements, incentives or use of force.

That is why an Ant-Conversion Bill is essential, for Sri Lanka that had gone through natural and human perils to reorganise itself into a nation un-interfered by any foreign NGOs, good Samaritans, or religious quirks.