daya dissanayake “Every writer, without exception, is a masochist, a sadist, a peeping Tom, an exhibitionist, a narcissist, an injustice collector and a depressed person constantly haunted by fears of unproductivity.”- said Edmund Bergler, the psychoanalyst who has been called “one of the few original minds among the followers of Freud.” A psychoanalyst could have [...]
Archive of posts filed under the Uncategorized category.
Don’t let the sun go down
Nawalowa Nawahiru’ was the title given by Bandara Eheliyagoda to the biography of Deshamanya H.K. Dharmadasa. I had the good fortune to translate the book into English, with the title ‘Son of the Soil’. Bandara Eheliyagoda was able to take us through the life of ‘Nawaloka Mudalali’, from his early years in his village, [...]
Serendipity
trial & error and serendipity, zemblanity, bahramdipity Some words could never, or are almost impossible to, be translated to any other language. One such word is Serendipity, not as the ancient name for Lanka, but as the term now in use for the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for. [...]
culture vs. nature
Culture is departure from nature. It has been the way throughout man’s history. Man, Homo sapiens would have lived with nature till he became Homo symbolicus and then Homo eastheticus. Every step man took in the name of progress and advancement of his culture was a step further away from nature, yet man has not been able to define [...]
Music in the clouds
Paul McCartney is planning to have his complete music library in the clouds. Once this ambitious project is completed, any music lover could select his music ‘out of thin air’. According to CNN reports, McCartney, the former Beatles legend, is having all his music digitized. It is estimated that it will take about three years [...]
genes, memes and arts spots
Dr. Dean Hamer, director of gene structure and regulation unit at U.S. National Cancer Institute, wrote a book about the ‘God Gene’, trying to identify a gene responsible for religious beliefs. He was attacked by Barbara J. King, Professor of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, who said that “Hamer needs to find a gene for recognizing [...]
Be Peaceful & Useful
The concept of “Dhammic Socialism” was introduced by Ajahn Buddhadasa. He defined Dhammic as being “Peaceful” and “Useful” and Socialism as serving our society selflessly. Anyone who can be at peace with the universe, and be useful is a true follower of the Dhamma. Dhamma is the universal truth, which was realized by the Buddha, [...]
Buddhism in India
from the Daily News Wesak Annual, 2011 “As the most creative social philosopher in our history, Buddha has symbolized an alternative of possibilities of organizing society, an alternative to the hierarchical and inegalitarian principles of Brahminism”. Wrote Prof. Uma Chakravarti, commenting on Kancha Ilaiah’s book, “God as Political Philosopher, Buddha’s Challenge to Brahmanism”. There are [...]