Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

10 December 2018

France and Sri Lanka – Déjà vu?

My understanding of Déjà vu  is that we feel that we have had the current  experience before. That is time based Déjà vu. There is also place based Déjà vu. For example, this morning I said to my husband that his relative whom we sponsored to Australia failed to accept the discipline that we insisted on. That discipline was actually far less painful than the sacrifices we made and the discipline we were put through by our parents and elders. Yet, the young relative rejected it for greater freedom. He actually was offered a place to study in University in Sri Lanka – as per his performance in the University Entrance exams. When that happened – I urged him to go back. He opted to stay on in Australia. He performed well at TAFE (Technical and Further Education) and graduated with distinction. On that basis I said this morning that ‘the Australian TAFE qualification for this guy, was the parallel of the Sri Lankan degree’.  

Then when I read the following in Sri Lanka Guardian article ‘Paris is Burning’, it felt like déjà vu :

‘French high school graduates are often better educated than American university graduates.’

Hindu Philosophers have said that Truth was Universal in value. I interpret this as - when you go to the roots where Truth is – you still the variable due to time or distance. Usually time is stilled in déjà vu experiences. Here space divide  was zero in  a global mind. Hence to me that also was déjà vu experience

The other expression is about the coup:

[With the departure of the UK from the EU and the end of Angela Merkel’s long tenure in Germany, it appeared that Macron would become Europe’s leader. Now, there is even talk of a coup in Paris. Mon dieu!]

If the current political situation continues in Sri Lanka, and expenses cannot be met to maintain  public facilities – there would be a revolt. Whoever is at the top then would be seen as the reason. It would therefore better for the President or his appointed Prime Minister to be seen as the reason rather than democratically elected Prime Minister. This happened to me at the University of NSW where at the public level, the American trained Vice Chancellor was seen to be the reason for the revolt by migrants at the Liverpool Clinical School.

To achieve this manifestation, the UNP which is the most democratic of all political parties in Sri Lanka – needs to maintain its Opposition position through peaceful demonstration if the SLPP-SLFP coalition is to be seen as the reason by the voters – especially the voters who brought them to power. The current structure should stay as is and  NOT dissolved. Dissolution could become the escape route for the autocrats who use democracy only to come to power. Truth must be allowed to happen. When the people are in pain they would identify with others who are also in pain. Then they would merge to deliver the right outcome through  elections as stipulated by the rules of the current structure. Preventing premature elections is essential towards this natural lesson. That is confirmation of self-governance and therefore the voter’s sovereignty placed in the elected representative.

Looking at what has happened – non-violently at the physical level – one is entitled to conclude that the natural period of democratic governance in Sri Lanka, using the current structure,  is not five years but three years. That confirms weak governance power and strong administrative power at the top.

When we copy others to show a constitution that looks smart, we start slipping up when we are unsupervised – especially by the origin. Plagiarism is wrong because it amounts to stealing someone else’s work.  When left unaddressed,  it becomes a curse. The system of Truth maintains the Sovereignty of the Earth and therefore Human kind. It has to be Sovereign as per time base as well as no-time - space base. Whoever becomes Sovereign as individual and/or as part of a group is supported by this Eternal power. Hence Déjà vu experiences from time to time to the mentally healthy – to be assured from within.

Sri Lanka is part of the Commonwealth and carries the British heritage through such. Whoever drew up the Constitution using English law also,  needed to pass their work through the minds of the British in Ceylon and/or  their true heirs. When this is done they would naturally have those elders in themselves. Mere knowledge without such blessings – contains strong doze  of plagiarism. The President of Sri Lanka has demonstrated lack of respect for our British ancestors by referring to such attribution as invoking ‘foreign’ support. Leaders of Countries that were never under British rule have such right. But not so countries like Sri Lanka where English law is part of the roots of our National Governance. Calling them foreigners is to throw the baby with the bathwater. By neglecting to pay their respects – the leaders separated themselves - as Tamil militants wanted to and their supporters continue to want to.  

Effectively therefore they became the kings. France is not part of the Commonwealth. Hence it depends largely on the heir-nations that  it gave birth to, for Royalties to maintain its autocratic systems – including the Presidential system. Our deep investments in autocracy become invisible energy when we are committed to democracy. It does not go away but supports us when the other side is truly our junior. Relatively speaking – Sri Lanka has very little of that energy because there is no structure through which such ancestral powers are shared by Sri Lankan leaders who are often disrespectful of even Buddhist tenets and therefore Lord Buddha.  

As per my direct experience as an individual – I believe that when ancestral / senior mind that elevated us is  absent – we are limited to our own. The individual in the senior position may not be deserving of that respect but until we believe that to be the case – we need to continue to do our part keeping the position as our mentor/parent. Once we identify with the Truth – and ideally this needs to be at the highest level of our own development – we need to separate ourselves from the person ideally by taking equal and opposite position. This is my recommendation to the UNP and its Associates in this current crisis. In the next Amendment to the Constitution,  the PM and the President need to be of Equal position – with the President being less visible if he has equal executive powers as the PM.