Gajalakshmi
Paramasivam
22 August 2016
 |
The Car of Juggernaut, as depicted in the
1851 Illustrated
London Reading Book
|
Response to Theravada Buddhism only came at Thirupathi
from Hindu Vishnu
On 19 August I published under the subject
heading ‘Sri Lankan President promises Separation!’ my analysis of the
following:
[President Maithripala Sirisena says that the
Theravada Buddhism is the only religion to heal the restless minds of the
people who are living in this stressful contemporary society.]
http://www.ft.lk/article/562673/Theravada-Buddhism-is-the-only-religion-that-heals-restless-minds--President
http://www.ft.lk/article/562673/Theravada-Buddhism-is-the-only-religion-that-heals-restless-minds--President
Today I received the return confirmation
that the Sri Lankan President was disciplined at Thirupathi Hindu Temple:
[Driver keeps Lanka President waiting as
guards grow tense]
TIRUPATI:
A major security lapse came to the fore during the visit of Sri Lanka
president Maithripala Sirisena to Tirumala on Sunday. He was forced to
wait for 12 minutes for his car after a darshan atop the Tirumala hill,
giving jitters to the staff of the Tiruumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD),
especially the security. An inquiry has been ordered into the
lapse. SiriSena reached Tirumala late on Saturday night for a
two-day pilgrimage.
Upon
arrival, the Sri Lanka president was received by TTD chairman Chadalwada
Krishnamurthy, executive officer (EO) Sambasiva Rao, Tirupati joint EO
Pola Bhaskar and other officials. He made a night halt at the Sri
Padmavathi guesthouse and arrangements were made for a visit to the
temple of Venkateshwara at Tirumala early Sunday morning.
At 3
am Sunday, the president along with his wife Jayanthi Pushpa Kumari
Sirisena, son Daham Tharaka and other family members attended the
Suprabhata Seva. When they came out of the sanctum sanctorium, the driver
of their car was not in the seat.
Sirisena and his wife waited for about 12 minutes
inside the car as his security stood guard around it. Even as TTD
staffers scurried around, the driver coolly returned from his own darshan
of the deity. Immediately, Sirisena was driven at speed to the guest
house. ]
The above reminded me of my own experience
in Colombo – at the Hare Krishna Temple in 2004. I had just arrived for the 25th
year anniversary celebration of Air Lanka and was staying at Galadari Hotel at
Galle Face. I then heard the sweet music of chanting by Hare Krishna devotees. I
quickly went out of the hotel and took a tuck-tuck to the Hare Krishna temple
in the suburb of Pettah, I joined those who were waiting for the chariot to
arrive. The celebrations were for Lord Vishnu as Lord Jaganath – the Lord of
the Globe – without a beginning; without an end. How I got even with the ‘us only’ women – who upset
me is in Appendix. It happened through my faith in Lord Vishnu.
This article is significant due to its
timing. I wrote the response and went back to Australia. There my struggle to
free myself of the white-only mindset resulted in me being arrested and sent to
Prince of Wales Hospital where I was formerly Revenue Manager – for assessment
for mental fitness. I doubt that the Judge would have resorted to this had the
lady educated herself about my real performance which was not shown through my
status allocated by the Administrators University of New South Wales. But the Lord knew. The hospital which was ‘home’
to me due to my investment beyond my position duty. The confirmation that I was
examined on the same day this article was published is in the following
excerpt:
‘ ASSESSMENT FINDINGS’
Mrs. Paramasivam is a 55 year old lady originally from Sri
Lanka and currently resident in Coogee. She has been resident in Australia since
1985.
She states she was previously employed as an accountant
with the University of New South Walesuntil 1998. Following a
disagreement with her employers she resigned, although she subsequently
returned on a casual basis. She feels that she was dismissed on racial grounds
and that her former employers should be jailed. (instead of her). She has
appealed her case to a number of organizations but has not been reinstated.
She has not worked with this organization since 1998,
she states, (Gaja’s note: I did not because I did do consulting work thereafter
– but Dr. O’Neil was speaking to someone on the phone and hence wrote his own
imagined version) but nonetheless states she writes to her former employers on
a daily basis for the past seven years to advise them on policy matters. She
feels the Police, University and Judiciary are colluding against her. She
states that eventually the truth will be revealed and likens her predicament to
that of Mahatma Gandhi. (Gaja’s note: Dr. O’Neil asked me specifically whether
I thought I was reincarnation of Gandhi and I said ‘NO – but I identify with
some of Gandhi’s work’).
She denies any previous contact with psychiatric
services other than a recent assessment at Prince
of Wales Hospital (1/11/2004) in which no evidence of mental illness was
discovered. She denies any history of self harm.
At interview today, Ms Paramasivam was courteous,
pleasant and appropriate. She was neatly dressed. She denied depressed mood and
there were no biological correlates of affective disorder.
Speech was normal in rate and volume. She described a
number of unusual religious experiences in recent years.
She described a number of “visions” of a Hindu deity,
Sai Baba. He has appeared to her in the sky. “He had an orange glow and He
showed me the gap in His teeth”. She states that red dust miraculously appeared
on the hand of an image of Sai Baba in a picture in her house in 1998. She
states that as recently as yesterday she saw Sai Baba and that He spoke to her
calling her “daughter”. She states she was able to touch His Feet.
There was no evidence of formal thought disorder or
cognitive impairment. She feels strongly that she must continue her current
course of action in the name of a “higher truth” and that her religious
experiences are not unusual. (Gaja’s note: They are not unusual to
millions of Hindus or even to Christians who celebrate Easter).
She denies any thought of harming herself or others, in
particular University staff members.
IMPRESSION:
Based on my interview with Mrs. Paramasivam and perusal
of a lengthy letter addressed to the Registrar and Prosecutor of Waverley Local
Court dated 18-11-2004, I believe it likely that Mrs. Paramasivam meets
criteria as a mentally ill person within the meaning of the Mental Health Act.
She describes a range of beliefs meeting the definition of delusions and
hallucinatory experiences.
RECOMMENDATIONS
For non custodial disposition:
· That
Mrs. Paramasivam be transferred for assessment and possible admission under
Section 33(1)(a) of the Mental Health (Criminal Procedures) Act 1990
For custodial disposition
· She
will be referred to the prison mental health services.
Dr. Conor O’Neil MB DPM MRCPsy
Senior Registrar in Forensic Psychiatry
Statewide Community and Court Liaison Service
To me it was no coincidence that this
article was published on the say day when the mental health specialist at
Prince of Wales declared that I was following in the footsteps of Gandhi. That
confirmed the way our real karma comes to support and protect us through our
own minds.
All those to whom Australia was not ‘home’
failed to identify with me and hence used the weapon available to them to downgrade
me. Likewise – those who fail to
identify with Tamils like myself as being natural leaders of Sri Lanka – would use
weapons available to them to demote the Tamils to disadvantage them. But the
Lord knows and hence the warning at Thirupathi – where like the driver I also
prayed as a lay devotee – taking my order in the long queue. It was an
opportunity to accumulate credits in the real world.
The relevance
of Ahimsa - a rejoinder
I read with interest, the
excerpts from the keynote address by Justice C. G. Weeramantry, former Vice
President of the International Court of Justice, when he spoke about the
Relevance of Ahimsa on World Peace Day. You captured this in the Daily News on
04 October - two days after Gandhi's birthday.
Justice Weeramantry says
'We cannot lose sight of the fact that one of the richest parts of the
intellectual and cultural inheritance of all humanity consists of the great and
sublime teachings of all the religions and we have no right to deprive our
children of a perspective of religions other than their own'.
Following
elders
I agree. Reality is that
majority Sri Lankans do not 'intellectually' learn religion, but follow their
parents and elders, mostly intuitively. Where rulers/governments had/have
direct involvement in religious activities, there was material value in
learning religion top-down.
To that extent, the value
of religions needs to be realistically and practically assessed through visible
objective measures. Otherwise, we risk further loss of value of our respective
religions.
I asked Gamage, the driver
who took me to Galadari Hotel from Katunayake, on my recent visit to Colombo,
as to how he practised Buddhism. Gamage said that he went to the Temple on
Sundays with his family. He highly recommended the temple near my hotel. I
asked him about Kalutara Bohdi Temple and he did not seem to know much about
it.
I asked in particular about
Kalutara Bodhi because of my plans to visit Kalutara with the SriLankan
Airlines team, for its Commercial Conference. I remembered with appreciation,
Sir Cyril De Soysa, for whom I worked many years ago and who I understand
established the Kalutara Bohdi Temple.
Yet, Gamage did not know
about this even though he is educated up to G.C.E (Ordinary Level). Likewise
the new graduates joining SriLankan Airlines did not know about Captain Rakitha
Wickremenayake the founding chairman of Air Lanka when it was formed 25 years
ago, Mr. Kula Kulesekaram the founding General Manager and Mr. Colin Martinus
the founding Commercial Manager.
A big part of my
contribution to the Commercial Conference was to connect the young ones to
their ancestors in the Airline religion. That is how we share their wisdom
intuitively.
Religion need
building up
Religion, like law, needs
to be built into our daily life so that when the structured system that we
intellectually follow fails us, we could take solace in the Truth that resides
within us as our personal God - however humble and simple that Truth may seem
to be.
On my recent visit to
Colombo for example, I had clear and direct evidence of this 'invisible' Force.
On the first day of my arrival, when I set out to buy a pair of flat slippers,
I ended up at the Hare Krishna temple, waiting for the arrival of Lord
Jagannath (Juggernaut) who was being taken on Procession. I realized that I was
not accepted by the ladies amongst whom I was seated.
It's an intuitive feeling
which was later confirmed by a lady who asked me to tie my hair up. I obeyed
orders even though I noticed other young girls with their hair down. I took the
first opportunity to go outside and wait for the Chariot and when the Chariot
did arrive the priest threw a packet of sugar candy towards me. I followed the
girls who were dancing and ended up right in front of the altar and enjoyed a
glorious Dharshan of Our Lord Jagannath.
Lord Jagannath
I felt that He approved,
based on the feeling with which I went to the temple. As if to confirm this,
the Indian Priest included in his discourse, a story about how Lord Jagannath
rejected the services of the priest who had rejected, Vibheeshana, the brother
of Ravana - the king of Lanka, on the basis that he was a foreigner and the
brother of Lord Rama's enemy.
The Indian priest giving
the discourse said that the Lord recognized the feelings with which we served
rather than the form. I felt that the Lord spoke to me through the priest.
These are everyday miracles for those who do have faith.
These are examples of how,
with all my success in the material world, I am still intuitively led by Divine
messages in knowing rights and wrongs and that I am not alone when I feel right
even though the whole community might seem to think and/or say I am wrong.
The lady who asked me to
tie my hair up may also feel likewise as per HER system. If I do not do the
work to reconcile her system with mine, I would have conflict within myself.
Likewise that lady for whom it would be more difficult to understand my
"minority" system. I was a minority in that group. At the physical
level, majority vote must be respected in a system of democracy. This was why I
plaited my hair even though I did not feel that it was righteous.
Respect to
Buddhism
Taking Sri Lanka as a
whole, Buddhism must be respected and accepted as the leading religion if we
are to rely on our intuition and conscience to realize Peace.
Majority Sri Lankans are
physically driven. Hence they need to 'see' to believe and follow. Towards this
they need to 'see' their leaders consciously and expressly following their
religion in everyday life.
I was heartened to note
that most public expressions included their Tamil versions, thus giving the
feeling that Sri Lanka is a multicultural country requiring the Objective
system at the lower levels of management. Within each group one could be driven
by intuition and subjective measures - as if we were family following one
religion.
Buddhism is a powerful
connector not only within Buddhists but also across religions, especially with
Hindus who often connect Buddha to Lord Vishnu. God comes to us in the Form
that we genuinely give Him.
One of my colleagues asked
me after the Sri Lankan Commercial Conference, whether I truly believed in God.
I said yes. He asked me whether I believed in One God or many gods.
I said that the One God
came to me in many forms as per my genuine beliefs at the particular moment of
need. If we believe Truth is God, as Gandhi did, God comes to us in the form of
Honest people. If we are honest, we will invoke honesty in the other person. If
we believe in finding Truth through Justice and the Legal system, God comes to
us through the highest practitioner of the Law.
The Judiciary, which
Justice Weeramantry is a part of, has failed Sri Lankans. Our Judiciary have
separated themselves from the PEOPLE instead of separating themselves from the
Government, as per the Doctrine of Separation of Powers in a system of
democracy.
The Doctrine of Separation
of Powers has been used and abused as per the convenience of the Judiciary.
Hence there is NO Common Law recourse for the ordinary citizen, but each one is
for himself - with his own sense of Justice.
In people intense countries
it is inevitable to a large degree that the person at the bottom would not see
and read the law the same way as the person at the top.
Gandhi's best
service
The best Service Gandhi did
to India and therefore to the whole world was to do this translation THROUGH
HIMSELF. Where Gandhi knew that a law was being interpreted differently by
himself on behalf of the ordinary Indian, compared to the British, he first
tried to bridge the gap through education - usually interpreting the law into
everyday household language. It was after this that he acted in breach of the
law when he felt the law worked against all Indians as well as the British.
Anyone who truly followed
Gandhi's mind, would realize that Gandhi made himself into a feeler. Mothers
are feelers and Fathers are thinkers in a traditional family.
When representing the whole
family/group one has to feel. This is how a member of a democratic parliament
is elected. When leading the family/group, one has to think-as is the role of a
government ministers so that there is vertical growth. Eventually, until the
thinkers also feel, they are not complete.
It's by feeling one with
the people that we hurt when the people hurt. Gandhi felt with the British also
by renouncing the benefits from his work in Politics. Hence Gandhi became the
Law. Any law that Gandhi could not identify with was counter-productive and/or
wasteful.
Loss of loved
ones
Gandhi's Ahimsa was
essentially to absorb the losses of his loved ones. Towards this Gandhi
accumulated good karma/social credits through his self-sacrificial ways, the
basis for which he acquired from his mother.
By renouncing the benefits
but doing the WORK, Gandhi followed Krishna's Geetha. Krishna commands Arjuna
to fight, but to do so without attachment to the fruits of his work.
The Arjuna in Gandhi
actually fought the British mentally. Had Gandhi truly followed Krishna and I
believe he did, he would have eventually separated himself from the British and
fought a physical war - as per the rules of Dharma. Towards this he would have
needed to be a doer like Arjuna. But because the British felt the Truth in
Gandhi - there was no need for the separation - but instead independence.
AHIMSA is not absence of
physical war. It is absorbing other people's mistakes by doing extra work to
make up for their unearned benefits and absorbing losses through one's personal
credits - to become the whole.
- Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam
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