Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

19 November    2016

http://austms.blogspot.com.au/

Hindu Case Laws of Sovereignty

“Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka stressed that the article pertaining to religious freedom must be retained in the new constitution. He said the government will not cannot compromise the existing reconciliation, political and economic stability by calling for a public referendum.” - CONSTITUTION MUST ENSURE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM – RANAWAKA - News Radio

As per the above, Article 9 of the Sri Lankan Constitution which curtails religious freedom to minorities is open to referendum. Articles 10 and 14 which include laws confirming religious freedom are the ones NOT open to the Referendum process as per Minister Ranawaka.

Whether confirmed by law or not – religion and indeed any pathway that is known to lead to Truth that is of Common Value is untouchable for lesser purposes of money and status. Article 9 of the Sri Lankan Constitution, by spelling out the status of a particular religion  in a multi-religious country – robs members of that particular religion of their ‘freedom’ to practice their religion as per their Experience.

A Buddhist for example, could pray directly to Buddha and feel connected to Buddha due to the rewards from that prayer. This prayer may not be specifically spelt out in Buddha Sasana in the language of such a person. More importantly this person may have no knowledge of Buddha Sasana at all. Recently I learnt through my direct experience that  – Mr. Malinda Seneviratne who is listed by Wikipedia as an associate of  Minister Ranawaka in issues of Nationalism -  did not know the specific provision in Buddha Sasana . The Minister’s association is described as follows in Wikipedia:

“He was an activist in the student movements in Sri Lanka during the late 1980s and was a member of the pro-J.V.P. student union. Quitting J.V.P. due to political and visionary reasons he formed the Non-political organization called, 'Janatha Mithuro' with some of his colleagues like Ven.Athuraliye Rathana Thero, Nishantha Warnasinghe and Malinda Seneviratne. 'Janatha Mithuro' was criticized for its right-wing anti-Tamil ideology and actions.”

My conversation with Mr. Malinda Seneviratne (MS) led me to the discovery that Mr Seneviratne did not know of a specific provision in the  Buddha Sasana nor case law as per Buddha Sasana,  in relation to the Central Bank Bonds issue went as follows:

MS:          In the case of the Central Bank bond issue, we can say ‘there are other horses that need to and can be stopped from bolting’. When it comes to laws that fundamentally order the structure of the state based on exaggerated grievance, unreasonable aspiration and rank disavowal of demographic and other realities, we are talking of a no-turning-back situation or rather a turn-back-only-after-much-violence kind of situation. That’s not egg on someone’s face. It’s blood on the ground and typically not the blood of constitution-makers.

Gaja: Thank you Malinda. Laws give us order. Those who already have good order do not need laws but most of them would tend to respect good  laws. As for punishing through law – one has to be careful that the one being punished is more guilty than the one punishing. Had these laws been properly used during the previous regime – there would not have been any room  for Bonds issue. Idle laws carry the risk of further abuse. Truth must be facilitated and not alternate / more laws.  What does Buddha Sasana provide in this case and has the Government / President reported to the Public on the basis of Article 9? As a Buddhist – what is your verdict on this?

MS: All the good-governance that needs to be learnt is in the Dasa Raja Dharma, Saptha Aparihani Dharma and several other Sutras on the subject of leadership, governance and public conduct.  Whether the Prez/PM know, I have no idea.

Gaja: Do YOU know the provision in this instance?  Dharma means that the law when applied would not harm another more than his deservedness to be disciplined/punished. It’s more difficult to practice Dharma than secular law when one is driven by costs and/or benefits.

MS:  of course.  

Gaja: Of course you do not know?

MS: surely you know what 'of course' means!  stating the obvious.....

I do not know the parallel in Hindu Veda either. But I know of many Hindu case laws.  I am also ‘free’ to give my own form as per my own Experience through a particular form – including  Buddha who was born a Hindu. The above shows that Mr. Seneviratne on the other hand would fail the test of Article 9 in terms of his judgment regarding the Central Bank Bonds issue. Whether the law makers  recognize it or not – Article 9 gets breached – when a Buddhist fails to uphold Dharma which covers wider field than Secular Law discovered by Non-Buddhists and the latter believes through her/his own pathway.

A law born out of Truth realized at a particular place – will uphold good order at that place. Yesterday for example, a new Businessman who opened his shop here in Thunaivi, Vaddukoddai – was getting ready to sit at the back-seat of a luxury car,  despite the owner of the car being at the driver’s seat. The owner of the car now lives in Switzerland and said he continued to work as a mason from Monday to Saturday and as a driving instructor on Sundays. He himself has donated money for public purposes – here in Thunaivi and I appreciated that very much. He did  not promote his children to engage in higher education and they remain a close-knit family – closer than many others where the children get much higher educational certificates than the parents. The new businessman of course did not know of the protocol relating to  not making a chauffeur of such a person. He is not trained in such pathway and hence needed to not copy others’ culture but add them to his as per his own particular experience. Likewise Sri Lankan politicians / law-makers. The recent Supreme Court ruling upholding that the National Anthem could be sung in Tamil is encouraging in this regard.

As per the above Minister’s ‘free speech’ – the real message is that Buddhists must feel free to act as they per their own thinking. Hence the Buddhism foremost must remain as is. It is confirmation that Buddhist leaders are fearful of losing power to the higher practitioners of Dharma. Even one person who feels Sri Lanka is her/his home – can reverse Article 9 on Buddhists – especially Buddhist Politicians and their followers – by actively following in their own religious pathway – Hindu pathway in my case. Truth cannot be limited by any human mind. The mind limited by Truth – works in perfect order and such a mind would take care also of the physical wellbeing of the person. What does not pass through the mind becomes irrelevant to that person. Like in retirement funding, a  mind of good order is contributed to through practice of balanced laws. Those who use unbalanced laws to draw benefits from -  become burdened with mental disorders especially during post-retirement period.    

If Minister Ranawaka had studied the true teachings of Buddha – he would not empower those who wear the robe and then risk getting killed by that very group – as happened to Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike – the Prime Minister who gave structure to his political desire for Sinhalese foremores Nation. Buddhism foremost is another version of Sinhala only Act but is more damaging due to status being allocated more on outside appearances and less on inner experience. In terms of status – due to Article 9, Buddhists who are measured to  be practicing Buddha Sasana are better citizens than others who do not. If Lord  Buddha himself is the Judge – then the outer appearances are merely to protect from external interferences. They should not be needed to have the inner experiences. The immediate external threat is from Lord Buddha’s place of birth itself – India.

Even if one member of the current government realizes the Truth of Democracy and fights to have the advantage through Article 9 eliminated – Sri Lankan Buddhist leaders would not fear Hindu India any more. Like the low caste folks in Thunaivi – who fail to appreciate the regular sacrifices that merit based leaders have had to make to reach higher positions – Ti my mind, Sinhalese Politicians who isolate themselves out of fear of invasion – fail to appreciate the structures that others in wider world have had to contribute to, to maintain their ability to take care of countries that are in need of money resources. In terms of Human Resources the Tamils’ pathway is firmly structured and has served me well in a Western Nation such as Australia – so I would be ‘free’ to practice my Truth as per the form  my belief. Once discovered that Truth must lead us and a system that facilitates this is a Good Governance system.

Belief based assessment helps us complete the picture through gratitude. Hence cultures that promote gratitude develop strong Human Capital. This helps fill the money-gap with Human Resources and experience Sovereignty – the enjoyment all of us are equipped to realize and to share.