Monday, 1 May 2017

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
30 April 2017





Earning the Right to Higher Education


[Undoubtedly, higher education is the only path to upward mobility for most of our youth. Thus, university admission is extremely competitive in Sri Lanka and as such it remains a very sensitive national issue for many decades.] excerpt from the article ‘University admission process needs urgent review: A proposal’  by Professor R.P. Gunawardane
I was referred to the above article this morning. Hours later I was referred to the article ‘Indian guru's hoarded riches raise doubts over charitable works’ by The Telegraph. To me, this communication also reaching me was no coincidence. It was just yesterday that I was saying to one of my Airlanka  heirs – that I have not read the book  Bhagavad Gita, presented to me by my father-in-law but that I have read Gita Vahini – Swami Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings in a language understood by  my  generation. I read it during my traumatic experience at an institution of Higher Education – the University of NSW. The essence of the events that happened back then, during Lord Krishna’s time, are brought to us in their current form through Gita Vahini. My Airlanka heir shared with me many parts of a program by Ms Anoja Weerasinghe – Sri Lankan yoga teacher who earned her popularity through her acting career. I was happy to note that Sri Lankan Airlines management was identifying with the need to boost the self-esteem of employees through such courses.

Two core messages that I identified with were:

(1)   Our physical ailments were not merely physical but were strongly influenced by the mind, as per our traumatic experiences
(2)   Eventually the person we see  through others, is ourselves.


This morning’s communications confirmed both of the above messages.

Professor Gunawardane states:

[Only about10% of those who sit GCE A/L are admitted to 14 state universities leaving out almost 90%. The fraction of students who are fortunate enough to receive free university education comes to about 17% of those who qualify for university admissions, leaving out 83%. This means that a very large number of deserving students are denied admission to our universities every year. As a result, many students are seeking admission to foreign universities particularly because alternative avenues are not available in most disciplines. They are also our citizens, who have been denied free university education. Thus, they also deserve opportunities and at least the freedom of choice for university education in our democracy.]
When I Google-searched with the intent of finding Professor Gunawardane’s contact details, I came across list of staff members of a section of Peradeniya University and all of them had ‘foreign’ higher educational qualifications. Hence one could conclude that University education in Sri Lanka has significant component of  ‘foreign’ minds influencing the students.

Swami Sathya Sai Baba with no such formal qualifications established a University, in addition to other Public Facilities of high standards. Each one of us would read such a person as per our own nature. To the author of the above article – the most visible part of Swami’s value was the money wealth. But as per my own experience at the University of NSW where I could not identify with the label allocated to me by those so called pundits, Swami came to confirm that He recognized my contribution to Intellectual Independence.

As per the Telegraph Article:

[The Trust decided to open the rooms, but with caution: the police were kept at a distance and the media were locked out. A select group assembled, including the controversial figure of Satyajit, Sai Baba’s carer, apparently the only person who could penetrate the chambers’ elaborate security. They took the lift to the first floor, opened the door and stepped inside. 
What they found made even the wildest rumours seem tame: stacked around the room were piles of gold, diamonds and cash. Cashiers with counting machines were summoned and reported that the haul included £1.6 million in rupees, 98 kg of gold and 307 kg of silver. (No figure was provided for the diamonds.) 
The Trust denied any previous knowledge of the hoard, said it had immediately paid tax on its value, and denied any impropriety. …………………..
The revelations have tested the faith of even the staunchest devotees, said a former member of Sai Baba’s security and intelligence wing. “News is constantly trickling in from Puttaparthi that Sai Baba devotees have been shaken by the huge haul of wealth as well as big cash seizures in the following days,” he said. “Many Sai Baba devotees I know, real hard-core devotees that is, are not even attempting to defend or deny the gold, cash hauls, and are in a complete state of confusion. 
“Some blame trust members, while a few are asking, 'Why did Swami have to keep so much gold and cash? Didn’t Swami always say he never accepted gifts?’ Who to believe or what to believe?” 
Even Sai Baba’s most vociferous critics are taken aback by speed with which the empire is unravelling. “Even a couple of months ago, what has now happened was still unimaginable,” said Robert Priddy, the Sai Baba organisation’s former Norwegian leader. 
Mr Priddy was once a believer but lost his faith as the allegations of sexual abuse which dogged Sai Baba’s final decades began to mount - though not before himself donating a total of £13,500. ]

As reported to have been stated by Ms Anoja Weerasinghe during training of Sri Lankan Airlines mind, Mr. Priddy was seeing his own weaknesses through the money he ‘donated’ as being part of the hoard. One of the few recorded events of Swami I watched also recorded huge donations being made during a public event. Unlike Mr. Priddy, I noted that Swami was auctioning off the gold to someone – from Japan, as I recall it. They were not taken into Swami’s Treasury. Hence when an older Australian Tamil devotee said to me after the above details were published – that Swami ought to have gotten rid of them – I said – words to the effect that if Swami had done that the recipient would have received the weaknesses that the money represented.  I became a true believer not as per rituals but as per my own Experience during my time of need.  I said to the above lady – a victim of Sri Lankan political war – hijacked by the LTTE – that Lord Thirupathi also is the ‘person’ to whom the richest of the rich in India donate and the Thirupathi coffers also would include similar level. Does that mean that Lord Balaji was a cheat or do we ever worry about such accusations?

After my direct experience, when I read some of Swami’s discourses to students, I did not identify with a few of Swami messages. One was that the mind that cooked the meal came with the food. But I did not reject it or doubt its validity. Now after independent observations through my own experiences and those close to me – especially in Sri Lanka, I realize that Common Belief cured the food cooked by another of weaknesses including in terms of hygiene of the cook. Living as part of Toddy Tapper community I would have become a victim of food poisoning if not for that Common Belief.  I observed also that those who abused the Caste system have acquired the weaknesses of  the other side as part of the return. As highlighted by Ms Anoja Weerasinghe – the mind underpins the experience. Food cooked by one consumed by another of Common Belief / Faith would not hurt the consumer any more than if the cook her/himself had eaten it. Knowledge of this is an important  criterion in deciding on the level of  external higher education expenditure/investment by a society. Swami consciously moved away from His biological family once Swami openly served the Public. From then on, members of the family  became part of the Public and Swami set this much needed example in this part of the world – especially in Sri Lanka where children come with the parents into Public life without going through such separation.  

As in the case of all our relationships, starting with our parents, my  experience of Swami’s support  was due to a combination of Belief and Merit. To the extent Swami helped me identify with my deservedness to Divine blessings – even though I was then NOT a devotee of His, that experience was Belief based. When it is Belief based – we do not seek evidence nor logic. Belief when expressed without pollution would show perfect logic.  Once we look for evidence we confirm that we are outside the boundaries of Common Belief. Eventually, through my University experience which led to strengthening my Intellectual Independence,  I had the courage to sue the Hon John Howard – despite the knowledge that I was likely to ‘lose’ in Judicial Court of Humans. But later I realized that I was promoted to the Natural Higher level -  where our genuine work becomes Energy. It’s this Energy that motivates us to protect our Natural Sovereignty. One so protected is never alone and never loses to her/himself.

I appreciated more than ever before that one did not need formal education to have wisdom to live as per one’s true deservedness of ‘freedom’ / independence. Let’s for example look at the expressions by a highly qualified Sri Lankan who represented Sri Lanka at UN level:

[Dr. Palitha Tikiri Bandara Kohona considers that former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was always available for him to discuss Sri Lanka's burning issues, especially those involving the LTTE and the Tamil Diaspora. Ban Ki-moon was ready to listen and more than willing to offer advice which he faithfully conveyed to Colombo.
"That was one of the most difficult times for Sri Lanka at the UN with the LTTE and the Tamil Diaspora, the US, the UK and Canada, all exerting enormous pressure on the UN on accountability, alleged war crimes and Human Rights violations in Sri Lanka and I had to use all the influence I could muster to counter all that malicious propaganda. Most of it based on spurious unsubstantiated allegations," Dr. Kohona told Ceylon Today in an interview.
"Ban Ki-moon always lent a sympathetic ear to me", he said.]

With his PhD, one would expect Dr. Kohona to have developed the higher common mind at least in his work related interactions. One who highlights the personal attention to a single individual by one who holds the highest common position in an institution (the UN in this instance) fails to demonstrate ‘Commonness’ achieved through higher mind. It is this higher mind that is capable of inclusive thinking of all concerned. Where the ‘other side’ – LTTE in this instance – is known to be not capable of this for whatever reason, a true believer would come down to the level of the opposition to complete the experience for all concerned – in this instance ALL Sri Lankans including the LTTE.

As per the article ‘BAN KI-MOON ALWAYS LENT A SYMPATHETIC EAR TO ME – Kohona’ Dr. Kohona reported that:

[It was with the greatest reluctance that the LTTE was made to admit that it was recruiting children for combat purposes, which by itself was a war crime and a crime against humanity.
The LTTE was also told by the government that they must stop bombing civilians and civilian installations and that the recruitment of children should be stopped. The LTTE refused to accede to those requests by the government, Dr. Kohona noted.
He also stressed that the peace facilitator, Norway, also had the audacity to ask the government to allow the LTTE to come to the negotiating table as an equal party which the government had flatly refused to accept.
"This was also a major drawback to the negotiations as the LTTE, which was a banned terrorist organization, wanted to be treated as an equal to a democratically elected government, he said.]

If LTTE are NOT Sri Lankans in the mind of Dr. Kohona – and the LTTE had the responsibility to abide by UN principles – then LTTE is taken to be as sovereign as Sri Lanka represented by Dr. Kohona. If LTTE were considered Sri Lankans by Dr. Kohona, then they were the responsibility of the Sri Lankan government and did not owe any responsibility to account to the UN for their actions – including recruitment of children. To the extent the children defended the land that was home to them – only those of Common Belief had authority over them – and this includes their respective religious leaders. The way Dr. Kohona’s mind seems to have worked shows no Common order – either as per belief or as per merit. One could conclude therefore that Dr. Kohona infected the UN with the weaknesses that influenced the Sri Lankan Government to bring  the LTTE issue to the UN.

In his article ‘Ranil’s Indianization project and the new constitution’ the other pundit who claims to have influenced UN mind to become more like his, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke reveals as follows:
What was common to all of Sri Lanka’s leaders was to rightly regard as the worst case scenario, a nexus between India, Tamil nadu and Sri Lanka’s Tamil North.
The LTTE that was orphaned by the Sri Lankan Government, was ‘included’ by India. The Indian Government might have been selfish but Indians in Common are linked to Tamils through culture than are Sinhalese who claim that they are unique. Not even Lord Buddha is recognized as Indian by these Buddhist politicians driven by ‘attachment’ to the physical. A leader of higher mind would have ‘included Tamils’ and confirmed the Sovereignty of the whole of Sri Lanka. These leaders – including those who empowered Dr. Jayatilleke to go to the UN – ‘feared’ their own weaknesses / desires which blocked their mind from including the higher Tamil mind as part of themselves to Govern in Common. One of the moves was to deny merit  based entry to the University which naturally blocked the Administrative pathway to self-governance by the more educated Tamil.  Tamil minds including that of the Northern Chief Minister the Hon C.V.Wigneswaran have already merged with Indian minds and the moves by the Sri Lankan Prime Minister merely confirms this reality.

If managed with wisdom, these outer confirmations would open more leadership opportunities to Sri Lankans at Regional level. But those with ‘sour grape’ attitude would alienate themselves from these true manifestations of  ‘Freedom’.

If indeed – Dr. Kohona expected the LTTE to abide by the International rules of war, then Dr. Kohona automatically relieves the LTTE of the Terrorism charges and therefore the two sides have  Equal Start with zero prior advantage. By rejecting the Equal status allocated to the LTTE – Dr. Kohona confirms that HE did not qualify to represent Sri Lanka at the UN level. As stated recently in my recent article ‘Religious Leadership and the Law’:

 [During poojah / mass – each one is to her/himself as per her/his natural laws. Unless an act was so serious as to disturb the peace at that place, no disciplinary action ought to be taken by one against another from a higher position. During that time we are all Equals before the Lord.]

In other words, Truth was blocked by Dr. Kohono also during those ‘talks’ due to his inability to free himself of the attachment to higher status. This attachment came with the mind of  the leader who served Dr. Kohona the UN benefits. When one genuinely seeks Peace, one would naturally recognize the other side as being Equal until known otherwise. Armed forces acting under directions of the likes of Dr. Kohona therefore would get distracted by little wins on the way and lose their way along the roadway to Peace. If indeed, Mr. Ban Ki Moon gave a listening ear to Dr. Kohona, then Mr. Ban Ki Moon would have been infected by the lack of belief-based-ownership needed – to dismiss the LTTE. 

UN is the Governing Council of global owners. When they are over-regulated through external higher education,  they would block the manifestation of Truth in a free environment. In Sri Lanka, the termination of the services of a Judge is belief based and hence needs to be based on disorderly conduct. The current government came into power due to the previous government dismissing itself  from leadership position including the position of Opposition Leader in People’s Parliament. Indian mind is already included in the minds of TNA which holds that position. How did it happen?

It happened due also to the likes of Dr. Kohona & Dr. Jayatilleke applying intellectual merit to support actions against ‘foreigners’ that the LTTE had become to them. That is the way of excessive ‘external’ higher education to show cleverness above goodness. The investment made by the Sri Lankan public in the likes of these pundits – is now collapsing like the Meethotamulla garbage dump that collapsed on Sinhalese-Tamil New Year. Astrological connections are being investigated well ahead of merit based scientific connections. The previous time we heard such reasoning was about the Presidential elections. Dr. Jayatilleke himself confirms reliance as follows:

[While the Ramayana narrative makes clear that a land link between India and Lanka was of decisive and devastating strategic consequence for the island of Lanka, the Romans and the British made it clear that the building of roadways was an essential part of annexation and empire building. What is true of imperialisms gone by is true of contemporary regional sub-imperialisms. ]

Swami Sathya Sai Baba says about the leaders in Ramayana – that Ravana was clever; Rama was clever AND Good.   The latter invaded another’s territory to try and possess the other’s wife. Rama became part of any territory  before He used His clever skills – including to release His wife who was not His possession but part of Himself. Had Mr. Rajapaksa entered Jaffna after he was part of it – Sri Lanka’s Sovereign Borders would have been confirmed. Once we lose our Sovereignty due to desires – we lose the moral authority to find fault with others who are confirming current reality.


All because we over expended in Foreign/External  Higher Education while living in the experiences where brawn ruled over brain. 

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