Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

07  July 2017                                          

The ‘I’ Factor in Buddhist Leadership

As per adaderana.lk/news, Buddhist monk Rev Rathana Thero is claiming that ‘he’ arranged the first meeting for  Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, towards forming this new Government. As per his mindset, the President did not have the mandate to change the constitution without two thirds majority.

As per 2016 Australian Census, our Sri Lankan genes are described as follows:

On the basis of the above picture, Sri Lanka’s loss could be correlated as :

 Buddhists : Hindu ratio being  65% : 35%.   Given that Australia is Christian by majority – they would have ‘come home’ and not ‘left home’.

The above confirms in terms of religion, a disintegrating Sri Lankan society – led by Buddhists. The reason to my mind is the ‘I’ factor.

Most of us tend to take pleasure in the thought -  ‘I did it’ – when the outcome seems attractive and positive – as in majority vote. But to the extent we had the opportunity developed by another / others to produce those outcomes a part of that credit needs to be attributed to them. Hence respect for elders and in common communication use of quotation marks to indicate ‘inherited value’. When we do so – we bring their common structures into us. Given that common structures confirm individual sacrifices, their value is exponential and cannot be directly related to at the flat level, using current basis.

Outcomes, like statistics, do not travel far without the structural engines through which they are processed. The same outcome when passed / received through the higher mind structure – raises the experience  to the higher level where pleasure is sweeter and pain is shared in common. One who earns and enjoys benefits through current rules known to her/him – lives on current basis and would be in harmony with an environment that relies on current merit only, to regulate the flow of work and social contributions. But they would be lacking in depth to withstand damage to their current earnings when majority fail to follow the current rules – for example Equal Opportunity rules in Australia. De facto systems are structured largely on this basis. They need Transparency so we do not expect that which we do not ‘see’ and/or know as individuals present at that time. Project basis is also used when majority participants are more comfortable with outcome based management.

The system of using two thirds majority is part of the Secular system, developed largely by Westerners. Given that the Buddhist monk using the robe to take higher position that the Politician – his measure ought to have been Buddhist measure – according to which the leader needs to ‘sacrifice’ to become humble enough to accept and live within the outcomes/benefits  attributed to monks by rest of the environment that s/he is physically a part of. We thus Renounce to become Equal to each other. In other words – we treat each other as Equals and hence do not need majority endorsement. The Buddhist pathway is described in current common language as follows:

[Right Mindfulness

"And what, monks, is right mindfulness? (i) There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself -- ardent, aware, & mindful -- putting away greed & distress with reference to the world. (ii) He remains focused on feelings in & of themselves -- ardent, aware, & mindful -- putting away greed & distress with reference to the world. (iii) He remains focused on the mind in & of itself -- ardent, aware, & mindful -- putting away greed & distress with reference to the world. (iv) He remains focused on mental qualities in & of themselves -- ardent, aware, & mindful -- putting away greed & distress with reference to the world. This, monks, is called right mindfulness.] Wikipedia

‘In and of themselves’, to my mind confirms self-sufficiency in form. To the extent the power to make and/or change the Constitution was abused – that Constitution weakened the Sovereignty of the whole. If Rev Rathana Thero was the root cause of  the current formation of Government, he would have expressly recommended the repeal of Article 9 of the Sri Lankan Constitution or become the ‘other side’ so that he would have become Article 9 (in and of itself). Since he is a beneficiary (Buddhist leadership) of Article 9  he would need to bring the disadvantaged into himself to become the whole and therefore be  able to look within the whole.

If on the other hand, one is to use the Secular pathway, then we need to pay our respects to the architects of Democracy and majority rule. The Law is the consolidated mind of those who established that law. To the extent we use that law, we need to pay our respects to that law and / or the makers of the principle. In the case of two thirds majority – the respects are due to Westerners – most of whom are Christians – especially Christian Victims of Rulers who were empowered by the sacrifice of Jesus.

If Rev Rathana Thero is driven by the status of his Buddhist robe – then by using two thirds majority after paying his respects to Christians he becomes Christian. If Rev Rathana Thero renounces his status as Buddhist monk and becomes Common citizen – then he is bowing to the Secular person senior to him in the secular system. That’s when such leaders come into us to empower us through Energies that are Eternal. That is when we are driven by our Soul power and when we say I it means in this instance, Sri Lanka the whole.

When we focus on our  body without being distracted by other bodies – we start looking within. Thus place based boundaries are diffused. Then when we look within – deeper and deeper – we start losing time based borders. That which has no borders loses relativity and becomes  Absolute in value. There are no rights or wrongs – so long as we remain at that root – as that root itself. If we do seek to come back – we would now have total knowledge of ourselves to take our true position with others – even if the law says otherwise – for example that the Sri Lankan President must be a Buddhist who would follow the Buddhist Clergy, we are entitled to take higher position than the President in our mind – to educate the President, provided we went to the root – we renounced more than any other known to us in that environment.

Equal status in Multicultural societies / groups prevents us from having to bow without belief.  Likewise, using affirmation instead of swearing on our respective bibles prevents us from expressing judgments on the basis of belief  particular to us. Where Equal Opportunity principles are yet to be practiced by majority – as is the case in Sri Lanka’s South and North – there needs to be separation between the groups – towards preventing interference by using ‘foreign’ status. Buddhism is foreign religion to Christians, Muslims and Hindus in Sri Lanka. Hence each group is entitled to their privacy to attain self-sufficiency through their own special pathway.

Often leaders driven by majority-force rather than One Truth, find it easier to rule in small groups – and hence the ‘Divide and Rule’ system. The lower our level of operation – the more we separate. Buddhism foremost, Sinhala only and Tamil only are all tools of separation so that the citizens would not unite to overpower the rulers.

The parallel of two thirds majority rule in autocracy is at least two generation seniority is needed for one’s word to be accepted without question. The stronger the heritage value in the outcome the greater the Oneness value.

Taking one generation of Sri Lankans to be 70 years – this Constitution which is about 40 years old – has only 19% (40/210 years) approval well short of the 67% needed – through the pathway of ‘in and  of  itself’. To have such approval the Constitution needs to be effective for at least 140 years.

In Hinduism we represent this by invoking three generation elders in weddings and funerals. During the awakening ceremony – 31 days after death for the civilian Hindu – 4 balls of cooked rice are prepared. Three balls are arranged in a row and the 4^th one in oval shape below them. The 4^th one is divided into three equal parts and added to each of the balls above – thus merging the mind of the one who passed away to three generations above – so that those who respect the one who has passed away get blessed by three generations above them. Those of us who do not feel such heritage would need two thirds majority expressed at the one time – to make changes to the fundamental rights of our group. When one who is lacking in belief in the secular system uses that tool outside the environment in which he is leader (Buddhism in this instance) he is confirming distraction from seeking and finding the Truth.