Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

09 January  2020

SRI LANKAN ARMED FORCES AND ROYAL ELEPHANTS

A tradesman in Vaddukoddai in Northern Sri Lanka said to me that he felt good when the uniformed LTTE marched past his workshop. I realised that they were his dream come true. It was merely the show. It was more the order. The discipline they had put themselves through to get to that stage where their community lives through that experience through the officers in uniform. In terms of those who respect education I am seen to have gone through similar discipline. Hence many in Vaddukoddai – who are my age or even my seniors by age – address me as ‘Ammah’ / Mother.

The above personal experience was the base on which I read the Daily News article ‘Fonseka questions practicality of President’s cost-cutting move. As per the Daily News report:

[Participating in a debate on the President’s Policy Statement in Parliament, the Field Marshall said, “The cancelling of the Guard of Honour parade set a wrong precedent. Such actions should not have been done. Accommodating a Guard of Honour, including a 21-gun salute to a President coming to open Parliament sessions is a serious event which symbolises not only the dignity of the person who is accepting it, but also the dignity of the institution and the tri-forces who participate in it.”

“In giving a Presidential Guard of Honour, the officers and men come in their ceremonial uniform and bring their weapons of the highest grade. In the instance of January 3, troops had rehearsed it and were ready to enact the time-honoured act. At the last moment, the President cancelled it on his own accord. Before doing so, he should have thought twice of its repercussions. Cancelling a time-honoured event which had been there for a purpose was an ill-thought act.]

Obviously, Mr Fonseka would have invested more in military discipline than the members of Sri Lanka’s royal families in the armed forces. To the extent they were Equal and Opposite in terms of ‘form’ they need each other to complete the big picture. This obviously stopped with Mr Fonseka’s level  and was falsely elevated to Mr Rajapaksa’s level. Mr Fonseka himself would have not identified with it if he had become president in 2010.

Structures are combinations of benefits foregone and the core purpose of our actions. Outcomes / benefits of identical forms but produced through different structures would carry different levels of Energy. As most of us know, Energy has different forms and the heavier the  form  the more sluggish the Energy is.

As Defence Secretary – Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa was least seen by the soldier in the frontline. His investment in the discipline of the Armed Forces would have travelled faster in that environment than   in the People’s environment where he is the most seen person. The same Energy produces different outcomes through different structures.

Interestingly Mr Fonseka refers to Kandy Perahera – the Royal Festival of Sri Lankan Buddhists as follows:

[The mere reason cited for the cancellation was to cut down expenses. I hope that the Kandy Dalada Perahera would not be cancelled one day on the same grounds,” the Field Marshal added]

The following is an account by ‘the Observers’

[The Kandy Esala Perahera festival is one of the oldest Buddhist festivals in Sri Lanka. It began as a procession that took place in the 4th century, when a relic – a tooth that was believed to belong to the Buddha – arrived on the island from India. The festival has taken place every August since 1754. During the procession, up to 200 elephants wearing beautiful costumes take turns carrying the relic. They’re the stars of the procession, which about 500,000 people gather to watch every year. During the event, they’re presented as being “sacred animals” because they are transporting the sacred relic.]

The tooth is believed to be that of Buddha’s and was left behind in India. The tooth represents the permanent part of the body and hence its spiritual significance. It is the parallel of canonization in the Catholic Community.

As per Wikipedia:

[Legend states the Abhayagiri vihāra was first appointed custodianship of the relic when it was brought to the island after the conflict in Kalinga. As time went on, the land was threatened with foreign invasions; at one time, the king of Bago, Burma offered the Portuguese £50,000 as a ransom of the tooth;[1] and the seat of the kingdom was moved from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa, then to Dambadeniya and other cities. Upon each change of capital, a new palace was built to enshrine the relic. Finally, it was brought to Kandy where it is at present, in the Temple of the Tooth]

Yesterday, I highlighted the following Wikipedia presentation of Former Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara:

[‘He was the only parliamentarian who opposed to the National Anthem being sung in Tamil in parliament proving that it’s a violation of the constitution]

The Wikipedia reports  also the following about Former Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara:

[Obtained MA and M phil degrees in Buddhist Philosophy]

whose role at the world stage is presented as follows:

[From 2017 he consistently attended all UNHRC sessions in Geneva and challenged the false allegations of the pro LTTE NGOs. In March 2019 at UNHRC, when the UK alleged violations of HR in Sri Lanka, Admiral Weerasekera , in his speech said, that before the UK try to teach Sri Lankans about HR, they should tender a public apology to Sri Lankans for the atrocities they committed in 1818 and return all the Ola leaf books looted from Sri Lanka.]

On the basis that Mr Sarath Weerasekara considers the British act as looting is it not valid to state that the Tooth  of Buddha was looted from India to Sri Lanka?

The strong indicator of the reason is in the following Wikipedia presentation:

[A belief grew that whoever possessed the tooth relic had a divine right to rule that land.]

As per my knowledge of Buddha, Gautama Buddha renounced the biological right to rule the land and thus became the Spiritual ruler of his people. One who is therefore ‘attached’ to the physical would not become a ruler through Buddhism.

[The Dāṭhāvaṃsa  ("The History of the Tooth Relic" )recounts the tale of a war fought over the relic 800 years later between Guhasiva of the republic of Kalinga and a king named Pandu.

……..

According to its introduction, the Dāṭhavaṃsa is a translation of an earlier Sinhalese text that dates to when the relic first arrived in Sri Lank during the reign of Sirimeghavanna of Anuradhapura in the 3rd-4th Century CE. The Dāṭhavaṃsa provides a great deal of detail regarding conflicts between Buddhists and Brahmins in the 3rd Century which, if the putative origin of the Sinhala precursor are true, would have been derived from contemporary sources and witnesses]

That conflicts  between Buddhists and Brahmins (Hindus) continues and hence we had the 30 year war. Anyone who is a Buddhist leader in Government would invoke this karma / activate these genes. Any Buddhist leader who renounces the royal status  through inheritance – say from Rajapaksa to Rajapaksa ; Bandaranaike to Bandaranaike; Premadasa to Premadasa – would be a true Buddhist leader.

On 15 August last year I shared my experience of the sacred elephant under the heading ‘UNP Blessed in Northern Sri Lanka’. In that article I referred also to Mr Rajapaksa’s multi religious participation about which the report at https://www.lankanewsweb.net//67-general-news/47311-Gotabaya-Rajapaksa-multi-religiously-blessed-in-Kandy - was published. As per that report:

[Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Newly pronounced presidential candidate from Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), visited Kandy today (14). 

In his visit, he obtained Hindu religious puja in Katukele Sri Thelwa Vinayagar Kovil, and later attended to Mira Makkam Mosque for a special blessing puja ceremony]

The actual elections revealed that as independent communities – Hindus and Muslims could not be lured to vote for Mr Rajapaksa. Vinayagar  is another name for Lord Ganesh – the Remover of Obstacles through Belief in ancestry. To the Sinhalese  - the elephant was the royal animal. The royal elephants in Kandy Perahera as well as in Kotte Perahera rebelled and attacked. The deeper reader would take it as an early indicator of the challenges of global proportions that require Absolute Belief to confront and restore Sri Lanka to release itself from the prison of attachment to Royalty which cannot be shared with other cultures. Being that royalty would lead to such redemption.