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| Friday, 1 October 2004 |
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Features | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
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Food for thought Knowledge in Progress J.R. Jayewardene Centre
The lecture series No. 3 consists of seven topics: Dr. Stanley Kalpage's 'Indo-Sri Lanka relations is the post independence period," Prof. Vinnie Vitharana's "J.R.", Prof. K. Dharmasena's "Colombo port of South Asia", Sam Wijesinghe's "Should there be a change in the election procedure in Sri Lanka?", Rohan Gunaratne's "Impact of Indo-Lanka relations on Sri Lanka's ethnic crisis', Bradman Weerakoon's "New challenges to media in Sri Lanka" and Mrs. Penny Jayewardene's Vegetarianism". The lectures were delivered between 1996-2000. Bradman Weerakoon in the course of his lecture on "New challenges to media in Sri Lanka" says" "There is a huge transparency now with the technological revolution we are witnessing. The people can find the truth and the monopolists of news have to be very careful, because what can be attacked is their credibility. Credibility is the new God. If all kinds of people believe for a variety of reasons that the truth is out there and the media is saying something else then it will lose credibility and won't be believed." Penny Jayewardene has this to say on vegetarianism: "The habit of meat eating is actually costing us this planet. It is costing us the lives of billions of animals and it is also costing us our own health." Those who are eager to expand their horizon of knowledge the booklet offers food for thought. - R.S. Karunaratne Widen your intellectual horizon Nirvana The Highest Happiness Author: Dr. Susunga Weeraperuma Nirvana The Highest Happiness, neatly brought out by Dr. Susunga Weeraperuma, is a book that should be read and re-read by everyone interested in the practical aspects of the philosophy of Buddhism. Dr. Susunga Weeraperuma is an experienced writer on Buddhism in English. He has already published about 24 widely read books on various subjects including Buddhism which is so near and dear to his heart. One of his books, Krishnamurti as I Knew Him, has been translated into several languages. Born in Sri Lanka Dr. Susunga Weeraperuma has spent a major part of his life in England, Australia, Switzerland and France where he is living now. His numerous works show his profound understanding of Buddhism and Indian philosophy. Nirvana The Highest Happiness should be of interest to both laymen and scholars of Buddhism throughout the world and the very simple language the author uses makes this book appealing even to lay students - specially foreign students of Buddhism. Much study and labour has gone into the publication of this important book and the author has striven to bring out this publication maintaining a very high standard throughout. The language used is simple to comprehend and the printing is elegant and it has an attractive front and back cover in colour. The layout of the book is impressive and it contains 18 carefully written essays under interesting headings such as the Personality of the Buddha, Ambapali, A Lady of Pleasure, Angulimala was a Serial Killer Turned Arahat. The Buddhist Doctrine of Karma, Meditations on the Practice of Meditation, The Art of Real Meditation, Does the I really Exist, What is the Purpose of the Dharma, The Belief in a Creator-God, Why Believe in God, The Buddha's Conversation with a Farmer, In Praise of a Solitary Life, Who is a Genuine Brahmin, Who is a Sincere Friend, Does Buddhism Condone or Condemn Meat Eating, The Power of Paritta Chanting, Our Debt of Gratitude to Our Parents and What is Nirvana. In each essay he gives illuminating quotations from Buddhist texts and details of their references. This adds very much to the importance of the book as also a valuable text for reference. Nirvana The Highest Happiness is a well thought out collection of important essays by this internationally known writer on Buddhism and it is the result of a long time of thinking on Buddhist issues. Nirvana the Highest Happiness is a book that should be read by all those interested in the philosophy of Buddhism and the Buddhist reading public owe a deep debt of gratitude to Dr. Susunga Weeraperuma for bringing out this very readable book encapsulating his refreshingly original ideas on certain important aspects of Buddhism. Sri Lanka should also be proud of the fact that the versatile author of this book, Dr. Susunga Weeraperuma, is a man of Sri Lankan origin. This book should be of interest to any readers who wish to widen their intellectual horizons on Buddhism. - Andrew Scott All God's Children Carl Muller offers a rare mixture of controversial short stories and poems through his latest book All God's Children now on sale in leading bookshops. Published by Vijitha Yapa Publications, the book is suffused with the author's trademark wit. He dedicates it to all God's children, as long as they know who their father is. He pinpoints the travails of the under-privileged and the sufferings of the helpless, and in doing so evokes sympathy for the less fortunate and compels the reader to reflect on the cruelties of society and the frailties of humankind. In one controversial story the ailing Pope wants to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem but, some Cardinals at the Vatican have their reservations. A few hours later the Pope is dead. Did he die of natural causes or was there a sinister plot? Carl Muller, 69, shot into literary prominence with the winning of Gratiaen Award for The Jam Fruit Tree. Since that time he has authored works of fiction, short stories, essays and monographs. His blockbuster Children of the Lion won him the State Literary Award and his poetry has earned recognition of the American Poetry Association, California. A journalist since 1964, Muller worked in newspapers in Sri Lanka as well as Dubai, Bahrain and Oman. He is a political columnist for Lanka Monthly Digest and edits an international news digest Up to date as well as the Estate Forestry and Timber News for a GTZ organization in Kandy. He is also a member of the Association for Commonwealth Literature and Langauge Studies, Sri Lanka. |
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Produced by Lake House |
As Johnson said, "Knowledge always desires increase. It is like
the fire which must first be kindled by some external agent but which will
afterward propagate itself". J.R. Jayewardene Centre has been
inviting eminent speakers to express their views on current topics to a
selected audience for some time. Now the centre has decided to make these
lectures available in a series of booklets for the benefit of readers.
