I was told today by a practicing Buddhist that being vegetarian/vegan is being an extremist...
And vegetarianism / veganism is a marketed hype and we are being drawn in by the trend..
The points made were.... that
➡once a being is killed, which has already taken place by the time it reach our plates, it has lost the value as a being and there is no difference than that and a potato...
and your choice doesn't really make an impact on the process that has already taken place...
and there's no sin of eating such nor merit of avoiding it as well...
➡it's all in our mind that particular dish is from a being.. and we shouldn't worry about it as it's beyond our control...
➡since there are many insects involved and killed by pesticides and by other means during the process of plant product preparation ....... are we gong to avoid the use of that as well?
➡since we can not prevent all the killings that take place for food, there is no point in one person becoming a extremist rebel by refusing animal products
➡it's all to do with craving and we can be buying a pumpkin with the same craving as we buy an animal product
➡and it has nothing to do with Buddhas original teaching and it's just a marketed trend
And I ask her that how come you consciously choose a animal product and select and buy it when you have a choice of selecting otherwise, knowing the process that go through the factory farming...beings born and bread ...force-fed just for our food...
And the response I got is ..we shouldn't think that far and it's all in our mind...
I agree that once you've achieved a certain state of understanding, that you won't feel a difference in any food item and you'd be eating just to keep the body alive and healthy ... nothing more nothing less...
But, before that, most of what we eat are to please our mind, rather than keeping with the needs of the physical body..
So, consciously making a choice to choose non animal products whenever one can, to the best of the options that are made available to you in terms of your health and wellbeing, makes the best practice that seems to resonate with my concioisness.....
But I declined from the argument as I saw no point in trying to convince that to another who holds a different view... and mind you, this is a well educated friend of mine, who practice meditation as well as reads a lot into Buddhist scripture...
My personal idea is that, a practicing Buddhist, Being vegetarian / vegan or non vegetarian is a conscious personal choice... and being in either categeary itself doesn't make you a better being altogether...than the other...
I myself is not a strict vegetarian all the time... but I try to be most of the time...
I can not fathom the possibility of a noble man who told this to the world as a core value, will be petty enough to curtail that compassion in to the account balance of sin and merit... for me he holds a better and bigger place than the account balancer......
“A mother, even at the risk of her own life, protects her child, her only child.
In the same way should you cultivate love without measure toward all beings.
You should cultivate toward the whole world – above, below, around – a heart of love unstinted, unmixed with any sense of differing or opposing interests.
You should maintain this mindfulness all the time you are awake.
Such a state of heart is the best in the world.”
– Buddha, Majjhima Nikaya
If we keep aside the philosophy of sin and merit of killing, i don't have any arguments with that....
What I am asking is... if given the choice, what would you consciously choose?
The stolen good (which you know is stolen) or the good from the manufacturer ?
For me This has nothing to do with sin/ merit account balance...
It's all to do with the consciousness of knowing the suffering of another being And despite that accepting that it's fine to indulge my tastebuds at the stake of another's life
A practice beyond survival and health...
It's ethics... same as ethical tea... fair trade ... ethical clothing...
And I try to adhere to that whenever I can...
P.s. I'm not that rich to adhere to all those choices all the time, but I try what I can... no animal should die or should've died for the sake of my craving and taste buds...
Any thoughts on this matter?
https://youtu.be/UjbHC0Z2SWw
I agree with this honorable theros' disclosure in the monastic context and in a the context of a person who've lost all lust and craving..who does not crave one or the other.. and eat what is given or made available without a choice, for the mere maintenance of the physical body..
But in the context of lay...
if you are given a choice to choose between two materials... one sold by the manufacturer and the other by a seller who has stolen it from another source, being aware of the theft that took place, what would you consciously choose?
What would you choose when you are aware that a life has been stolen to give the product to you?
This is apart from the facts of acquiring credits to your merit or sin account... that kept aside, what would be your conscious choice?
I agree with the food chains in the natural world that it is the work of kamma... the nature..
But when it comes to factory farming and the consumer chain where the animals are artificially fertilized, born and bred for human food, and the consumer chain that supports it, I fail to see, that it's the mere work of nature or kamma.. ... it's your conscious decision that triggers the chain of events...
If you keep aside sin/ merit account balance totally, can you consciously choose the stolen goods/lives?
And if we are to accept every death to the work of kamma and nature... and do nothing about that, saying they'd anyway die due to their kamma.... you indirectly accepts the massacres...the holocaust... the killings... the wars... and everything else... and fails to do anything about it...
It's true that there is minimum that we can do in events of such large scale...
but we can start with what we can...
Be aware and make a conscious choice...
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Giving and merits
The motives of giving should only be
To serve the receiver and let go of
The shackles around our miserly minds
To unleash the guards of caution and fear
About loosing, about the future…
And be free…..
Giving should not be motivated by
Any means of reward….
Be it material reward or spiritual rewards..
If one gives, in hope of the reward….
That too in a way is a deal ….a trade…
An exchange, that we fail to accept…
"We don't need to be threatened with eternal damnation in order to be kind to one another, do we? "
If people are only good because they fear punishment and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed" —Albert Einstein
Now...
this is not to offend anyone... and I'm not challenging these statements in the picture as wrong... (extracts form MN - Dhakkina vibhanga sutra)
We should give to the pious clergy, wisely, there's no doubt about it...
But, if we are to develop unbounded love towards every being... how come giving to the lesser be of lesser value...
"Just as a mother her own son [child], her only son [child], guards him at the risk of her life, in the same manner
towards all beings, let one develop thoughts of unbounded love."
Just a thought... I've been told that I have these doubts because I've not read enough sutra and don't know dhamma correctly....and I'm collecting sins by discussing or having doubts about these things...
How come a dharma which is " Svâkkhato Bhagavatâ Dhammo Sanditthiko Akâliko Ehi-passiko Opanâyiko Paccattam veditabbo viññuhiti." Be like that?
("The Dhamma of the Blessed One is perfectly expounded; to be seen here and how; not delayed in
time; inviting one to come and see; onward leading (to Nibbana); to be known by the wise, each for himself.")
We definitely do need to read the sutras...... But if theoretical knowledge of all the sutras is the key thing I wonder how peoples realized truth with just one sutra... of course, you may say that they are much intelligent and wise beings than us.....
But the wise practice is what matters the most...
These concepts of lesser merit, (which my petty mind think is incorporated largely to the survival of the sangha in a society with a majority of puthagjana/ unenlightened beings) may be the reason that majority of town priests are well fed to the brim and lead a luxury life supported by the lay, while the suffering fellow humans are served in a different way... and animals, are totally neglected in this land.....
Isn't it like making your investment that gives the best profit?
Going for the bank that that gives the highest interest for your fixed deposit...
I fail to see any difference in your motive....
What do you except by giving?
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/31205042/dakkhina-vibhanga-sutta-the-dharmafarers
Please read page 150...commentary by many learned monks who've analyzed the MN and many other sutras...
It's not a matter of to whome you give your offerings to...it's a matter of your inner work and understanding....
"And, houselord, even though the brahmin Velāma gave those great gifts, and
even if he were to cultivate a heart of lovingkindness for just as long as it takes to tug at the cow’s teat (to milk it),
greater would be the fruit
if he were to cultivate the perception of impermanence for even the moment of a finger-snap!"
-Velama Sutra
http://dharmafarer.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/16.6-Velama-S-a9.20-piya.pdf
What I intent to discuss in the post is, the current practice of marketing the best profited offering largely by the sangha community..... promoting surplus of lay peoples' headless unwise offering to the sangha...
To serve the receiver and let go of
The shackles around our miserly minds
To unleash the guards of caution and fear
About loosing, about the future…
And be free…..
Giving should not be motivated by
Any means of reward….
Be it material reward or spiritual rewards..
If one gives, in hope of the reward….
That too in a way is a deal ….a trade…
An exchange, that we fail to accept…
"We don't need to be threatened with eternal damnation in order to be kind to one another, do we? "
If people are only good because they fear punishment and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed" —Albert Einstein
Now...
this is not to offend anyone... and I'm not challenging these statements in the picture as wrong... (extracts form MN - Dhakkina vibhanga sutra)
We should give to the pious clergy, wisely, there's no doubt about it...
But, if we are to develop unbounded love towards every being... how come giving to the lesser be of lesser value...
"Just as a mother her own son [child], her only son [child], guards him at the risk of her life, in the same manner
towards all beings, let one develop thoughts of unbounded love."
Just a thought... I've been told that I have these doubts because I've not read enough sutra and don't know dhamma correctly....and I'm collecting sins by discussing or having doubts about these things...
How come a dharma which is " Svâkkhato Bhagavatâ Dhammo Sanditthiko Akâliko Ehi-passiko Opanâyiko Paccattam veditabbo viññuhiti." Be like that?
("The Dhamma of the Blessed One is perfectly expounded; to be seen here and how; not delayed in
time; inviting one to come and see; onward leading (to Nibbana); to be known by the wise, each for himself.")
We definitely do need to read the sutras...... But if theoretical knowledge of all the sutras is the key thing I wonder how peoples realized truth with just one sutra... of course, you may say that they are much intelligent and wise beings than us.....
But the wise practice is what matters the most...
These concepts of lesser merit, (which my petty mind think is incorporated largely to the survival of the sangha in a society with a majority of puthagjana/ unenlightened beings) may be the reason that majority of town priests are well fed to the brim and lead a luxury life supported by the lay, while the suffering fellow humans are served in a different way... and animals, are totally neglected in this land.....
Isn't it like making your investment that gives the best profit?
Going for the bank that that gives the highest interest for your fixed deposit...
I fail to see any difference in your motive....
What do you except by giving?
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/31205042/dakkhina-vibhanga-sutta-the-dharmafarers
Please read page 150...commentary by many learned monks who've analyzed the MN and many other sutras...
It's not a matter of to whome you give your offerings to...it's a matter of your inner work and understanding....
"And, houselord, even though the brahmin Velāma gave those great gifts, and
even if he were to cultivate a heart of lovingkindness for just as long as it takes to tug at the cow’s teat (to milk it),
greater would be the fruit
if he were to cultivate the perception of impermanence for even the moment of a finger-snap!"
-Velama Sutra
http://dharmafarer.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/16.6-Velama-S-a9.20-piya.pdf
What I intent to discuss in the post is, the current practice of marketing the best profited offering largely by the sangha community..... promoting surplus of lay peoples' headless unwise offering to the sangha...
Katina
Katina...
My mother in law has taken upon herself to serve the temple of her small village with this years' katina. This is a small temple with just three monks in the suburbs of Kadugannawa. During the past three months or so my husbands' parents, along with many other upaasika upaasikaa in the village served this small ancient temple to renovate it, in various aspects.....
Everyday my father in law goes to the temple at 7 a.m. with many other villagers for the renovation process.
We being in Colombo hear about this arduous endevoir only through the phone...
and yesterday we came home for the ultimate event of the katina... preceded by three 12 hourly pirith (the 3 main sutras) chanting ... katina perahera and then the big ceremony...
Being in the midst of all this... I came to know about the monks in this temple...
the chief monk, who had won the hearts of many, due to his piety and good character... is a teacher by profession and he comes to the temple only in the weekend... and then there is this 14 year old samanera monk, hailing from an economically restrained family in Ampara...who under his circumstances has gained a soft corner in the hearts of most upasikaas in the village...
The third monk, who is probably in his 40s or 50s...is the main monk that resides in the temple...
And the stories I hear about this particular monk is not quite writable... and simply put, he sure is a disgrace to the robe...
But still, the villagers are reluctant to reject him or openly criticize his behavior due to the cultural obedience to the noble robe...
Now... to the point of katina... in Walpole Rahula theros' book ... I remember he writes.... (not the exact word translation , but the gross idea)
" in an age where some of the monks hold on to their respective temples, with such bond and desire... inviting them for the vassa, to stay in the same temple for three months.... is in fact absurd"
And when the monks are established in a particular temple... without being on the walk...like the forest tradition monks, does this whole ordeal of Katina serves a purpose?
When the robes and the atapirikara are stacked up in the temples, that you pay the monk, to buy a robe/atapirikara, to be presented ceremoniously to the same monk, does it serve a purpose ?
When the monks have instilled, into the minds of the laymen, that katina is the ultimate meritorious act that grants, best of the places in heavenly realm, and it paves the way to nibbana.... and this meritorious deed can only be performed by the relatively rich and affluent in the society, does it serve a purpose ?
When .... my hard working father in law... who worked tirelessly for the temple, at the end of the day, sits on the floor and tell me...
දුව....මට නම් පේන විදියට මේ විදියට නම් සල්ලි නැතුව නිවන් යන්නත් හරිම අමාරුයි....
මීට වඩා සාමාන්ය විදියක් තියෙන්න ඕනෙ මිනිසූන්ට....
(Daughter... as far as I can see... now only the rich can achieve nirvana...there should be a simpler way for the lay people...)
In this age...for monks established in village or town temples ....does katina still serves a purpose than the cultural hype of the ordeal...and does katina alone holds this described meritorious payback that seems to attract the lay in to continuing this practice in to the future...
"We don't need to be threatened with eternal damnation in order to be kind to one another, do we? "If people are only good because they fear punishment and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed" —Albert Einstein
My mother in law has taken upon herself to serve the temple of her small village with this years' katina. This is a small temple with just three monks in the suburbs of Kadugannawa. During the past three months or so my husbands' parents, along with many other upaasika upaasikaa in the village served this small ancient temple to renovate it, in various aspects.....
Everyday my father in law goes to the temple at 7 a.m. with many other villagers for the renovation process.
We being in Colombo hear about this arduous endevoir only through the phone...
and yesterday we came home for the ultimate event of the katina... preceded by three 12 hourly pirith (the 3 main sutras) chanting ... katina perahera and then the big ceremony...
Being in the midst of all this... I came to know about the monks in this temple...
the chief monk, who had won the hearts of many, due to his piety and good character... is a teacher by profession and he comes to the temple only in the weekend... and then there is this 14 year old samanera monk, hailing from an economically restrained family in Ampara...who under his circumstances has gained a soft corner in the hearts of most upasikaas in the village...
The third monk, who is probably in his 40s or 50s...is the main monk that resides in the temple...
And the stories I hear about this particular monk is not quite writable... and simply put, he sure is a disgrace to the robe...
But still, the villagers are reluctant to reject him or openly criticize his behavior due to the cultural obedience to the noble robe...
Now... to the point of katina... in Walpole Rahula theros' book ... I remember he writes.... (not the exact word translation , but the gross idea)
" in an age where some of the monks hold on to their respective temples, with such bond and desire... inviting them for the vassa, to stay in the same temple for three months.... is in fact absurd"
And when the monks are established in a particular temple... without being on the walk...like the forest tradition monks, does this whole ordeal of Katina serves a purpose?
When the robes and the atapirikara are stacked up in the temples, that you pay the monk, to buy a robe/atapirikara, to be presented ceremoniously to the same monk, does it serve a purpose ?
When the monks have instilled, into the minds of the laymen, that katina is the ultimate meritorious act that grants, best of the places in heavenly realm, and it paves the way to nibbana.... and this meritorious deed can only be performed by the relatively rich and affluent in the society, does it serve a purpose ?
When .... my hard working father in law... who worked tirelessly for the temple, at the end of the day, sits on the floor and tell me...
දුව....මට නම් පේන විදියට මේ විදියට නම් සල්ලි නැතුව නිවන් යන්නත් හරිම අමාරුයි....
මීට වඩා සාමාන්ය විදියක් තියෙන්න ඕනෙ මිනිසූන්ට....
(Daughter... as far as I can see... now only the rich can achieve nirvana...there should be a simpler way for the lay people...)
In this age...for monks established in village or town temples ....does katina still serves a purpose than the cultural hype of the ordeal...and does katina alone holds this described meritorious payback that seems to attract the lay in to continuing this practice in to the future...
"We don't need to be threatened with eternal damnation in order to be kind to one another, do we? "If people are only good because they fear punishment and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed" —Albert Einstein
Charity shops
I encountered this "Charity shops " concept when I first came to United Kingdom to accompany my husbands post graduate foreign training. I was not aware of such a concept in Sri Lanka for all the time I was there. ....Even if such a thing existed, I don't think it would gain much with our " holding on" mentality...
In a society where our mothers neatly preserve the first dress, school uniform, cot...bed..etc..etc.. there's hardly any letting go...
We are habitual hoarders ... we hoard things, clothes ,furniture, porcelain, books ....this and that everything...
We don't like to give them away... we want to preserve it to the next generation... next generation from our own breed...not anyone else's...
How many of you have unused furniture and electrical goods, cloths, books taking space in your homes, not knowing what to do with it? For me I can think of a whole lot under the care of my mother as well as my mother in law...
And when we move places, go to a new home, we'd always prefer to buy anew...
This concept of charity shop fascinated me from the beginning... where people would just give away anything and everything that they no longer wanted, for free... to theses charity institutes that would refurbish/ repair/rectouch them and sell... and the profit would go to the Heart Foundation, Cancer Research, etc etc...etc.. and many other charities...
It's such a wonderful concept..
Why hoard things that you don't need, hold on to them for pure greed and the inability to let go of the attachment to the things?
This concept reduces clutter...
Funds charities ... as well as offer a wide range of things to the community with a subsided prize....
We Asians are born with not only the thrifty gene for carbohydrates...
We are born with thrifty gene for every stupid materialistic thing!!!!
Yet we chant about letting go from dusk to dawn!!!!!!
https://www.facebook.com/Arunalanie/photos/a.726008554199915.1073741833.226021104198665/821521867981916/?type=3
In a society where our mothers neatly preserve the first dress, school uniform, cot...bed..etc..etc.. there's hardly any letting go...
We are habitual hoarders ... we hoard things, clothes ,furniture, porcelain, books ....this and that everything...
We don't like to give them away... we want to preserve it to the next generation... next generation from our own breed...not anyone else's...
How many of you have unused furniture and electrical goods, cloths, books taking space in your homes, not knowing what to do with it? For me I can think of a whole lot under the care of my mother as well as my mother in law...
And when we move places, go to a new home, we'd always prefer to buy anew...
This concept of charity shop fascinated me from the beginning... where people would just give away anything and everything that they no longer wanted, for free... to theses charity institutes that would refurbish/ repair/rectouch them and sell... and the profit would go to the Heart Foundation, Cancer Research, etc etc...etc.. and many other charities...
It's such a wonderful concept..
Why hoard things that you don't need, hold on to them for pure greed and the inability to let go of the attachment to the things?
This concept reduces clutter...
Funds charities ... as well as offer a wide range of things to the community with a subsided prize....
We Asians are born with not only the thrifty gene for carbohydrates...
We are born with thrifty gene for every stupid materialistic thing!!!!
Yet we chant about letting go from dusk to dawn!!!!!!
https://www.facebook.com/Arunalanie/photos/a.726008554199915.1073741833.226021104198665/821521867981916/?type=3
The law is placed on a pedestal When morals loose its place
Law is a term which does not have a universally accepted definition,
Is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior
A rule of conduct or procedure established by custom, agreement, or authority.
The concept that an act is wrong compared to the ideal .....
Law is here to govern the masses without self discipline..
Laws are for people who have no insight or control over their acts...
Apparently the whole world seems to be belonging to that group...
Because Law and Order should prevail in a land for it to be at peace..Practice of proper law in a land is the indicator of healthy living..
Almost all of the conflicts and issues in our island is due to the lack if insight, governance over our actions and inability to choose the morally right thing...
Hence, we as many other nations have sought the help of external governance of self, by "Law"
But when both are lacking........ the society seems to fail...You accept that lawlessness of the land
when you do little deeds, when no one is watching...
Law assumes that external punishment would make one realize the moral facts of life.... make the the insight dawn, as the one faces the gallows. It is as effective as applying balms on skin
to treat a frail failing heart.....
So the society starts with yourself...
Be wise enough to do whats morally right...
Not because of Law...
Not because you are afraid of punishment by the Demons nor fancying rewards from the Gods ...
Not because you need to go to heaven or to avoid hell
Not because you want to fatten the merit account en route to Nirvana...
https://www.facebook.com/Arunalanie/photos/a.726008554199915.1073741833.226021104198665/715415985259172/?type=3
Monday, January 15, 2018
Leaving
We leave home…. We begin this leaving from the very first day we set foot on the ground on our own… from that day onwards, every step is a lesson, a practice, a trial to leave home and find our way and stability in the world, on our own…
We leave for school, university and jobs… and with marriage, we leave again, to create another home…
When we travel we try to grasp the essence of things we see..and bring them home… sometimes the good, sometimes the bad…… but always, there’s a sense of relief in returning ….. returning home…..
I’ve come across many people who’ve left home… home in the sense of the house you grew up..And on broader terms the country you were born, the place you call home…
From childhood, we were told we are blessed to be born in this isle of serendipity, Sri Lanka… and I’ve met westerners asking me “but that’s a wonder country…..in all sense a paradise… why did you leave it?” And I tell them, that “I am here only for sometime, to fulfill the educational need only, we will be going back, for sure…..”
But, I’ve known many who chose otherwise….. Who tried to bring in the good things in these greener pastures, to home….who tried to make things better, yet failed…or belittled by the masses and disheartened….who are law abiding decent human beings, who seek the fair ground of equality and a just law enforcing system active…who wanted to create a better, orderly society…. who aspired for a peaceful living…
Leave..
Leave home, with tearful eyes, leave the country which gave so much to them ……these people were the people who wanted to do something for the isle…who aspired for a better life…
They all left, and they talks about the paradise they lost…
The roots that keep on withering with every passing day, watered by the tears of that loss….
These people who leave are the very people who’d like to have a better just law enforced upon them… who’d pay taxes willingly, to the country they choose to live, knowing that the government would take care of them with that tax money… who’d abide the law, even though they seem pretty stupid sometimes…
Who’d choose to work from dawn to dusk in the freezing cold and blazing sun.....knowing that they are payed and cared well…
Who’d raise their kids with the affirmation that a good school awaits welcoming them, without a fight, nearest to their home…
Who’d be willing to give up their petty casts and creeds, as they are no longer judged by those petty things…
Sri Lanka loose it’s best breed of people to countries, who provide these basic necessities for peaceful living…
It’s not just the fault of the politicians… although they do have a huge part in this….whether we like to accept it or not, we all are politician in our respected career paths… we play a role in every decision we back…and in every decision we silently affirm…
How hard is it for a country to provide the basic necessities for such peaceful living?
I’m not sure whether I’ve climbed to a society where migration is common, than the society I spent during the years of growing up… or whether migration is more common in the whole society now, than in the yesteryears….
Still, every time I hear about someone’s decision to migrate, I feel a pang of sadness… poignant sense of loss, not to me personally… but for the people of my country……
And I am sure, most of the people who leave, carry this sense of nostalgia…..loss……. Like a bride leaving her parents’ home….happy, yet sad in many indescribable ways…
P.s.
This doesn’t mean that every one who leave are good, and who stays home are bad… the world is always a gray tapestry..… and it’s people are always creatures of circumstances…
When you live in scarcity and in deprived state, it’s hard to be peaceful and all good at all times, amidst completing the lifes’ list of “to do” s……
I’ve come to realize that it’s pretty easy to be good, without much effort when all your basic needs are fulfilled to your liking…
https://www.facebook.com/Arunalanie/photos/a.226972404103535.59340.226021104198665/988670684600366/?type=3
We leave for school, university and jobs… and with marriage, we leave again, to create another home…
When we travel we try to grasp the essence of things we see..and bring them home… sometimes the good, sometimes the bad…… but always, there’s a sense of relief in returning ….. returning home…..
I’ve come across many people who’ve left home… home in the sense of the house you grew up..And on broader terms the country you were born, the place you call home…
From childhood, we were told we are blessed to be born in this isle of serendipity, Sri Lanka… and I’ve met westerners asking me “but that’s a wonder country…..in all sense a paradise… why did you leave it?” And I tell them, that “I am here only for sometime, to fulfill the educational need only, we will be going back, for sure…..”
But, I’ve known many who chose otherwise….. Who tried to bring in the good things in these greener pastures, to home….who tried to make things better, yet failed…or belittled by the masses and disheartened….who are law abiding decent human beings, who seek the fair ground of equality and a just law enforcing system active…who wanted to create a better, orderly society…. who aspired for a peaceful living…
Leave..
Leave home, with tearful eyes, leave the country which gave so much to them ……these people were the people who wanted to do something for the isle…who aspired for a better life…
They all left, and they talks about the paradise they lost…
The roots that keep on withering with every passing day, watered by the tears of that loss….
These people who leave are the very people who’d like to have a better just law enforced upon them… who’d pay taxes willingly, to the country they choose to live, knowing that the government would take care of them with that tax money… who’d abide the law, even though they seem pretty stupid sometimes…
Who’d choose to work from dawn to dusk in the freezing cold and blazing sun.....knowing that they are payed and cared well…
Who’d raise their kids with the affirmation that a good school awaits welcoming them, without a fight, nearest to their home…
Who’d be willing to give up their petty casts and creeds, as they are no longer judged by those petty things…
Sri Lanka loose it’s best breed of people to countries, who provide these basic necessities for peaceful living…
It’s not just the fault of the politicians… although they do have a huge part in this….whether we like to accept it or not, we all are politician in our respected career paths… we play a role in every decision we back…and in every decision we silently affirm…
How hard is it for a country to provide the basic necessities for such peaceful living?
I’m not sure whether I’ve climbed to a society where migration is common, than the society I spent during the years of growing up… or whether migration is more common in the whole society now, than in the yesteryears….
Still, every time I hear about someone’s decision to migrate, I feel a pang of sadness… poignant sense of loss, not to me personally… but for the people of my country……
And I am sure, most of the people who leave, carry this sense of nostalgia…..loss……. Like a bride leaving her parents’ home….happy, yet sad in many indescribable ways…
P.s.
This doesn’t mean that every one who leave are good, and who stays home are bad… the world is always a gray tapestry..… and it’s people are always creatures of circumstances…
When you live in scarcity and in deprived state, it’s hard to be peaceful and all good at all times, amidst completing the lifes’ list of “to do” s……
I’ve come to realize that it’s pretty easy to be good, without much effort when all your basic needs are fulfilled to your liking…
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