Opinion
Religious and philosophical aspects of Buddhism

By Dr. Justice Chandradasa Nanayakkara
Buddhism first originated in India in the 6th century BC. Today, Buddhism has become one of the most popular religions with over 507 million followers worldwide. It is a non-theistic religion, as it does not believe in a creator or God.
Some prefer to call it a religion, while others call it a philosophy, still others regard it as both a religion and philosophy, as it contains many characteristics which blur the lines between philosophy and religion. Different people view buddhism differently. Therefore, the question of whether Buddhism is a philosophy or a religion depends on how people define religion and its technicalities. Religion generally connotes idea of presence of powerful God who controls the entire world, Buddhism which is non-theistic cannot be classified as a religion. Term non-theistic religion would be a contradiction in terms.
Of course, it has to be admitted that there are plenty of religious and philosophical aspects to the Buddha’s doctrine.
Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha. He was born to a royal family in Kapilavastu, on the foot hills of the Himalaya in the 16th century B.C. When he was overcome by sights of disease, old age and death he realised that the world was full of suffering and misery and therefore renounced his worldly life in search of true happiness. After practicing great austerities, and going through intense meditation with a strong will and a mind free from all disturbing thoughts and passions, he attained enlightment.
The Buddha can also be regarded as one of the greatest psychotherapists the world has ever produced.
Buddhism is a pragmatic teaching, which starts from certain fundamental propositions about how we experience the world and how we act in it. It teaches that it is possible to transcend this sorrowful world and shows us the way of liberating ourselves from the sorrowful state.
Buddhism is not culture bound, nor bound to any particular society, race or ethnic group unlike certain religions that are culture bound. Buddhism believes in pragmatism and its practicality can be seen as one of its distinguishing features. Buddhism lays special emphasis on practice and realisation.
In a way Buddhism can be considered as a way of life. It is the righteous way of life which brings about peace and happiness to every living being. It is a method of ridding ourselves of miseries and to find liberation from samsaric cyclic life.
The teachings of the Buddha contain practical wisdom that is not limited to theory or to philosophy. Philosophy deals mainly with knowledge and it is not concerned with translating that knowledge into day to day practice. Philosophy is commonly defined as a rational investigation of principles and beliefs of knowledge and conduct. Philosophy can see the frustrations and disappointments of life but unlike in Buddhism it does not show any practical solution to overcome those problems which are part of the unsatisfactory nature of life.
The Buddha’s teachings are referred to as the Dhamma, which literally means “the ultimate truth” or the “truth about reality”. Buddhists are expected to live by it. The Buddha always encouraged his followers to investigate his teachings for themselves. His Dhamma is described as Ehipassikko which roughly means “Inviting his followers to come and see for themselves or “verify” or “to investigate”. He strongly encouraged his followers to engage in critical thinking and draw on their own personal experience to test what he was saying. This attitude differs entirely from other regions such as Christianity where followers are encouraged to accept its scriptures unquestioningly. This is exemplified by the Kalama Sutra.
When the Buddha on his wanderings arrived at Kesaputta, the town of the Kalamas’, the Kalamas went to the Buddha and said to the Buddha “Lord, there are some brahmans and ascetics who had come to Kesputta. They expound and glorify their own doctrines but as for the doctrines of others, they deprecate them, revile them show contempt for them and disparage them. Then again other brahmans and ascetics come to Kesputta they too expound and glorify their own doctrines, but as for the doctrines of others they deprecate them, revile them show contempt for them and disparage them. They leave us absolutely uncertain and in doubt. Which of these venerable brahmanas and ascetics are speaking the truth, and which ones are lying?”
Lord Buddha replying said “Yes, O Kalama’s, it is right for you to doubt, it is right for you to waver. In a doubtful matter, wavering has arisen.” And gave them the following advice. “Come, O Kalamas, do not accept anything on mere hearsay. Do not accept any thing by mere tradition thinking that it has been handed through many generations. Do not accept anything on account of rumors without investigations. Do not accept anything just because it accords with your scriptures. Do not accept anything by mere supposition. Do not accept anything by mere inference. Do not accept anything by merely considering the appearances. Do not accept anything merely because it agrees with your preconceived notions. Do not accept anything merely because it seems acceptable. Do not accept anything thinking that the master is respected or it is part of tradition”.
“But when you know for yourselves after investigation that these things are good, these things are not blameless, these things are praised by the wise, undertaken and observed, these things lead to the benefit and happiness, enter on and abide in them”
These wise utterances of the Buddha made more than 2500 years ago, still holds good and can be applied with equal force to our day to today life. In Janasara-sammuccaya he repeats the same counsel in different form. “tapac chedac canikasatsvarnamiva panditaih Parrikshya blikshavo grahyam madvaco na tu gaurvat” which means “As the wise test gold by burning, cutting and rubbing it on a piece of touchstone, so are you to accept my words after examining them and merely out of regard for me”.
The Buddha dealt with the problem of human suffering and approached it in a concrete way. This attitude of pragmatism of Buddhism is clearly evident from the Culamalukyasutta in which the Buddha made use of the example of the wounded man. A man wounded by an arrow wished to know who shot the arrow, from which direction it was shot, the material with which it was made, before it was removed from his body. This man is compared to a man who would like to know about the origin of the Universe, whether the world is eternal or not, finite or not before he practices the religion.
Just as the man in the parable will die before he has all the answers he wanted regarding the origin and the nature of the arrow, such people will die before they will ever have the answers to all their irrelevant questions. This Sutra exemplifies the practical attitude to Buddhism and question of priorities.
Buddha as a primarily ethical teacher and reformer discouraged metaphysical discussions devoid of ethical value and practical utility. Instead, he enlightened his followers on the most important questions of sorrow, its origin, its cessation and the path leading to its cessation, as adumbrated in the Four Noble Truths. To him the problem of human suffering was much more important than speculative discussions or reasoning.
Most people define religion as believing in some kind of omnipotent God or Creator, the view to which buddhism does not subscribe. Buddhism is not a religion based on faith, authority, dogmas or revelation, but based on facts as we experience them in our daily lives. Buddha declared “whether a tathagata (buddha) arises in the world or not all conditioned things are transient” Annica, unsatisfactory Dukkha and soulless Annatta. Buddha declared deliverance could be attained independent of any external agency such as a God or a savior. This is one of the fundamental differences which distinguish buddhism from other religions.
In the Dhammapada the Buddha says: “By oneself alone is evil done: by oneself is one defiled. By oneself alone is evil avoided: by oneself alone is one purified. (Purity and impurity depend on oneself. No one can purify another). A Buddhist does not think that he can gain purity or salvation merely by seeking refuge in the Buddha or by mere faith in him. Buddha as a teacher may be instrumental or show the path of purification to a person but he himself has to strive.
Although the Buddha discounted the concept of God he never denounced or denigrated it. Never in all his discourses did the buddha make a direct attack on the concept of God
Most people across the world consider buddhism as a religion. But it should be admitted that Buddhism has many religious and philosophical aspects in its doctrine, which has led many people to regard it so. Further, Buddhism also contains metaphysical aspects which are associated with religion. Similarly, discourses on rebirth and different realms of existence, in which a person can be reborn after his death are associated with religion. Moreover, reference to supernatural powers in many of Buddhist discourses and Karmic consequences which result from one’s actions makes it less of philosophy and more of religion
Further, he speaks of the law of karma which he uses to expound the unfairness and inequality that exits in society, the defilements, fetters and hindrances such as attachment, sensory desires, lust doubt and uncertainty and craving which prevents one from attaining liberation from samsaric life. All of the above go to prove the religious aspects of the doctrine. The five precepts by buddha are more like a set of guidelines people should follow for a good life on this and the next life.
Therefore, debate whether Buddhism is a religion or a philosophy is legitimate has both sides have reasonable argument to buttress their stand on the matter.
Opinion
Turning around national carrier pie in the sky?

Nothing pleases me more than being greeted with Ayubowan by the smiling face of a beauty clad in a bright blue saree, every time I board a SriLankan Airlines Airbus to fly to Sri Lanka, which I was forced to leave during the second JVP uprising during which people were executed for doing their duty. Perhaps, SriLankan may outlast me as I am already in the departure lounge of my life! The million-dollar question is how long. Though my fervent wish is for SriLankan Airlines to flourish as a global carrier with repute, a potential it once had, omens predict otherwise. Some of the best who worked for the predecessors of SriLankan have ventured out to build very successful airlines. Successive governments have been grappling with the question as to what could be done to the loss-making carrier; ditch it or continue to fly for prestige?
One of the key decisions of the NPP government was to let SriLankan continue as a state venture. For the Marxist-orientated JVP, perhaps, any input from the private sector is an anathema although most successful airlines are private sector entities. Many countries that had state-owned carriers have opted for privatisation for reasons of economy, only countries with vast wealth to buy aircraft outright being able to maintain state airlines. Emirates Airlines, owned by a super-rich Gulf state, which started in 1985 with only two aircraft on wet-lease from Pakistan International Airlines, is a giant in aviation today. So is Qatar Airways, which started operations only in 1994 and is owned by another super-rich Gulf state. On the other hand, the UK handed over British Airways to the private sector a long time ago and India handed over Air India back to the original owners, the Tata Group in 2021. Despite the setback of the recent downing of the 787 Dreamliner, Air India is bound to prosper as the modernisation of the fleet goes on at an unbelievably rapid pace. In early 2023, Air India ordered 250 new jets from Airbus and 220 from Boeing, the largest order in modern times. The Airbus order was increased by another 100 in December 2024. This order exceeds the total fleet strength of Emirates and Qatar combined!
True to form, the NPP government made one hell of a show with the new acquisition to the SriLankan fleet, bringing the total number of aircraft to 23. Some communiques gave the false impression that it was a brand-new aircraft bought by the airline, flypast down the West coast on its way from Airbus headquarters in France to BIA adding to the show. One can understand the water-jet welcome to any acquisition but the rest of the celebrations was well over the top. It transpires that the ‘new’ Airbus A330 is actually a refurbished 14 years old aircraft, originally owned by Garuda Indonesian Airways for 12 years and then by a now-defunct South Korean Carrier. It was not bought either but is on a dry-lease. It is said that the order was placed by the previous government! NPP seems very adept at taking credit for the actions of others and to excel in words!
I have been on board a brand-new aircraft during its inaugural flight. A grateful patient of mine, who happened to be a travel agent, passed on his invitation for the maiden voyage of a new Swissair aircraft on the Zurich to London sector. I cannot recollect the type of the narrow-body jet, as it was so long ago, but I distinctly remember that there was no tamasha at all, the only difference to a routine flight being the addition by the captain that it is a brand-new aircraft in his welcome announcement! SriLankan, as well as its predecessors have added brand new aircraft to the fleet but I cannot remember any tamashas like this. In fact, SriLankan was the first Asian airline to operate the four-engined Airbus A340 in 1994.
SriLankan can trace its ancestry to Air Ceylon, which was established in 1947 as the state-owned flag carrier which ceased operations in 1979, to be replaced by Air Lanka. Rebranding as SriLankan happened when Emirates Airlines took a 43% share of Air Lanka together with a 10-year management contract. With the end of the management contract SL government decided to buy back the shares, more due to political reasons. Though there was an operational profit during the Emirates period, it is claimed that SriLankan lost in many other ways to Emirates including valuable routes.
Srilankan could have been a success story, if not for political interference, the worst offence being handing over the chairmanship to those without adequate experience. JRJ appointed a pilot to the top job whilst Mahinda appointed his brother-in-law. Some CEOs were totally corrupt, one of them hitting the headlines when Airbus settled a graft scandal with British authorities. Worst crime, among his many others including the idiotic agreement on Hambantota port by Ranil on SriLankan Airlines was the cancellation of the order to purchase four A350 aircraft, one of the most advanced aircrafts in the skies. Perhaps, he cancelled the order to spite the Rajapaksas rather than renegotiating to buy a fewer number instead of paying hefty cancellation charges with no aircraft. If the cost involved in establishing service facilities for a new type of aircraft was deemed unjustified, SriLankan could have purchased the A350s and dry-leased them, using the funds to dry-lease a few more A330s to expand services. Puny actions of this nature together with rampant corruption at the top has made SriLankan Airlines a liability to the nation. The previous government had drawn plans for a sale and there were interested parties. AKD decided that SriLankan should remain a state venture and appointed a person from one of the interested parties as the new chairman. If he steadies the ship and the IMF demands that SriLankan be privatised as a condition of one of the future tranches, a miracle could happen!
by Dr Upul Wijayawardhna
Opinion
Fallen tree claiming life of student

All the print and electronic media report that a huge branch of a large tree has fallen on a school in Balangoda, killing a 17-year-old student and causing severe injuries to 16 students.A mother of a student whose son is studying with the victim, giving a voice cut to the media disclosed in a heart-rending story that the repeated reminders on this hazardous threat made to the Principal and the Regional Education Office for the last five years have not been heeded to until this tragedy claimed the life of an innocent student.
This is not the first time that students have perished in the school premises. A sixth-grade student died when a discarded iron pipe of a soccer goal post fell on his body at Thopawewa Maha Vidyalaya, Polonnaruwa. Senith Wijesinghe, a bright student at Ananda College, Colombo, perished on the spot when the turf roller fell on his body. Another student at Wellampitiya Maha Vidyalaya met his untimely death when a part of the parapet wall connected to the water pipeline fell on his body. Another unfortunate death of a student was reported from the south when a Hume pipe brought for road development work rolled out accidently killing a student in the school premises.
A careful analysis of the statistics of fatal and grave accidents to students disclose a shocking revelation. According to NHSL, 2,691 schoolchildren have been treated, out of which 274 were related to accidents in the school premises. Health Ministry sources say that 10,000 to 20,000 students are being treated for accidents annually.
Educational authorities should bear in mind that parents send their children to school on the basic premise that the school provides an accident free safety environment to their children. School Principals as well as the Regional/Zonal Education Directors have an inalienable duty to provide this basic protection to the students, leave aside the education. What the Education Ministry and the Department should do is not to resort to knee-jerk reaction when a fatal accident occurs and issue precautionary guidelines. Their hunky-dory attitude does not bode well for the wellbeing of the student community. What is required is a well-planned institutional strategy to face this calamitous situation.
My recollection says that the Ministry of Education had issued directions by way of circular instructions to the Zonal Education Directors to visit schools periodically and identify the hazardous situations and unsafe structures and trees with a view to taking on the spot remedial measures. If the authorities heeded such directives, the life of a Balangoda student could have been thwarted.
This short note would not be complete if it does not cover the numerous safety hazards frequently confronted by the student community in a school setting. In laboratories where students are called upon to deal hazardous chemicals. They should not be mixed together and stored separately. Students should handle chemicals under the direct supervision of the teachers. Unsafe and unregulated pits and trenches should be identified and barricaded with tiger tapes immediately with prominent wordings and luminous colors. Unsafe old structures such as old buildings, rusted iron structures, unsafe roofs and materials, heavy rollers should be identified and they should be immediately discarded/dismantled before such structures cause any harm to the students.
During sports activities- dehydration and heart related injuries should be prevented by proper re-hydration and avoiding vigorous outdoor practices in hot sun during hot periods of the year. In this country, school athletic meets and big matches are held in the month of February and March during which period, heat temperament is relatively unbearable. For long distance running, medical certificates from a medical doctor should be mandatory.
School principals are the custodian of the children’s safety and a competent safety team should be formed to avoid unsafe accidents with the collective support of the teachers and school prefects. The creation of a safety conscience and culture should be inculcated across the board. When questioned by a Principal of a leading girl’s school in Nugegoda, she was very complacent about the safety arrangements of the school by delegating this function to a lady PTI instructor, which is most unsatisfactory. The Principal or the Vice Principal should personally and directly take over this prime responsibility. It is utmost paramount to analyse everything from a safety eye and the PTI is woefully lacking this trait.
Last but not least, I could render my support to the Prime Minister who is in charge of the Education to create a hazard free safety environment in the schools with the expertise I have obtained locally and globally for over five decades voluntarily. What I emphasise for the hazard-free school environment is that the safety aspect should be institutionalised within the main system of education. It would be a desirable step to establish a safety branch in each Zonal Education Zone, considering the adverse trend of tragic accidents. Essentially the present adverse trend of accidents in schools has to be arrested as a utmost priority.
It is much regretted that my comprehensive article published in a leading newspaper have not had the desired effect for the last six months.
J. A. A. S. Ranasinghe
Productivity Specialist and Management Consultant
(The writer can be contacted a49@gmail.com)
Opinion
How to earn extra income from recycling plastic waste

If any material has a commercial value people will be motivated to collect, and sell it in return for some additional income. From this perspective, even cow-dung when presented in the form of suitable fertilizer for agriculture can be a good source of income for the owners of livestock farms. When concerned about the present-day economic hardships many people in the low-income range are badly in need of money for their day today struggling for a living while facing an atmosphere of skyrocketing cost of living. Hence, the duty of the state and the media is to enlighten and educate the public about the available avenues and encourage them to engage in the business of the waste recycling industry.
At present there is a lack of information or frequent publicity about any collecting centers that accept and pay for polythene and plastic wastes. Therefore, the public are not interested in collecting them. As a result, tons and tons of plastic and polythene wastes are dumped, burned or thrown into waterways. It has become a widespread menace that wherever and whenever a mass gathering such as a procession, political rally, musical show, protest march, demonstration, a get together party is held, tons of waste, particularly, polythene and plastic items scattered in heaps on roadsides are an ugly sight to see. For example, Annual events like the Sri pada pilgrimage, numerous religious processions countrywide, new year celebration sites, sports meet, hotels and reception hall-based events etc. during the last tooth relic exhibition period in Kandy too, piles of waste were left to the annoyance of the municipal authorities. This is an everlasting environmental disaster which causes further and further degradation and destruction to the entire country.
In a recent news item, I happened to notice an entrepreneur, Sulalitha Perera from Bandaragama, is becoming successful in a polythene recycling scheme. He has expressed that he hopes to expand his business in all districts if he gets help from the government and other stakeholders. This is, indeed, a praiseworthy effort which should be encouraged and assisted by all concerned authorities, mainly by the ministry of environmental affairs. The media particularly the television and social media like YouTube must highlight the value of such environment friendly businesses which protect the environment, bring in forex to the economy, and provide employment opportunities to the community.
In this regard, the main responsibility of all media particularly the electronic media (specially TV+ you tube) is to glorify the recycling industry by creating new dramatic episodes and new songs encompassing the environment cleanliness and benefits of recycling industries as well as to encourage the communities to collect and sell all polythene and plastic products to the collecting centers to earn an additional income instead of throwing or burning them in the neighborhood. For anybody, rich or poor, it is no shame to take back the collection of polythene and plastic that gathers in one’s homestead to the place where one purchases daily needs. A certain amount of deduction of the costs by the trader in lieu of the returned waste material is also profitable for the customer. This is the greatest contribution that all of us can make to sustain a Clean Sri Lanka.
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