BBS To Surround Ministry Of Buddha Sasana Soon

October 31, 2013 

The hardline Bodu Bala Sena group is scheduled to surround the Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs Ministry in a short while in order to protest against its failure to live up to the promises made to the organisation.

Galagodaaththe Gnanasara

A tight security cordon has been placed at the Ministry. Police armed with riot gear and batons are currently at the gate of the Ministry at Dharmpala Mawatha.

The BBS says that although the Sri Lankan Constitution guarantees the foremost place to Buddhism in the country, this provision has been reduced to mere words alone.

The BBS has called for the Buddha Sasana Ministry to be brought under the Ministry of Defence run by Secretary to the Ministry Gotabaya Rajapaksa in order to ensure Buddhism is given its due place and protected in Sri Lanka.

Dambulla Kovil Attacked; Hindu Politico Says Mosques And Kovils Must Not Be Shifted

October 24, 2013 

Hindu politicians have issued an urgent appeal to President Mahinda Rajapaksa asking him to act immediately to stop an old kovil in Dambulla from being shifted, after the temple was partially dismantled by a group recently.

Bhadrakali Mata Statue /File photo

Dr.N Kumar Guruparan, Western Provincial Councillor and Deputy Leader of the Democratic Peoples’ Front and Spokesman for the Hindu Front said the President needed to take steps to safeguard the Badhrakaali Amman Kovil and the Moor Mosque in Dambulla where violent protests erupted last year when hardline Buddhist groups insisted the mosque and kovil were encroaching on sacred ground near the Dambulla Golden Temple.

Guruparan said on October 21, in the early hours of the morning, the temple trustees had invaded the temple premises and removed its roofing. A month ago, he said, the statue of the deity Badhrakaali had been smashed and thrown into a well. “There is a group of Buddhist fundamentalists eager to change the history of tamils and Hindus’ and Muslims’ in Dambulla demolishing the temple and Mosque in prominent palace.This issue and deliberate attack on Badrakaali amman temple  is still continuing, the deity’s statue was smashed and thrown in to the well not even a month back. Guruparan said the trident in the premises had been used to remove the roofing.

“As we know  Hon Parliamentarian R. Yogarajan with the assistance of Hindu Businesman donated a new statue, handed over at the temple. Mr. Yogarajan  also had discussions with the UDA and the Ministry of Religious Affairs to obtain a more spacious land in another location in Dambulla to rebuild this temple. I also held discussions with UDA officials  to stop shifting the residences and the Temple.

Eric Fromm’s Views On The Buddhist Philosophy

By Ruwan M Jayatunge -October 31, 2013 |

Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge MD

“Buddhism helps man to find an answer to the question of his existence, an answer which is essentially the same as that given in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and yet which does not contradict the rationality, realism, and independence which are modern man’s precious achievements. Paradoxically, Eastern religious thought turns out to be more congenial to Western rational thought than does Western religious thought itself” - Erich Fromm

The Social Psychologist and Humanistic Philosopher Eric Fromm was vastly influenced by Freud and Karl Heinrich Marx. He became a follower of Neoanalytic tradition.  In later years Fromm started reading Zen Buddhism in depth.  He saw Buddhism as a philosophical-anthropological system based on observation of facts and their rational explanation. (Buddhism and the Mode of Having vs. Being – Erick Fromm 1975). Fromm believed that Buddhism is a completely rational system which demands no intellectual sacrifice.

Fromm’s interest towards Buddhism was obvious. Among the Western scholars Caroline A. F. Rhys Davids was one of the pioneers to conceptualize canonical Buddhist writings in terms of psychology. Professor William James was making some comparisons between the consciousness and thought process that was described in the Western Psychology and what the Buddha had taught two millenniums ago.  Many former members of the Freud’s Psychoanalytic society were reading Buddhist philosophy and making evaluations. By this time Carl Jung had highlighted the mind analysis in Buddhism. Therefore Fromm’s interest towards Buddhism was not an abrupt event.  Read More