Countries & Leaders without Compassion suffer Karmic repercussions
The tenets of a Compassionate Leader entails practice by example. This was how the Sinhale nation’s leaders led for over 2300 years following the dasa raja dhamma. It is the continuous of these noble and compassionate leadership qualities that will make Sri Lanka preserve its historical identity. We should not follow the teachings as prescribed by Abrahamic faiths because we have a scientifically proven religion, we have a 2300 history wherein our leaders led by example following laws that did not lead to any murder, mayhem or mass exodus of either the Sinhala majority or the minority Tamils and the alien Muslims allowed to remain on coastal areas of Sri Lanka. It is when flouting the tenets with which Sri Lanka should abide by that karmic repercussions can be seen.
The Island newspaper of 20th May 2015 carried an article titled ‘Stray dogs released to Wilpattu surroundings’. MP Gayantha Karunathilake told Parliament that the previous government had spent Rs.1094,294 to feed 203 stray dogs who had been removed from Colombo City for the Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting in 2013. According to MP Pathirana these dogs had been put into Wilpattu jungles and a majority of them had died. MP Pathirana went on to say that the wife of the Opposition Leader being an animal lover was saddened by this and the question was why over 1m was spent on maintaining dogs at two compounds in Colombo before they were released to die in Wilpattu.
We seem to after being ruled by colonial invaders lost our Buddhist roots. The Sinhala Buddhist kings ruled Sri Lanka on the basis of the Laws of Manu and customary Buddhist laws upholding the Buddhist precepts that all living beings are to be protected with reverence for life. This was promoted on the basis of advice given by Arahat Mahinda thero to King Dewanampiyatissa. Thus, the governing rules of law were clearly articulated, boundaries defined and drawn so that people knew what was taboo and this enabled respect and to live in peaceful co-existence. While all non-Buddhists could practice their faiths they could not follow practices that over-ruled the Buddhist precepts and neither did they attempt to because what was allowed and what was prohibited were clearly conveyed to them.
The place of Buddhism in the Sinhale nation was inviolable and that place was also meant to be guaranteed in the Kandy Convention of 1815 ‘the religion of the Buddha professed by the chief and inhabitants of these provinces is declared inviolable and its, ministers (monks) and places of worship are to be maintained and protected’. That the British never intended to keep the promises made was seen by the methods they adopted to subtly remove the place of Buddhism.
But to have Sri Lanka post-independence leaders play lukewarm lipservic to Buddhism is far more disappointing. Both Christian majority nations and Muslim majority-nations all make clear what is acceptable under their faiths and what is not. Equality of religions always stops short of not allowing anything to eat into their religious space or their beliefs. Why have Sri Lanka’s leaders feared to do the same?
Is it not a noble and compassionate principle to treat animals with compassion in times where dogs, horses, camels are eaten despite they providing a service to people. Can we eat the very animals that serve us? It is because of the killing trait that we have depreciated to such low levels as humans. We have lost our humanity and the examples of behaving worse than animals abound. As Leo Tolstoy said ‘wherever there is slaughterhouses there is bloodshed’ and we can see that very clearly.
It is a trait whenever a calamity occurs to claim it is due to karmic repercussions. The same was said following the mass animal sacrifice in Nepal of lakhs and lakhs of animals just to appease the Gods and seek favors. A massive earthquake struck and repeated quakes are taking place still in Nepal. Our immediate thoughts were whether these were karmic repercussions for taking the lives of so many animals.
Similarly, the example of these dogs taken and dumped in the jungles and the fate that met them can be considered as a similar example. It is a habit for politicians to knowing the karmic repercussions to visit temples thinking they will be absolved. In their haste for merit they end up visiting temples of other religions too dumbfounding the Gods further since there is an overlapping and contradictions in the beliefs of the Vedic faiths and those of the Abrahamic faiths.
Nonetheless, for Sri Lanka to resurface and chart out a new destiny it must uphold the noble and compassion that Buddhism affords. In Europe a silent revolution is taking place with people realizing that wealth does not provide happiness and meat affects their health and their inner peace has been satisfied through Buddhism and happiness and health has come from turning to vegan/vegetarian diets.
Sri Lanka does not need to follow, Sri Lanka needs to champion Buddhist compassion starting with a new Constitution drawing on compassionate living and ethics for man and animal. It is the right thing to do and will provide a salvation to all the People as well – emotionally, physically and mentally as well.
Shenali D Waduge
1323 Viewers
