It is indeed sad that in the hallowed precinct of the Kelaniya temple, a minister had the audacity to make the most outlandish and bizarre statements. He claims that no mercy would be shown to traitors. He went on to say that threatening to break limbs is a lesser punishment, when compared with those that existed during the time of ancient kings.

Buddhism and other religions, call for compassion and loving kindness to others. It is easy to do so to those of our own; nothing great about that, even rascals and rouges do that among themselves. True religious life is to love those who are difficult to love; even enemies and traitors. Therein is the test of real religious living, without which, the externals we perform would be of little value. We overcome hatred not with hatred but with love. The sooner our people start living their religion, the better it will be for all. Herein lays the true patriot, not pseudo ones, who in the name of patriotism say and do outlandish things and make a mockery of religion and patriotism. Let’s not miss the opportunity we have, standing on the crossroads of transition our nation is facing, by correcting our wrong perceptions. Let’s not go back to our primordial era and make a hash of things in today’s world.

As the world looks at us these days, with a microscopic lens, it see the stupid things some of our so called ‘leaders’ do and say. The world could be led to think that is the culture and nature of our people. Naturally the world tends to believe that such primitiveness calls for more and more interference. It may even wonder how such people could understand the intricacies in addressing truth and reconciliation. The silence, inaction and lack of coordination of the government to correct itself and to have a clear understanding of its purpose, are sending wrong signals, to not only to our people, but also to the world. It’s not too late however to buckle up and tie our own shoe laces, instead of someone else having to do it for us.

On a positive note we are made to see the weaknesses of our leaders. Leadership in all strata of society could be faulty if it’s founded on the pampering of the ego. All are fighting to receive praises from one another to boost the ego and self-importance. Irrational behavior of ministers and leaders is due to the distortion within. It’s made worse by people pandering to them. Big people have big egos and it’s so easy to manipulate them. Leaders need to be aware of this. Someday all would have to give up their leadership. Then they would find themselves standing alone on the stage. All the props are gone and people would have no need of you. For now, seeing the symptoms of distortions that’s within could be a blessing in disguise. When we can see it in ourselves or in other sit’s a favour done. Journalists are one such segment who show it to others. That does not mean they are perfect. When someone shows our distortion, we could get disturbed to say it’s not true, or courageous enough to accept and correct ourselves.

Source: Daily Mirror - Sri Lanka