It Is A National Disgrace
By Madawala Hemananda –August 6, 2015
Madawala Hemananda
It is not an exaggeration that Sri-Lanka is reputed throughout the world, to be the repository of the earliest Buddhist scriptures and where the majority are practising Buddhists. Buddhism as far as I am aware, is the only religion, where there are no commandments and rules to obey and not even a dress-code, unless one is an ordained Buddhist Monk. The Buddha invited people to ‘come and see’ his philosophy, which was based on freedom of the individual, honesty and openness, as there was nothing to hide. Although openness, both in enquiry and investigation is a key feature of Buddhism, it appears that Srilankans have totally abandoned this noble tradition and are hiding themselves behind high front boundary walls and solid gates. One wonders whether they are hiding from an enemy or from their own neighbours, friends and relatives. Why are we continuing to behave like this, now that the civil war, which was often quoted as the lame excuse, is now well and truly over?
Even houses built in the remote parts of the Island, where everyone knows everyone else, owners have adopted the practice of hiding themselves, behind high front boundary walls. There are no visible signs of this practice easing or disappearing and in fact the opposite is happening, with high walls around houses becoming the norm, rather than the exception, as even before laying the foundation for a new house, a high wall is built, as if required by law. These front boundary walls while costing large sums of money, allow only roofs of these houses to be seen and to get access to them would be difficult, if not for the popularity of mobile phones, with which, one could alert the occupier having arrived in front of the house, so that the heavily fortified and opaque gate could be opened, often using brute force. Is this practice of hiding behind walls, not highly unbecoming of a great Buddhist nation that extols the virtues of a rich Buddhist cultural heritage?Read More