Discover-SriLanka: SRI LANKA - ESSAYS [ SCIENCE AND THE ESOTERIC

DISCOVER - SRI LANKA: PROLOGUE

IN PRAISE OF MY BEAUTIFUL ISLAND,

INFORMATION, PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEO.

THE 13th CENTURY VENETIAN TRAVELER MARCO POLO DESCRIBED THE ISLAND AS 'THE JADE PENDANT IN THE INDIAN OCEAN'. THE ABUNDANCE OF GEMSTONES, SPICES, RAIN FORESTS AND WILDLIFE; THE MAGNIFICENT BEACHES, ANCIENT RUINS AND A WRITTEN HISTORY OF OVER 2500 YEARS MAKE THIS ISLAND A TOURISTS' PARADISE.

THE RUINED CITIES OF ANURADHAPURA AND POLONNARUWA ILLUSTRATE THE GLORY OF THE ANCIENT KINGDOMS. THE GIGANTIC STUPAS AND BUDDHA STATUES ARE AMONG THE BIGGEST MAN MADE STRUCTURES OF THE WORLD. THE MASSIVE RESERVOIRS, BUILT BY ANCIENT KINGS TO IRRIGATE THOUSANDS OF ACRES OF LAND, ARE MARVELS OF HYDRO ENGINEERING. THERE ARE EIGHT UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES IN SRI LANKA

THE ISLAND WAS KNOWN TO THE GREEKS AS 'TAPROBANE' AND TO THE ARABS AS 'SERENDIB'. EARLY MERCHANTS VISITED THE ISLAND IN SEARCH OF GEMSTONES AND SPICES, MAINLY CINNAMON AND PEPPER. COFFEE AND TEA PLANTATIONS WERE STARTED BY THE BRITISH COLONIAL RULERS. CEYLON TEA IS FAMOUS THE WORLD OVER.

TOURISM INDUSTRY IS A MAJOR MONEY SPINNER FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL ISLAND. THE VAST EXPANSE OF BEACHES, RAIN FORESTS AND NATIONAL PARKS WITH HERDS OF WILD ELEPHANTS, THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS WITH LITHE WATER FALLS, BRING IN THE TOURISTS. THE ISLAND IS DOTTED WITH HUNDREDS OF HOTELS TO ACCOMMODATE THE TRAVELER. AN ISLAND OF 25,000 SQ; MILES HAS 103 RIVERS AND 25000 RESERVOIRS, MOSTLY MAN MADE. WITH VARYING CLIMATIC CONDITIONS THIS IS TRULY A 'SMALL MIRACLE'.

" THE ISLAND OF SRI LANKA IS A SMALL UNIVERSE, IT CONTAINS AS MANY VARIATIONS OF CULTURE, SCENERY AND CLIMATE AS SOME COUNTRIES A DOZEN TIMES ITS SIZE........I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THERE IS ANY COUNTRY WHICH SCORES SO HIGHLY IN ALL DEPARTMENTS - WHICH HAVE SO MANY ADVANTAGES AND SO FEW DISADVANTAGES. LOVELY BEACHES, BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES, IMPRESSIVE RUINS, A VIBRANT CULTURE AND CHARMING PEOPLE- NO WONDER SRI LANKA IS A SMALL MIRACLE ".***** Arthur C. Clark *****

23 February, 2010

SRI LANKA - ESSAYS [ SCIENCE AND THE ESOTERIC - BY THE LATE SAM WAIDYASEKERA

FOREWORD

IF ONE GETS TO READ THIS BOOK, AT FIRST ONE IS ASTONISHED TO FIND A LOT OF IDEAS WHICH MADE THEIR WAY INTO PUBLIC DISCUSSION IN THE WEST ONLY IN THE EIGHTIES. NOT BEFORE F.CAPRA PUBLISHED "THE TURNING POINT" IN 1982 WAS IT SHOWN THAT THE NATURAL SCIENCES HAD STARTED TO BREAK AWAY FROM THE SELF-CHOSEN ISOLATION TO OTHER SCIENCES. UP TO THAT TIME RESEARCH LINKING, FOR INSTANCE PHYSICS WITH METAPHYSICS WAS CALLED "UNSCIENTIFIC" AND NEARLY PROHIBITED. TODAY WE KNOW THAT THESE BORDERS WERE TOO NARROW.

ALL THE MORE WE FIND IT AMAZING THAT A THINKER LIKE SAM WAIDYASEKERA MORE THAN FIFTEEN YEARS EARLIER ANTICIPATED MOST OF THESE IDEAS. GROWN UP IN THE EAST WITH ACCESS TO WESTERN SCIENCE BY HIS EDUCATION, HE DID NOT BECOME A VICTIM OF THAT PROHIBITION OF UNUSUAL THOUGHT. HIS TEXTS REVEAL HIM TO HAVE BEEN NOT ONLY A GOOD OBSERVER AND PSYCHOLOGIST BUT ALSO AN EXPERT ON SCIENCE. IT IS A TRAGEDY THAT SUCH A PRODUCTIVE MIND COULD NOT HAVE HAD THE CHANCE TO WORK LONGER ON HIS SUBJECTS: SCIENCE AND THE ESOTERIC. NEVERTHELESS THE MULTITUDE OF THEMES HE IS DEALING WITH IN THIS BOOK DEMONSTRATE THE ENORMOUS POTENTIAL OF THE AUTHOR.

GOTZ NITZSCHE

FREIBURG, GERMANY. SEPTEMBER 1994.

A CONSTRUCTIVE VIEW OF DISEASE

EVENTS IN HUMAN EXISTENCE SUCH AS BIRTH AND DEATH ARE ALWAYS ASSOCIATED WITH PANGS AND PAIN AND SUFFERING. BUT TO THE PARTICULAR BEING, BIRTH AND DEATH ARE BEYOND THE REALM OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND ARE NOT INSTRUCTIVE TO HIMSELF. MOST HUMAN BEINGS HOWEVER HAVE TO ENDURE OLD AGE WITHIN THE REALM OF CONSCIOUSNESS BUT PHYSICAL DECAY THROUGH OLD AGE IS OFTEN UN-CONSTRUCTIVE FROM THE POINT OF WISDOM AND COSMIC EVOLUTION AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH IRRITATION AND DISHARMONY. MORE INSTRUCTIVE AND CONSTRUCTIVE IS DISEASE.

THERE PREVAILS MANY EPITHETS ABOUT THE WEALTH AND WONDER AND GOODNESS OF HEALTH. A ROBUST PHYSIQUE IS THE ENVY OF MOST HUMAN BEINGS. GOOD HEALTH IS THE CRY OF THE DOCTORS. NEVER BEEN ILL IN MY WHOLE LIFE, ONE MAY BOAST. THE FACT IS THAT DEPENDING ON MANY DIFFICULT FACTORS SUCH AS SOUL, SPIRIT, MIND,KARMA AND ASTRAL BODY, DISEASE IS VERY CONDUCIVE TO UNDERSTANDING APPRECIATION,LOVE,GRATITUDE,WHOLESOMENESS,ACCOMMODATION AND UNITY. IT IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF EVOLUTION OR REALIZATION. MENTAL, SPIRITUAL AND SOUL HARMONY IS ATTAINED AT THE STAGE OF ARAHATSHIP. THERE PREVAILS AN ASSOCIATED STRUGGLE BETWEEN MIND,SPIRIT AND SOUL AMONG ALL LESSER BEINGS AND THE COSMIC INFLUENCE OF DISEASE DEPENDS ON THE CONDITION AND HISTORY OF EACH OF THEM.

BY DISEASE IS MEANT MOSTLY DISEASE OF THE BODY, FOR DISEASE OF MIND AND SPIRIT ARE MANIFESTATIONS,EXPRESSIONS AND RESULTANT DIRECTIONS OF STRUGGLE AND CONFLICT IN THEIR REALMS. BUT NONE OF THESE ARE SEPARATE OR SELF CONSISTENT. KARMA ALSO PLAYS AN IMPORTANT PART IN DISEASE OF MIND,BODY AND SPIRIT AND THE ENTIRE SUBJECT IS DEEP AND COMPLEX. OUT OF ASSOCIATED STRUGGLE OF BODY AND ENVIRONMENT, OF MIND AND ENVIRONMENT, OF SPIRIT AND ENVIRONMENT, OF BODY,MIND, SOUL AND ENVIRONMENT, THERE EMERGES COSMIC PROGRESS WHICH IS EVOLUTION.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DISEASE COMES DOWN TO ZERO AT THE LEVEL OF ARAHATSHIP, WHEN THERE IS PERFECT HARMONY AMONG BODY,MIND SOUL AND ENVIRONMENT. KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS BEING AN IMPORTANT FACTOR, NOT ALL IS BENEATH CONSCIOUSNESS. THAT DISEASE FORMS A PART OF EVOLUTION MUST BE KNOWN SO AS TO AROUSE A MORE MATURE INSIGHT AND ENDURANCE AND REFLECTION. SPIRIT AND SOUL EVOLVE RAPIDLY UNDER THESE CONDITIONS. DISEASE CAN BE A VERY USEFUL ELEMENT OF PROGRESS AND MUST BE VIEWED SO WITH PROPER KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING.