Meditation For Peaceful Elections
Meditation in Vihara Maha Devi Amphitheatre
My friend Ragi Kadirgamar had this idea for a meditation for peaceful elections. Sarvodaya helped implement it today, led by Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, one of the sweetest and most accomplished men in Sri Lanka. I try to meditate a few times a week but I still find it difficult to sit for that long. In this group, outside it was OK. Ragi an Dr. Ari are of the belief that group meditation directly changes the energy in a place. I don’t know, but I just know that it changes the energy in me. I was much less angry in traffic, for example. The election is getting quite a bit rough, but I still hope it will turn out OK. Meditation may seem like nothing, but it also led the Buddha to ultimate truth, so I think it does do something.
Meditation is a good practice for anyone of any faith, any time. A lot of research has shown that it decreases stress. For me, it’s the one thing that works against occasional depression and taking myself too seriously. This meditation, however, has a different aim of hopefully chilling the country out a bit at this tense time. The full guidelines are here. It continues till the 29th.
Today on the 
Janith has updated 
This is highly dubious. Miss Travel is a travel/social networking site that connects ‘Generous’ and ‘Attractive’ travelers. To, like, travel together, I guess. It all seems a bit like arranged prostitution and trafficking. This is part of a broader online trend to connect rich men to younger, attractive women. Sites like 
Sri Lankan domestics never say anything, they just stop coming. My maid just stopped coming and when I finally pressed her she said I needed to get a washing machine. I was hoping to ride this one out, but I’ve run out of underwear and I have no choice. I finally caved and bought a washing machine, from 
Thanks for sharing. As I understand, the sort of meditation practiced at the Sarvodaya meeting is called Metta Meditation (loving kindness meditation). If you have the time, do take the time to watch the following video. It’s quite long, but really worth it (I think):
Freeing Problems in Life with Metta
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OswcrsyGQN0
Metta (loving friendliness) is a state of mind.
Metta meditation is the antidote to partisanship.
– This is a practice that has a long history in the island.
– It is free, and everybody can do it.
– Nobody can make money off of it.
– Millions of Sri Lankans already know how to do it.
What’s not to like.
Seems like this is the ideal solution to most of Sri Lanka’s problems.
So why don’t we see more NGO’s involved in promoting this? Why has not the media signed on to this project? Why doesn’t this get more coverage in foreign media?
Believe I say it with all sincerity meditation is a absolute farce and a waste of time.