Shenali D Waduge

This is taking place at 2 levels – targeting adults & the Sangha through various denationalization programs in order to take them away from defending/protecting/preserving National Culture/Heritage & then using education as a platform to ensure the formative years of a child are brainwashed via textbooks & other initiatives so they too distance themselves from defending their Nation & its heritage. A nation of citizens uninterested in defending the Nation is the recipe for all hawks & vultures to descend & dictate to Sri Lanka as per their whims & fancies.

SPHERE OF EDUCATION: 

• Tapping academia to influence textbooks with false facts/history– diluting the place of Buddhism & Sinhalese or plugging some erroneous historical versions. This is often backed by foreign funding that prevents action against such endeavors as influence is exerted from politician & Ministry level. Thus, from syllabus the children’s minds get slowly brainwashed into accepting historical lies & myths as part of a larger insidious objective to displace Buddhism, dislocate Sinhala nationalism & denationalize children which is backed by funding. Coopted to spread the false narrative are teachers / tuition teachers/ Principals / academics / Ministry officials/politicians (entire apparatus handling education) – they are induced by foreign scholarships, green card, invitations etc.
• With the syllabus prepared, the teachers / tuition teachers are coopted to embrace these new versions – numerous incentives are given to them to do so
• Schools invite guests who are also aligned to these new thinking & that re-enforces the main objective. A ready-packaged group are prepared to justify the new insidious programs backed by funds & rolled out innocently to the children.
• Parents are also coopted to accept by numerous inducements often centered around giving place to the children of those who accept the new versions” – invariably parents & child are unknowingly drawn to accepting new versions being rolled out.
• The media is coopted to showcase panel discussions / advertisements / via music / teen idols & other idols to accept these new versions. Children are made to embrace bizarre dress, hair patterns, presenting these as modern & fashionable” those that don’t, are looked down & subject to peer pressure & bullying. There is no one to show them the ills & vices of what they are walking into. Media reality shows turns children into sex symbols & eventually they are enticed to experiment with their sexuality far before they are physically & mentally prepared to do so – this results in the child completely overwhelmed by the new experience & losing his/her childhood & being made to follow what would naturally fall into place when they are of the right age. This new trend is taking the best years of the child, away from the child. Parents are unable to see this danger as they are caught in the web of keeping up with the Jones’s and not wanting to go against the tide. Ultimately, both parent & child have no friends when their lives are ruined & all those that encouraged them to take the wrong path rejects them & abandons them. This is the ugly reality. How many of the modern teen parties have ended up creating drug users & children engaged in drinking/smoking & sex when that period of their life can be enjoyed after they have finished their teen years? Children have no wise counsel to turn to, so that they can understand that they just need a bit of patience & the world is open to them & with that patience comes their will & mental powers to maturely handle any ills.
• There are movies funded to embarrass Sinhala Buddhists & Buddhist theros & these directors are showered with awards giving a message that all those who are ready to tarnish Sinhala Buddhists will be handsomely rewarded. There are people dressed as theros engaged in vices which are relayed via social media to embarrass Buddhists. There are theros who are roped into vices & then this is exposed. We saw media attention intentionally relaying men dressed in robes behaving in unruly manner – to international defame Buddhists.
• Funding new cultures/values – funding is also given to programs that divert children away from traditional cultures/values.

Why is there a gap between teacher & child? 

Today, teaching has been turned into a job. People become teachers not by choice & many are not put through teacher training to be taught the art of teaching & there are very few natural teachers. Therefore, that love of teaching a subject is lacking in teachers & when that happens they are not empathetic to students who cannot understand what is being taught. They don’t want to go out of their way to help the slow learners. Education must first understand that no child is the same. Every child is unique in their own way. No teacher & no school syllabus can bring all children on par with each other. This is a fundamental fact.

How can we bridge this?

Recruitment of teachers must be disciplined – with criteria that ensures naturally talented teachers are recruited first. Teacher training is a must.

Education Ministry/Academics cannot be allowed to fall prey to funding bodies that give funds on condition to implement changes to education system that attempts to destroy Sri Lanka’s culture & heritage by importing all kinds of bizarre modern education texts” like the present funding backing sexual education which sets to promote homosexuality & transgenders among young children, ultimate aim is to be creating a confused generation of youth. Academics are not paid to incorporate their personal opinions into text books.

The situation is confounded when religious heads & temples have also fallen victim to the above paid propaganda & are equally involved in spreading distortions in line with what those sponsors want. Thus unknowingly or even knowingly they are part of the problem. Surely, in embracing the robe & following the teachings of the Dhamma the senior clergy should be mature enough to realize that what they are aligning with is against Theravada Buddhism. If they claim to believe in anything else, they are welcome to remove their robes & carry on with any new faith that appeals to them, however they are committing a great karmic misadventure by pretending to be Theravadi Buddhists & running Theravadi Buddhism down & in so doing disillusioning Theravadi laymen, unless they have been coopted to do so by external parties (knowingly or unknowingly).

The Maha Sangha needs to also look inwardly & bring internal reforms to its teacher-student relations & nurture young theros not to become teachers or public servants but along other areas of dhamma that are needed in a world of confused and psychologically imbalanced people. The funding that is taking young & old theros to an extreme & warped form of Buddhism is aimed at slowly destroying Theravada Buddhism & the Sangha, key pillars that guard the Theravada Buddha Dhamma & the ethos of Sri Lanka. Where destabilizing agents fail to destroy with guns they are doing so using our own people even tapping theros to do so. This must be identified & stopped.

There are new Buddhist organizations, meditation practices, rituals emerging, all these are well-funded & well-planned. Where have you heard of people of different faiths teaching Dhamma to our theros – this highlights to what low ebbs we have stooped to.

A clean up of the Sangha is needed & that has to be done looking at their own future & realizing that by following bizarre non-Buddhist rituals, practices & even teachings, they are only digging the grave to their own karma & doing great wrong to the teachings of Buddha. This must be immediately addressed without delay & the Nikaya heads should not fall prey to funds that are coming via visits of diplomats, local traitors bringing goody bags or other inducements.

What we should see is that numerous initiatives afoot are to break the pillars that hold the Buddhist ethos of Sri Lanka together. The recent comment by a foreign diplomat (ardent follower of a non-Buddhist religion) questioning why Sri Lanka should be called a Buddhist nation. What all these questions clearly aims is to displace Sri Lanka’s Buddhist ethos. Everyone seems to be having a problem with Sri Lanka being called a Buddhist nation, if it was called Christian/Catholic or Muslim – they would have no problem! Such is the duplicity & hypocrisy displayed by even diplomats!

Everyone’s goal is to make Sinhala Buddhists live, any other way than as Sinhala Buddhists.

Going forward we must identify areas in the education system that the place of Buddhism is subtly being removed/replaced.

The Maha Sangha & in particular the Nikaya heads must immediate address the shortcomings within & take action against the theros who are bringing disrepute to Theravadi Buddhism. Some discipline has to be instilled. It is when there is lack of discipline & when there are shortcomings within that the enemy finds it easy to penetrate. We must secure our fences to defend/protect & preserve that which we are historically dutybound to do. This is our defence against all the incursions & hostilities that come our way.

Shenali D Waduge

ශාසනාභිමනි, දිරිය-වනිතා, දේශ-ශක්ති