Tissa Gunatilaka from Sydney

The mainstream education that we all receive irrespective of where we live is ‘western’. There is no other comparable education system to the western education except in Theravada Buddhist countries including Sri Lanka, called the Pirivena Education. Unfortunately most of the people who receive ‘western’ education are not capable of sieving and using the stuff (knowledge) within the boundaries of their respective culture. Hence they are subjected to becoming slaves of the education/knowledge that they receive. Most of the knowledge that is being bombarded through the Western Education system are subtly manufactured for us to become depended on western apparatus.

All our Sinhala leaders were massacred after the Wellassa uprising, The chances for bringing up a new leader for many years to come were also crushed by massacring all our children above 18 years of age by the British. Hence we never had a strong Sinhala Leader after the Wellassa. For example, when the British planned to build a highway through the Kaluthara Bodhi Vihara, our Sinhala People had no choice but to sent a petition to the King of Thailand complaining the British scheme of destroying the Kaluthara Bodhiya, because we Sinhala People did not have a leader to make their voice heard at the time in Ceylon. That is how vulnerable we were.

(in turn receiving the petition from Sinhala Buddhist people in Sri Lanka, The King of Thailand sent an emissary to the British king explaining how precious the Kaluthara Bodhiya/Vihara to the Sinhala People. The politically motivated British, due to the troubles throughout the Asia for their empire at the time, allowed this request to be accepted).

In this environment, British dumped their education system on us in wholesale, without leaving us an opportunity to incorporate our well developed systems such as ‘Warikarmantha (irrigation and tank management), Govithena (cultivation)  Wedakama (Sinhala Medicine), Nakshshthrya (Astrology), Weladama (Commerce) etc. etc, etc and most importantly, the Dhamma (the true behaviour of the nature and the environment), along with the english education. So what will be the result: the education system prints slaves (kalu suddo) who can be called upon to serve them whenever the time arrives. None of us and our ancestors who were subjected to the Western education are capable of thinking freely, we are only capable of behaving within the constrains of the Western System. If we were allowed to carry on with the Pirivena Education, which consists of all the above unique systems, we would have created a much better society.

Why this western system/ideology is bad? First of all the degradation of our environment, which is being descended in an acceleration, is due to the western systems and its principles, they teach us ‘greed is good’ – A system based on desires satisfying five sensory organs. The most of the diseases in the world today are due to the Western System as well. We eat food with high dose of chemicals, thanks to the fertilisers (eg. not only people in Rajarata, but also all people live in Sri Lanka are susceptible to CKD, thanks to substandard fertilisers dumped in Sri Lanka by Western Companies), instead of natural food we germinate them and made GM food (Western principles allows people to look for economic gains rather than the good healthily food – Western Commerce). The Western Medicine are not really medicines that cure diseases, but a tool for the management of diseases only, the course that has taken upon due to a disease will continue irrespective of the western medicine administered on.

Likewise westerners wonder for comfort, but we suppose to be looking for the ultimate release from all desires. The education/knowledge as per the Buddha’s teaching should lead us towards that path (Kalama Sutta).

However, being a human we may not be able to escape 100% from the impact of the Western System, But if we are strong in our cultural values/beliefs, and develop our mindset to absorb only the essence that would not prevent us being on the path that Buddha had shown us, we will definitely be better off than anyone who follow 100% of the Western system/ideology.

It is no shame in learning in the Western System, but make a strong vow that YOU WILL NOT BE A SLAVE TO THAT SYSTEM or influence by that system.

Subha Pathum

Tissa Gunatilaka from Sydney