Senaka Weeraratna Dr. Hans Wolfgang Schumann is a German Buddhist. He is a well known Buddhist scholar and chronicler of the history of Buddhism in Germany. Born on January 31, 1928, Dr. Hans Wolfgang Schumann died on June 26th, 2019 in Bonn. In a seminal article on the state of Buddhism in Germany, ‘ Buddhism […]

Senaka Weeraratna The Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is fundamentally an anti – Sri Lanka document. It is a biased and shameful report which is totally one sided. Not a semblance of fairness. One would not expect the Spanish Inquisition to return to the UN  in the 21st century with total […]

Senaka Weeraratna 1) German Dharmaduta Society – 50th Anniversary (1952 – 2002) Souvenir Please find the attachment with download link below https://we.tl/t-0ze3Lt748r 2) “The Prospects for the Growth of Buddhism in Germany and other Western Countries”, by Agganyani (Christa Bentenrieder) The Keynote address was delivered by Agganyani, Secretary General, Deutsche Buddhistische Union at the public meeting held […]

by Senaka Weeraratna Sri Lanka was a haven for Germans in the pre – war period as well as the immediate post – war period.  It was treated as the Mecca of Buddhism.  The intellectual space for exploration of Buddhism in Germany had already been created by the writings of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Hermann Oldenberg, Karl Eugen Neumann, among others. But that […]

Senaka Weeraratna Britain was colonizing, enslaving Asian people before WW2. The British Empire ruled South Asia for 180 years. Though Japan lost WW2, however it was the consequence of Japan’s entry to war in December 1941 with its attack on Pearl Harbour that all S E Asian countries and  South Asian countries achieved their long hoped for […]

by Senaka Weeraratna Time to re – write our history books August 15 is the day Japan commemorates the war’s end. Soon it will be 70 years after that day in 1945 when two Atomic Bombs dropped from American planes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan to surrender.  Japan lost to foes enjoying overwhelming superiority in both numbers […]

Senaka Weeraratna Sinhala Buddhists are the most demonized ethnic group in South Asia, despite their tolerance of other races and religions. The following is an account written by an Englishman named Campbell in 1932, on his trip to Australia from Ceylon, accompanying a group of about 500 (largely Sinhalese), on the ship SS Devonshire, in […]

Senaka Weeraratna The LLRC Report was tantamount to a Betrayal of the Victory achieved by the Security Forces on the battlefield after a huge sacrifice of life and limb by the heroic soldiers. About 30, 000 personnel from the security forces perished.   What was required and anticipated by the informed public from the LLRC were […]

by Senaka Weeraratna The making of Sri Lanka’s Constitution from the time of the Soulbury Commission (1944) has been an exercise that had completely ignored the Dharmic religious background and civilizational history of Sri Lanka.  Sri Lanka is a nation state but is also an unique civilizational state with a set of Dharmic values the […]

Senaka Weeraratna This is one of the most favourite quotations of the celebrated 19th century Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy.   It means that for as long as humans continue to be the ruthless destroyer of non – humans, the former will never know peace or harmony. For as long as humans massacre animals, they will also kill […]

By Senaka Weeraratna, Attorney at Law (Sri Lanka) Courtesy SOCIETY FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF HISTORICAL FACT Good Afternoon. Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for inviting me to speak to you today. The title of my presentation is ‘Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour ignited the liberation of Asia from Western domination – Time to Express Asia`s Gratitude […]

Senaka Weeraratna The Rights of Human Beings (Human Rights) and the Rights of Sentient Beings (Siyalu Sathwayo) are two different concepts.  The Abrahamic religions place a heavy emphasis on Human Rights to the almost total exclusion of any moral attention being given to the rights and interests of other sentient beings. Buddhism, in contrast, together […]

Senaka Weeraratna We are all familiar with catchcries’ such as inter – faith dialogue and conferences and inter – ethnic peace talks and the like. This was being broadcast almost day and night as a panacea for all our mundane troubles ad nauseam, during the period of the previous Yahapalana Govt. Ever heard of Inter […]

Senaka Weeraratna The underlying basic premise of the Animal Rights movement is the regard for the sanctity of life. Sanctity of life of all living beings. This is highly regarded in Buddhism. Buddhism and Jainism (both Dharmic religions) see kinship with animals in the Sansaric journey.  One American Buddhist writer ( Norman Phelps) in his […]

Senaka Weeraratna The fundamental duty of all people living in Sri Lanka is to live in harmony with each other and particularly in harmony with the pre- dominant religious culture and beliefs and not hurt the moral sensitivities of the majority, which has made the biggest contribution throughout history to the building of the country […]

Senaka Weeraratna The moral obligation for all people living in Sri Lanka is to live in harmony with each other and particularly in harmony with the pre- dominant religious culture and beliefs and not hurt the moral sensitivities of the majority.  This requirement prevails in all Countries influenced by Abrahamic religions, especially in Islamic countries.  […]

Senaka Weeraratna The true test of a Sri Lankan is neither the waving of a Sri Lankan National flag nor the singing of the National Anthem nor the composing of Music for the YouTube such as ‘We are Sri Lanka’, but it is much more than that. It is the willingness to ensure that any […]

Senaka Weeraratna Founder Member on behalf of Justice for Animals and Nature We wholeheartedly welcome the Government’s decision to ban the slaughter of cattle. We thank the President Hon. Gotabhaya Rajapakse and the Prime Minister Hon. Mahinda Rajapakse for taking this courageous step, and the Government Parliamentary Group for endorsing this move. It is inspiring […]

by Senaka Weeraratna All major political parties must now recognize that animal welfare is a key issue for a growing number of voters in Sri Lanka and so it’s essential that they adopt sound, evidence-based policies in their Election manifestos. In a country which takes pride in proclaiming that it has the longest uninterrupted history […]

Senaka Weeraratna   We grieve for dead Leopards, dead elephants while remaining mum and in total silence over the impending mass slaughter of innocent animals during Hadj  festival beginning tomorrow i.e. July 28. Millions of animals are killed all over the world in the name of religion with none so poor to say in public that […]

Senaka Weeraratna Asoka Weeraratna’s contribution to the spread of Buddhism in Germany (A Foreword to a Booklet published in year 2000 entitled ‘ The Necessity for Promoting Buddhism in Europe’ by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi being the Keynote Address delivered at a Public Seminar held on July 2, 2000 at the Mahaweli Centre Auditorium in Colombo […]

by Mrs. M. Weeraratna Note  This article was written by Mrs. Muriel Weeraratna in 2017 under the title ‘Buddhists must become vegetarians in the month of Vesak’ . She passed away on October 21, 2019 at the age 98 years (40 days days short of her 99th birthday anniversary). The views expressed in the article based on a […]

Senaka Weeraratna Arahant  Mahinda in his very first encounter with King Devanampiyatissa at Mihintale 2300 years ago delivered an invaluable piece of advice to the King: He said: “Oh! Great King, the birds that glide the skies and animals that roam the forests have an equal right to live and move about in any part […]

Senaka Weeraratna What we do to animals ruthlessly and brutally the Coronavirus is doing likewise to humans, generating so much fear, alarm and anxiety. Do humans deserve pity, when we have no pity for innocent animals, who are eternal victims of our cruelty and inhumanity?    Senaka Weeraratna

By Senaka Weeraratna (Note: Mr. Senaka Weeraratna, Attorney – at – law, delivered the keynote address at a Symposium held on the premises of the Japanese Parliament (Conference Room No. 101 of the Diet) on 14th November, 2018 on the topic titled ‘ Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour ignited the liberation of Asia from Western […]