{"id":157077,"date":"2026-07-02T14:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T21:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=157077"},"modified":"2026-07-02T14:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T21:54:14","slug":"are-we-mistaking-consumption-for-compassion-a-reflection-on-vesak-dansals-and-modern-lifestyles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/07\/02\/are-we-mistaking-consumption-for-compassion-a-reflection-on-vesak-dansals-and-modern-lifestyles\/","title":{"rendered":"Are We Mistaking Consumption for Compassion? A Reflection on Vesak Dansals and Modern Lifestyles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sarath Obeysekera<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

During this Vesak season, I witnessed a scene that left me with mixed feelings.
Near my home in a suburban neighbourhood, where middle-income, lower-middle-income and low-income families live side by side, I saw a long queue of people waiting patiently for a free kottu dansal. Entire families stood in line.
There is nothing wrong with offering food. Dansals are a noble Buddhist tradition based on generosity (d\u0101na). They reflect compassion, equality and sharing. They have been part of Sri Lankan culture for centuries.
However, the incident prompted me to ask a deeper question.
Many of these households, despite having limited incomes, own televisions, several mobile phones, and almost every young person carries a smartphone. Through social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Facebook, they are constantly exposed to advertising that promotes lifestyles, fashions, beauty products and consumption patterns that are often beyond their means. The obsession with appearance, especially the endless promotion of fair skin and expensive cosmetics, is just one example of how modern media shapes aspirations.
My wife, a retired doctor who now serves at a private hospital, tells me that throughout the Vesak and Poya season, she has treated an increasing number of patients suffering from stomach disorders and indigestion. Many have consumed rich or unhygienic food from multiple dansals. Since government hospitals may be some distance away, they spend around Rs. 1,000 or more at private outpatient departments for treatment\u2014often exceeding the value of the free meal they enjoyed.
This raises an uncomfortable question.
Have we begun to confuse generosity with excess?
The purpose of a dansal is to cultivate kindness, not encourage overconsumption. Likewise, technology should improve lives, not manipulate vulnerable families into spending beyond their means or adopting lifestyles they cannot afford.
The challenge is not the smartphone, the internet or the dansal. The challenge is how we use them.
As a society, we should consider several steps:
\u25cf Promote financial literacy and responsible spending, particularly among young people.
\u25cf Educate the public on nutrition and food safety during festive seasons.
\u25cf Encourage simple, healthy and environmentally responsible dansals rather than extravagant displays.
\u25cf Teach digital and media literacy so that people understand how advertising influences their choices.
\u25cf Reinforce the Buddhist values of moderation, mindfulness and contentment, rather than equating happiness with consumption.
Sri Lanka has always been admired for its generosity. That generosity should continue. But it should be accompanied by wisdom.
The true spirit of Vesak is not measured by the length of the queue at a dansal or the number of meals one consumes. It is measured by whether our actions reduce suffering, improve well-being, and help people lead healthier, more balanced and more meaningful lives.
Sarath Obeysekera<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sarath Obeysekera During this Vesak season, I witnessed a scene that left me with mixed feelings.Near my home in a suburban neighbourhood, where middle-income, lower-middle-income and low-income families live side by side, I saw a long queue of people waiting patiently for a free kottu dansal. Entire families stood in line.There is nothing wrong with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-sarath-obeysekera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157077"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157078,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157077\/revisions\/157078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}