{"id":99639,"date":"2020-03-05T16:39:53","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T23:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=99639"},"modified":"2020-03-05T16:39:53","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T23:39:53","slug":"scientology-takes-foremost-place-at-sri-lankan-independence-celebration-in-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/03\/05\/scientology-takes-foremost-place-at-sri-lankan-independence-celebration-in-los-angeles\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientology takes \u201cforemost place\u201d at Sri Lankan Independence celebration in Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Hassina Leelarathna<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Aeshea Jayasinghe (right) and Naseema Qureshi at the Sri Lanka Independence Day celebration in Los Angeles: Church of Scientology International\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>

In a message published in the Sri Lanka America Association of Southern California\u2019s (SLAASC) souvenir to mark its Independence Day 2020 celebration, the association\u2019s President claimed his group was back in the saddle, in organising the signature event\u201d.

Well, not quite, as evidenced by a press release issued 19 February by the Church of Scientology.

In fact, all signs are that SLAASC, among the oldest Sri Lankan expat community groups in the US, is the latest outpost to capitulate to the mighty Church of Scientology.

In good ole cowboy style, SLAASC bartered bragging rights to the church in exchange for free use of one of its facilities and to Scientology\u2019s leading advocates Dr. Walter Jayasinghe and wife Aesha for a cash donation of $ 7,000.

In the press release dated 19 February, the Church of Scientology International makes no mention of SLAASC, headlining the event as one where \u2018The Southern California Sri Lankan community gathered at the Church of Scientology of the Valley to celebrate their freedom from English rule\u2019.

In addition, and most importantly, the Church, represented by Way to Happiness Ambassador to South Asia Naseema Qureshi, and the Jayasinghes, got a captive audience at Sri Lanka Independence Day where it ran a 30-minute long video highlighting its work in Sri Lanka.

While the showing of the video to the largely Sinhala Buddhist audience, including monks from the local temples, was indicative of Scientology\u2019s influence in the expatriate community, its contents provide\u00a0 troubling details on the wide swath it has cut into the highest echelons of Sri Lankan Government including the President\u2019s Office (under President Sirisena).\u00a0 The Church boasts it has made inroads into various branches of Government in Sri Lanka and the Buddhist communities.

Today, The Way to Happiness is widely used in schools and Government institutions across all of Sri Lanka,\u201d says Qureshi.

The Scientology video flashes photos of the infamous LTTE\/Channel 4 propaganda picture of a blindfolded man allegedly being executed by the SL military during the 30-year civil war and \u2018insurgency\u2019. It goes on to declare that there\u2019s rampant religious tension\u201d in the country with 56% of districts in Sri Lanka reporting religious discrimination\u201d.\u00a0

Qureshi then teams up with an advisor\u201d from former President Sirisena\u2019s Office, Dr. Samantha Kumara, and presents several Way to Happiness seminars for hundreds of Sri Lankan Police, Air Force, Army, and Navy personnel with the stated aim of providing them with a workable solution\u201d to deal with conflicts.

For the first time, people were reaching out to the Police to teach and educate them on looking after themselves and their families,\u201d Qureshi asserts showing pictures of uniformed Police and Army personnel on the streets and getting on and off buses distributing Scientology\u2019s Way to Happiness. Thanks to the Scientology hand-outs, the Sri Lankan people were suddenly realising that fighting was not a solution, according to Qureshi.

Beaming school children, smiling three-wheel drivers, and young Buddhist monks, are all featured waving L. Ron Hubbard\u2019s Way to Happiness.\u00a0

How much has the church and\/or Dr. Jayasinghe poured into the pockets of powerful Sri Lankan politicians to get the country\u2019s security agencies working as foot soldiers spreading L. Ron Hubbard propaganda?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In the\npress release dated 19 February, the Church of Scientology International makes\nno mention of SLAASC, headlining the event as one where \u2018The Southern\nCalifornia Sri Lankan community gathered at the Church of Scientology of the\nValley to celebrate their freedom from English rule\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dollar figures are being floated in the community, upwards of $\n100,000 by some accounts.
\n
\nAnd the numbers are believable given the size of the Jayasinghe fortunes.\nPublicly available documents show the Jayasinhala Foundation, a private\nnon-profit launched in 2014, having $ 1.8 million in revenue and $ 49 million\nin assets.
\n
\nIn addition to the Jayasinhala Foundation, Dr. Jayasinghe controls the Sri\nLanka Foundation, Sri Lanka Buddha Dhamma Society and the Los Angeles Medical\nCenter Foundation which in 2015, received $ 400,000 from the Jayasinhala\nFoundation for the stated purpose of \u2018Religious work\/planetary dissemination\u2019.\nThe [Jayasinhala] Foundation lacks transparency and does not maintain a\nwebsite, which makes it difficult to locate further information on its priority\nareas,\u201d writes Stacey Suver, a senior editor at Inside Philanthropy. Suver\nnotes that in a recent fiscal year, the foundation gave away around $ 2.3\nmillion.  Grantees include Sri Lanka Medical Association, Church of\nScientology, and Bridge Publications which publishes L. Ron Hubbard\u2019s books in\n50 languages. 
\n
\nPublicly available information also suggests that virtually all the Sri Lankan\nBuddhist temples in the Los Angeles have received funding from one or another\nof the maze of non-profits under Dr. Jayasinghe\u2019s control. Amounts have varied\nfrom the low thousands to over half-a-million dollars as a gift to one\ntemple.  
\n
\nA notable exception is the Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara in Los Angeles, whose\nfounder Ven. Walpola Piyananda Nayake Thera politely declined to accept Dr.\nJayasinghe\u2019s gift of $ 75,000 offered for his 75th birthday.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How important is Sri Lanka to the\nChurch of Scientology? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It boils down to a case of survival. If it is to endure and\nthrive, the Church needs new frontiers. In the US, its numbers are said to be\ndeclining. 
\n
\nAuthor of Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous\n\u2018religion\u2019 Tony Ortega believes Scientology numbers peaked in 1990s with\nroughly 100,000 members worldwide but that membership has declined to around\n20,000. The Church vigorously contests such stats, claiming that it has\nmillions of parishioners in 167 nations, a third of whom are in the US\u201d.
\n
\nProf. Stephen A. Kent of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, considered a\nleading expert on Scientology who has been tracking its activities for several\ndecades, shares the view that plagued in recent years by numerous scandals and\npublic relations crises the church is in decline. Historically, most new\nreligions die, and it’s fairly clear now that Scientology is on a downward\npath,\u201d said Kent.  
\n
\nEvidence abounds of Scientology actively looking for and investing in new\nfrontiers overseas. In January 2019, it opened an elaborate new African\nheadquarters in a sprawling castle outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. In\nLatin America, pop singers and television personalities are making the rounds\npromoting the Church. 
\n
\nIn Ireland, where its numbers are said to be just 87, Scientology remains\nundeterred and has made a multimillion-euro investment in three new facilities\nin Dublin.
\n
\nThe Church is known to show up after natural disasters such as the Indonesia\nearthquake, the Ugandan mudslide and the mosque shooting in Christchurch, New\nZealand where Scientology volunteers pass out Hubbard\u2019s The Way to\nHappiness.   Journalist and long-time Scientology critic Mark Ebner\nsees these efforts as recruiting expeditions on the most vulnerable\u201d.
\n
\nScientology debuted in Sri Lanka in 2005 when its members were seen\ndistributing church leaflets after the devastating tsunami. It has been\nregistered since August 2006 as a limited company under the name of\n\u2018Scientology Applied Religious Foundation of Sri Lanka\u2019. Its Dianetics Centre\nin Nugegoda offers the church\u2019s signature \u2018Dianetics Auditing\u2019 \u2013 a\ncontroversial system used in place of psychiatry or psychological counselling\nfor mental problems.  
\n
\nAt the crux of Scientology is the belief that through the utilisation of\nDianetics individuals can cleanse their minds and attain \u2018new state of\nspiritual awareness called Clear\u2019 which is a form of enlightenment derived, in\npart, from the Buddhist concept of Bodhi. Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard\nclaimed he was Maitreya Buddha in his 1955 book Hymn of Asia An Eastern Poem.
\n
\nWhile the number of Scientology adherents in Sri Lanka is not known, it might\nwell be on the cusp of a major take-off, especially with the backing it is\nreceiving from very powerful politicians. That Police and other government\nofficials have been deployed to spread Scientology speaks for itself.
\n
\nIn Los Angeles, Dr. Jayasinghe\u2019s generosity via his numerous non-profit\nfoundations assures the Church of a front pew at Sri Lankan events. A musical\nshow or other community event that doesn\u2019t receive Jayasinhala dollars and\/or\nstaged at a venue other than at a Church of Scientology venue has become a\nrarity.  
\n
\nNoteworthy is that while a church facility may be obtained free-of-charge,\nthere\u2019s still a price to pay: it requires the audience to watch a Scientology\nvideo at the start of the event. In addition, books containing the Church\u2019s\nteachings are distributed at the venue.
\n
\nIt\u2019s no secret that the Church of Scientology is actively trying to convert\nBuddhists in Los Angeles,\u201d said Dr. Sunil Jayasinghe, author of several books\non Buddhism, notably The Last Meal of the Buddha when asked to comment on these\ntrends. I know because I myself have been approached.\u201d  
\n
\nThe Church also gets a stall to distribute its literature at \u2018Sri Lanka Day\u2019 \u2013\nthe flagship event of the Sri Lanka Foundation usually held in mid-August to\ncoincide with Dr. Jayasinghe\u2019s birthday. The daylong street fair provides local\nartists a stage to perform while, for a sizeable fee, Sri Lankan eateries can\nsell their food. The event culminates in a perahera where the Jayasinghe family\nand the local city mayor ride in an open car waving to the crowd of Sri Lankan\nexpats lining the street.  
\n
\nWhile Scientology\u2019s inroads into the community have gone unchallenged, the\nChurch\u2019s predominance at this year\u2019s Independence Day event is being noticed\nwith unease. According to Sunil Jayasinghe, there\u2019s concern among long-time\nresidents but they\u2019re reluctant to talk about it. I think it\u2019s time for open\ndiscussions on this issue, especially, as it will have a huge impact on our\nfuture generations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(The writer can be contacted via email on hassinal@gmail.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Hassina Leelarathna Aeshea Jayasinghe (right) and Naseema Qureshi at the Sri Lanka Independence Day celebration in Los Angeles: Church of Scientology International\u00a0 In a message published in the Sri Lanka America Association of Southern California\u2019s (SLAASC) souvenir to mark its Independence Day 2020 celebration, the association\u2019s President claimed his group was back in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99639","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=99639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99639\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}