THE FAST TRACK IS SLOW.

Yes ,of course the the slow track is fast.You are correct.This is about the behaviour of Sri Lankan drivers.The one who wants to drive slow and get into fast track says that there are Thambili vendors, vehicles being repaired on the slow track.The one who drives fast in the slow track says that the fast track is always slow.It is time that we correct ourselves.
Well over two thousand fatal accidents are reported annually.This is close upon the number of deaths caused by north east problem.This is grossly preventable.The action will not cost a cent.We have to discipline ourselves.At least let it start with owner drivers.Let us observe the law of the round about regarding the right of the way.Let us treat people waiting to cross in the Zebra crossing, with respect.I know that the private coach behind you will make it a opportunity to overtake you illegally on the Zebra crossing.
Police signaling the drivers to proceed against the red light is a bad move.If the police wants to take over the control they must switch off the traffic light.This behaviour of the police will contribute to desnsitise the driving reflexes cultivated over years.
Use the horn minimally.Never flash head lights as a signal.It is not in the highway code as a signal.
Have a compassionate attitude towards others who violate rules and put you in at a disadvantage.They are stupid ignorant and callous.
Road courtesy and discourtesy are infectious.When someone halt the vehicle and allows you to enter the main road you will halt your vehicle for the next person waiting to enter the road.If you have to struggle through speeding traffic blaring horns and flashing headlights you are unlikely to allow the next driver waiting to enter the road to do so peacefully.That needs change.
Let us give it a go and see that driving is a happy experience and see that precious human life which cannot be replaced be saved.

THE MIND MAKETH THE WORLD
(chiththena neeyathie loko)

Your sense organs :
The light waves hit the retina of your eye.They originated from the sun eight minutes back! The red has lowest wave length the violet has highest.Though the ultra violet and infra red hits your eye your mind does not become aware of it and therefore you do not perceive it.The light ray hitting the retina is a momentary thing.The mind has to collect or file millions of these .Impulses in your memory area in form of waves has to come in and sort out what is seen by shape and colour.By this time all the rays that hit your retina are non existent.Yet you interpret this phenomenon as seeing "some thing" with the"eye"
The sound waves hit your ear drum.You create a meaning for this using the brain.By the time meaning is realise sound waves are non existent.Analyse the situation where you hear a bell ringing at a distance.
Your body can perceive only mechanical pressure.It may be of various intensities, may be getting interrupted and restarting.
The nose responds to certain chemicals touching the smell sensing area of the nose.
The tongue gives a reaction to a chemical touching the tongue.
Your dog keeps sniffing something you brought for several minutes.You are wondering as to what he has there to smell for several minutes.When you are reading a book the dog may be wondering as to what you have there to see for hours.Dogs sense of smell is three hundred times ours.He remembers every thing by smell.He knows you by your smell.He gets sexually attracted by the smell of a bitch in heat,not the looks of the bitch.Humans get attracted with all five senses and mind too (status of a person is preceived only by mind).Because of this reason buddha categorised mind also as a sense organ (manendriya)Birds get attracted to their mates mainly by noise (love call) All five senses are ultimately in mind.(chiththena eka dhmmassa)
Just ponder over these things when you perceive the world.It is radical contemplation prescribed by Buddha to develop mundane wisdom.
One can do this while in a traffic jam,waiting in an air port,during a long flight ,waiting for an appontment, and cultivate mundane wisdom during the time wasted.

CYCLES OF NATURE

These are very inter sting.Some lasts billions of ears.Others last Milli seconds.This is what Buddha meant when he said world undergoes formation and world undergoes annihilation. (lujjathi palujjathi loko) One should perceive these with equanimity though one may benefit or not benefit or one may be happy or unhappy with these.(Putthassa loka dhammehi:chiithang yassana kampathi:Buddha)
A Negro happens to be the new US president.Earlier they were slaves ,regarded as sub humans were sold and auctioned like livestock.The attitude was reflected even in works of intellectuals like Mark Twain.
Karuna is heavily guarded by police and whisked around Colombo roads.He is supposed to have killed six hundred policemen.We have not killed any one but have to wait and make way for Karuna.
In 1956 we had English letters in vehicle number plates.We switched over to Sinhala letter "Sri".The cars with English letter number plates dropped the market value as people were clamouring for vehicles with "Sri" number plates.Just the reverse has happened.Now if your vehicle does not have English number plates you find it difficult to sell it. How correct was Buddha when he said "Lujjati palujjathi loko". In 1960 s Poya was the weekly holiday.Weekend was Poya and pre Poya.We planned all over nefarious activities for the Poya day!
If you read Stephen Hawking, the crippled Nobel laureate the Universe is now expanding after the big bang (lujjathi).It will get sucked in and annihilate forming a black hole.(palujjathi) This cycle lasts millions of years.Human menstrual cycle lasts one lunar month. Human sexual cycle consisting of a refractory period, excitation ,plateau phase,orgasm,resolution and back to refractory period is similar.This has wide variation from human to human and in the same human in different stages of life.It is similar in both sexes though some women have multiple orgasms in a single sexual encounter.As one grows older the refractory period between activity become longer , but the cycle exists.
When a thought forms ,according to Buddha. "I' and the "world" forms.This undergoes annihilation during not after formation. It is a cycle.But "me" and "world" never forms.It is a cycle that involves zero time.Thus "me" and "world" are illusions.So is time. Lujjjathi palujjathi loko !
Look at it with equianimity. Otherwise "dhukka" props up ,like when you get annoyed when police stops your car for Karuna to pass or when you find it difficult to sell your car because there are no English letters in the number plates "Puttthassa loka dhammehi: Chittang yassana kampthi" ! Ekhart Tolle the modern non religious spritual teacher this attitude is called"surrendering" a quality in a courageous mind.

THE POLICE CONSTABLE

One afternoon I was walking towards my parked car.A shabbily clad man came riding a ramshackle rusty bicycle and had a fall on the center of the road.Some things that he was carrying in a plastic shopping bag were scattered all over the road.The contents were a couple of ash plantains,brinjals,about 100 grammes of green chillies ,two limes some and onions etc. Obviously it was a poor man after his marketing.
The snarling traffic was about to run over the man the cycle and his belongings.A police constable who was on duty on the side of the road came foreword ,stopped the traffic till the the man picked up the things got into the cycle and pedalled away.The drivers were grudgingly waiting cursing the police constable. If not for the policeman ,they could have whizzed passing crushing the poor mans onions ,brinjals and chillies.When the policeman came back to the roadside I told him"Hunga kalekin ralahami kenek gowravaneeya dutiyak karanawa dekka" (After a longtime I saw a policeman performing an honourable task) What I meant was every after seeing police tear gassing students,Buddhist priests and chasing poor civilians from the road when VIP motorcades were arriving,I saw something different.He looked at me in my eyes and smiled.
He is on duty on that place every day .When I pass the place he identifies my car among hundreds of cars an smiles at me.I smile back.I don't know anything about him except that he is policeman.I am not interested in finding out either.He does not know who I am.Yet for all we have built up a relationship.We have a common interest.We genuinely love people around us

SECONDHAND MEDICAL ADVICE


This is a very dangerous trend in Sri Lanka.People quote the advice given to them to other sick people and try to make them to follow them.Some ask others as to what advice they were given and take action making use of them.
Medical advice has no secondhand market,just like a tooth brush or if I may put it in a crude manner ,like a condom.It is strictly on one to one basis.
Each person is unique.Though several people will have the same condition, severity of the condition may vary.Same condition is treated differently at different ages.Some people may have other coexisting diseases.Treatment of many diseases are highly modified during pregnancy.
Be careful of recirculated medical advice.