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| Sunday, 17 March 2002 |
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Sarvodaya's peace meditation a success The ancient Mahamevuna Uyana, Anuradhapura, turned into a white-clad mass of over half-a-million people when Sarvodaya conducted their widely-publicised mega peace meditation last Friday. Prof. Joanna Macy, the world-famous peace meditator from USA and Rev. Mineyoshi Shiraishi, a Japanese bikkhu possessing mental prowess to heal diseases, were an added attraction at the event. After conducting religious poojas at Jaya Sri Maha Bodi, delegates from Pawatkulam village in Vavuniya symbolically forged links with those of Matuwagala village in Eheliyagoda by feeding each other pongal rice and kevun. Pawatkulam presented Matuwagala with a document, listing out the village's needs which the latter reciprocated with how the need could be met with Matuwagala resources and man power. A village from Puttalam represented the Muslim community. The strike of one o'clock marked the ringing of Sri Maha Bodhi temple bells with simultaneous ringings at the Kataragama Kiri Vehera, Chilaw Munneswaran Kovil and Jaffna Nallur Kovil. Observation of pancha seela conducted by Ven. Pallegama Sri Nivasa Thero, Chief Incumbent of Sri Maha Bodhi Temple, was followed by the Sama Samadhi peace meditation, joined by Northern, Eastern and Southern villagers from 15,000 villages, bikkhus and bikkhunis (local and Japanese), international communities from USA, Japan, Hawaii, Thailand, Taiwan, Netherlands, Norway, France and Germany, linked to Sarvodaya Vishvodaya, and representatives from PAFFREL, National Peace Council, Sri LankaFirst and other peace-advocating local organizations. Messages from President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were presented to the gathering, together with several more messages from various overseas academics and civil rights movements. "This will greatly empower all citizens to live peacefully, enjoying equal rights," Ven. Pallegama Siri Nivasa Thero observed. Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, Founder and President of Sarvodaya, directing the peace meditation, said that the critical mass of collective consciousness made up of the controlled and stilled mental energies of the massive gathering present could be transmitted to illuminate other minds, permeating a gigantic consciousness calling for peace. Meditation was conducted in Sinhala, Tamil, English and Japanese while Rev. Shiraishi distributed thousands of incense sticks to hold an incense pooja. A.S. Jayawardena, Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and several Provincial Ministers were present at the occasion. Rupavahini, Sirasa TV and webcast www.sarvodaya.org provided live coverage to the programme. |
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