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| Sunday, 28 March 2004 |
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The fragrance of white araliya Erika Dias is one of the two Sri Lankan women who won the Award for Outstanding Buddhist Women presented by the United Nations in Bangkok on March 4 this year. At the event 15 women from nine countries were honoured for their work in helping to spread the Buddha Dhamma in the world. Here Erika Dias talks about her vision of Dhamma and her 30 years experience in meditation. by LAKMAL WELABADA
During her stay in her village 'Mahagedara' at Pelene, Weligama, the eight-year-old Erika used to watch the poor villagers queuing before her uncle to get a salary advance. Her uncle was the owner of three fourths of the village where the coir and copra industry was the main source of income. "Oie, Yakko, Umba Giya Sathiyeth Salli Gatta Neda?" (Hey, devil, you took money last week as well). The uncouth words of her uncle and the meek look of the innocent villagers always broke her heart. No one in the house knew that the little girl concealed behind the adjoining pillars where her uncle was marking the payment register of the workers, was sobbing silently. None of her family suspected little Erika for emptying the wardrobe where old clothes and used linen were stuffed. Erika used to hide them in the bushes down the garden and distribute among the needy whenever she got the chance. It was the first brick Erika laid in her life to build up a mansion of compassion for the poor and needy. And while helping the underprivileged, she was seeking for an answer for a series of questions; "Why do people have to suffer like this? Is there a way of escaping? If so, how can we gain that extreme delight and bliss?" One day after so many years, while being beside the cot of her younger son, Erika was enticed by the charming serenity and the sweet fragrance of a bunch of white 'Araliya' flowers placed in a vase on a corner of the room by a maid. "I thought if we also have a pure mind like the white 'Araliya' flower with full of 'Metta' (loving kindness) to everybody without anger, hatred, envy, anxiety, greed and fear; our souls will also reach the most peaceful, calm and delightful state. I realised that it must be the enlightenment (or the 'Nibbana') taught by the Buddha. So while staring at the white 'Araliya' I tried to purify my mind by concentrating on the innocence and the clarity of that flower," reminisced Erika. She jotted down the feelings she had at that moment on a piece of paper in the form of a poem. And that was the rebirth of Erica Dias both in spiritually and as a writer. She became the next in the line of an ancestral chain famous for learned and eminent Buddhist Bhikkus like Ven.Pelene Vajiragnana Thera, Ven. Madihe Pagnasiha Thera and Ven. Dhamma Vihari Thera who had been spreading the message of Buddhism far and wide. Erika is the first woman of this family to contribute to this great tradition through many books on spiritual development she has written, both poetry and prose. Erika's mother died when she was six years. Her father was a station master. Erika and her two sisters and two brothers changed schools three to four times along with their father's transfers. Though she entered University of Peradeniya she had to pause her higher education a while since she got married to her lecturer Hiran (Prof. Hiran Dias) in 1959. But she graduated in Social Adminstration and Social Work in the University of Hull, England while there with her husband. Erika worked first as a tutor and secondly as an Assistant Lecturer in Sociology and Demography in the University of Colombo for about six years since 1972. During that time, fulfilling her childhood desire to work for the poor, Erika was involved in many projects for housing for slums and shanties, and low income housing. Supermarket housing system where people can own a house on an easy payment scheme according to their purse was one of her unique proposals put into practice successfully. Many of her proposals were accepted internationally. In 1978, since Erika's husband got the opportunity to join the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, the Dias couple with their two sons went to live in Thailand. And it was the beginning of a golden era for her. Erika started to work again. She became a consultant in the Economic Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP), the regional headquarters of a UN organisation. it was a great opportunity for Erika to return to her childhood aim; to help the poor. Concentrating and jotting down the ideas streaming out in her mind, Erika came out with many proposals for the upliftment of the underprivileged people in the region. Teaching the essence of Buddha Dhamma through meditation Erika started to contribute the wisdom that she gathered through counselling and writing. 'Many methods through watching the mind', 'The Chakra healing', 'Neutral mind and its cosmic expansion', 'Living experiences of enlightenment' 'Fully awakened: or sleep-walking', 'Oneness in duality', 'On Liberty', 'Nature's divine science' 'On thoughts, No thoughts, Experiences and reflections' and 'Blissful emptiness' are among the prose work of her which have been distributed worldwide. Some of the books were translated to French as well. Erika teaches the Dhamma with paintings and illustrations as she finds then the message is direct. She included this technique in her next two books; 'The science of enlightenment' and a coffee table poetry book 'Blossoms of wisdom on peace and environment' which will be out shortly. Her writing and her service rendered to the Buddhism has been rewarded and awarded on many occasions in many countries including Thailand, Australia and United States. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the World Academy of Arts and Culture in California in 1991. Erika wrote poetry for the Royal family in Thailand especially for the Queen Sirikit on her celebrations of her 60th birthday in 1992. The spiritual group formed in Bangkok by Erika now continues in Sri Lanka and the United States. In Sri Lanka it is called the 'Dhamma Study Circle'. Every Sunday the 'Dhamma Study Circle' which comprises a cross section of wisdom seekers from different religions and communities get together at her place at Nugegoda to study Dhamma and practise meditation. Working as a mind healer and helping people with Dhamma insight, today Erika leads a serene and happy life. |
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