Absence of meritocracy and professionalism:

ABane of the nation

If I didn't receive the gold embossed Business Card issued by the California State University at Long Beach, and the words of veteran journalist Edwin Ariyadasa who introduced me to Professor Sarath Gunathilake, I would have regarded him as an ordinary Sri Lankan citizen from a village.

He speaks with an usual Sri Lankan accent which is very unfamiliar to many expatriate Sri Lankans who live for decades in a western Society. Immediately it struck me that he is different.

Commenting on the need for the revival of Buddhism, Prof. Gunatilake stated that though there are some scrupulous elements, there is a small group of monks from the monastic tradition who have set up monasteries and followed the exact way of life Buddha preached only accepting bare necessities. (Pindapata, Chivara, Senasana and Gilannapatti).

They do not accept any other materialistic things. A large number of Americans who have studied Dhamma and Pali cannon and really understood the essence of Buddhism have been attracted to these monks residing and practicing in the monastic tradition.

There is revival of Buddhism taking place in many parts of the West due to some of the latest research studies that have come to the fore front very recently.

The two of the areas that have been subjected to most intense research are re-birth and neuro-plasticity or changes in the brain that happens with meditation and similar activity.

The interest in the re-birth has been ignited by accident when a well-known psychiatrist in Florida, Dr. Brian Weiss who tried to get rid of a phobia from a female patient. The patient had a terrible phobia for water.

She could not get near a mass of water. Dr. Brian who had tried all possible forms of medications, decided to hypnotize her. He conducted continuous hypnotherapy sessions with the patient, taking her as far back as possible in this life, and he was also able to take her back to her previous lives.

To his amazement, Dr. Brian discovered in one of her previous lives, she got caught to a Tsunami and the effect of Tsunami has haunted her throughout many lives and manifested in this life as a phobia for water.

There are a number of physicians who have been able to take patients back to their previous lives. For example, person speaking in archaic languages which could only have been interpreted by few archaeologists and anthropologists and these experts have corroborated that the person spoke exactly the archaic language spoken at the particular time.

The details revealed by these people have also been traced back to records such as Church records and death registries etc.. Until now the most valuable tool available to re-birth researchers was only the individuals who were able to recall their past lives in this life.

In most cases these subjects have been children and their accounts were not all that detailed and clear. However, these new developments to corroborate evidence of re-birth unearthed by the technique of hypnotic regression have provided more concrete proof.

The second area which has attracted attention in the West is meditation. Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, a psychiatrist wrote a book 'The Brain the Mind'. He specialises in treating Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (like people who always wash their hands). He observes the brain activities of the patient using PET scan and other techniques such as EEG scans which recognises the part of brain that is active at a given time.

He found out the areas responsible for controlling the hands in the brain are very active while other areas remained dormant. Dr. Jeffrey taught the patients the techniques of mindfulness meditation (The Vipassana Bhavana). Once the patients were trained, the areas that represents in the brain did not light up much but other areas began to light up. With that he proved that meditation can change the circuitry of the brain.

However the most important research in this area was done by psychologist Richard Davidson in the University of Wisconsin. He got eight of the best mediators from Dalai Lama and eight of his students who have also been trained in compassion meditation.

The two groups were asked to meditate while their brain activities were monitored through PET scans and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI). For seasoned meditators, it was the left frontal area (just above the eye in the forehead area) which lit up in the PET scan.

This is the brain region that is associated with happiness positive thoughts and emotions. Dr. Davidson also found a very high level of activity involving what is described as Gamma Waves in the same area.

The volunteers in his study showed minimal or no such activity although they were doing compassion meditation after an initial period of training. Dr. Davidson also found a dose response relationship in that more seasoned the meditators the higher the brain activity.

He came to the conclusion that in seasoned meditators, there are certain permanent changes taking place in the brain circuitry a concept called neuro-plasticity. Neuro-scientists today believe that with prolong meditation that actual circuitry of the brain can be changed permanently. This is a remarkable discovery in that it may help us to understand what happens to the brain of an Arahat (an enlightened person) when he keeps on meditating.

Because of these new research developments, there is a renewed interest in Buddhism on the part of small groups of individuals who have really understood what Buddhism is and its potential. It will not only make life better in this world but also show that the ability to enter the path and achieve Nirvana (Supreme enlightenment) is within one's reach in this life itself.

Speaking on the contribution that he made to the motherland, in terms of providing training for doctors and nurses, Prof. Gunatilake stated that he had been able to obtain funds and facilities to train Sri Lankan doctors and nurses for short periods.

This training has been of great value to Sri Lanka in terms of human resources development. Through a network of other Sri lankan doctors, Prof. Gunatilake has been providing free consultations over the internet to Sri Lankan doctors for managing difficult patients in Sri lanka.

As the president of the Sri lanka America Association in Southern California Prof. Gunatilake also once provided a lot of medical equipment to the Cancer Hospital, Maharagama. As a physician practicing in Los Angeles area he continues to provide free medical care to many expatriates and visitors from Sri lanka who do not have medical insurance.

Following the Tsunami and his active involvement in the recovery process, Prof. Gunatilake applied for a large research grant from the Centres for Disease Control in the US and was able to obtain one of the fourteen grants to develop 12 training modules on disaster management.

Subsequently the modules were developed and Prof. Gunatilake had negotiated with the WHO officials as well as officials in the Ministry of Health to make these modules available free of charge to Sri Lankans.

On drug addition, Prof. Gunatilake is of the view that a concerted effort should be made to stamp out this menace. For this, he believes that political will, together with stringent laws such as those existing in Malaysia and Singapore should be instituted along with rehabilitation and support services for the victims of drug addiction. In Malaysia or Singapore capital punishment is imposed on persons found guilty of drug trafficking, consumption and or selling.

It is also important to look into the socio-economic background of the people who are involved in drug peddling and consumption of drugs. For instance, his son Ravi who is also training to be an obstetrician in the US has been running clinics in Southern province during the tsunami.

He found out that the use of drugs and alcohol had increased by 120% in the immediate aftermath of the Tsunami due to oppressive situation. Drug rehabilitation programmes should also consider many factors and be customised to suit Sri Lankan culture. It is also important to evaluate the progress of these programmes. Though counselling from Buddhist, Christian and Moslem clergy could help patients at later stages, first they should be treated to get rid of the physical addition and withdrawal syndrome. Counselling programmes should be continued and recognise risk factors associated with drug use emphasizing on prevention and avoiding returning individuals to the same environments that precipitated their drug use in the first place.

Commenting on South Asian societies, Prof. Gunatilake states that China and India will be the next economic giants. Chinese are experts at envisioning what would happen in the future and try to gain control of certain resources such as petroleum while India is heading on the technological front.

China in spite of its rapid development makes a conscious attempt to maintain its cultural traditions. However, though India maintains its traditional values to some extent, there is evidence of drastic erosion of such values particularly in urban areas and in pockets like Bollywood.

Prof. Gunatilake was born and bred in the remote hamlet of Waturegama, a village off Gampaha. He commenced his studies at Royal College Colombo. His classmates were Anura Bandaranaike, Ranil Wickramasinghe, Dinesh Gunawardena and C. R. De Silva, the Attorney General.

Having qualified as a Doctor, Prof. Gunatilake began his career as a lecturer at the Medical College of Colombo in the Community Medicine Department and went to University of Hawaii for post-graduate studies.

At the University of Hawaii, he did a Masters Degree in Public Health. Then he did his Doctorate at the School of Business and Public Health came back to Sri Lanka in 1985. Then onwards, he had been working in Sri Lanka for two years.

However, he went back to US in 1986 somewhat disappointed about the Sri Lankan set up and the lack of opportunities particularly for professional fulfilment. He also commented about life style that some professionals lead in Sri Lanka who commence the day at 6 a.m. and go on until 12 midnight or later to earn more and more money without any time for themselves or their families. He felt that he would have been caught in the same 'rat race' if he stayed behind.

In retrospective, Prof. Gunatilake is happy that he can help Sri Lanka from US better than he living in Sri Lanka. He was also has provided consultancy services to host of International organizations including WHO, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, USAID, CARE International, UNICEF in countries such as Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, India and also most of the Pacific countries. He also worked in many Caribbean islands.

Though Prof. Gunatilake left the shores, he visits Sri Lanka, at least once a year, and actively took part in Tsunami recovery.

He brought down team of medical students and aid for the affected people. He brought down aid himself collected by the Royal college Old Boys Association in Souther California, and distributed among affected population knowing well about the Sri Lankan set up where such funds are get mismanaged.

Prof. Gunatilake is quite proud that even in California he grows Sri Lankan vegetables in his home garden although he can buy them from an Indian shop. During the interview he fondly remembered the days when he used to come back on holiday to Sri Lanka, how he would go out in a Sarong and treat patients waiting out for him at his ancestral house in Waturugama.

However, he laments on the vanishing traditional value base which he sees as common to not only to Sinhala Buddhists but also to all religious groups.

He is of the opinion that Sri Lanka has embraced Open Economy without considering the adverse effect it would bring along and with out any conscious attempts to deal with them. Purely economic development without paying any attention to cultural and spiritual development is a dangerous recipe. That is what happening in Sri Lanka.

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Not recognising talents

Referring to a pathetic situation once Prof. Gunatilake plunged into when he came back to Sri Lanka and was working in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Colombo, he stated that though he drew a meagre monthly salary of Rs. 5,000, he was still happy.

However, one incident which reflected the entire spectrum of backward attitudes on the part of administration compelled him to leave the country for good.

Prof. Gunatilake wrote a project proposal modeled on his dissertation on Application of Japanese Management Techniques in US Hospitals and submitted that to the Ministry of Health for implementation free of charge, requesting bare necessities such a Vehicle, secretary. After one and half years from the date of the submission of the proposal, it was rudely turned down with a single line letter from the Health Ministry "Dear Dr. Gunatilake, we do not think this is a worthwhile project".

The irony of the story is that when Prof.Gunatilake submitted the same proposal to the Government of Indonesia when he went back to US, it was readily accepted and Prof. Gunatilake was paid 175 Dollars a day, hotel fare, subsistence and a week holiday in hotel Nusadua in Bali for over a three months consultation for the implementation of the same project that Prof. Gunatilake offered to Sri Lanka free of charge.

It is not only the not recognising talents but the major defects of the Sri Lankan set up where people in the higher position do not think of common good but try to strength their positions and seek avenues for making money for themselves.

Earning more money and providing for children's education are legitimate objectives for any professional working in an open economy, however, when these objectives take precedence over one's duties and responsibilities for his or her organization and the community, it becomes a problematic situation.

This epitomised the prevailing attitudes of many professionals. For a moment, they do not think "how can I look for talents and how can I make this place better".

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