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An Evening with Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne

Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne ( a great social worker) from Sri Lanka came to the house of a Charity Focus volunteer for guiding a meditation and discussion. I was fortunate to attend this session. Some great, humble people had gathered for the wonderful evening. Dr. Ariyaratne is a very simple and humble man. His behaviour made him a part of the crowd and he could only be distinguished when introduced to everyone. He is serving 15000 villages of Srilanka on daily basis. He works on principles of Gandhian and Buddhist philosphy and believes in total non-violence. In a country where terrorism is an every day problem, Dr. Ratne preaches goodness, unity, hard work and peace through his teachings, work and meditation sessions. He inspires people to work together and resolve their day to day issues instead of waiting for better resources or help from government or others. He is serving thousands of people and helping them live a better life in difficult circumstances.

His session mentioned about some difficulties he faces from terrorists, politicians and others on day to day basis, yet continuing his work passionately. We all were filled with deep respect for this great man after listening to his thoughts and work. He has gained honour from the people involved in war as well, who let him do his work just few kms from their warfront and do not take any life in that area.

He spoke for few minutes and guided a meditation for the gathering (moments captured on CF blog). From his words, I gathered some good lessons, which I am listing below:

  1. Develop loving kindness for all
  2. With fearlessness and love, you can win anyone & inspire them to a more human feeling. It requires lot of perseverance as well, where in you may be humiliated, laughed at, prosecuted yet only with love, smile and fearlessness you can conquer the troubles and finally those who were against you, may follow you.
  3. Love and peace cannot be brought in world by politics or international bodies, it can be done by grassroot level, common people, who can work with each other and make this happen.
  4. We breathe in the air which so many humans of different origins, caste, creed breathe out. The air is also contributed by animals and plants. They breathe in what we breathe out. Hence it is a union at global level. You can thus relate to all humans as your own family member, you should be able to love and be kind to them as a human being.
  5. Our bodies are nothing, they are made of hard part, liquid part, emotions/feelings and mind. We spend so much time taking care or decorating our bodies, but there is nothing other than these inside.
  6. When you are doing a good deed with like minded people, you do not help others as much as you get help to build your own self, as a better person and also get acquainted with a like minded community. You also get peace, happiness and joy which is very difficult to obtain otherwise.
  7. We cannot have high standard of living for everyone but we can have a society where there is no one below poverty line, where there is abundance of greenery and we can work towards it. We can work towards global environment problem by planting trees not by complaining about it.
  8. Ego can be completely shattered, it may take time but one can do it by constant effort every moment. Then you can get wisdom.
  9. We die and are born in every moment of life. Everything changes, nothing is permanent except change.
  10. Keeping life simple is important, not buying more than what one needs, not diverting too much to worldly attractions can help to devote more time, energy and resources towards making the world a better place.
  11. Do not kill any life around you.
  12. Let thoughts come and go, observe them, let them in and out, however do not attend them to be able to make an impression.
  13. Observe your body parts as another person, go through all parts from head to shoulders; observe breath; observe feelings /sensations ; observe thoughts and then do vipansana. This is complete vipasana mediation.

It was a blessing to have met such a great, selfless man who has offered himself to the world and inspires everyone to goodness.

Read more about Dr. Ariyaratne at

  1. http://www.evrel.ewf.uni-erlangen.de/pesc/R2000-Ariyaratne.htm
  2. http://www.sarvodayausa.org/founder.php

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