Browsing by Author "Chandrasekara, S."

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Basic Meditative Practices Based on Tripitaka and Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali
(International Conference on Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, 2018 Department of Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Chandrasekara, S.
Buddhist philosophy has two main objectives. One is short term objective to be happy in the present world. Another objective is to attain final liberation which is called Nibbāna. To attain Nibbāna there are basic meditative practices to be follow to reach the final goal. The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root meaning ‘UNION” implying the joining or yoking of human consciousness to the diving being. Yoga must not be reduced to a mere system of physical exercise but clearly offers many spiritual methods and approaches. Yoga has a wide variety of meditation techniques and accords marked importance to techniques of meditation. Buddhist philosophy includes original teachings in Tripiaka which consists of Sutta, Vinaya and Abhdhamma. In this research paper focuses on how to prepare the state of meditation which happens in one’s practical life. Thus, the emphasis is on the practices of the prerequisites of the body and mind for the spiritual practice of meditation, which are taught by the Buddha and Yoga of Patañjali. When compare with Patañjali’s Yoga is in Eight Limbs, which seems to be quite comparable with the Eight Fold Path of the Buddha’s Middle Way. Here main focus goes to fundamental meditative practices of the Two Ways that one can apply meditative practices in the right ways eradicate Stress and tension of their life. On the basis that the study of the fundamental meditative practices of Patañjali’s yoga and the Buddha’s way in methodological comparison is possible, although it is neither necessary nor helpful to assume that the Buddhist way is either superior or inferior to the Yoga way in meditative tradition
Buddhist Soft Skills as a tool for Peace and Harmony in the Multi-Cultural Society
(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Chandrasekara, S.
Buddhist soft skills were introduced to the world by the Buddha 2600 years ago in India. It can be used as conflict resolution tools in any given situation without any discrimination. It basically focuses on understanding yourself, motivating yourself, managing your own emotion, your goals, intentions, responses, behavior and all. Similarly, attention is given to understanding others, recognizing other people’s emotions and managing relationships. Soft skills are personal attributes that describe an individual’s ability to interact with others. Soft skills are also known as people skills which complement hard skills to enhance an individual’s relationships. Every institution/organization is a complex organism, planning, reacting, adapting, evolving, growing and shrinking in response to external demands and internal capabilities. The ability to execute depends on soft skills or human capabilities. Soft skills is a term often associated with a person’s EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient) cluster of personality trait, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, strong work ethics, and positive attitude. Good communications skills, time management abilities, problems solving skills, acting as a team player, self-confidence, ability to accept and learn from criticism, flexibility and adaptability are also important. Dr. Daniel Goleman mentioned five basic components of Emotional intelligence; i.e. self -awareness, self-regulation, internal motivation, empathy and social skills in recent times in the western world. Mindfulness meditation is a very powerful tool for developing soft skills. Loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity, conviction, virtuousness, learning, generosity, wisdom, will be the main focus in Buddhist soft skills to conflict resolution with reference to the Tripitaka. Buddhist soft skills will be one of the great tools for finding solutions to many problems occurring in the contemporary world today, and this leads to a big foundation for peace and religious harmony in a multicultural background.
Effectiveness of Yoga Practices for Emotional Health.
(International Conference on Sanskrit Studies, 2017 Department of Sanskrit, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Chandrasekara, S.
Yoga as a lifestyle or the ‘yogic way’ has a huge following. It is amazing that a tradition which is more than 5000 years old has today become a popular way of life. The power of yoga lies in its simplicity, flexibility and diversity. Yoga is not a religion, yet can be practiced in harmony with any religion. The yogic philosophy and its various techniques can be followed by anyone and everyone in any setting. This broad scope of yoga has made it easy for people from all walks of life, whether busy or active or even sedentary, to follow their own selective techniques, suited to their lifestyle. The yogic life style can be adapted and merged into any lifestyle with ease. If anyone practices Yoga effectively leads to emotional health. Emotional Health has been described as the capacity to live life to this fullest in ways that enable a person to realize his or her own potential. Emotional health begins with a person’s true understanding of how he or she feels about himself or herself. Emotional healthy people have high self-esteem. A person with high self-esteem has confidence, a sense of positive self-regard and belief in self. Self esteem has been called the blueprint for behaviors as it guides what a person thinks he or she can do and thus striving towards goal. What is a yogic lifestyle all about? Today yoga courses have sprouted all over the world teaching yoga asanas, pranayama and meditation. Yoga is an ancient science which harmonizes the body, mind and spirit. In the Bhagvat Gita, yoga is expounded as – “YogahKarmasuKaushalam”, which mean Yoga is perfection in action. A yogi is one who can do the daily activities of life with efficiency and awareness, without the underlying attachment or clinging, which may bring sorrow. Doing every action with awareness, without reacting to situations brings harmony in our lives. It can make you a better parent, a better boss, a better student or a better sportsman. It does not matter what your life style is. Yoga brings in a value addition at every level and enhances the quality of your life. Yoga is seen more as a counter-balance to one’s stressful and overworked lifestyle, which lacks proper exercise and relaxation. These factors have contributed to most life style diseases like hypertension, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, back & neck pains, obesity, migraine, depression, drug addictions, cardiac problems and even cancer. Yoga should not be seen as a panacea for all problems, yet it can prevent or solve most of these problems, if practiced under the guidance of an expert. Yoga was developed as part of the ancient Indian spiritual culture. Yoga was integrated into the arts, sciences and day to day life in the ancient times. The effect of this is seen, even today seen in the Indian culture. It is considered as a way of life which harmonizes the body, mind and spirit, thereby creating a peaceful and vibrant society. Yoga is not only for the body exercise, but also mind training too. Therefore, we need to maintain physical health as well as mental health. Emotional health will lead peaceful life for the happiness.
Exploring the impact of student-led peer assisted learning (‘kuppi classes’) on examination performance and mental, social and emotional development of medical students of a Sri Lankan medical school
(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2017) Chandrasekara, S.; Bandara, H.; Chandrasiri, N.; Choden, T.; Chandratilake, M.
INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES: Peer-assisted-learning (PAL) is the acquisition of knowledge and skills through active helping and supporting among status equals or matched companions. In ‘kuppi classes’, a local term for an informal form of PAL, students of a junior batch learn from students of a senior batch in a didactic manner. The aims of this study were: to explore the educational environment and the reasons for attending kuppi classes; to determine the correlation between attendance of kuppi classes and student performance at examinations. METHODS: The study focused on kuppi classes for preclinical subjects, the student experience of the first two years, and their performance at the second-year summative examination. Two focus group discussions were carried out with 14 medical students to identify the breadth of the issues related to each objective. The transcriptions were thematically analysed and a selfadministered questionnaire was developed based on these themes. It was administered to 178 third-year medical students. RESULTS: The qualitative component revealed that the learning environment in kuppi classes were much more relaxed and acceptable compared to formal teaching sessions. According to the questionnaire, the main reason for attendance is as a backup for formal lectures. For the tutoring student it is a revision. The attendees expect kuppi classes to be more examination oriented. However, the association between kuppi attendance and subsequent examination performance was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Didactic and informal near-peer-learning sessions may provide students with the conducive social and emotional environment to learn. However, it may not have an impact on examination performance.
Happy Family Life through Buddhist Family Therapeutic Techniques
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Chandrasekara, S.
The Family is basic socialization unit of the society. That is the focal point of the develop country and if the families are healthy and well balanced then there are no conflicts in the society. The concept of family receives significant attention from both sociologists and psychologists. Their approach to resolve family issues are known as family counseling which constitute treatments in the whole family is the focus, rather than an individual family member. Social scientists have shown that there are three basic human expectations namely safety, satisfaction of the basic needs and undisturbed life. Also the dynamics arising from emotional states and interpersonal relationships among the family members contribute to the personal development and the welfare of each and every family member. Buddhist family therapy is based on resolving issues before they turn into nasty conflicts. It‘s an approach based on problem prevention rather than conflict resolution. It addresses the root causes and effects and find ways to prevent issues from becoming conflicts. If the husband and wife attend to their duties and responsibilities, their family experiences harmony and progress. This is the balance of equilibrium conducive for their family to grow. This is the goal of Buddhist Family therapeutic techniques, through these Techniques, family members become conscious of their roles, which is essential in maintaining the equilibrium. The trust between the husband and the wife is the basis for the welfare of the other family members and it leads to the happy family life. Some of the major techniques are drawn attention for further application. Those are Mindfulness Based Buddhist Family Therapy, Buddhist Introspective Family Therapy, Buddhist Reality Family Therapy, Emotional Control Buddhist Family Therapy, and Cause and Effect based Buddhist Family Therapy. Buddhist family therapeutic techniques are most effective to keep happy family life in all space of the world today.
Kamleshwar as an anti-feminist male writer of Hindi literature with special reference to the Hindi novel ‘ka:li: ã:dhi:’
(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Chandrasekara, S.
Feminist movement started as a struggle for the emancipation of women from domestic violence, sexual harassment, childcare and abortion which women suffer all over the world. By the 19th century, American ‘Elizabeth Cady Stanton’ (1815-1900) raised her voice for women’s rights. Meanwhile, Naomi Wolf argues that feminist thoughts must not be anti–men in ‘Fire with Fire’. Concepts of Radical and Liberal Feminism belongs to second wave feminism which highlights liberal changes of the society. Kamleshwar Prasad Saxena is a contemporary Hindi novelist who discusses above concepts in the context of Indian society in Hindi novels. Through his political novel ‘ka:li: ã:dhi:’ (Dark Storm) Kamleshwar tries to convey his thoughts regarding Radical and Liberal Feminism. The aim of this paper is to identify the attitudes of Indian male writers towards feminist thoughts through Hindi novels. For the present study Kamleshwars novel ‘ka:li: ã:dhi:’ has been used as a primary resource. Magazines and books related to Hindi literature and Feminism have been used as secondary resources. Literature survey has been employed to analyse this novel. P. K. Jaya on her literary work ‘katha:ka:r kamleʃər’ agrees with the author that marriage life becomes unsuccessful due to the career interest of the woman. It shows that Indian women used to accept patriarchal domain of men over women. Although Kamleshwar tries to discuss on feminism through this novel he could not overcome from orthodox patriarchal thoughts which lead Indian society. This paper highlights that author does not accept domestic responsibilities of men as well as he ironically highlights occupational segregation which is highly believed in Indian society. Above findings contribute to our understanding that how male writers of Hindi literature discuss Radical and Liberal feminist thoughts related to Asian society.
Laughter therapy as techniques for reducing Stress
(Department of Sanskrit, University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, 2016) Chandrasekara, S.
Laughing is an excellent way to reduce stress in our lives, and can help you to cope with and survive a stressful lifestyle.Laughter provides a full-scale workout for your muscles and unleashes a rush of stress-busting endorphins. Since our bodies cannot distinguish between real and fake laughter, anything that makes you giggle will have a positive impact. You do not need to be happy or have a sense of humor to benefit from a good laugh.Laughter therapy aims to get people laughing in both group and individual sessions and can help reduce stress, make people and employees happier and more committed, as well as improve their interpersonal skills. A laughter therapist's aim is to help you laugh more easily. Therapy is available in group or individual sessions - these start with a warm-up followed by a range of activities designed to get you giggling. Laughter doesn't come easily to everyone, but luckily the body can't actually Laughter therapy is suitable for everyone although most therapists work within the healthcare profession or in the workplace, where laughter is used as a means of relieving stress. Yoga is one of the popular techniques for the stress management and Laughter Therapy is one of the methods in Yoga. This paper pays attention to Stress Management through Laughter Therapy and focus here to know the stress and its further classification of symptoms. Stress is one of the killer in the present generation in Japan another name given to stress as KAROSHI, In conclusion, Laughter therapy is one of the best method to release stress and live very happy life with mental peacefulness.