Sri Lanka Dec 30th, 6am

It is Dec 30th. We stayed at a wonderful Hotel, the Global Towers in Colombo 6, next to the ocean. We got 2 suites fora really good price. We’ve eaten at a Indian Restaurant called “Curry Leaves” and a food court at a mall in Downtown Colombo.

I’m a bit dissappointed that I don’t see many sari and sarang on the people on the street. There’s a lot of annoying (commercial) christmas decoration with snow and evergreens (seems out of place in a tropical country).

Yesterday we visited a Meditation center run by Sarvodaya, an NGO that is very cost effective at uplifiting villages one village and one person at a time. They regular offer meditation classes in Colombo for people ranging from hyperactive kids, to prisoners, to pregnant women. Dr Ariyarante, a gandhian that founded Sarvodaya, invited us to his house. They had their annual general meeting yesterday, and he still made time for us to visit him. He’s a humble guy–still very shy to talk. But he told us about changing ourselves and having faith that if enough people are willing to work at being aware of social values, we can have the world we want. He said his organization has been working hard for 50 years and have finally started to make good progress though most of the organization is “still starving”.

We were hosted to attend a 30 minuute meditation in the beautiful Meditaion Center they have build:
Vishwa Niketan
No 72/30, Rawatawatte Rd
Moratuwa
ph: 0094 1 655653

The picture is from the mediation center.

haven’t been back for awhile

“…like memories of yesterday,
Something’s got to change.
Sounds of Laughter and Happiness
Turn my teardrops to rain.
I’ve been bearing this birth
For too many of my my days.
Seems the breezes of Autumn
Have finally blown my way,
Like memories of yesterday…”