All Problems in Life cannot be solved

This is in fact, a Buddhist Theme.

Life or Rebirth continues with new and newer set of problems.

That is the nature of life itself.

Understanding that fact, all is that is required.

Pondering on it has no value except for guys and girls who were brought up in one life and one heaven or one internal hell. This logic is an insult to human intelligence.

Only Dhamma teaches us that to solve all problems in life, one has to extinguish the life flame itself.

No Rebirth is the goal in Dhamma.

It is easy to state it but very difficult to achieve.

Rebirth occurs in complete random and Kamma that controls it has no control over its own Kamma.

The mental force that accumulate both good, bad and neutral Kammic force is so vast one cannot fathom the beginning.

Therefore, one has to look at the end point not the limitless past points.

I was listening to a YouTube presentation done in all good intentions that promises that regression to old lives benefits one's present and future life. 

I cannot see the logic.

In his way of thinking;

I fear snakes of all kinds.

I do not hate them or kill them.

In his analysis either I was bitten by one or lived a life of a snake in the past and was mortally injured.

Those two examples do not help me, in my liberation or my salvation except that it does not make me to kill them with fear.

I pity both the snakes and their prey.

There in no end in life cycle for most of the animals.

It is a vicious cycle.

I even think, if one spends lot of time on animals might even end up as animal in their next life.

Perhaps only exception is dogs. 

We humans do not have the ability to provide comfort that dogs provide us.

Unlike humans dogs do not expect anything in return but love and company.

Coming back to recuperation of past lives has no benefit to one who believes in Rebirth.

In Buddhism the belief in Rebirth is the first step. The current party in power in Ceylon do not believe in Rebirth. 

The majority who voted them in believe in Rebirth.

That is the IRONY.

I cannot understand the logic of those name sake Buddhists who voted them in except regret on their Kammic forces. They will never be reborn as humans for very long time.

The second law is Kamma.

What one saws would end up as a plant, flower, seed and another plant.

If any human being cannot understand that simple logic he cannot go further in Dhamma.

Putin is the Divine Intervention

 Putin is the Divine Intervention

This is not my phrase but comes from a retired CIA analyst.

Putin is a lawyer who weighs pros and cons over a conflict.

 

He is no longer a KGB guy but a strategist.

 

He is not a military man but has revitalized his military machine not in old ways but by new methods.

 

Think of Oreshnic with a nuclear load.

 

But take Trump for instance.

He is just like a bull in a China shop.

Sorry, the good Americans, that is how I see him but he is much better leader than guys in UK and Europe.

For example;

 

A Guy battered by his own spouse.

 

Guys who are sniffing ICE.

 

A Guy who is blackmailed by pimps.

 

Guys with a matted brain who wishes to sell Taurus missiles to a junk dealer.

 

These missiles should be manned by sane  individuals not morons.

 

These is only one adult in world politics.

 

That is President Putin.

 

Trying to assassinate him was a wrong move now fully exposed.

 

I think Russia has no options left but to move up to Odessa before any of the above mad guys press the nuclear button.

Offense is the best deterrent, as it is.

It is not easy but worth consideration.

 

Waiting for another winter is no good, since battle fatigue ensues.

 

Need to prevent Thirds World War and decimating Nazi or Bandera elements left in Ukraine and Germany is the need of today.

Loving Kindness

 
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Loving Kindness

One whose wish is to do
Meritorious act with skill
And strive to attain
The highest goal of all,
The state of the Supreme
Should thus possess
The supreme qualities
Of mankind

Thus, he should be
Upright, competent and candid
Gentle, humble and accommodating
Thoroughly, independent and content
Light in bag and baggage
Simple in ways, means and virtues

Discreet, prudent
With sensual desires
In full check of self control
Not greedy, haughty and not bound
By bounty or bondage
To the lineage of family and life

Would dare not err on the tinniest
Of what the wise
Would fear the most

May all beings,
Be happy, content
And safe in their habitat
Without any exception

Of all living beings
That exist
The beings weak or strong
The beings tall or stocky or otherwise  
Short or tiny or the chunky
Those to be seen
Or  not seen
Those dwelling near or far
Those who are born
 Or to be born,
 May all beings,
Without any exception,
 Be happy and content

 Let there be no deceit
 Nor despise of nobody
 No anger or ill will
Let there be no wish to harm any
 Just as the mother would protect
Her only child
 Even at the risk of her own life,
 May all beings are protected
Thus with that absolute devotion

Let one cultivate
The unfathomed mind
 Let there be boundless love
That pervade the universe
 Above, below, across
And in all directions

 Be there of no hindrance
To that universal love
Or no hatred or enmity
Whether one stands, walks or sits
Lies down
Or as long as
One is awake
 
One should cultivate the mindfulness
In earnest,
It is the highest
Conduct of all
 Devoid of wrong views
 Endowed with virtue and insight
 One discards all attachments
To any sensuous desires

Truly, he does not come again,
To be reborn again

With the said truth of unanimity, may I be well.
With the said truth of unanimity, may I be free from illness.
With the said truth of unanimity, may I attain the blissful victory
 

Karaniya Metta Sutta

Guys and Girls to Read and Digest in this Life

The Discourse On Loving Kindness
He who is skilled in doing good
And who wishes to attain that state of calm (Nibbana) should act thus
He should be able, upright, perfectly upright
Obedient, gentle and humble
Contented, easily supportable (not a burden to others)
With few duties, simple in livelihood
Controlled in senses, discreet, not impudent
Not greedily attached to families
He should not commit any slight wrong
So that other wise men might deplore

May all beings be happy and safe
May their hearts be happy
Whatsoever living beings that exist
Weak, or strong, without exception
Long, stout or medium
Short, small or large

Those seen (visible) or unseen (not visible)
And those dwelling far or near
Those who are born and those who are to be born
May all beings, without exception, be happy minded

Let no one deceive another
Nor despise anyone anywhere
In anger or ill will
Let them not wish each other harm
Just as a mother would guard her only child
At the risk of her own life
Even so towards all beings

Let him cultivate boundless mind
Let thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world
Above, below and across
Without any obstruction
Without any hatred, without any enmity
Whether he stands, walks, sits
Or lies down, as long as he is awake

He should develop this mindfulness
This they say is the Highest conduct here
Not falling into (wrong) views
Virtuous and endowed with vision (insight)
He discards attachment to sensuous desires
Truly, he does not come again; to be conceived in a womb
By the firm determination of this truth may I ever be well
By the firm determination of this truth may I be free from illness
By the firm determination of this truth may peaceful victory be mine!

Benefits of Meditation

 Friday, April 19, 2013
Benefits of Meditation

 This is part of the introduction to my Book on Meditation which will be out soon.

Benefits of Meditation
There are many claims of benefit of meditation often poorly substantiated. Some of these benefit can be obtained without resort to meditation but simple change in life style.
Suppose a meditator changes his food habits drastically say to a vegetarian diet and practice meditation as a routine and finds that his blood cholesterol is lowered significantly, and then if he or she attributes it to the practice of meditation, there is a big flow in that argument.
One is not sure whether the change in diet did effect the blood cholesterol level or the practice of meditation or both did have independent or summation effect on the level of blood cholesterol. Unless one take a random sample and assess the partial correlation then only one can attribute combination or independent effects on a particular quantity tested.
Qualitative changes cannot be tested since one cannot quantify the results. In actual fact the effect of meditation is often qualitative and very individualistic and one cannot feel the same effect a different mediator would have felt at the time of his or her meditative stance or instance/s. this is very true as far a Jhana States are concerned.
With that reservation in mind one can describe the many unmeasurable benefits attributed to meditation in Buddhist literature.
Metta Meditation
In Buddhist literature it is claimed that one who practices Metta Meditation falls to sleep easily and get up in the morning peacefully.
It is wished in the last three lines of the Sutta. By reciting Karaniya Metta Sutta one should feel physically and psychologically better, one is made free of illness and one attains the highest goal or victory.
That is of course the Nibbana.
They may be just wishful thinking or one may actually feels better physically and psychologically.
It is also claimed that  the natural immunity to cancer and infections are increased by practising Metta Meditation.
This is something Venerable Ajhan Brahma Wanso preaches in most of his teaching.
Present Moment Meditation
This is something that is worth discussing here.
It has direct relationship to day to day activities.
I believe it has significant contribution to the efficiency of one’s trained skill, simply due to the intense concentration one may apply in his or her work skill at hand (without any distraction).
It is simply the focused attention task at hand.
If one is focused on any work, the efficiency goes up by leaps and bounds.
This is very well shown in management tasks.
When focused attention is combined with attitude to work and other measurable increase in environmental components the work output and the efficiency level improve.
This is something shop or  floor manager can use in day to day basis.
It is called a quality drill.
It does not matter how one qualify the content or the output but the efficiency of the skill concerned improve by both repeated practice and focused attention to the moment of the activity.
Samatha Meditation
There is no specific measurable benefit of Samatha Bhavana or meditation except the attainment of the four goals or paths of entry to Nibbana,
Buddhist spiritual goal is stream entry through development of Jhana.
Smatha probably is better for those who have less intelligent level (IQ) that one is not able to master the finer scientific tenets.
Vipassana Meditation
This the highest goal of Buddhist meditative practice.
It is claimed that all states of Jhana can be attained only by Vipassana Bhavana or Meditation.
I may be wrong in this assertion but that is what is spread among the lay person without full knowledge of or understanding of mediation.
This is called the gaining of insight.
Only when aspirant has gained the 5th Jhana then one could develop the five kinds of supernatural powers (Abhiñña) the divine eye, divine ear, recall past births, thought-reading and various psychic powers i.e. walk on water.
The attainment of the supernatural powers is not the real goal of Buddhism.
The attainment of these powers may actually be a distraction or hindrance to a true aspirant or  a pathfinder (Buddhist path of glory).
The ability to absorb into Jhana states is the goal of Buddhist meditation and Jhana is has no hindrance but Jhana is the way forward for stream entry.
The practice of meditation may bring many benefits and they are difficult to quantify or qualify except perhaps the benefit of present moment of meditation or focus which should be practiced without a label of religion or Buddhism.
It is when one has labels and have targets or goals of attainment, the practice of meditation becomes commercial enterprise of undesirable consequences but not simple a way development of mental culture and  the simple way of life.
I am one who believe that mediation has value in all wakeful hours of the day. The only exception is  when one is asleep and when one dreams.
I am one who talks about dreams and write about dreams and their physiological value is unparalleled only by the practice of meditation in wakeful states.
The meditation practice is the awareness of the wondering mind and its taming.
That is the Buddhist way.
The goal is not achieving miracle powers, even though they may or may not come as a by-product.
Sleeping (and dreaming) is the practice of letting the mind go into a  unobtrusive and unhindered movement and of the the mind unaware of the physiological inputs that lapses into random aberrations of all sorts with dreaming as an interlude.
On the other hand meditation is to “let go the attachments” one has with all mental faculties both sensual and mind centred.
Goals of Buddhist Meditation
The goal is the attainment of Jhana states and stream entry by progressive cultivation of meditation in basically by four methods.
1. Metta Meditation.
2. Samatha Meditation with Kasina or varKamatahan
This is adequately dealt by Venerable Ajhan Brahma Wansointhe book Happiness through meditation.
It is also published as “Meditation., Bliss and Beyond”.
It the best book currently available on Meditation in general and my intention is to make it more global and take the religious tag in the moment of its use.
Memory and Meditation
I want to share a drill I practice on day to day basis.
This is especially because, I am beginning to lose my memory and there are short lapses infrequent though, but enough to raise alarm bells on my part lately.
Once I forgot all my password for bank cards briefly.
This was during our long industrial action when I was having laid back approach to life and was not having adequate sleep (involved in Linux downloads and testing) at night.
This coincided with forgetting passwords for half a dozen emails and Linux forum passwords.
This shook my inner senses and I now have now have a ready made retrieval method based on memory drill.
The combination of Metta Meditation and moment meditation has worked wonders for me since then.
I now even have a simple protocol to remember 16 number Visa Card.
The memory loss is partly due to gray matter losing its material and neural networks due to old age which is seriously encroaching my body if not the brain.
Metta meditation makes one sleeps well not in one go but in two short spells (Night is the shortest spell when I do most of my work to avoid mosquito menace. The mosquitoes make me aware of my lack of Metta Meditation,too).
The dog is the target animal of Metta.
Then in the morning I have a brief 5 minutes Moment Meditation practice at the end of it, I have a mental list of 10 things or map out the tasks to do.
If the list go up to 20, I do it in two spells like my sleep.
A morning list and an evening list.
That has worked well for the last one year and I still do not carry apiece of paper with all the tasks.
If I have to carry a piece of paper to to remind me day to day work, I think I should say Good Bye and take first steps in the next birth.
That is my wish list.
Since I have not yet achieved stream entry, in spite of my mediation efforts, that will eventually happen and only option left for me.
There is another simple addition to this list.
I do not use a cell phone by default.
No electronic aids or tinkle too.
I do not want to gadget to master me.
I rather master my brain instead.

Peanut Linux

 
01-03-2013
Peanut Linux and Old Computers

Peanut Linux
Since I have talked about peanut, jumbo variety which a seed cost more than one Rupee, this Peanut Linux renamed aLive / aLinux is FREE, if you have a good download facility.

aLive / aLinux the earliest version which I downloaded in 2009 is pretty good.
Enjoy Peanuts in Linux if not Jumbo Peanuts.
 

Thanks Guys and Girls of aLinux for your hard work, which is very much appreciated.

This is a reproduction from www.Distrowatch.com
 

I am currently downloading it.
My oldest computer with 4M Graphic Ram on board has no Linux distribution to run except Redhat 8 and Mandriva, 9 both of which are not supported.
 

Even Antix does not have a Kernel for it.
 

I will run this DVD on it with 256 RAM and let you know the result soon.
I do not think it will work.

If you have a Apple Mac not running there is Yellow Dog 6.2 available for download.
It is a DVD and I managed to download for an Emergency, after many failures over the last six months (6) and on the umpteenth attempt.
Our Telecom is super fast with many interruptions!
These sites will stop storing these images.
Yellow dog 5.2 is in 5 CDs and it works well (only distribution with enough utilities) works well on the Apple Mac I bought for testing Linux.
It has very little RAM and no DVD and I am not going to try this DVD.
I am keeping it for one day when an Apple Guy is Ceylon is in trouble not being able to run his computer.

I have disposed this Globe Unit.
I won´t spend money on an Apple from which I can buy 20 to 30 Tablets with Androids which will soon hit even the Sri-Lankan market.
Good Luck for Apple marketing strategy!
 

Reproduction on Peanut or aLinux
Jay Klepacs has announced the release of aLinux 15.0, an independently developed distribution (formerly known ad Peanut Linux) designed for ageing computers and featuring the KDE 3.5.10 desktop: 

"aLinux 15.0 released, updates the graphical installer, dialogues, etc., easier to install. Same old system but with just enough updates to be 'usable'. KDE 3.5.10, X.Org 7.7, glibc 2.17, GCC 4.7.2, Linux kernel 2.6.34.14, Perl 5.16.2, Skype 4.1.0.20 (MSN and Windows Live support). Main web browser is Firefox 17.0.1. Distribution is optimized for i686 now. Kopete has been removed and replaced with Pidgin messenger. It's still a distribution aimed at computers from the past (mine included), so if you're looking for the latest bleeding edge, you won't find it here, but if you're looking for something a bit more complete from a past 'yesterday' operating system that still manages to work in 2013, this may suit you."

Kiwi Linux

 Kiwi Linux

Web site: kiwilinux.org
Origin: Romania
Category: Desktop
Desktop environment: GNOME
Architecture: x86
Based on: Ubuntu
Wikipedia:
Media: Live CD
The last version | Released: 12.08 | September 6, 2012

Kiwi Linux – slightly modified an Ubuntu Desktop/Install CD for the i386 architecture, with support for German, English, Romanian and Hungarian languages.

The live CD offers the support of multimedia codecs, encrypted DVD support, Flash and Java plugins for Firefox, PPPoE GUI for accessing local Internet services and write support for NTFS partitions.

It also features an old-school graphical desktop environment, powered by GNOME 3.4. It uses a two-panel layout, providing users with both a traditional and familiar interface.

The last version of Kiwi Linux 12.08 was released in September 2012.
Kiwi Linux was started by an Ubuntu core developer, Jani Monoses.

KiWi Linux

  KiWi Linux

So sorry KiWi Linux for my holiday lapses.

It is a beautiful outfit and thank a lot for your wonderful work and keeping it within 700 MiB and the latest software and Chromium.

All other CD distributions except Peppermint go back to 2009 and won’t let one updates and repositories are no longer supporting some software.

3. Then my Server, I have dismantled it with all its parts,
I could not find RAM, more than 256 memory for it.
Mind you, servers do not need much RAM or graphic capabilities.
I was looking for replacement RAM for over 9 months and I could not find one.

I sorted out all the DDR 1 RAMs I had, just a few days ago and tried one by one and found one with 400 speed and 512 Memory at last.

Now the time to summarize the problems, one encounters if one is using old computers.
1. Graphic capability (on board or cards capability).

2. RAM

3. CD instead of DVD

4. Size and the type of hard disks (IDE, SATA instead of Solid State without mechanical parts)

5. Transformer.

6. Battery Life.
One has to consider all the above apart from the weight of the laptop and the accessory gadgets.

7. Is there blue tooth?
That is vital if one is using the device for mobile work.

8. One should see whether it is bootable with a  USB device (DVD for example) or Pendrive.

For me Pendrive is the only device I need but now I have few laptop hard disks that fits in my front pocket with few images stored in for quick action, on the fly, on the spot and no more downloading.

If one is buying secondhand those are the problems but if you buy new one you are going into unknown territory.

I hate Japanese laptops including Toshiba and I will stop at that.
There are many reasons, including hardware compatibility with Linux.

9. I will be brief with new laptops.
Only look for the battery life even if it is on the heavy side.
Like ASUS transformer, if you have two for one device it is wonderful, if your backpack is large enough to accommodate.

10. All the other gimmicks that (salesman/woman) chaps tell you are blah-blahs unless you are serious graphic artist or a gamer.
Even a media person can be happy with a minimum of resources.

11. Solid state hard disk is what one needs if you are a chap like me who will jump to sea bed with backpack on my back.
So be wise in your choices but cheap does not mean one cannot get one’s work done on a daily basis.

12. One more advice,
One has to use the computer 24/7 schedule like me.
If not do not buy one but borrow one for the work and have your hands free on vacation or better still get another donkey to do the work and enjoy one’s life like, there is no tomorrow.

Warning
With the Tablets about to hit the market and take it by storm, the work floor guys are going to DUMP old hardware on your back and part with your hard earned money,too.
Beware business gimmicks.

Kiwi Linux

Web site: kiwilinux.org
Origin: Romania
Category: Desktop
Desktop environment: GNOME
Architecture: x86
Based on: Ubuntu
Wikipedia:
Media: Live CD
The last version | Released: 12.08 | September 6, 2012

Kiwi Linux – slightly modified an Ubuntu Desktop/Install CD for the i386 architecture, with support for German, English, Romanian and Hungarian languages.

The live CD offers the support of multimedia codecs, encrypted DVD support, Flash and Java plugins for Firefox, PPPoE GUI for accessing local Internet services and write support for NTFS partitions.

It also features an old-school graphical desktop environment, powered by GNOME 3.4. It uses a two-panel layout, providing users with both a traditional and familiar interface.

The last version of Kiwi Linux 12.08 was released in September 2012.
Kiwi Linux was started by an Ubuntu core developer, Jani Monoses.

Linux Freedom with Proprietary Distribution, namely SuSe Linux

 Saturday, September 8, 2012
Linux Freedom with Proprietary Distribution, namely SuSe Linux

 

This was the time we went on strike during Mahinda Rajapaksa Regime.

My story with SuSe Linux is both Love and Hate but now mostly HATE.
 

I was looking for a Netbook for sometime to buy but did not like all the Japanese OEMs since their hardware compatibility is tricky with Linux.
Reason for me looking for a netbook is apart from light weight in money and size was that with tablet hitting the market it would be extremely difficult to buy a new one, let alone a second hand one.
 

I was lucky to find one in Kandy city and it had SuSe on board and it won´t boot up for any demonstration and was lying in a corner.
 

I had a look at it and was simply attracted by SuSe ¨my old flame¨.
 

Yes it won´t boot up.
I quickly figured it out that it was due to its clock and (SuSE and its YAST configuration) I let it run for nearly one hour for localization and terminated its looped script after going through many cycles from A to Z godforsaken of all the countries in the world.
Then I finally it booted up without any local time but USA time.
I bought it for a reasonable price without knowing whether I can boot it up with  a Flash drive.
I kept it without registering with Novel and finally wanted to install Abiword (instead of OpenOffice that was available with SuSe 10 - SuSe has come to 12 now and this distribution is pretty old) but I could not do that without registering with Novel.
I hated going to an automated process without any personal help.
In any case I do not need any help but problem was finding an alternative distribution that fits my need.
Web search was of no help  and for a week I went through all the Linux distributions downloaded from 2009 and none of them was comprehensive.
 

The I finally found Pingue Eee and booted it with a DVD and was pretty impressed by it, in about half and hour.
I resized the home partition of SuSe (100 GiB- too massive for my comfort) and installed Pingue Eee and to and my annoyance SuSe won´t boot up.
There was no way I could repair (No Install CD/DVD with the Netbook) it and took Gparted and rewrote the partition table to suit my needs and with it SuSe 10 was gone with the wind.

 
Good Bye my old flame!
 

The partition table made by SuSe or its technocrat was horrible to say the least and there was 2 GB of NTFS partition (for what purpose I do not know) and the SWAP partition for my liking and comfort was too small.

 
Within half an hour I upgraded the software repository and installed the latest version of Abiword.
I left a big partition for Knoppix 7.0.4 (22 GB was enough) once it is downloaded (may take a week or more) to Install.

 
I left a BIG 16 GB of NTFS partition, in case I decided to dispense it (most unlikely scenario) one day to a Windows Guy with Linux on board.

I am free again without enterprise edition of SuSe.
Pingue has Calbre, Cheesse, Clemantine, UnetBootin, Gparted, LibreOffice and many more.

 
Who the hell who would beg the Enterprise for these packages from an Enterprising Technocrat?

 
Not me.
I will write about other Netboot crafted Linux distributions when I come out of my  laziness that was due to our nearly three months on industrial action and no work.
I am actually enjoying it (the strike) and even Linux is of low priority for me now.

Elephants or Starving Monks- A Question?

 Monday, July 30, 2012
Elephants or Starving Monks- A Question?

 
In this Modern Buddhist Sri-Lanka and Democracy (Crazy) alternative opinion is suppressed.
If Elephants are given the choice none of them will be willing to be chained to a tree.
They prefer their herd (they are social animals) and roaming in the wild.
I have no objection to taming a single elephant (often with some disability) gone rampage.
Instead of looking after Elephants rich Buddhist monks (residing in big temples) should look after their fellow monks in some remote villages not having a single meal proper on some days (even the ordinary people, Tamils included do not have a square meal in these parts of the country).
Sinhala Buddhists and their political rulers going gradually mad with power.
Problem is many of them in power and high places do not understand that they are even anti-democratic to animals and their welfare.
Now with the rain failing even the birds do not have drinking water, let alone the big elephants in the dry zone.
 
We have thamashas in the big cities sometime with Indian celluloids appearing.
Reproduced is a text what appeared in a local paper last year.
I am not privy to the details and I take no responsibility of its contents and hope the Author does not mind me reproducing it here.
 
I read the Dhamma Padaya and Karaneeya Meithriys Sutta verses (which I read very often) when I am at a loss to how to interpret modern Buddhist practices.
Elsewhere I have classified Modern Buddhist from Eggo to Chicken to EGO (some monks belong to this category).
By Ravi Palihawadana
I completely fail to understand the proclivity of certain Buddhist monks to raise animals in captivity at temples.
Nearly three decades ago, as a 22 year old youth, a few friends and I got up at 4 o’clock in the morning and trekked 10 km along a footpath from the confluence of rivers Ganga and Varuna to Isipatanaramaya at Sarnath, India.
This is supposed to be the path trodden by the Buddha whenever he spent the rainy (Vassana) season at Isipatanaramaya. We walked through mango and bamboo groves. It was an exhilarating experience. We could almost feel the presence of the Buddha and his benevolence towards all living beings.
However, upon reaching Isipatanaramaya, we were dismayed to see caged peacocks.
The whole place was highly commercialized.
The obvious distress of the caged birds was certainly loathsome.
We all felt that the incumbent monk had entirely failed to appreciate the fact that it was the place where the Buddha set in motion a process that would over a period of more than 2500 years help liberate hundreds of thousands if not millions of individuals from all their worldly bonds and set them totally, unconditionally free.
Who in his right mind would want to imprison animals at such a hallowed precinct?
I see Buddhist temples as places that should enable people to free themselves from worldly bonds.
Does it make any sense to keep animals in captivity at such places?
 
Let us examine what the Buddha has said about conduct towards living beings.
In ‘Karaniya Metta Sutta’ (Discourse on Loving Kindness) he says:
"Just as a mother would guard her only child at risk to her own life
Even so towards, all beings
Let one cultivate loving kindness."
 
In Dhammapada, the Buddha declares:
"All are afraid of the rod all, fear death.
Taking oneself as an example, do not beat or kill."
 
And in Vasala Sutta (Discourse on Outcasts), he pronounces:
"Whosoever in this world kills living beings,
Once born or twice born (i.e., first born is an egg and then born for a second time as a hatchling),
In whom there is no sympathy for living beings
Know hint an outcast (untouchable). "
As such, it is with dismay that I learn that it has become a fashion among certain influential Buddhist monks to raise baby elephants at their temples.
 Story
Recently a baby elephant was being transported from one temple to another without obtaining required official approval.
The driver of the truck and the mahout were brought before a court of law and charged with cruelty to a captive elephant. The accused pleaded guilty and were fined. Although only the driver and mahout were hauled up before courts; the calf was being transported at the behest of two highly influential Buddhist monks.
What is most disturbing is that the poor animal was being raised in captivity at the temple of one of those eminent monks.
The observers say, the baby elephant cannot be more than three years old although in its adoption papers its mother’s name has been given as `Kale Alma’, which died about six years ago. The baby has been separated from its mother long before it reached the recommended age for weaning at the expense of its well being.
Besides, it is no secret among elephant lovers that the process euphemistically referred to as taming is cruel. Baby elephants are made to obey a mahout’s orders by keeping them in close confinement, withdrawal of food and water, and by constant merciless beating.
Bearing in mind the Buddha’s words on how to treat all sentient beings; even if we disregard the treatment meted out to this poor baby elephant at the temple and dwell only on this nightmarish episode of transporting it in the cover of night, the implications are appalling.
By cruelly inflicting untold misery on it and thereby placing the life of the cub in danger, the first precept of abstaining from killing has been violated.. Secondly, the cub was robbed of the inalienable right to roam freely in its natural habitat.
Thirdly, false information was furnished about the mother of the animal.
Fourthly, this cruel act had the blessings of individuals intoxicated with political power.
In this preposterous exercise, three or four out of the five basic precepts were violated.
That being so, the consequences of meting out cruel. treatment to the baby elephant at the temple on a day to day basis are unthinkable.
Perhaps it was on witnessing such conduct by certain monks that the late Dr. E.W. Adikaram is supposed to have remarked, "It is my ardent wish that these monks would one day embrace Buddhism!"
Animal lovers may shout from the rooftops.
But it is the Buddhist clergy who must finally decide whether the practice of keeping animals in captivity and separating them fro their mothers at a very tender age is consistent with the teachings of the Enlightened One.
 
Until then there the status quo will remain.
 
Let us fervently hope that this cruel practice will be abandoned before long.

 

REDHAT is DEAD, RHEL is Billion Dollars' Worth, YET, LINUX and its Desktop is not DEAD but soon be 21 years OLD

 Saturday, May 19, 2012
 

 Wednesday, May 16, 2012
REDHAT is DEAD, RHEL is Billion Dollars' Worth, YET, LINUX and its Desktop is not DEAD but soon be 21 years OLD

In my life with LINUX, two incidents made me to change my Outlook.
They were both challenges.
1. Number ONE.
 

Redhat deserting Me and US.
That was easy, I went to SuSe (Another disappointment in corporate world) and Mandriva and now PCLINUX FullMonty.
 

2. Number TWO.
The local cronies of Microsoft Corporation, using school leavers to disrupt a tiny workshop for KANDY school boys.
 

Yes they bribed the school leavers and threw in alcohol to douse them.
That was the turning point.
 

Had not for these two trivial incidents in my life full of bigger challenges to overcome, I would not have taken almost obsessive interest in Desktop Linux.
 

OUTCOME.
1. Five (5) books in Linux including cloud computing.
2. Almost daily downloading and testing Linux Derivatives.
3. Archive of over 400 Linux distributions from 1998 to 2012 (TODAY).
4. Promoting LINUX Magazine.
5. Contributing articles.
 

Good News
Two Debian Developers have translated the Linux Administrators Manual to English (from French).
Its print form is $50/= but digital form is FREE but make sure YOU Donate few dollars in appreciation of their dedicated work.
 

REDHAT had the best MANUALS, then.
 

It took another 10 years to fill the VOID.
Like what Richard Stallman had said about Apple Mac and Steve JOB,
I don't like his death, but I am happy he is gone.
 

I am Happy REDHAT is DEAD and RHEL has gone its own way to the corporate world.
 

That does not mean DESKTOP USER/s will sit back and Lick his/their wound/s or corporate ArXXXXSss.
They will innovate and move forward with new ideas.
If you have time and money please subscribe to Linux Magazine.
It has lot of wonderful tricks for newbies and experts.

 

A comparison of Redhat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu Linux Websites

This is a simple warning to NEW Redhat Users

A comparison of Redhat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu Linux Websites
The two best web sites on Linux are Ubuntu and Redhat.
1. One is commercial, the other is both commercial (Entry into Music world) and social.
2. Ubuntu has enormous resources but poorly organized because of its dependence on Debian.
3. Redhat the resources are limited if one is a desktop user.
4. Its server resources are streamlined and well organized but the streamlining is not done by the USER but the corporation.
5. Its resources are based on Fedora Development which is very very SLOW but probably stable because of slow input.
6. Ubuntu uses LibreOffice which is far superior to OpenOffice.
7. OpenOffice was destroyed by ORACLE and then given to Apache which is trying to revive its old roots and lags behind by at least three years of stagnation.
It is BULKY and I never use it now.
I prefer light weight AbiWord.
If one is hooked to OpenOffice Debian still faithfully bundle it with its distribution.

 
8. So go for Debian instead of REDHT which is a GOLDMINE of resources.
 

9. Biggest PLUS point of REDHT is its Literature which no Linux distribution except perhaps Ubuntu can boast.
Most of it is HiFi administrative stuff which only Administrators would worry about but not the ordinary users.
 

Debian has entered the foray now with a book in French and English.
 

I wish them GOOD LUCK and one need not worry about REDHATś publications, and the money saved. 

If you subscribe for digital form make it a point to contribute a little from the money saved from REDHAT.

10. Biggest Minus point of UBUNTU is its lack of Administrative (ROOT USER) power and configuration ability. 

That is why I do not use it on a regular basis.

 
11. Current situation is very FLIUD.
Ubuntu because of Unity (I have made comment elsewhere) and Fedora because of its Butter File (btrfs) system and turning round on its head and torso, seeing 100 things at the same time and because of the RAPID SPIN.
It is too fast for any average desktop USER or even an administrator to keep phase/pace with.

 
12. MIND YOU Ubuntu has made rapid progress in Server (Another reason I dissociated with Ubuntu) Editions and on Cloud Computing with Ubuntu ONE, and it is fast closing the GAP Redhat has established.
It is going to be a sure winner with 20 million targeted this year not REDHAT.
 

13. If you do not like UBUNTU, there are 100 of other derivatives and I recommend Ubuntu Studio, Ultimate Linux, Tango Linux and many more.
 

I LOVE Pinguy Linux the most.
Recently there are Terrible Linux, Hybryte, Unidockynapse and more for the newbies to play with.
 

14. For REDHAT there is almost nothing except Fedora and Scientific Linux. 

Mined you scientific Linux has no scientific packages in it.
One is on a desert and I am happy I have looked for other resources rather than REDHAT and many other distributions.

If you visit my blog site you may read my reviews on many of them.
I have a book on Linux distributions on Amazonś (both digital and print).
One day, I might STOP blogging altogether and that is the reason for this compilation.
I am currently working on Small Distributions (my academic work keep me off the desk and desktop)
If you do not like all this there are over 300 more Linux Distributions to choose from including Puppy and Knoppix which are my favorites.
If you buy the April Copy from LINUX MAGAZINE one will get KNOPPIX FREE without any hassle for downloading.
If you subscribe for LINUX MAGAZINE print form you will get a FREE copy of the latest Linux Distribution.
If YOU are a newbie subscribe to the magazine but do not expect the writer to spoon feed you.
TRY LEARN IT in your WAY and SPEED.
Who knows at the end of one year YOU may be better than ME.
 

Mind you I am subscribing to the Magazine to SAVE my Electricity BILL (no downloading on a regular basis now) in Ceylon.
It has sky rocketed now and if I save on my electricity I can buy 10 different types of Magazines (DEAD TREE- one has to kill a tree to PRINT a BOOK or Magazine).
I have no choice now but to PLANT as many small trees as possible.
Will you do that for ME?

An Ubuntu Fork Pinguy OS 12.04

 Friday, June 22, 2012
An Ubuntu Fork Pinguy OS 12.04
Unfortunately this distribution has gone defunct.

 

Following is a reproduction from Software
I must confess for not writing a detailed review, which this distribution richly deserves and only a few comments.
I had a horrible night yesterday.
I slept from 7.00 p.m.
 

My PClinux FullMonty (current work horse of mine) was playing Pandu (Ball Game) with my desktop and every time I click the mouse it switches off my monitor.
In fact it was so bad I did my work on my Abiword on completely black monitor (pretty nice experience without any distractions barring typos and no editing facility).
Worse scenario was yet to come when I got the monitor on, by pressing hard on the UPS battery, the monitor got switched on and I was pasting few photos off from an old DVD of mine, the desktop effects when into DEAD FREEZE MODE and I could not do anything but Ctrl+Alt+ Del, completely disrupting my point to point download of Ubuntu Server and Desktop CDs and all my background activities.
I will right a detail report about the FullMonty´s desktop effects later and I will cut this story short now.
 

In the Frozen sate I stopped the desktop effects, restarted the computer with my download active and went to sleep.
Sometime a good sleep will give your ¨BACK UP BRAIN¨ to work well and I was dreaming a lot which was a pleasant experience.
I always say a good night sleep, in my case a good day time sleep on weekends, rejuvenate my brain especially I am working on a book and running short of ideas.

 
Ideas get deposited in your brain when dreaming.
 

Got up had a cup of tea and opened my Abiwod (mind you this is my latest book) and corrected all the bugs (PCLINUX and not Abiword) in about 10 minutes, my correct document (renamed) and the original in pristine form recovered, browsed the www.linuxtracker.org to see PinGuy 12.04 (I call it in Sinhala Ape (our) PIN (Kusala or Merits) Guy (transliterated to Ape MAN).
Renamed Ape PIN= OUR MAN.
I remember reading a review of it,  couple of years ago and the reviewer ended up saying I like this distribution but I do not know what the developer is trying to DO or ACHIEVE.
He is very expressive  here and I agree with the developer´s views without any reservations.
It has a very good grub and unlike Ubuntu recognizes all other distributions (in my 500 GB hard disk on laptop) when installing.
Only other distribution, light weight though, that has a good grub is AntiX and Mephis.
It has Ubuntu one.
It used to have UnetBootIn but I will tell you soon after I checked the downloads (currently on) later.
Thanks, I believe you guys coming from UK (unfortunately there is some Ant--British sentiments here and British Councils's www.writeclique.net is defunct now) doing some excellent work.
Nice to see practical men in Britain, instead of celebrating Monarchy (we are heading that way unfortunately) doing yeoman service to the entire world with the help of South African Ubunu.
I believe some of you are South Africans domiciled in UK.
BIG THANK YOU for your hard work it is PIN or Merits in Sinhala.
I use PinGuy (11.04) in all my computers and keep it as a reserve distribution to enjoy Gnome not the KDE.
I will soon drop my KDE addiction and it is the K3B which is an excellent CD/DVD writing utility.

 
An Ubuntu Fork Pinguy OS 12.04

Pinguy OS an out-of-the-box working operating system for everyone, not just geeks.

This OS is for people that have never used Linux before or for people that just want an out-of-the-box working OS without doing all the tweaks and enhancements that everyone seems to do when installing a fresh copy of Ubuntu or other Linux based Distributions.

Ubuntu is a great OS and undoubtedly the most popular and easiest Linux based Distribution to use but even with its default setup and chosen programs it's still lacking functionality and ease of use for most new users. 

So what I decided to do was build a Distribution that looks good, could do everything most user would ever want to do and that was very simple to use.

I started out by listening to what my friends and family wanted to use their PC for and found the most user friendly programs for the task they wanted to do. After a while I got a good idea what most people use their PC for and what programs were the easiest to use. Like using Shotwell for easily uploading images to Facebook, gtkpod for putting music, photos and video on a ipod/iphone and Arista for converting the video to a iPod friendly format.

So all the programs in Pinguy OS have been chosen because of their ease of use and functionality, I also changed every file type to open with the right program, like for some reason by default .iso are opened with Archive Manager so I changed that to Brasero Disc Burner.

As I already said apart from it being easy to use I also wanted it to be a very good looking operating system. There are now a lot of programs out there for Linux to give the OS a very smart and polished implementation, like CoverGloobus, Gloobus Preview, GNOME Do, and Docky. 

These programs don't just give the OS a good look and feel but they are also very useful and handy.

Pinguy OS is an optimise build of Ubuntu 11.04 Minimal CD with added repositories, tweaks and enhancements that can run as a Live DVD or be installed. It has all the added packages needed for video, music and web content e.g. flash and java, plus a few fixes as well. Like fixing the wireless problems, gwibber’s Facebook problem and flash videos in full-screen.

Everything is set-up for samba, all you need to do is right click a folder you want to share and add a password in samba using system-config-samba.
It also has a UPnP/DLNA server (pms-linux) so you can share your music, video’s etc. 

With a PS3, XBOX 360, Smart Phones or any other UPnP/DLNA media reader.

Nautilus has been replaced for Elementary-Nautilus with added plug-ins so it can get music and video art from the web. The default theme is Elementary using ttf-droid font with Docky and a custom Conky.

I have also added DVB support to Totem for anyone with a TV card that wants to watch tv on their PC but doesn't want to install a dedicated program like myth-tv.

For a full list of installed programs and repos for 10.04.2 *OLD* download this file.

If you prefer to download and install the LTS (long term support) 10.04. It can still be downloaded from here.

If you like this Distribution and would like to help it improve and grow you can always donate, it doesn't matter how small the amount is, it all helps.

Arch Linux-X-Windows and Window Managers

Arch Linux-X-Windows and Window Managers
 

The Arch Linux project was started by Judd Vinet in his attempt to create his own distribution. 

He wanted to make a lightweight and simple system aimed at power users.

 
Note that "simple" does not mean "newbie friendly".  
 

The system is structured in such a way that the user has to customize according his or her needs.
It is not a distribution for a newbie.
One needs to know how Linux works and how to configure from ¨bottom up menu¨, like in Gentoo Linux.
There is no out of the box Linux experience.
One can easily configure by changing simple configuration files and installing just what he/she needs.
No place for automatic configuration.
 

There are no GUI tools in Arch to help a newbie.

That means the system is highly configurable and the config files are simple in structure and easy to find in contrast to many of the other distributions which uses a graphical installer.
This is one reason I never liked it myself as a distribution to work with my busy schedule.

Concept-The Arch Way
Having said that I like the concept very much, ¨I get what I need¨.
Linux is not a toy to play but a toy to build and Arch fills in that need.
 

I do not like the idea that the vendor knows what´s best for the customer.
 

In actual fact, Linux came into existence because of this need for freedom and flexibility and lately it has moved into ¨You get what we dish out¨-we know it all; the inside the box experience.
Same old  Microsoft and Apple propaganda.
 

 

Simplicity
Arch Linux defines simplicity as without unnecessary additions, modifications, or complications, and provides a lightweight UNIX-like base structure that allows an individual users to shape the system according to their own needs.
In short: an elegant, minimalist approach.
 

Code-correctness
The Arch Linux system places precedence upon elegance of design as well as clean, correct, simple code, rather than unnecessary patching, automation, eye candy or "newbie-friendliness."
Simplicity of implementation, code-elegance, and minimalism shall always remain the reigning priorities of Arch development.
 

User-centric
Whereas many GNU/Linux distributions attempt to be more user-friendly, Arch Linux has always been, and shall always remain user-centric.
Arch Linux targets and accommodates competent GNU/Linux users by giving them complete control and responsibility over the system.
 

Openness
Openness goes hand in hand with simplicity, and is also one of the guiding principles of Arch Linux development.
Arch Linux uses simple tools, that are selected or built with openness of the sources and their output in mind.
 

Freedom
Another guiding principle of Arch Linux development is freedom. Users are not only permitted to make all decisions concerning system configuration, but also choose what their system will be.
By keeping the system simple, Arch Linux provides the freedom to make any choice about the system.
 

Arch Linux base system
Note that the Base System does not include a GUI.
It is mainly comprised of the GNU toolchain (compiler, assembler, linker, libraries, shell, and utilities), the Linux kernel, pacman (Arch's Package Manager), and a few extra libraries and modules.
 

Features
Arch installs a base Linux system, and then the user can configure it and expand it depending on his or her needs. It uses the pacman package management system written by Judd Vinet himself and has -like the most distribution out there- its own repositories filled with many useful programs.
Unlike rolling distribution like Ubuntu where one has to install the new version every time a new version is released, it has its own unique feature of rolling update system of its core and software system.
When a program is updated upstream, after some testing it is immediately made available to the users in the Arch repository. 

The ISO images are just a snapshot of what is in the repository at a given time. 

The rolling update system means a user never has to do any kind of "upgrade of the entire system" to get the latest and greatest software.

In fact, after the first Arch installation a simple "pacman -Syu" command will always keeps one up to date.

Installation
1. Downloaded the latest ISO.
2. Then boot the CD into an installation / recovery system.
3. To install Arch, one just types /arch/setup and the installer will be activated one step at a time.
4, Install the base system which include partitioning the hard disk
5. Configured the kernel and
6. Finally install the Grub.
All this can be done in 10 to 15 minutes.
 

My Comments
Arch installer simple and straightforward, but one has to be pretty experienced with Linux to figure out what to do and when to do it.
Linux is a text based operating system and every operation is written on a simple configuration file at a specific hierarchic point in the file system.
There parent and child processes that follow a logical pattern.
Because of this reason it can be configured with pinpoint accuracy if one knows what one is doing.
The learning curve is steep but when one has mastered the basics, one can even start writing, changing, modifying the software that one needs to do a particular job.
The reason for me writing this is to go step by step order, so that one can have a Graphical Environment or Desktop, on top of the core system at the end of the exercise.
Every distribution has its own finicky ways of doing things, which another distribution might implement differently.
Gentoo is difficult and it does not have an official installer of it own unlike the robust Arch installer.

Lately one can install Gentoo.
One needs check with the official installation guide that will help one to go through the first past the post or the process.
One has to do it many a times, may be hundred times to master all the intricacies and then one knows the process by heart.
The difference between a user, vendor and a developer is that the developer has clear understanding of all the stumbling blocks.
The user and the vendor has no idea to change the script to overcome the difficulty.
This is where the community come into play and help an individual developer to make improvement to a system already running.

Configuration
After installation all one will have is a Linux prompt.
Using the excellent wiki,
1. Configure the Network,
2, Installed X.org, nVidia drivers (or whatever the driver necessary for the hardware one has in the installing system).
3. Configure  Alsa to get the sounds and decide on the graphic front to install .
Graphic Front End and Back End
 

I must tell a few words about how graphic architecture works in Linux.
As I have already stated Linux is a text based operating system and that is how servers work.
 

Servers do work or provides services but do not need to be visible or transparent to the human eye, a monitor is a dumb terminal for a server.
 

The graphic in Linux also works in a similar fashion.
 

There is a graphic server called X-Window system which is the back end and do the configuration of the hardware (Screen includes, both the graphic RAM/Driver and the monitor) and a client or the front end called Window Manager.
What the window manger does is to organize the behavior of the windows, add menus and panels and the likes. 

 

It is a software that run on top of X-Window system and X-Windows have no say except providing the service requested by the Window Manager.
There are over 35 window managers and one of it name is named Window Maker.
 

Desktop Environment
The Desktop Environment is an integrated system and has its own Window Manager. 

The desktop is what one sees in the monitor glaring at you when the distribution is up and running.
The X-Windows system and Window (behavior) Manager sit behind the monitor and does the donkey work that the user requests.
 

What to Chose?
A Window Manager or a Desktop Environment?
The choice depends on the needs.
It is better to chose the Desktop Environment and in that also to chose LXDE.
Why LXDE?
It is not resource hungry and works on laptops with low battery charge time for long hours and on old computers.
 

Yes it uses Openbox window manger which consume little RAM.
 

Both KDE and Gnome and especially Unity take up lot of resources and slow down the computer.

Window Manager?
If you want to cut down on resources and play and see which one fits your needs, there are 30 odd window mangers to choose.

Above is the nuts and bolts about graphic front of Linux.

The beauty is one can configure it the way one wants it to be.
There is lot of work involved in customizing a distribution and one needs lot of patience, understanding of the hardware, the software and the operating system running on the platform.

Elephant Talks

 Friday, July 27, 2012
Elephant Talks

Elephant Talks
I am not referring to the two legged variety.
Talking to them has no meaning electoral wise since they cannot talk with one voice or with coherence.
I sometime think they talk from both ends open, since the odor or the malodor that emanate is no different.
I am referring to the four legged variety who take the center stage for a brief period of ten days in the hill capital, Kandy .
I wish they could talk.
If they do, I know, unlike the two legged variety they will talk with one voice.
They will tell us, ¨Give us our heritage, the vast stretch of land we had for ourselves including  the hill country now covered with tea plantation¨.
Do not give us th barren land without water in the dry zone.
We cannot keep cool in the dry zone without waterholes.
No more development please.
No more electricity nor fence with electric shocks.
This land was hours long before humans existed.
Mammoth has gone for good, we are next in the line of extinction.
Give us a break!
Give us the ¨watershed¨.
I wish they could pull a trigger in evolution to develop the capacity to acquire language facility of their own like how the humanoid developed it (the capacity to talk and develop language was a very recent development in evolution).
But the way, the things are as it is, there is no time in their life history to develop it.
In any case, the man (including Buddhists)  will not allow that to happen by even a stroke of accident.
Why?
They will be extinct in a matter of a century.
There is no time for the evolutionary changes to come about.
Since that is not possible, I decided to have little look around the captive ones and try to develop, some channel of communication.
Make it a silent rapport.
Yes, they can understand our language but we cannot understand how they think of us.
First I wanted to see whether they were happy or not.
Of the few I surveyed they were more than happy.
They weather gods had been nice.
We had light rain from the first day of the Perehara.
The scorching sun has taken a little respite.
They have had good baths, the manicure, pedicure and the trunk-cure (this is a word I coined today-the looking after, the trunk of an elephant) or the tong-cure have been excellent.
(Mind you Cambridge professor of English, take a note of my new word.
I have no trust on Oxford with the Olympics on stage.
They will be busy coining new words for the Olympic Security Protocol taken over by the private sector.
 It looks like, after the Iraq War Crime Issues of Labour regime in the background as it were with some bad taste, the conservative administration has no faith in their regular security arm).
All the elephants were happy, except one veteran in near retirement.
Unfortunately there is no retirement facility for these gentle giants.
He had tears down his cheek but they were dry when I saw him.
He was in the middle of the pack with young and the very young chaperoning him.
This guy was tall and that gave an indication of his age in years.
His skin was brownish and not golden black, like in the young adults.
He looked anaemic too.
He is no longer chewing his meal as he used to do when young.
His molar teeth are failing him and that would have been the reason for his pallor.
I do not say he was neglected but his age was showing.
Moment I came near him he gave me a gesture that told me.
I knew when you were young, you used to come and watch me in the parade or half ditched in water at Katugastota Elephant bath.
You have even scrubbed my skin and you were on top of me.
You were like a feather on my hat.
I was young but you were tiny.
Yes, I can jolly well remember you.
He lifted his trunk very very slowly not very gracefully though, but gave a glimpse of his good old majesty.
I took his picture in a snap second.
Then he stopped and looked at me very attentively.
That look was very familiar to me.
When did I see you last?
Could have been 40 odd years ago.
Your look is admirably different now.
You have no hair on your top.
They are becoming silvery.
But the smile on the corner of your mouth is the same.
You look is trim and I like the way your are.
Look at me I am having arthritis.
I cannot lift my trunk like it used to be.
I am not going to lift you up, it is going to make cranky noises in all my joints.
It might snap few ligaments if I try.
I am sorry but I wish I could take you up for a ride.
Don worry man.
My tears are not because I am sad.
I am old enough to take life on a springboard.
In fact I am happy to be in the parade this year too.
The tears were due to excruciating pain when I chew.
This may be my last parade or the tour of gratitude to the lord.
No, No I will come and see you next year too.
That is of course, if I do not kick the bucket before you.
But you can have  a bypass, know?
But I do not want a heart of a young buddy.
Even if I had a bypass my teeth are failing to pump in enough food for its smooth running.
Good Bye!
We may not see again or may be we might.
I keep my fingers cross.
I said thank you for his thoughtful gestures and remarks.
Good Bye and turned round to come home.
Mind you, I was in between four giants.
I was within their trunk range and all the mahouts were gone for lunch.
One big one was blocking my exit pathway.
He was telling me you had a big chat with the old guy.
Why not me, I can take you on my hood.
Just stay a little while,  till my master comes after his lunch.
I have not had a bath too.
I am game for a chit chat all the same, like the old guy.
As I entered the closed enclosure, I had a long pause at the entrance and he displayed few of his tricks to me with the mahout prompting.
I told the mahout just let him be.
I like the way he is.
You said you like the way I was.
I liked your comment very much.
Before you came, I was thinking of all the lasses I am going to see tonight in the parade.
When you said, ¨I like the way I was¨, I started thinking of the real reason I was here.
Not to see lasses but to pay homage to the lord.
I will focus on that now and I have all the years ahead of me to see not one but many lasses, if I do want.
I politely said, you are blocking my way.
There is nobody to order you now.
It is only a polite request from an older guy.
Why not let me go.
Your big trunk is far to comfortable for me.
I do not trust you.
You might take me for a ride or a trick or two.
I am not a bully, you know, but I like a few teasers though, to keep ahead of the time.
Then he turned 90 degrees to let me pass through the entrance.
That is very nice of you.
Thank you.
Do not forget to come again next year.
I will.
Who says elephants can´t talk?

How to make an Elephant Cry?

 Saturday, July 28, 2012
How to make an Elephant Cry?

How to make an Elephant Cry?
This is something I have kept in storage for a very longtime due to its politically sensitive nature.
You may remember the story I posted about, how to make an Elephant Laugh?
A decade or so ago I posted that story when web posts were the unusual and unconventional and we did not have even 1% web presence in this country.
The routers were not known and dial up connection were the norm but were painfully slow.
Then, the politicians were ignorant that there was something called WWW in existence.
That web site is currently under political scrutiny and I do not use it anyway and I have migrated to bigger things like Google and www.wordpress.com.

The web site with British Heritage with local support is blocked for reasons unknown to me.
In any case, I have no connection with anything British except BBC Sports but that also I rarely visit since I do not watch Sri-Lankan cricket at all after political interference during the last world cup with a doctor without CMC registration with dubious record was managing the Sri-Lankan cricket.
Mind you, I even missed the trashing England suffered under South African command.

I only knew it when I visited the BBC sports to see the opening ceremony details.
BBC sports has done an excellent job and I suggest you visit it now before Sri-Lankan Government ban it for publishing a news event of a Sri-Lankan official who accompanied the team found shoplifting in a far remote corner of the British Isles.
I am pretty sure more officials than the athletes have arrived in London, well before the opening ceremony and they are involved in other dubious activities other than sports in London such as SOHO or Gambling Dens.
Mind you, the gambling is our National pastime when abroad to make some fast buck of foreign exchange.
I exchanged some Travelers cheques  kept for safe keeping in view of our industrial action but the bank has failed to realize it for the last three weeks or so.
One of our stupid union man (may be he is working for the government) has slipped his tongue in public and the government has taken mean advantage of the situation and stopped payment of our salary.
The usual procedure of stop payment is to set off leave, then half pay for 3 to 6 months once the leave is exhausted and finally the full pay is withheld.
We are not even into three weeks of union action and I have all my leave and more unauthorized leave because of the strike.
This stupid union man does not know the procedures or the etiquette of addressing. the public media and how he conducts his lectures is a pertinent question in academic circles.
Probably, he is not good enough to to give lectures and has taken up union activities to survive.
Coming back, to gambling one of the Papua New Guinea players was killed returning from a gambling den in Colombo, frequented by some our of ex-cricketers (not current) and the reason is not money but a girl we are told but we are still to hear the official version or the real version now into 10 years of inquiry.
All these diversions were to tone down the political nature of the story related to the elephant who died few years ago.
How to make an Elephant cry?
This is a true story coming from the aegis of Maha Brahma.
The elephant of course ended up in heaven but the second part which was withheld by me goes on like this.
Within minutes of his presence in high heaven, he started crying.
Maha asked him Why?
When this Elephant Guy of yesteryear was ascending to high heaven, the mahout who was drunk had been sleeping on his rear holding onto his tail thinking it is the Henduwa that is used to control the the gentle giant.
As he was bit up in the air he felt something skirmish and asked where am I?
The elephant had said ¨We are on our way to high Heaven¨.
Hold tight.
What nonsense I am already in high heaven and the Kassippu was invigorating to say the least.
No my dear, we are really ascending to high heaven and hold tight.
The mahout woke up from his slumber and having realized that he was holding onto the tail and took his hand off to take the Henduwa to bring his mad Elephant to senses but alas he dropped from the sky to the earth below in a flash.
The elephant guy said to Maha that his master who was holding onto his tail had met with this tragic misadventure and I fear he is dead and he is in hell now.
Maha Brahma had a little pause and burst out into a big laughter.
Our new god was bit bemused.
Your friend did not die of the crash but the Nilame was dead instantaneously.
How come?
The Nilame has come to visit the mahout to pay his dues for the day.
Then when both of you ascended up the Nilame got hold of the mahout´s leg knowing very well that the trip was to high heaven.
When they crash landed the mahout fell on top of the Nilame and survived but not his Nilame.
He was taken into custody by the Sri-Lankan police and now he is in prison charged with murder of his boss.
Now he is in prison?
YES.
Poor guy it must be worst than the hell know?
What nonsense?
Sri-Lankan prison is hundred thousand times better than the hell with cellphones and all the paraphernalia.
Is it so?
Yes.
Do you want to see the glimpse of the hell.
Yes, please.
My goodness.
Who is that guy?
He is the Nilame that just arrived.
Why is he having a big thing hooked into his back.
He is still under investigation and on probation for a proper appraisal.
Who is that guy?
He is one of your ex-presidents now already assigned a post in hell.
What is his post?
If any of his fellow presidents join prison he has to give a proper affidavit to process his or her claim in the hierarchy reserved only for Sri-Lankan politicians.
Does he give a good one.
NEVER.
Why?
He never wanted anyone other than his party of Elephants to hold the post of presidency.
Now, that he has lost it he takes the PIN (Kusal or the merits) or PAIN of it in Hell.
Do you want to see some of the Diyawadanae Nilames there.
NO, Sir.

Ali Katha-Making an Elephant Laugh

Sunday, July 29, 2012
Ali Katha-Making an Elephant Laugh

 I have reproduced this here since the original web site is blocked by somebody?
Ali Katha-Making an Elephant Laugh
Making an elephant laugh is no easy task but this is a tiny attempt with the help of a tiny animal.
This sketch is overdue and is to record the 1st death anniversary of an unfortunate (first in the history of Esala Perahera) Majestic Pachyderm at the hands of the all too important Diyawadana Nilame.
Before that I must (this is also in the same spirit) rectify some of my own lapses and some incisive comments on an attempt by local Microsoft cronies and goonies to vandalize our emails (I have many emails but intrusion to my privacy is violation of Fundamental Right of any living and dead soul).

I have already rectified one by switching to Linux completely. I have dedicated this year for Linux and have already accomplished all what I wanted, well in advance (thought it might drag on till December holidays) and have enough time for my resumes, now.
Second lapse that I rectify now is that the finding a name (word) for (see Katha on Kadde) Kadde.
The boy who raised is now growing up fast physically and in English.

This is long overdue, may be by over three years. because of the vandalization attempt by some living paranoid soul breathing air I exhale.
I started looking at some of my old writing to see whether any one has been defamed or deframed and suddenly found it not edited on time with new / old discovery.
This I give credit to a Burger Gentleman with Irish descent who inherited it from his mother.
The word is Pingo Man.
I make it Ping Pong Man since when he walks with Pingo on his shoulder, he reminds me of a dancing Ping Pong ball.
The Pingo part may have come from either Vietnam or China. In any case it sounds Chinese to me, and with the ascent of the Chinese Tiger in the East due credit should go to China if it has any connection to the birth of this word like Ying and Yang.
Coming back to the pachyderm, the treatment it gets from the mahout and the tourists, local and foreign is less than desirable, to say the least.
I can remember once I had a not so healthy argument with a Lady Doctor from UK who was voicing the concern I raised now 25 years ago.
She said that it is a violation of Animal Rights and using them for long hours without due concern is inhuman which I fully endorse without reservation, now.
These animals are ill treated during Perehara time to please tourists!
I still have picture of this lady on an Elephant at Elephant Bath (now non existent) and I have never climbed an elephant in my life.
There was another dispute I had with this lady some days later.
I said, I admire this majestic animal so much that I cannot think (not fear) of climbing on one of them and pretend that I (the man) am big or bigger than my size (she of course did not have an answer to my unexpected impromptu) but she of course enjoyed the ride thoroughly.
Coming back to making an elephant laugh none in the list below can do that.

1. Diyawadana Nilame is out on the first count.
He goes on to record (in history) for the first death of an elephant who participated in this annual event.

2. President Rajapaksa cannot achieve this because he is making the elephants (two legged) under his fold crying for posts (latest is Mr. Milinda Moragoda).

3. Mr Ranil Wickramasinghe cannot achieve this because he is making all elephants (past and present) cry in vain.

4. I cannot do that since when I go near any one of them garbed with surgical gear even a tame animal gets angry (All Sri-Lankan Doctors are a very arrogant species).

5. A gecko cannot.

6. A chameleon cannot.

7. So who can do that?

I have found one by accident.


This was an ant.
He happened to be on my cup of tea.
I asked the fellow what on earth you are doing in my cup of tea.
He looked at me and said, look guy I may be small but I have made an elephant laugh.
That made me to open my eyes wide.
I'll give you a Palawatta Sugar Grain for the information you give, please tell me the secret.
He took a meditative breath and with a smiling face told me,
It is easy.
I did that to the Majestic Elephant who died a year ago during Perehara.
My grey matter started working with new gush of pure blood not polluted by Americans.
How come?
He said when the Kandy Veterinary Surgeon was attending to him, he hid inside the nose (with his poking the elephant was crying) and when he was gone came out from his hiding (in the night) place to inquire why he was crying.
He said to the ant in his slumber, these guys even not me sleep my last nap (sleep) with poking and probing.
Suddenly the ant realized, he is having his last conversation with this majestic guy.
He (ant) whispered to the elephant, buck up you guy, if they take you to the Intensive Care Unit, I'll give all my blood and save you, OK.
To this the elephant could not stop laughing.
He took his last breath laughing and ended up in heaven.
The moral of this story is when one is dying only the little ones are near you.
Little things can make one happy but not doctors without humour.
For the two legged elephants, the little ones (grass root citizens and not those who are at Diyawaanawa) are the ones that matter most.

Not foreign tours.

Small is beautiful!