Speedy Virtual Suri

 Speedy Virtual Interview Series - Episode 4

November 2017

Dr Suriyakanthie Amarasekera

Consultant Anaesthesiologist. Colombo, Sri Lanka

It gives me great pleasure to do the fourth Speedy interview. The last three interviews in order were Cyril Ernest, Zita Subasinghe Perera and Lucky Abeyagunawardena, all of whom have distinguished themselves in their chosen careers. My fourth subject is the charming and accomplished Suriyakanthie Amarasekera.

Speedy: Good morning Suri. Is it alright to call you Suri rather than Suriyakanthie?

Suri: Good morning Speedy. Of course it is fine to be addressed as Suri. In fact that is what I prefer to be called. “Suriyakanthie” is rather a mouthful!

Speedy: Well, that’s a good start! Suri let me commence by asking you to say a few words about you parents and family.

Suri: My parents were both teachers  In fact those of you who are Thomians probably would have been taught by my mother as she was on the tutorial staff at STC Mt Lavinia for over 20 years. I am the 3^rd in a family of 5 having an aiya, akka, malli, and nangi.

Speedy: It is quite clear that you grew up in a very supportive family environment. Could I ask you whether your choice to pursue a career in Medicine was influenced by them?

Suri: No not at all. In fact I wanted to be a teacher like my parents. When I was told that I had been selected to the science stream I was upset and I asked my Grade 8 Class Teacher Ms Wimala Jayasekera whether I couldn’t continue to be in the Arts stream. She was very surprised and asked me why I didn’t want to do science as I was good in the subject. When I replied that I want to be a teacher like my parents, she said “so you can be a science teacher” The rest just followed.

Speedy: I am sure Readers would like to know something about your school days. I know that you are an Old girl of Methodist College. May be you have a few amusing anecdotes which you can share with us.

Suri:  Can you remember how we used to carry our school books in rectangular suit cases in those days? One day some of my friends got the bright idea of stacking them one on top of the other as high as we could reach and then pull out the bottom one! Everything tumbled down with a resounding crash while we screamed with laughter! After a repeating this a couple of times we got another crazy idea of pushing hard on the desks in the back row ( the hall had been arranged with desks and chairs in rows for the end of term test ) so that it hits the desk and chair in front and knocks it down causing a domino effect. We were making a big din and laughing when we suddenly spotted the tall figure of our very strict English Principal Miss Grace Robbins watching us from the doorway with stern disapproval, shocked at our un lady like behaviour. Not only were we punished being given detention and “Lines” we were told that we were not eligible to be considered for the coveted Gladys Loos Prize for Good Conduct!   

     

Suri: There is another memory I like to talk about, if I may.

Speedy: Of course Suri. Please go ahead.

Suri: Thanks Speedy. Our School had bi annual fund raising Fairs. There were two during my time .They were called One Thousand and One Nights, and Thousand and Two Delights. I remember that our class was in charge of the Pet Stall one year. We were at a loss to find a name for our stall. Carol Aloysius (who is now a well-known Journalist) who was a class mate came up with the suggestion “Shoori’s Pet Stall making my name sound Arabian ! Unfortunately after one day our teacher in charge thought “ Pashas’s Pet Stall” was more appropriate.

Speedy: Well, you did extremely well in Your A levels and was selected for Medicine at your first attempt and entered the Colombo Medical Faculty before your 18^th birthday. In fact, you were the youngest in our Batch and it so happens by a curious coincidence that the person doing your interview was the second youngest and the youngest among boys!

Suri:  Actually Speedy I had got through my O levels in 1958 at the age of 14 and I was in the A Level 2^nd Year Class in 1960. My application to sit for the A Level Exam in December 1960 was rejected by the University as the University regulations stipulated that you have to be 17 by the 1^st of June the following year. (My birthday is on the 4^th of July and I would have been only 16 years and 11 months on the 1^st of June 1961) So I had to mark time for one year and sit for the exam in December 1961. Believe me I was very upset.

Speedy: That is remarkable! Then what happened?

Suri: Well, my father knew Prof Hoover (remember him our Bio Chemistry Prof?) and asked him if any concession could be made and could I be given permission to sit for the A Levels in December 1960? I still have the letter he wrote saying it cannot be allowed and that I am far too immature to face the stresses of University life! I fail to understand how he could come to that conclusion never having met me! Thank God I secured a direct entry to Medical School in the I1961 December Exam.

Speedy: OK you entered a bit later than you would have liked but you were still very young when you entered the Medical Faculty. Can you recall your emotions at the time? Were you anxious or scared in any way?

Suri: No not at all, I thought it very exciting. I found the subjects, particularly physiology, fascinating. Having boys as fellow students was of course a new experience. Remember I entered from Methodist College (nick named Methodist Convent) and we were described as being like Perera and Son’s bread!! untouched by human hands!

Speedy: Ha! Ha! I haven’t heard that before.

Suri: What? You must have Speedy!

Speedy: No, that is the truth, never heard that before! Fascinating! Let’s us now hear about your experience in the Faculty years, may be something about your Teachers, your colleagues. I am sure that would interest our Readers.

Suri: The most traumatic experience was of course the cadaver dissections. I remember sitting and staring at the cadaver with my body partner Zita reluctant to touch it till an anatomy demonstrator I think it was Dr L A G Jayasekera screamed at us to get started. I also remember quite vividly the 3rd Abdo Signature by Prof S S Panditharatne that went on and on with seniors crowding round us making us even jitterier, and Dr Panditharatne taking a break to have a smoke while waited nervously.

Physiology was fascinating though some of Prof Koch’s lectures went way above our heads. I clearly remember how Prof Carlo Fonseka began his lecture on Gastroenterology with a poem

“You can do without Sleep what is sleep but reclining,

You can do without Books what are books for but learning,

You can do without Love for what is love but pining,

But show me a man who can do without Dining!

Then there was the unforgettable “Path Cooray” who made us sit according to the merit list at the 2^nd MBBS (and not alphabetical order) He had this daunting habit of pointing to you during lectures and asking questions. I got quite fed up sitting under his nose as Number4 and was often pulled up for chatting to number 3, Swyrie. Then in contrast there was Prof H V J Fernando our Forensic Prof who segregated the sexes during lectures for some reason best known to him.

Speedy: What about Clinical teachers?

Suri: As you well know Speedy, we had some amazing clinical teachers.  I remember Dr O R Medonza who would imitate sounds of Heart murmurs in a way you never forget  Lub Tushh… Lub Tushh  ( Aortic Incompetence ) rrrph dub….. rrrph dub ( Mitral Stenosis). 

We were lucky to have teachers like Dr George Ratnavale. I remember how he made Kunasingham walk with a stiff knee and then ask him to walk with a stiff knee and and a foot drop … demonstrating the circumduction of a hemiplegic walk.

How can we forget our beloved Dean “Patchaya”, and his unique lectures “Takarang roofs are hot in sunny weather, noisy in rainy weather”, “scoring a bull’s eye while using a squatting plate ! !.”

We had Surgeons who were legendary. Charming Dr P R Anthonis with his “I shay mish……..”.  I had the privilege of anaesthetising for his operation lists while being a junior anaesthetist. He was unfailingly courteous always letting you know when he had to deviate from the planned procedure and actually asking if it’s OK to take longer!  Dr Noel Batholameuz, a striking figure with a fresh orchid in his button hole every day. I remember taking up a dare to ask him the name of the Orchid one day. After an initial glare at me for being so cheeky, he realised it was a dare and was amused. Dr Misso with whom we did our first surgical appointment was so kind and had a good sense of humour. I remember when I scrubbed for him for the first time in Operating Theatre D, I was so shy that I stood as far away from him as I possibly could. He started whistling a tune. When I did not react he asked “do you recognize the tune?” When I said “Yes Sir, it’s come closer to me”. So why don’t you do it, he quipped!

Speedy: That was most interesting and entertaining. What about your Batch mates?

Suri: Talking of batch mates, our one and only Patas had one goal …. To get all the shy girls to dance! I remember him steering me across the dance floor in King George’s Hall muttering “back side together side, forward side together side!” under his breath. J C was the one who taught us the Cha Cha, and Lareef his own variation the “Off Beat Cha Cha”. I could go on!

Speedy: Anything else we need to talk about as part of your student experience?

Suri: Thanks for giving me this opportunity Speedy. My experiences as a medical student would not be complete without some mention 0f the Student’s Christian Movement. We had a lot of fun - SCM Picnics, Fund Raiser Concerts, going carolling , parties, and Carol Services at Christmas. Patrick Fernando, who was in our senior batch and sadly no more, would play “Christians awake salute the happy morn” on his trumpet to wake up the people we used to visit in the early hours of the morning. We were treated very well by all, particularly some of our teachers who would offer “spiritual” refreshment to the boys.

Speedy: I can just visualise the happy faces, in high spirits!

Suri: You got it! The SCM gave me my first experience in engaging in Social Work. We used to visit the Wanatamulla slums every fortnight, distributing dry rations provided by the CNAPT. Though we were supposed to go in pairs I often found that I had to go alone, but I wasn’t scared because the slum dwellers treated us with respect. It was indeed a novel experience and we were expected to give advice and help to solve marital problems, child guidance, housing problems, livelihood support etc. The end of the year Picnic we organised for the children from the homes we visited was so enjoyable. I remember we took them to the Dehiwala Zoo one year and while watching the Elephant Dance one little girl crept on to my lap, hugged me and said “I wish you were my mother!” I will never forget how moved I was by her spontaneous love.  

Speedy: How wonderful and touching!

Suri: Visiting a Home for the Aged run by the government in Borella was also another activity I engaged in. It was a rewarding experience to interact with these dear old people who had been virtually abandoned by their families. They looked forward to our visits and loved to sing and have a chat.

Speedy: Let us pick up the story from there. Where did you do your internship?

Suri:  My first 6 months was at DMH with Dr A M Mendis and then 6 months Medicine with Dr E V Pieris at GH Colombo. I decided to specialise in Anaesthesia because I found the total commitment to a patient needed in the Operating Theatre very satisfying and the quick responses that are needed very challenging.

Speedy: And then you went to the UK?

Suri: Yes, I resigned from Government Service and went to UK for Post Graduate studies in Anaesthesia in 1975. I got through my Part I in 1976 and the Final Fellowship in 1977. I was very fortunate to secure a Senior Registrar Post in Anaesthesia at Kings College Hospital London and was able to obtain my Certificate of Higher Professional Training by 1981.

Speedy: But you returned to Sri Lanka? 

Suri: Yes, and on my return to Sri Lanka in 1981 I re-joined Government Service and my first appointment was as Supernumerary Consultant Anaesthetist in the Colombo Group of Hospitals for 2 years and then 1 year as Consultant Anaesthetist at Base Hospital Panadura

I was selected as a Consultant Anaesthetist to Sri Jayawardanepura General Hospital Kotte at its very inception in 1985, which post I held till my retirement in 1999.

Speedy: It is great to hear how well you served your Country as a Consultant Anaesthetist.

Suri: Thank you Speedy. I enjoyed my work and found it very satisfying.

Speedy: Could I ask you to comment on our Blog and how useful it has been? At the same time, could you say something about the Batch Reunions?

Suri:  I must confess that I do not visit our Blog too often. Lucky keeps us updated on news so that I feel I am not missing much. However I feel that after this interview I will try to be a more regular visitor.

Speedy: I sincerely hope so Suri. The Blog which was created by our own Lucky and so lovingly managed by him couldn’t survive without our participation and I know that you have a lot to offer. Yes, please do visit it regularly. Now, let us move on to batch reunions.

Suri: The first ever batch reunion in Sri Lanka was organised by just a few of us,  J C, Sura, Lucky and myself. We had to work hard to find contact details of those living in Sri Lanka and we were able to muster only about 18 batch mates. The reunion was held at the Holiday Inn Colombo in 1988.  Since then our reunions have grown and the success of these have been largely due to Swyrie’s efficiency and commitment ably supported by Bala. Getting the participation of our batch mates domiciled abroad took a lot of effort and planning but it has been well worth it. All the reunions have been enjoyable and it has been so heart-warming to catch up with batch mates, some who we have not met in half a century.

Speedy: Now I am aware that you got married to Mahendra Amarasekera in 1972. We would love to know how you met him.

Suri: To be very honest we had each gone through a bad experience and were both rather disenchanted with romance. Our meeting was not at all romantic. We were formally introduced by one of Mahendra’s adopted uncles (who was a good friend of my father). The strange thing is that we found we had so much in common.  We love to sing, dance, we both had a sense of humour and the ability to laugh at ourselves, we love the theatre and we are both devout Christians. Would you believe it we found out that we were both ardent Pat Boone Fans too! The only thing we did not share was my love of reading. Mahendra only reads the Newspaper! So we “clicked “from the very start and I can truly say Mahendra is my Best Friend as well as my Husband.

Speedy: You should write a book about couples “made for each other”! You have now been happily married for 45 years. Congratulations! You have not just your kids Manique and Sean, but grandchildren too.

Suri: Yes we are so blessed. Our daughter Manique who obtained an Honours Degree in IT from Manchester Metropolitan University and a MBA from University of Sri Jayawardanepura, has a 10 year old daughter and an 8 year old son. She has inherited Mahendra’s musical talent. She conducts the Old Girls’ Choir “Metho Cantanti “ and writes music for them.

Most of you have met Sean. Remember how he entertained us at the 40^th Anniversary Reunion at Kandalama? Though a doctor by profession, acting and singing remains his first love. He played the title role of Phantom of the Opera last year which ran to full houses at the Lionel Wendt.

Speedy: What a talented pair! Runs in the genes obviously. I know you too have musical talent and was a member of the Moratuwa Choral Society for over 18 years. Tell us something about it.

Suri. Yes, I shall tell you how that happened. When we returned to Sri Lanka in 1981 we were invited to join the Moratuwa Choral Society that had just been formed and was trained by Kala Suri Lylie Godridge. We had practices every Sunday and we used to pick up Lylie who lived just shouting distance away from my home in Dehiwala and drive down to Moratuwa. We sang Spiritual Songs, Easter and Christmas Carols in Churches. We had several Secular Concerts at the Lionel Wendt, and performed on Sawa Sangeetha on TV, had several Radio Broadcasts. We have also performed in other venues in Colombo as well as Kandy, Negombo, and Kurunegala. Our repertoire included music from Mozart, Handel and Bach to Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens, from Negro spirituals to old English favourites.  We also sang perennial favourite sinhala folk songs like Tkiri Tikiri Tikiriliya, Suwanda Rosa Mal Nela, Olu Pipeela, Dhanno Budunge set to exquisite 4 part harmony by Maestro Lylie. We even sang the National anthem with the chorus set to 4 part harmony which sounded great giving you goose bumps!

Speedy: Sorry to interrupt but I must say I really love songs sung in 4-part harmony. They sound so much deeper and resonant.

Suri: I agree. Our most enjoyable production was the “South Town Minstrels” when we sang and danced to Negro Spirituals and Plantation Songs, interspersed with jokes by the “Corner Man” Mahendra. We had our faces painted black, the girls wore colourful skirts and the boys in black and white striped jackets with colourful cumber bands, and straw boaters and canes. We had over 25 shows in and outside Colombo. Our Concerts were held to aid fund raising efforts for worthy causes I remember His Excellency President J R Jayawardena,(who normally has a dead pan face), being the Chief Guest at one show throw his head back and laugh out loud at Mahendra’s jokes. I remember Hon, Lalith Athlathmudali was the Chief Guest at our fund raising effort for the Jaipoor Foot Fund . We also recorded a Cassette “A Decade of Singing” with Spiritual and Secular songs in 1991.

Speedy: I want to now devote some time to your many Professional accomplishments. The list is long and we are truly proud of you. President of the College of Anaesthesiiologists of Sri Lanka in 1996 ,1997, President of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) in 2006, Member of the Editorial Council of the Indian Journal of Anaesthesiology and many more. You have a host of Publications in Medical Journals and delivered many keynote lectures.

What was your driving force and how difficult was it for you to combine your career with being a mother and wife? What are your views on how women can be encouraged to contribute to the Community as Professionals on equal terms with men?

Suri: My driving force in my career has been my love for my career as an anaesthetist.  I truly enjoy my work. The privilege I have to care and comfort my patients who are either undergoing surgery or battling life threatening illnesses in the Intensive Care Unit has been truly rewarding. Of course there have been instances of sadness and helplessness when all my best efforts seem to make no difference to the outcome, but I have learned to accept the bad with the good and not feel frustrated.

Combining a full time career with that of a mother was certainly challenging. But I believe that it is the Quality of time you spend with your children that is important. I always tried to get involved and supported whole heartedly all the activities of my children whether it was helping my daughter to obtain her “Wings” as a Brownie Guide, or helping her to get the House corner decorated for the Sports Meet when she was a House Captain or running around getting stage props for Drama productions for my son and helping with costumes, or training him for Oratory Competitions.     

May I take this chance to state that I truly felt very humbled when they elected me to the position of the President SLMA in 2006 only the 6^th woman to hold this high office and the 2^nd Anaesthetist in 119 years.

Speedy: Apart from your work as a Doctor, you have been a regular contributor to the local Newspapers and your articles are known for the excellent style in which they are written. How did you develop this talent? Did you ever contribute as an Editor at school?

Suri : I think what little skill I have in creative writing has been due to my Mother’s influence. She would often delight us with personalised verses to mark our Birthdays and Wedding Anniversaries. I remember how she wrote a song and made our kids practice in secret and give us a wonderful surprise at our 13^th Wedding Anniversary (Copper Wedding) Party.

Speedy: Finally Suri, I know that you are devout Christian and you have always gained strength from your religious beliefs. How big a part did your Faith play in your life?

Suri: I can honestly say that I am what I am today because of the Guidance, Strength and Inspiration I get from my Lord and Saviour Jesus who loves me unconditionally.

I have claimed the promise in the Holy Bible Isaiah Chapter 40vs 31- Many of you may be familiar with it because it was quoted in the film “Chariots of Fire”

“They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they shall mount up on wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint“. I had the privilege of stating this on my induction as President SLMA in 2006.

Speedy: And finally Suri, how would you like to describe yourself as a woman, a doctor, a wife and a mother? Can you quote something inspirational for us to conclude this interview?

Suri:  I think that I can describe myself as a woman, a doctor and a mother who is content and has a deep inner Peace and Joy not because I have had a trouble free life, as I have had my share of disappointments and heartbreak, challenges and life threatening illnesses, but through it all I have had the presence of my Friend and Saviour Jesus who is my never failing source of strength and inspiration.

You ask me for a Quote and I can do no better than quote Mother Theresa’s words which have helped me throughout my life.

The Final Analysis

“People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centred - Forgive them anyway

If you are kind, people accuse you of having selfish ulterior motives – Be kind anyway

If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies –Succeed anyway                       

If you are honest and frank people may cheat you – be Honest and Frank anyway

What you spend years in building someone could destroy overnight – Build anyway

If you find serenity and happiness they may be jealous – be Happy anyway

The good you do today people will often forget tomorrow – do Good anyway

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough – Give the world the best you have anyway

You see in the Final Analysis it is between you and God it was never between you and them anyway”                       

Speedy: Suri, it has been an immense pleasure to journey through your life and I wish to thank you for agreeing to feature in the Speedy Interview.

Suri: Thank You. It has been a pleasure and privilege.

Pin sidu wanney- duet with Amitha on Smule

Moon River. Sung by Mahendra using Smule

There goes my everything

2017 July-August Edition of CoMSAA Newsletter.

Please click on this link to view the latest COMSAA Newsletter

http://www.comsaa.org/reunion-2017/

South Yorkshire Dales trip 2017

Mahendra's Musings - Part 5

Consciousness, "I", a "person"

I do believe that we cannot be ourselves with our store of memories, attitudes, beliefs, fears, apprehensions, exhilarations, sadness, happiness, relationships, puzzlement, amazement, confusion, wonderment, and a whole host of other things, without our physical Brain. Not having a properly functioning physical brain is like having a computer without its processor and memory. I, therefore, believe that the physical brain is a sine qua non for consciousness and self-awareness. I base this on our knowledge of how we change when parts of our brain are damaged by injury or disease. The range of effects seen are enormous and dependent on which areas are affected. It can be just a loss of memory of varying degree to a total change of personality so that the person "now" is totally different from the person "then". But both are conscious in the sense that they are alive with all the bodily functions, responds to questions and exhibit behaviours. They sleep, they wake up, they laugh, they cry, they show happiness and sadness but they could be totally different although the physical likeness is preserved. We, therefore, have a body in which there appears to be now a virtually totally different person. We see this in frontal, fronto-temporal and hippocampal damage for example. Or take a disease like Alzheimer's which can be so devastating in change of personality. To me, this means that our brains when functioning as a whole organ give us a sense of being a "person" and the notion or person is conditioned by what is stored in our brains and what is produced in the brain by the various neuronal circuits interacting with each other. In this case, the sum is greater than the addition of individual parts. A symphony is a collection of music on different instruments but the effect it produces is above and beyond its parts. There is absolutely no evidence that the person who "was" before the cerebral insult is lurking somewhere within him trapped in a physical form beyond his control. If this is the case, this sad person has a "hidden original me" with a "new me" that arose within the same body after the damage. I don't think that is possible. But slightly digressing, the concept we have of being a person is so dependent on what goes on in our brains at any one time that even a "person" can be different "persons" at different times depending on situations, time etc. In a way, there is no "person" as such but a succession of experiences of being a person. We think we are the same because the change is gradual and occurs within a physical body we can see and feel. but we need to only take our minds back a few years and find that in many ways, we are now different, and in some cases, massively so.

So to sum it up, our functioning brain continuously informs us that there is an "I" (consciousness) and this I believe functions even when we are asleep but as sleep shuts us off from experiencing impulses from  our "outer senses" (such as vision, touch, smell, hearing), we are not aware or "conscious" as in the wakeful state but we are there, and our brains are working producing all sorts of activity which can even result in playback of a "video" constructed from true past life experiences and totally "computer generated" images of things which never really happened and we call this dreaming.

"I" arises from brain activity giving us a self-awareness. No brain - no self-awareness -no consciousness! Sounds simple, doesn't it!

Just to complicate matters, if we blow up any living being through a zoom with massive capability, you will just see at first a collection of cells and then as you zoom further you will see  molecules -->  atoms --> fundamental particles --> wave forms and within all this, as much as 90% is empty space!

To add to the confusion, all material things in the Universe makes only 4% and the rest is Dark energy and Dark Matter!

No wonder why the concept of God appeals to many! But only if you are happy to not seek further clarification such as where did God come from? Why is such a super power concerned with us little Humans? Has he got a wife? How does he spend his time? Where is he? Why doesn't he come down at least on Xmas day and give a sermon, may be from the top of Mount Everest with a full multimedia backing broadcast on all the TV channels in the World!

Mahendra's Musings - Part 4

One of the things I find very difficult to accept about rebirth is the fact that hardly any one among billions can recall their "past lives". Such a significant happening must surely be remembered, even by a few. Just imagine for a moment that these instances are common and well accepted, and our lives and how we regard life, our aspirations our hopes and our fears would be totally revolutionised. 

There is a large school of thought who believe that the principle reason why Human beings behave in a moral way is because they believe in some sort of after life which in turn will be happy or unhappy depending on the sort of life you led. From a Theistic point of view, God will either reward you or punish you, from a reincarnation point of view the same will happen but without the influence of a God but as a result of a Natural law that operates in such a way that "good" behaviour begets good results and vice versa. Atheists (and agnostics) believe that this is not the case and that when we die, that is the end, period. Why be moral then? It is because our individual survival and happiness cannot occur in isolation as we are part of a community of human beings and this requires us to be moral and display such characteristics like honesty, respect, empathy and love.Some say that this has to be augmented by the "rule of law" and a judicial system. Yet others are of the opinion that even this is not sufficient and that Religion and God was necessary to introduce order to Society and hence a result of Human social evolution.

Which brings me the Big Question. What is the purpose of life? Why are we obsessed with the idea that there must be a purpose? What is the purpose of purpose? Is the period between birth and death merely a period that is occupied by a series of events some of which are pleasurable and others very uncomfortable, some events over which we have some control and others with no control at all and a whole spectrum in between? As death is inevitable, from the moment of birth, are we mostly expending energy to avoid things that will bring us unhappiness or are we spending our energy doing things that give us satisfaction, while we can as what matters most is the present and the future as the past is gone forever, irretrievable and final although we could gain some satisfaction by "living the past" in our memories (just as we can suffer the past with bad memories).

Why then should we care about others? Extending outwards from immediate family, extended family, community, Country and the World? Is it for the same reason as we do things for ourselves? Because doing good and taking care of others make you feel good and in a way, a selfish action or are we capable of getting away from "self" to be "selfless" because a selfless person cannot by definition be truly unhappy because there is no "self"  to be unhappy? But if we are "selfless" can we still experience happiness as who then is going to have this experience?

This leads me on to consciousness and "person". It is a fact that every single molecule in our bodies turns over such that as an adult, you don't have a single molecule that you were born with. So where is this self, in my case where and who is Mahendra? Is there such a person although in a physical sense there is somebody called "Mahendra", but as his whole physical body has undergone complete change and refurbishment, is Mahendra a self-construct of a continually changing body which gives that body a false sense of an underlying person? If so how much of this is dependent on our physical brain? We know that physical changes in the brain have profound effects on personality, behaviour and beliefs. What makes the Brain so vital? Are all that happens in the brain a result of neural signalling or does the behviour of individual parts produce a whole which is greater than the sum its parts? Is this what we call consciousness?  Is consciousness merely self-awareness?

For those whose answer is an acceptance of a God, a soul and an aim to end up in Heaven or something closely similar after death with the full acceptance that you will be reunited with your parents and other loved ones and the belief that as time passes by, your husband, your children and other close people, and with luck atheist friends who have been forgiven by God and given an entrance ticket!). A very comforting thought I must admit........ if you can believe it.

piniduwanney final duet

Mahendra's Musings - Part 3

Mahendra’s musings - Part 3.

“We all like explanations and we all look for answers”

We all want answers. Why? How? When we were kids, simple explanations would do. Most of these appeared plausible to us. “Why should I wash my hands before eating?” Because you may swallow a bug and become ill. “What is a bug?” It is a tiny creature so tiny that you cannot see it but it makes you ill when it enters your body. And away you run, fully satisfied and perfectly happy to wash your hands!

As you grow older, you want a bit more. You don’t really ask for evidence but you come close to it. Why should I study so much? Because if you don’t study and gain knowledge, you won’t be able to answer the questions in the examination paper. But Tom doesn’t study that much and he passes exams. That is because Tom has above average memory power but if you look at all your friends who do well, you will find that most of the ones who pass have studied very hard. A touch of probability and statistics!

And so it was with our Ancestors. What is thunder? What is lightning? Why is the sea so rough? What is a tornado and why do we get them? The scientific knowledge we now have was non-existent at that time. An easy explanation was to attribute these to Supernatural forces. Almost every ancient civilisation believed in some form of God or Gods. And He had to be powerful and strong to do all the things he did. Bacteria and other microorganisms were unknown and diseases were thought to be caused by demons; the germ theory of disease is very recent in human history. It was therefore perfectly natural to invent Gods of all kinds to explain things. And as God was “good”, the Devil had to be invented to explain Evil. In a way, it is surprising that even now, people do not question the explanations offered for some phenomena as the explanation often invokes something which in turn requires a further explanation. How did the Solar system start? It was created by God. I see, where did God come from then? That does not seem to matter for a lot of people. The Greeks believed that the sky containing the stars and Earth was held up by Atlas on his shoulders. This was a punishment given to him by Zeus for siding with the Titans. But who holds up Atlas? And how was the sky held up before Atlas arrived on the scene? Ancient Chinese and Hindus said that the Earth was held up by 4 elephants and the elephants stood on a giant tortoise. At this point, the obvious question should be what is the tortoise sitting on? But for some strange reason, this was apparently unquestioned, although some records state that this question was indeed asked, with the response that it is “turtles all the way down”.

We now try to answer questions by means of the scientific method. This implies forming a theory (hypothesis) and then seeking evidence to support it. If the evidence is strong, then we accept it. If the evidence does not support it, we reject it or if the evidence is equivocal, we remain open minded till further evidence becomes available. This I believe is the only logical and sensible way to come to conclusions.

I believe in Evolution and the evidence for it is so strong that it is no longer a theory but a fact. Natural selection, random mutations and survival of the fittest is the basis of Evolution. But how does morality fit into this model? In a geophysical system, it is not easy to see a reason for any sort of morality to exist. “Good” and “bad” are moral constructs by Humans, or are they? Do animals display behaviour of a moral kind? Some species appear to do so as shown through ingenious experiments. There is a chimp (A) in a cage with another cage next to it containing another chimp(B). When A is offered a berry of a certain kind, he accepts it. He then sees B being offered a more attractive berry. When he is now offered the original berry, he is angry and throws it at the person offering it. When offered the more attractive berry, he readily accepts it. In the next experiment, a mouse in a cage is offered an item of food. Every time he accepts it he is offered more food, but this time of 2 kinds of equal attraction. If he accepts item A from the mix of A and B, the mouse next door is also offered food. If he picks up B, the other mouse is not offered anything and the mouse can see this happening. With repeated offerings, he chooses to pick A rather than B. When the experiment is repeated with item B being the one where the neighbour is offered, he now picks B. In some way, the mouse appears to get more satisfaction when his neighbour also gets the berry. This is quite extraordinary.

As already touched upon, we know that evolution occurs through two main strategies. Firstly through Random mutations which produce variations in a species and we now know that epigenetic mechanisms (influencing genes through environmental changes) and secondly, through natural selection which ensures the survival of the fittest. In this way, new species emerge and inefficient ones tail off and disappear. It is estimated that only 4% of all known species on Earth have persisted to this day.

Survival of the fittest (of genes) has been named “The selfish gene” by Richard Dawkins. It must be emphasised that only the gene is selfish in seeking survival at any cost. When it comes to animals that have evolved to be more complex, it appears that in an almost paradoxical way, they must be less selfish in the interests of the whole group of species. For example, by social strategies such as cooperation, altruism, not only the species but individuals within it have greater chances of survival. Thus began Tribes and Communities. But in order to have robust methods of cooperative behaviour extending to all members within a community, fresh strategies were required. One method is through punishment for deviations from accepted behaviour so that a deterrent is thereby introduced. The more powerful and “self-policing” method could be by inventing Religion. Fear of being “caught” with dire consequences by a Power which although unseen is able to see, would be a powerful incentive to toe the line. In order for this to be most effective, a view that death is not the end and that life continues in some form had to be introduced so that there is no escape from punishment with death. This would help in providing a more suitable environment for the species to survive. But as evolution progressed, Man became more and more questioning and demanded proof before accepting such concepts. But Religion has a powerful hold on people as humans are frail at times of stress and look for support to help them through these periods. Belief in an all-loving God would supply this comfort. The concept of an all-loving merciful God is very comforting, but only if you are willing to truly believe it and accept it. I compare this to a man undertaking an arduous journey of several hundred miles through a totally unpopulated desert in a car which he knows is roadworthy and equipped with safety measures and reserves. He is still a bit anxious about the possibility that things may go wrong. But if he is told that there will be a helicopter accompanying him throughout the journey hovering above him although he cannot see it, but will come to his rescue immediately if he gets into trouble, he will feel much more relaxed and happy, but only if believes it. It does not matter if a helicopter is there or not. What matters is his belief that it is there, his faith in other words. In the case of the God theory when situations do arise where the “helicopter” fails to turn up, believers still say that “God is there and although it appears as if he did not care for me, He has a plan which will be for my benefit as I know he loves me. “I don’t see his plan right now, but I know I shall be fine in the end”. This explains why two mothers of equal good moral standing and behaviour who pray to God to save their respective child affected by a disease with a high mortality, get two opposite results and they are still happy. One child lives and the mother thanks God profusely for his kindness but quite amazingly, the mother of the child who died doesn’t get angry with God for not listening to her but says that God always knows best. She is happy because she is convinced that her little daughter is in Heaven in the arms of the loving God and that someday in the future, she will be reunited with her daughter. You can’t lose!

On the other hand, some mothers may say that they cannot accept that such a loving God exists after this experience and reject belief in a God.

There is another aspect to Religion. Those who are in the Organisational side of them wield immense power. The Catholic Church is one of the richest and most powerful organisations in the World. They are financially very well off and have the power to interfere and intervene in politics, government policy, and have done so many times.

The other aspect of religious belief is that ruthless politicians will exploit religion for their own ends. They may not have a personal belief in religion although they will portray themselves as believers in order to pursue their nefarious goals. The use of Religion as a Trojan Horse fills pages and pages of human history.

The final and most dangerous aspect is how Religion is interpreted by the followers. A literal interpretation of the Quran and Old Testament has led to Wars and human misery of terrible proportions. A belief that the End justifies the means is dangerous. For Evangelists, evangelism is the desirable end and hence whatever means used in its pursuit is perfectly acceptable. The suicide bomber could be one who genuinely believes that he is doing something good in the eyes of his God and appears to be totally unaffected by the slaughter of innocents it involves. He may also be motivated by the promise of an afterlife filled with mouth-watering comforts.

Religion thus can be a force for good but it could also be one of the most damaging and dangerous driving forces.

Mahendra’s musings- Part 2

Mahendra’s musings

So who are we? We are descendants of apes with a history of at least 200,000 years going back to an origin in Ethiopia.  The latest finding in Morocco takes us further back to at least 300,000 years. Fossil evidence leaves no room for doubt at all that what we now know as Human or Homo Sapiens Sapiens did not exist in the early stages of the formation of Planet Earth Millions of years ago. It is therefore abundantly clear that the traditional Christian teaching of Creation and the story of Adam and Eve cannot be true. However, the Big Bang theory which is now accepted is also totally baffling and incomprehensible to me. How can a massive Universe originate from something which was trillions upon trillions of times smaller than an atom? All this first happened in a mere fraction of a second and then expanded hugely and continues to expand to form our massive Universe. By “thinking” and reflecting, I just cannot get my head around it and is reduced to accepting it on the basis that there is supposed to be good mathematical proof for it. What about quantum mechanics? A particle being in two places at the same time (superposition), particles light years apart influencing each other simultaneously (quantum entanglement). No wonder people are prepared to accept supernatural beliefs on the basis that the fact that we cannot understand it is not proof against it. But one must be careful in not extending this argument superficially. The fact that we cannot prove that a Hamburger is circulating around the Moon does not mean that we cannot discard such a ridiculous notion. In fact the more difficult it is to disprove something; the more likely it is not to be true.

The big question for me is what are we really? We know that all matter, including living matter is constantly changing and a permanent entity of anything is not possible, unless an entity is defined as a continually changing one, so that “what is now is what changed from what was before” and “what will be is what is now changed into what it will be”. It is an entity in that there are separate entities (like evanescent but separate Tom, Dick and Harry) but each one is impermanent and not unique. It could be looked upon as a collection of changing entities.

It appears to me that each person has a physical component, i.e., the body, and something on top of that which we could call the mind or consciousness. I find it difficult to accept that the mind or consciousness does not need or does not function through, a physical basis, i.e., the brain. With my medical and neurological background, I have witnessed people with cerebral damage through disease or trauma, change virtually completely in personality and behaviour, depending on the area and extent and nature of the damage. Either our consciousness or “mind” expresses through the brain or damage to the brain also damages the mind (consciousness), whatever it is!

If we are all a bundle of ever changing particles and mind, what is our place in the Universe as a whole and more specifically within the animal kingdom? Why do we reflect and act introspectively and if so, is it just us humans, or is this behaviour more widespread? Do animals think? Have they got self-awareness? Do they possess consciousness? Do they exhibit moral behaviour?

As we progress from birth to death, we strive to be free from painful and unhappy experiences and be filled with pleasant and happy experiences. But is this just a change within a spectrum of awareness of what is pleasant or what is unpleasant? Can we “feel” happy if we have never felt what it is like to be unhappy? In other words, we can only actively feel unhappy or happy, just at the time when our experiential state changes, and is not lasting? Are painful and unhappy experiences a necessary evil to being able to experience the opposite? What sort of experience will it be to be neither happy nor unhappy? Is this what we call contentment? The analogy is the way we feel temperature. If we enter a room which is at a much lower temperature than the one we were before we entered the room, the room will feel hot. On the other hand, if the temperature of the first room was much lower, we will feel warm or hot. After some time, a new equilibrium may be reached where you are neither hot nor cold. In other words, we respond more to change than to absolutes.

Buddhism teaches us, that it is impossible for a human being not to experience sadness of some kind or other in his/her lifetime. The term “Dukkha” is often translated as “suffering” which is really inaccurate and misleading. When we say that our existence can never be free from “dukkha”, the reference is to the fact that we are all subject to illness, injury, separation from loved ones, not being always able to get what we desire, not being able to make our elation last and not being able to avoid death. There is a lot of fun in between! But we cannot avoid the hazards. Even pleasurable sensations do not last forever. The acquisition of something you yearned for will make you elated but the needle will come down and you will most likely move on to acquire something else in order to feel happy again. Every attachment runs the risk of detachment resulting in sorrow. Life, therefore, cannot be perfect however rich, talented or powerful you are. A better word for Dukkha is unsatisfactoriness.

If so, what is the answer to us leading as happy a life as possible, given the fact that some of the downsides are unavoidable? The answer appears to be in two parts. Buddhism advocates a way of life minimising attachments to objects or people, thus minimising the risk of dispossession which causes unhappiness. It also promotes an ethical or moral code of behaviour. In the end, however, Buddhism advocates a solution which is based on a rather radical explanation of living systems, at least as applies to the animal kingdom.  This is the teaching of a “life force” which is not in any sense permanent (as for example a soul) but is present in some complex fashion in an animal distinct from its body. I am not certain whether this is part of consciousness. It is not a permanent entity such as a “soul” but little explanation is provided on exactly what it is. According to this, when an animal dies, it triggers the birth of another being and the circumstance of that birth and the nature of the new “born again” is determined by the collective past actions of the animal that died. This collection is called “karma” and is continually changing according to our actions. There is a moral element in it which says that “good action or karma” begets “good results or karma” (“we are the result of what we were and we will be the result of what we are"). This is hard to build into biological systems as we understand them through science. The principle of “an action having a reaction” is easy to accept in physical terms. For example, if you heat a piece of paper to a high temperature, it will catch fire. There is no “purpose” in it.  Even in some areas of behavioural change the sequence of action and reaction is easily seen. For example, if we refrain from smoking tobacco, our chances of suffering from heart disease and strokes are considerably reduced. It becomes harder to explain when we delve into moral responsibility. Sometimes it is obvious. If you are rude to a person, it is likely that you won’t be treated well. But if somebody utters a lie, an untruth, it is said to bring a bad result purely because lying is bad. Lying is a “sin” or lying is an “akusala”. But in reality, a lie might save your life or the life of another! When the murderer came looking for your brother to kill him, you said he is not here, which was a lie. The matter now becomes more complicated by stating that the result of an action will have a favourable moral consequence if the action was motivated by a good intention. This too has problems as killing a fellow human being is classed as a sure way of generating bad karma but what if the only action you could take to save your mother was to shoot the gunman? Your motive was pure. Buddhism also teaches that an action has good or bad consequences according to (1) the motive (2) the nature of the action itself and (3) the intended result of the action and this does make some sense. But why should this kind of morality operate at all in the Universe? One explanation is that we are all subject to the “will” of a supernatural being, a God who has laid down all the laws. The difficulty arises when this Power is said to be All-Powerful and All-loving which appears contradictory when we see the prevalence of gross unfairness and injustice in this World. If He is the Creator of everything, He is also the Creator of harmful bacteria and viruses. If He is All-loving, he picks and chooses who to bestow his largesse. The oft-quoted Christian view that we are all sinners and we are suffering for the “original sin” is catastrophically unfair as generation after generation is being punished for no fault of theirs. To sentence all humanity for the conduct of one person is unjust whichever way you look at it. In any case, an all-loving power should not be in the business of punishing. Then there is the contention of being granted a “free-will”.  If the Creator of Man created a person who when given the ability to make a choice between good and evil makes the wrong choice, I would blame the Creator who surely had the wherewithal to produce a better specimen. I know many very ordinary human beings who lead exemplary lives, unaffected by temptations to do the wrong thing. Why didn’t He create such a being in the first instance? In any case, what is He up to creating beings and watching them behave or misbehave? Is the whole Universe an experimental playground? I am yet to see any convincing argument to support the God belief. I have my thoughts on why it is so strongly held and why it has such a long history and I shall return to that later on,

But returning to the process of “rebirth” for lack of a better term, if  we consider a human birth for the time being, and let us for the sake of simplicity and discussion talk about John, a kind man who has a few blemishes in his life which he is not proud of , who is about to die and be born as Sarah, to an English family consisting of a mother with a genetic disorder with dominant inheritance and a father who is almost always drunk, living in a socially deprived area. The chances of Sarah blossoming out to become a worthy young girl are heavily weighted against her. This implies that in some amazingly complicated and unfathomable way, John’s karmic accumulation selectively “chose” Sarah’s mother’s womb and this included the choice of a mother with a certain genetic constitution as Sarah is at high risk of inheriting the mother’s dominant disorder. Even if we are prepared to consider this possibility, we cannot even remotely come up with a hypothesis to explain how it could happen. Our lives are conditioned by our genes and our environment. How did these aspects of Sarah come to her from Peter? The implication is that Sarah’s genes were in some way affected by John’s. To make it even more complicated, in some totally spooky way, Sarah became the “chosen one” to succeed John through a mechanism that was able to take into account the social background into which she was born. This can only be accepted as a matter of faith. It seems so far-fetched and unlikely.

It is even more difficult to explain what this “life force “is. We know that the Human race has grown by billions and does it mean that life forces, whatever they are, can move from humans to animals and vice versa? Do these life forces come from outer space? Where did they come from? Have all animals got it? What about an amoeba? A Mosquito? If a human is reborn as an animal, is that the end of the road for final salvation as according to the Teaching, only a Human being can attain final salvation.

The Buddhist solution for ultimate bliss is to stop this cycle of births and deaths. The persistence of the life force is said to be driven by ignorance and the desires leading to attachments or clinging. “Who” or “what” is able to experience such emotions? Once these are overcome, the life process ceases and dukkha is thus abolished. But if we do achieve it, who or what experiences it? And even if as some say, this state can be achieved in your own life, what happens when that life ends? That is why I am not able to comprehend how this is a solution when the person who had the problem also ceases to exist. We are told that with our limited intellectual abilities, we are unable to comprehend this state called Nirvana. There appears to be an implication that although “you” cease to exist, “something” is experiencing a kind of supreme bliss. Furthermore, Buddhism refers to other realms of existence including some which are supremely “happy” but yet subject to death but in these realms, they are unable to attain total enlightenment as the latter can only be achieved as a Human Being.

The carrot however in the teaching is that this attainment is within the reach of every human being and by following what is called the Noble Eightfold Path, realisation or Insight will come to the Practitioner. We are told that it is something you can only experience. It cannot be visualised or imagined or logically derived.  The path is shown and it is entirely up to you to test it for yourself.

I am forced to conclude that acceptance of Buddhism as the ultimate Truth of our existence and of our Universe is also a matter of faith just as acceptance of God is a matter of faith. What we know of our Universe and of Human Evolution does not fit in any way with what is expounded in any religion or philosophy. These doctrines were propounded when our scientific knowledge and understanding was backward, when many what we now know as natural phenomena were attributed to Supernatural powers. The list of phenomena being transferred from the “Supernatural” to the “Natural” is growing all the time and will continue to do so as we gain more and more knowledge.

However, I find some of the practical advice given to lay people on maximising happiness and minimising sadness (I call this a state of contentment), through a Buddhist approach very helpful. But religions (classifying Buddhism arguably as one) cannot be eclectic. We cannot make up a basket of things from Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism etc and produce the “Real truth”. Each claim to be the Truth and only one can be. A basket of components promoting good behaviour and a life of relative contentment can be built through the adoption of some aspects of many Religions. The big appeal of Buddhism to me is its highly sophisticated understanding of human psychology, the teaching of self-reliance and self-improvement, the lack of dependence on a supreme being and the non-violent, universal love it promotes among not just human beings but also all animals. The practice of Buddhism in a Society will produce a just and relatively peaceful and content one.  Lastly, it is ahead of its time when The Buddha said “Don’t accept things because your elders said it, don’t accept things because holy texts say it, don’t accept things even though I, the Buddha said it, but see for yourself and accept it if it seems right for you on the evidence”. This is known as Ehi Passiko – come and see for yourselves.

In my next instalment, I shall be musing on “Morality” and Religion. Are they evolutionary responses for the survival of the species?