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THE RICH CULTURE OF SINHALA AT STC IN YEARS GONE BY…

 
 

 

THE RICH CULTURE OF SINHALA AT STC IN YEARS GONE BY…

While our Alma Mater, S Thomas’ College, celebrates its 100 years at Mt Lavinia, here I take the liberty to capture the essence of a rich Sinhala culture that existed alongside the English, Tamil, Latin, and Greek language scholarship that permeated the lives of students, thanks to the indefatigable services rendered by teachers, such as Kalasuri Arisen Ahubudu, (Writer, poet, Sinhala lyricist, author, scholar, playwright, teacher, and orator), Sandedas Coperahewa, (Poet, author, journalist and teacher) of the Hela Havula, father of Prof. Sandagomi Coperahewa, to name a few, whose memories we still cherish.

Even though this era was well known for its richness in English, Latin, and Greek, with much familiarity with William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Milton, we also loved Sidath Sangara, Amawathura, Salalihini Sandeshaya and Guththilaya. We were regular readers of “Subasa” ( The Subasa paved the way for the resurgence of a literary tradition that proved the efficacy of the Sinhala language to express any idea lucidly, succinctly and proficiently) and trekked to Ahubudu’s residence at Mt Lavinia, for basic Pali lessons. My advice to students is to be proficient both in the mother tongue and English, for success in life. I add below a short Sinhala appreciation I wrote in 2018  for someone who wanted an article. ” Esto Perpetua”

Sinhala article-page-001

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The 12 Psychology Studies of Christmas

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We all want a happy Christmas (or cultural equivalent), but how do we get it? This research into happiness and Christmas suggests that a focus on spending and consumption is associated with less happiness while family and religious experiences are associated with more happiness. Not exactly earth-shattering, but satisfying to quote to little Billy when he complains about his presents.
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Loneliness Has an Antidote and You’ll Never Guess What It Is

Counselling Lecture in Dubai- Loneliness Has an Antidote and You’ll Never Guess What It Is

As a qualified Counsellor, I have counselled hundreds of clients to understand and help them lead better lives. When time permits, I love to travel and teach others to become Counsellors.

Here is what someone had to say……

I’m somebody who’s struggled with feelings of loneliness my whole life. It’s a big part of why I decided to become a relationship coach. I wanted to understand why some of my relationships felt more substantial than others. I wanted to understand why sometimes I relished being alone, yet other times being alone evoked feelings of profound sadness.

The question I wanted to answer was this: What makes some relationships feel better than others? It was a mystery I was determined to solve.

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MANDATORY MODULES

  • Introduction to Psychology and Counselling
    • Imago Dei- the Psychophysiological framework of human development
    • Biblical perspectives of Counselling
    • Psychology and Secular models of Counselling
  • Ethical framework in Counseling
  • Mental health and Psychopathology- DSM IV and ICD 10
  • Advanced Counselling skills
  • Neuropsychological fundamentals for Counsellors
  • Church Leadership and Industrial Psychology

SPECIALISED MODULES

  • Crisis and Grief Counselling
  • Pre-Marital and Marital Counselling
  • Ministering to the depressed $ sick person
  • Nutrition and Clinical Psychology
  • Forensic Psychology & Criminology ( Prison Counselling)
  • Spiritual oppression and prayer ministry

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Small Saturn moon has most of conditions needed to sustain life, Nasa says

saturn

Small Saturn moon has most of conditions needed to sustain life, Nasa says

A tiny moon of Saturn has most of the conditions necessary for life, Nasa announced on Thursday, unveiling a discovery from an underground ocean that makes the world a leading candidate for organisms as humans know them.

Scientists stressed that the discovery on a moon named Enceladus is not evidence that life has in fact developed on another world, but they have managed to establish the existence of the water, chemistry and energy sources that are necessary for it.

“We now know that Enceladus has almost all of the ingredients that you need to support life as we know it on Earth,” said Linda Spilker, a project scientist who said the finding essentially confirmed vents on the moon’s seafloor…

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Employee Burnout Is a Problem with the Company, Not the Person

loneliness

Employee Burnout Is a Problem with the Company, Not the Person

Employee burnout is a common phenomenon, but it is one that companies tend to treat as a talent management or personal issue rather than a broader organizational challenge. That’s a mistake.The psychological and physical problems of burned-out employees, which cost an estimated $125 billion to $190 billion a year in healthcare spending in the U.S., are just the most obvious impacts. The true cost to business can be far greater, thanks to low productivity across organizations, high turnover, and the loss of the most capable talent. Executives need to own up to their role in creating the workplace stress that leads to burnout—heavy workloads, job insecurity, and frustrating work routines that include too many meetings and far too little time for creative work. Once executives confront the problem at an organizational level, they can use organizational measures to address it.

In our book Time, Talent and Energy, we note that when employees aren’t as productive as they could be, it’s usually the organization, not its employees, that is to blame. The same is true for employee burnout. When we looked inside companies with high burnout rates, we saw three common culprits: excessive collaboration, weak time management disciplines, and a tendency to overload the most capable with too much work. These forces not only rob employees of time to concentrate on completing complex tasks or for idea generation, they also crunch the downtime that is necessary for restoration. Here’s how leaders can address them.

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Collaboration Overload Is a Symptom of a Deeper Organizational Problem

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Collaboration Overload Is a Symptom of a Deeper Organizational Problem

Many leaders are now aware of the dangers of collaboration overload and collaboration-tool overload in the workplace. The evidence continues to mount that, for many organizations, the costs associated with meetings, emails, IMs and other forms of workforce collaboration now exceed the benefits.

But what can get lost in the eye-popping statistics around excess email and meetings is this: Collaboration overload is almost always a symptom of some deeper organizational pathology and rarely an ailment that can be treated effectively on its own. Attempts to liberate unproductive time by employing new tools (for example, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Box) or imposing new guidelines and meeting disciplines will prove fruitless unless steps are taken to deal with the underlying organizational illness. Companies that have successfully combatted the excesses of overload have done so by focusing on the root causes of unproductive collaboration—and not merely the symptoms—in devising the cure.

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Essentials of Buddhism

Essentials of Buddhism Norton Bridge Campus 2015

I love studying other religions and look deep into their inner worlds. Much work and research I have done concern Buddhism and major religions. When time permits I travel and teach others how to see and understand other perspectives.

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to Buddhist doctrines, practices and institutions. An important focus of the class will be on the spread and development of Buddhism across Asia and beyond, with an eye toward examining how foundational Buddhist ideas and practices have taken shape in specific places and in particular historical contexts. This course will selectively survey the foundational teachings, history and diversity of Buddhism, from the lifetime of the Buddha in fifth century BCE India to contemporary Buddhist communities in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and North America. Along the way, we will consider some important questions raised and addressed in the critical study of religion.

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BUDDHISM RESOURCES
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Sweden Becomes First Western Nation to Reject Low-fat Diet Dogma in Favor of Low-carb High-fat Nutrition

Sweden has become the first Western nation to develop national dietary guidelines that reject the popular low-fat diet dogma in favor of  low-carb high-fat nutrition advice.

The switch in dietary advice followed the publication of a two-year study by the independent Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment. The committee reviewed 16,000 studies published through May 31, 2013.

Swedish doctor, Andreas Eenfeldt, who runs the most popular health blog in Scandinavia (DietDoctor.com) published some of the highlights of this study in English:

Health markers will improve on a low-carbohydrate diet:

…a greater increase in HDL cholesterol (“the good cholesterol”) without having any adverse affects on LDL cholesterol (“the bad cholesterol”). This applies to both the moderate low-carbohydrate intake of less than 40 percent of the total energy intake, as well as to the stricter low-carbohydrate diet, where carbohydrate intake is less than 20 percent of the total energy intake. In addition, the stricter low-carbohydrate diet will lead to improved glucose levels for individuals with obesity and diabetes, and to marginally decreased levels of triglycerides.” (Source.)

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Why Experts Now Think You Should Eat More Fat

For more than half a century, the conventional wisdom among nutritionists and public health officials was that fat is dietary enemy number one – the leading cause of obesity and heart disease.

It appears the wisdom was off. And not just off. Almost entirely backward.

According to a new study from the National Institutes of Health, a diet that reduces carbohydrates in favor of fat – including the saturated fat in meat and butter – improves nearly every health measurement, from reducing our waistlines to keeping our arteries clear, more than the low-fat diets that have been recommended for generations. “The medical establishment got it wrong,” says cardiologist Dennis Goodman, director of Integrative Medicine at New York Medical Associates. “The belief system didn’t pan out.”

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How the Most Emotionally Intelligent CEOs Handle Their Power

Most of the CEOs I’ve met and worked with had years to prepare for their jobs. As they entered middle management, most of them learned that being a good leader is more important than being a good do-er. Many have stories to tell about stumbling along the way, about micromanaging people, about destroying a team’s morale with unreasonable demands, about losing a great team member because enough time and attention weren’t given to the relationship.

Most survived these types of difficult experiences and, more important, learned from them. They learned to let go of control and instead support people in doing their jobs. They learned to watch their teams for signs of burnout and rebellion. They learned to help people work smarter, not harder. They learned to read people well. They got very good at recognizing who needs appreciation, who needs support, who’s motivated by achievement, and who needs very collegial relationships — even with the boss. They learned tricks for building stronger teams, for dealing with conflict, and for negotiating.

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