Making wildlife pay for its own conservation
by Christy S. Wickremasinghe Divisional Game Ranger (Retd.) Department of Wildlife Conservation, Sri Lanka andCharles Santiapillai Department of Zoology, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a small island of 65,610 km2, but supports a relatively high human population of more than 19 million at a density of about 290 people per km2, whose principal economic activity is agriculture. Therefore land is scarce. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka has already set aside over 12% of its land area for wildlife conservation. But arable land being at a premium, it is unlikely that any Government hereafter would allocate substantial areas for wildlife conservation in the future. Therefore, if wildlife conservation is to succeed, it must justify itself as an economically viable form of land use, from which people can benefit. If this is not so, then people will call for the conversion of such lands to agriculture, replacing deer and elephants with cattle and goats.

Although conservation of wildlife grew out of the innate concern of the Buddhists and Hindus in Sri Lanka for the welfare of animals, the need to set up special reserves for protection of wildlife arose from a concern by the very people who exploited wildlife - namely the British colonial hunters - who feared that at the rate the wild animals were being over-exploited in Sri Lanka, that there would be no game left for them to continue hunting! While game sanctuaries gave total protection to wildlife, the Resident Sportsmen’s Reserves were declared for the sole purpose of hunting of game on licence. Judging from the past records of the British, had they seriously considered rice as an economic exportable crop, as they did coffee, tea and rubber, and if they were willing to import the labour to work the fields in the Dry Zone following the restoration of the tanks, we would not be far wrong in stating that there would not have been a single wild elephant alive in Sri Lanka outside the Resident Sportsmen’s Reserves, two of which ultimately became premier conservation areas namely, Ruhuna and Wilpattu National Parks in 1938. According to Sir Emerson Tennent, during the early British period (1831-1900), in addition to the large number of elephants {about 9,500 animals) that were caught and exported from the Mannar District between 1853 and 1872, over 10,000 elephants were slaughtered by shooting for sport and monetary rewards.

The original IUCN concept of a national park is that of relatively large and inviolable area where wildlife is given absolute protection, and people are permitted to enter it under special conditions, for inspiration, educative, cultural and recreative purposes. Some die-hard purists strongly believe that our wildlife resources must be cherished and protected and not utilised, except for some non-invasive tourism. The slogan,"Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints" is attractive especially to someone living in the highly affluent and industriaised west, where the remaining wilderness areas are looked after with great care for the enjoyment of both the present as well as future generations. This is relevant in the west where much of the wildlife was decimated through overexploitation in the 19th century. But lately, there has been an awareness among many progressive conservationists of the fact that wildlife is a renewable natural resource, and so people, especially the rural poor who live in and around areas frequented by wildlife, should be allowed to derive some economic benefit from it. This benefit should not be restricted only to the revenue earned from eco tourism but should include the use of the meat and hide of the wild animals as well. Today conservation areas such as national parks have become an integral aspect of the prudent use of natural resources.

In countries where the people in general enjoy a very high standard of living, and are not in want of proteins and other basic amenities, the aims of management are straightforward conservation, or embrace some form of utilization, such as tourism or harvesting. Even in the tropics, there are instances when total protection of some wildlife populations is justified given their rarity, status or ecological significance. This is especially the case with some of the endemic species, with restricted range and reduced population. Endemic flora and fauna are at a far greater risk of extinction than more widely distributed species. On the other side of the coin is the situation, where rural people compete with wildlife, often dangerous and potentially destructive animals, in their struggle to till the land. It is in such situations, that wildlife comes into conflict with people. Thus, protectionism of the developed countries must be balanced by a controlled, prudent, and sustainable utilization of wildlife resources in the under-developed countries. The World Conservation Strategy supports all forms of wildlife exploitation, provided they are carried out in a sustainable manner, on the grounds that the income so generated will enhance conservation itself. Although wildlife conservation is mainly about species, habitat and ecosystem dynamics, yet it is a socio-economic process that affects and in turn is affected by human welfare. Management of wildlife must be based on science and not on sentiment.

Incompatibility of wildlife and agriculture
Protecting highly mobile species such as the elephant within a patchwork of protected areas has proved difficult. Elephants spill over and range frequently outside the borders of even the largest protected area. Their extensive migrations ensure that the grazing has a periodic rest and can recover. We are not against wildlife utilizing areas that lie outside the protected areas, but we are certainly against the wasteful use of tax-payers’ money in trying to achieve a goal which can never be achieved - i.e effective protection of wildlife such as elephants in areas that come under agricultural development. Year by year these areas are being opened up and wilderness areas will therefore become smaller and smaller and ultimately the animals will have to feed on the crops that have been planted for the use of man. The survival of elephants in such areas is possible only if the people are prepared to tolerate the animals on their land. The cumulative cost in crop protection and crop insurance will be too costly for a poor country like Sri Lanka to underwrite. Furthermore, there is no point in maintaining staff in such areas, if at the end of say 5 years or so, there is no wildlife remaining that would justify this expenditure. A population of 100 elephants in a particular area today is of little significance, if the habitat is to be turned into sugar-cane plantation in a few years’ time. The problem with wildlife is that the people who wish to preserve it, are rarely those who have to pay the cost. While the peasant farmer becomes destitute over night as a result of elephants destroying his crops, the well off animal lover or animal-rights activist enjoys wildlife spectacle at a minimal cost. Under such circumstances, it would be unrealistic to expect the farmer to support the conservation of wildlife. Wildlife will survive in agricultural areas, only if the people who share their land with wildlife are prepared to tolerate it. According to the former Director of the Department of National Parks and Wild Life Management of Zimbabwe, Dr Graham Child, "if wildlife is permitted to contribute to the welfare of people, they will not be able to afford to lose it in their battle for survival. If wildlife does not contribute significantly to their well-being, people will not be able to afford to preserve it, except as a tourist curiosity in a few protected areas". Given this situation, it is now quite obvious that much of the wildlife will decline in number and eventually disappear altogether from agricultural areas in Sri Lanka, unless the people are prepared to share the resources of the land with them. This can come about only if we design conservation policies that would help persuade the people to change their attitudes, from intolerance to some form of accommodation. In short wildlife must be transformed from a liability in-to an asset. One solution is to give wildlife a vatue so that local people will want to conserve it.

The central theme of our argument is that for wildlife and protected areas to survive on a significant scale in Sri Lanka in the years to come, they must be both ecologically and economically viable. Wildlife conservation must be looked upon as an alternative form of land use that can compete economically with agriculture and forestry. As the well-known American biologist, Aldo Leopold once pointed out, wildlife is a resource comparable with forests and should be used to generate financial benefits. This is especially relevant in areas where declining soil fertility and high human population growth has resulted in increased encroachment and degradation of the protected areas and the forests inhabited by wildlife. If such trends go unchecked, even the quality of our lives will be adversely affected by the depletion of our natural resources and environmental degradation.

Resolving conflict: the pragmatic approach

1. Capture of elephants from agricultural areas
People whose land borders an elephant reserve have had a raw deal for some time in Sri Lanka. Elephants destroy crops and at times even kill people. The danger to elephants in the present situation is that because they have no commercial value, and are a potential threat to human life and property, they may be eliminated by the local people. Since 1950, a minimum of 1,425 wild elephants had been killed in the escalating conflict between man and elephant in Sri Lanka. The recent increase in the wanton slaughter of elephants in Sri Lanka points to the fact that where there is intense competition between wildlife and people, with whom they share the land, human interests inevitably prevail.

Continued tomorrow

Religion
The Dhamma Theory as the Abhidhamma View of Reality

All the different modes of analysis and classification found in the Abhidhamma stem from a single philosophical principle, which gave direction and shape to the entire project of systematization. This principle is the notion that all the phenomena of empirical existence are made of a number of elementary constituents, the ultimate realities behind the manifest phenomena. These elementary constituents, the building blocks of experience, are called dhammas. The dhamma theory is not merely one, principle among others in the body of Abhidhamma philosophy but the base upon which the entire system rests. It would thus be quite fitting to call this theory the cornerstone of the Abhidhamma. But the dhamma theory was intended from the start to be more than a mere hypothetical scheme. It arose from the need to make sense out of experiences in meditation and was designed as a guide for meditative contemplation and insight. For the Abhidhamma, to see the world correctly is to see - not persons and substances - but bare phenomena (suddhadhamma) arising and perishing in accordance with their conditions. The task the Abhidhamma specialists set themselves was to specify exactly what these ‘bare phenomena’ are, and to show how they relate to other ‘bare phenomena’ to make up our ‘common sense’ picture of the world.

In developing the dhamma theory the Abhidhamma resorts to two complementary methods: that of analysis (bheda) and that of synthesis (sangaha). The analytical method dominates in the Dhammasangani which according to tradition is the first book of the Abhidhamma Pitaka; for here we find a complete catalogue of the dhammas, each will a laconic definition.

The synthetical method is more characteristic of the Patthana, the last book of the Abhidhamma Pitaka; for here we find an exhaustive catalogue of the conditional relations of the dhammas. The combined use of these two methods shows that, according to the methodological apparatus employed in the Abhidhamma, ‘a complete description of a thing requires, besides its analysis, also a statement of its relations to certain other things’. Thus if analysis plays an important role in the Abhidhamma’s methodology, no less important a role is prayed by synthesis. Analysis shows that the world of experience is resolvable into a plurality of factors; synthesis shows that these factors are not discrete entities existing in themselves but inter-connected and inter-dependent nodes in a complex web of relationships. It is only for the purpose of definition and description that things are artificially dissected. In actuality the world given to experience is a vast network of tightly interwoven relations

This fact needs emphasis because the Abhidhammic doctrine of dhammas has sometimes been represented as a radical pluralism. Such an interpretation is certainly not admissible. It is mostly modern writings, mainly based on the Sarvastivada sources, that has given currency to this incorrect interpretation. ‘Up to the present time,’ observes Nyanaponika Thera, ‘it has been a regular occurrence in the history of physics, metaphysics, and psychology, that when a whole has been successfully dissolved by analysis, the resultant parts come again to be regarded as little wholes. This is the kind of process that culminates in radical pluralism. Such a trend did in fact surface within certain schools of Buddhist thought and culminated in the view that the dhammas exist in all three periods of time. But the Pali Abhidhamma Pitaka did not succumb to this error of conceiving the dhammas as ultimate unities or discrete entities. In the Pali tradition it is only for the sake of definition and description that each dhamma is postulated as if it were a separate entity; but in reality it is by no means a solitary phenomenon having an existence of its own. This is precisely why the mental and material dhammas are often presented in inter-connected groups. In presenting them thus the danger inherent in narrowly analytical methods has been avoided - the danger, namely, of elevating the factors resulting from analysis to the status of genuinely separate entities. Thus if analysis shows that composite things cannot be considered as ultimate unities, synthesis shows that the factors to which the apparently composite things are analysed (ghana-vinibbhoga) are not discrete entities.

If this Abhidhammic view of existence, as seen from its doctrine of dhammas, cannot be interpreted as a radical pluralism, neither can it be interpreted as an out-and-out monism. For what are called dhammas- the component factors of the universe, both within us and outside us - are not fractions of an absolute unity but a multiplicity of co-ordinate factors. They are not reducible to, nor do they emerge from, a single reality, the fundamental postulate of monistic metaphysics. If they are to be interpreted as phenomena, this should be done with the proviso that they are phenomena with no corresponding noumena, no hidden underlying ground. For they are not manifestations of some mysterious metaphysical substratum, but processes taking place due to the interplay of a multitude of conditions.

In thus evolving a view of existence which cannot be interpreted in either monistic or pluralistic terms, the Abhidhamma accords with the ‘middle doctrine’ of early Buddhism. This doctrine avoids both the eternalist view of existence which maintains that everything exists (sabbam atthi), and the opposite nihilistic view which maintains that absolutely nothing exists (sabbam natthi). It also avoids, on the one hand, the monistic view that everything is reducible to a common ground, some sort of self - substance (sabbam ekattam) and, on the other, the opposite pluralistic view that the whole of existence is resolvable into a concatenation of discrete entities (sabbam puthuttam). Thus transcending the extremist views of absolutism and nihilism, monism and pluralism, the middle doctrine explains that phenomena arise in dependence on other phenomena without a self-subsisting noumenon which serves as the ground of their being.

The inter-connection and inter-dependence of these dhammas are not explained on the basis of the dichotomy between substance and quality. Consequently, a given dhamma does not inhere in another as its quality, nor does it serve another as its substance. The so-called substance is only a product of our imagination. The distinction between substance and quality is denied because such a distinction leaves the door open for the intrusion of the doctrine of a substantial self (attavada) with all that it entails. Hence it is with reference to causes and conditions that the inter-connection of the dhammas should be understood. The conditions are not different from the dhammas, for it is the dhammas themselves that constitute the conditions. How each dhamma serves as a condition (paccaya) for the origination of another (paccayuppanna) is explained on the basis of the system of conditioned genesis (paccayakara-naya). This system, which consists of twenty-four conditions, aims at demonstrating the inter-dependence and dependent co-origination (paticca-samuppada) of all dhammas in respect of both their temporal sequence and their spatial concomitance.

A doctrinal controversy that has left its mark on the Theravada version of the dhamma theory is the one concerning the theory of tri-temporal existence (sarvamastivada). What is revolutionary about this theory, advanced by the Sarvastivadins, is that it introduced a metaphysical dimension to the doctrine of dhammas and thus paved the way for the erosion of its empirical foundation. For this theory makes an empirically unverifiable distinction between the actual being of the dhammas as phenomena and their ideal being as noumena. It assumes that the substances of all dhammas persist in all the three divisions of time -past, present and future- while their mainfestations as phenomena are impermanent and subject to change. Accordingly, a dhamma actualises itself only in the present moment of time, but ‘in essence’ it continues to subsist in all the three temporal periods. As is well known, this resulted in the transformation of the dhamma theory into a svabhavada, ‘the doctrine of own nature.’ It also paved the way for a recognition, if not for a categorical assumption, of the distinction between substance and quality. What interests us here is the fact that although the Theravadins rejected this metaphysical theory of tri-temporal existence, including its qualified versions, it was not without its influence on the Theravada version of the dhamma theory.

This influence is to be seen in the post-canonical exegetical literature of Sri Lanka where, for the first time, the term sabhava (Skt svabhava) came to be used as a synonym for dhamma. Hence we have this recurrent commentarial definition: ‘Dhammas are so called because they bear their own nature ‘(attano sabhavam dharenti ti dhamma). Now the question that arises here is whether the Theravadins used the term sabhava in the same sense as the Sarvastivadins did. Did the Theravadins assume the metaphysical view that the substance of a dhamma persists throughout the three phases of time? In other words, does this amount to the admission that there is a duality between the dhamma and its sabhava, between the bearer and the borne, a dichotomy which goes against the grain of the Buddhist doctrine of anatta?

This situation has to be considered in the context of the logical apparatus used by the Abhidhammikas in defining the dhammas. This involves three main kinds of definition. The first is called agency definition (kattusadhana) because it attributes agency to the thing to be defined. Such, for example, is the definition of vinnana (cognition) as ‘that which cognizes’ (vijanatiti vinnanam). The second is called instrumental definition (karanasadhana) because it attributes instrumentality to the thing to be defined. Such, for example, is the definition of vinnana as ‘that through which one cognizes’ (vijanati etena iti vinnanam). The third is called definition by nature (bhava-sadhana) whereby the abstract nature of the thing to be defined is brought into focus. Such, for example, is the definition: ‘The mere act of cognizing itself is vinnana’ (vijanaamamattam eva vinnanam,).

The first two kinds of definition, it is maintained, are provisional and as such are not valid from an ultimate point of view. This is because the attribution of agency and instrumentality invests a dhamma with a duality when it is actually a unitary and unique phenomenon. Such attribution also leads to the wrong assumption that a given dhamma is a substance with inherent qualities or an agent which performs some kind of action. Such definitions are said to be based on tentative attribution (samaropana) and thus are not ultimately valid. It is as a matter of convention (vohara), and for the sole purpose of facilitating the grasp of the idea to be conveyed, that a duality is assumed by the mind in defining the dhamma, which is actually devoid of such duality. Thus both agency and instrumental definitions are resorted to for the convenience of description, and as such they are not to be understood in their direct literal sense. On the other hand, what is called definition by nature (bhavasadhana) is the one that is admissible in an ultimate sense. This is because this type of definition brings into focus the real nature of a given dhamma without attributing agency or instrumentality to it, an attribution which creates the false notion that there is a duality within a unitary dhamma.

It is in the context of these implications that the definition of dhamma as that which bears its own nature has to be understood. Clearly, this is a definition according to agency (kattusadhana), and hence its validity is provisional. From this definition, therefore, one cannot conclude that a given dhamma is a substantial bearer of its qualities or ‘own-nature’. The duality between dhamma and sabhava is only an attribution made for the convenience of definition. Hence it is categorically stated that apart from sabhava there is no distinct entity called a dhamma, and that the term sabhava signifies the mere fact of being a dhamma.

If the dhamma has no function distinct from its sabhava, and if dhamma and sabhava denote the same thing, why is the dhamma invested with the function of bearing its own nature? For this implies the recognition of an agency distinct from the dhamma. This, it is observed, is done not only to conform with the inclination of those who are to be instructed, but also to impress upon us the fact that there is no agent behind the dhamma. The point being emphasized is that the dynamic world of sensory experience is not due to causes other than the self-same dhammas into which it is finally reduced. It is the inter-connection of the dhammas through causal relations that explains the variety and diversity of contingent existence and not some kind of transempirical reality which serves as their metaphysical ground. Nor is it due to the fiat of a creator God because there is no Divine Creator over and above the flow of mental and material phenomena.

Stated otherwise, the definition of dhamma as that which bears its own nature means that any dhamma represents a distinct fact of empirical existence which is not shared by other dhammas. Hence sabhava is also defined as that which is not held in common by others (anannasadharana), as the nature peculiar to each dhamma (avenika-sabhava), and as the own-nature not predicable of other dhammas (asadharana-sabhava). It is also observed that if the dhammas are said to have own-nature (sakabhava = sabhava), this is only a tentative device to drive home the point that there is no other-nature (parabhava) from which they emerge and to which they finally lapse.

Now this commentarial definition of dhamma as sabhava poses an important problem, for it seems to go against an earlier Theravada tradition recorded in the Patisambhidamagga. This canonical text specifically states that the five aggregates are devoid of own-nature (sabhavena-sunnam). Since the dhammas are the elementary constituents of the five aggregates into which existence is analysed, this should mean that the dhammas, too, are devoid of own- nature. What is more, does not the very use of the term sabhava; despite all the qualifications under which it is used, give the impression that a given dhamma exists in its own right? And does this not amount to the admission that a dhamma is some kind of substance?

The commentators were not unaware of these implications and they therefore took the necessary steps to forestall such a conclusion. This they sought to do by supplementing the former definition with another which actually nullifies the conclusion that the dhammas might be quasi-substances. This additional definition states that a dhamma is not that which bears its own-nature, but that which is borne by its own conditions (paccayehi dhariyanti ti dhamma). Whereas the earlier definition is agent denotation (kattusadhana) because it attributes an active role to the dhamma, elevating it to the position of an agent, the new definition is object-denotation (kattusadhana) because it attributes a passive role to the dhamma and thereby downgrades it to the position of an object. What is radical about this new definition is that it reverses the whole process which otherwise might culminate in the conception of dhammas as substances or bearers of their own-nature. What it seeks to show is that, far from being a bearer, a dhamma is being borne by its own conditions.

Consonant with this situation, it is also maintained that there is no other thing called a dhamma than the ‘quality’ of being borne by conditions. The same idea is expressed in the oft-recurrent statement that what is called a dhamma is the mere fact of occurrence due to appropriate conditions. In point of fact, in commenting upon the canonical statement that the five aggregates - and, by implication, the dhammas are devoid of sabhava, the commentators observe that since the aggregates have no selfnature, they are devoid of own-nature. It will thus be seen that although the term sabhava is used as a synonym for dhamma it is interpreted in such a way as to mean the very absence of sabhava in any sense that implies a substantial mode of being.

Another common definition of dhamma is that which bears its own characteristic, salakkhana. Since salakkhana is used in the same sense as sabhava, this definition carries more or less the same implications. That each dhamma has its own characteristic is illustrated with reference to colour, which is one of the secondary material elements. Although colour is divisible as blue, yellow and so on, the characteristic peculiar to all varieties of colour is their visibility (sanidassanata). Hence it is also called paccattalakkhana, individual characteristic. As in the case of dhamma and sabhava so in the case of dhamma and salakkhana, too, their duality is only a convenient assumption made for the purpose of definition. For it is a case of attributing duality to that which has no duality. And since it is only an attribution it is based on interpretation (kappanasiddha) and not on actuality (bhavasiddha). Hence the definition of earth element (pathavi-dhatu) as "that which has" the characteristic of solidity (kakkahalatta-lakkhana) is said to be invalid from an ultimate point of view, because of the assumed duality between the earth element and its characteristic. The correct definition is the one which states that solidity itself is the earth element, for this does not assume a distinction between the characteristic and what is characterized thereby.

(Continued tomorrow)

The birth that stirred the conscience
By Brother Baptist Croos FSC

There was nothing spectacular about the place. On the contrary, it was just a manger housing some cattle, sheep and donkeys. However it was made beautiful with the warmth and tenderness of the great St. Joseph, a humble man, a model of patience and forbearance. He had honestly tried his utmost to find a place for Mary, especially on that night when the pangs of birth took hold of her. He was desperate and frustrated; humiliated beyond measure in the process of finding a suitable place for Mary to deliver her child. What feelings of shame and confusion must have gone through his mind as he was trying to recall the unfortunate event that preceded his entry into the manger! The negative replies of the inn- keepers and small hotel owners must have deeply hurt him, yet he was serene and dignified in accepting them.

Nonetheless he must have thought, "What a wretched husband I am, unable to find an appropriate place for my wife Mary, especially at this hour, in this moment of delivery. Mary! I am sure you try to understand me and pardon my incapabilities. I wish I were a king to offer you the most splendrous palace on earth. But, alas, I’m only an ordinary carpenter. Forgive me Mary, please forgive me!"

On the other hand, the manger was made more beautiful and more splendrous than any kingly palace on earth by the presence of that extraordinry woman named Mary, the toughest and most courageous the world has ever seen, who accepted the ultimate decision of her beloved husband Joseph without uttering a word. She understood the precarious situation, she admired her husband’s strength of character; his nobility and magnanimity in having accepted her a pregnant woman as his lawful wife. She must have thought "Well, Joseph has really done his best in trying to find a place for me. Due to the census-taking, the houses, inns and small hotels are heavily booked by the rich and powerful. Naturally, there is no more room. What can poor Joseph do under such unavoidable circumstances? He has suffered enough humiliations because of me. I shall eternally be grateful and loyal to you, Joseph, for having stood by me. I love you Joseph,"

When the child was born the heavenly choir of angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men of goodwill," the strains of which must have echoed throughout the world. Shepherds tending the flocks came and fell on their knees to adore that precious child. The three wise men from the East brought him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, acknowledging him as an eminent king, a prophetic priest and a mortal man.

However, the birth of this humble child, vehemently stirred a conscience of an earthly king, Herod; proud, arrogant, vile, jealous and ambitious. Why was Herod troubled at the birth of a child? Had he the premonition that the child would be the real ruler of the whole universe and that his kingdom would never end, while his would perish in a matter of years? Or, was he afraid that his own crookedness and unjust dealings with his gullible subjects; his unscrupulous exploitations of men and women were going to be exposed? Or, would that child usurp his throne one day? Was he jealous for that matter that the people would owe more allegiance to that child than to him?

King Herod was restless and unduly troubled. Qualms of his conscience left him no peace of mind. His blood boiled. In his madness he ordered that all male children under two years of age must be put to the sword. That was one of the worst carnage in recorded history. Unfortunately that cold-blooded massacre of the innocents has gone unchallenged. He was allowed to get away Scott free. Herod, in fact, had prefigured other monsters of history who like him had murdered innocent children and that monstrosity continues even now in several parts of the world unhampered.

It is high time to halt such cruelties. Crimes against humanity should be challenged and all those responsible exposed and taken to task by people with a conscience. Let the birth of this child challenge our lethargic attitudes and our passivity in the face of another hideous crime - PAEDOPHILIA - the psychological and emotional death of innocent children. Even babies in their blossoms are mercilessly crushed by sex maniacs. Let Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ stir our slumbering conscience too.

Health
The curse of diabetes
By Ephrem Fernando

This is a quote from a recent letter "Iam in and out of hospital. I am now a bag of bones. Doctors tell me that Iam suffering from diabetes mellitus". The letter was not written by a paranoid shizophrenic,cave man but a former classmate and opening partner in the cricket team of one of my old schools, which to me is still a shrine of memories. From time to time I have found jobs for his children and extended lines of credit which as faithfully as the tides get converted to grants. Like relations, friends too believe that I have deep pockets and that they are entitled to a portion of my success regardless of my changing responsibilities. Once something is provided, silence reigns until something else is needed. One grows with this sense of obligation and continue to have it far longer than either wise or prudent. My friend’s problems started in adulthood when he began to develop a talent for a poisoned chalice. Drinking is not merely a matter of getting down so much liquid. There is a limit that must be attended to, else it is death by a thousand cuts, not a swift beheading.

Sugar is instant energy. All other foods are converted into sugar for distribution to our tissues and cells. The latter prefer to run on sugar and some, such as the highly specialized nerve cells in the brain, can run only on sugar. The primary action of insulin is to promote the transport of sugar across the membranes of cells. When cells are deprived of sugar they begin to use fat reserves resulting in wasting, weakness and weight loss, the characteristic thinness of diabetics. Hence the rhetoric "a bag of bones". That is why diabetes is called the "disease of starvation in the midst of plenty" and insulin the "hormone of abundance".

Disorder
Physiologists tell us that diabetes is a disorder of metabolism and comes in two distinct forms. Type 1 which in juvenile onset and Type 11 which is adult onset. The former is very severe and requires regular injections of insulin to prevent death and is an autoimmune disorder. The latter is less severe, not autoimmune in origin and can be controlled by maintaining weight and eating sensibly. The goal is to avoid insulin, keeping the disease under control by the diet. I am not a sorcerer trying to peddle herbal medicines or magic cures but there are a surprising number of botanicals that lower, elevated blood sugar. What is needed is commonsense and to be observant and intelligent. I discovered the true meaning of commonsense not at Thurstan road, or London town or New York city but by mixing with the ordinary people. Some are allergic to the polloi and consider them infra dig. Snobbery and social pretense prevents them from learning and prefer to walk behind trolleys loaded with poison into the lap of the mortician, the preferred word of our medical brethren for the undertaker.

Diabetics actually produce insulin in reasonably high quantities but there is uncertanty as to why they are unable to use the hormone. There is a belief that diabetics have antibodies that destroy insulin or that their liver cells are incapable of responding normally to insulin. The correct diet reduces the need for insulin and prevents the pancreas from becoming tired and inefficient.

Hidebound conservatives, relying upon anecdotes and poorly designed studies, insist that diet cannot control diabetes. Following the work initiated by Nathan Pritikin, the nutritional researcher, evidence is accumulating that Type 11 diabetes can be controlled without the use of insulin. Pritikin changed the old conventional diabetes diet of high fat and low carbohydrate to a high carbohydrate and low fat and showed how it reduces the need for insulin. Apart from high carbohydrate and low fat, fibre was also included. There are two types of fibre insoluble and soluble. Insoluble fibre does not dissolve in water while soluble fibre forms a highly viscous solution when dissolved in water. They do different things. Foods rich in soluble fibre are fruits and vegetables. Food rich in insoluble fibre are brown rice, pulses, beans and lentils. Fibres, particularly the soluble variety, increase the efficiency of insulin thereby reducing the quantity needed. However there is evidence that fibre can bind into minerals like zinc and cause a deficiency. Since zinc enhances the binding of insulin to liver cells it is important that zinc levels remain undisturbed. Another is the trace element chromium. Studies indicate that glucose intolerance, meaning a decreased ability to remove sugar from the blood for cellular nourishment, can be corrected by chromium.

Fibre
The important aspect of a diabetic person’s overall regimen is therefore fibre, low fat, high carbohydrate, zinc, chromium

and a balanced vitamin formula. Try the following and see whether the insulin intake could be reduced or even eliminated.

- Take the breathing exercise outlined in a previous article.

- Try the anti oxidant formula outlined in a previous article.

If the formula is too expensive cut in half.

- Avoid alchohol and tobacco.

- Try 200 micrograms (mcg) of chromium daily.

- Try 30 milligrams (mg) of zinc daily.

- Take whole fruit as opposed to fruit juice.

- Take brown rice. Soak a handful of cowpea over night and cook with rice. Grains have, among others, a chemical called myo- inositol. It prevents damage to nerve fibres, one of the crippling complications of diabetes.

- Avoid simpler carbohydrates like potatoes and include complex carbohydrates like lentils and pulses preferably daily. - Take herbal porridge. Good source of soluble fibre.

- Take a brisk walk, if feasible daily, for twenty to thirty minutes. Get your heart rate to about 60 to 70 per cent of your maximum heart rate. Maximum heart rate equals 220 minus age in years. Measure pulse at wrist. If you are just starting, work your way up gradually and enjoyably. Remember the goal is not immortality but quality of life. The area surrounding the parliament in Battaramulla has become trendy and is ideal for walks.

- Take garlic with lunch. Slice 3 cloves (not pods) and mix with rice. It keeps the level of sugar in the blood down. It is a member of the lily family and is one of the oldest cultivated plants. Athletes at the first Olympics used it as a energizer.

- Try to get at least 8 hours sleep a day.

- Try wearing a copper bracelet.

- Include vegetables that lower blood sugar in the diet.

Use the above as general information to help and as a guide and see whether insulin could be reduced or even eliminated and still get the fasting levels of blood sugar to within the range 70-110 mg per 100 cc of blood, a value that should remain constant throughout life.Medical science does not yet know the optimal vitamin and mineral requirements. Future research will no doubt eventually lead to more definite data. Bear in mind that the practice of medicine is beset by uncertanty, notwithstanding the great advances in medical knowledge.

Eventhough most of the above recommendations are based on double blind, randomized, clinical trials, which are placebo controlled, they cannot be universally true because the observations are finite. David Hume (1711-76) was born in Edinburgh and widely regarded as the greatest philosopher who has ever written in the English language. He marvellously illustrated the fact that however many thousands, indeed millions or billions of times, a particular thing has been observed and found to be so and so, it does not follow that the next one will be the same. In other words no finite number of observations however large can logically entail an universal conclusion. That is why some can take recommended dosages of vitamins, minerals, antibiotics etc for prolonged periods without any significant toxity, while others cannot. In short, dosages have to be tailored to individual requirements. This does not mean that Hume has knocked the bottom out of science. What it means is, avoid getting bogged down by pundits and punditry.

On an assignment, I had to travel to upper Burma to evaluate a few mini-hydro projects which were down for international financing. The location was beyond Mandalay and Amarapura two of Burma’s ancient capitals. The place was breathtakingly beautiful and legend has it that Lord Buddha spent a considerable amount of time here. By mixing with the ordinary people, mostly Mons and Buddhist monks, I discovered the true value of botanicals and the healing power of gem stones. Studies show that certain stones disturb the wave patterns detectable in the EEG machine (electro encephalograph) used by neurologists. Ladies who suffer from unexplained headaches or even fits should check their jewellery. I also took time to visit some monastic ruins. Because Iam interested in the testimony of tombstones I also-visited an abandoned World War Two cemetery. Inscribed on one of the tombstones were the following words "Eater, Drinker, Smoker, Mid-night Talker and Joker". Apparently the man was not a reader of books or a student of history, because Plato says, beyond the simple need for food, the desire for a whole variety of luxuries is unnecessary.

I knew Lalith Athulathmudali in a remote way when both of us were participating in the Public Schools Athletic Meets but came to know him more closely after he became the President of the NCC. When I met him at Prof Daphne Attygalle’s residence, where we had gathered to pay our last respects to this simple minded Sri Lankan humanist, he was carrying a not so minor disability, as a result of a despicable incident within the premises of the parliament. By then he had realised the full meaning of health and was not vague or mystical when he said that total health is Man’s richest gift. "Vivendo discimus" - "we learn by living", not by imitating the developed countries or imagining we are Athenian heroes or Boston brahamins or anything except what we are poor Third World country citizens. One final comment. Focus the soul and psyche on prevention not on cure or else you will end going around the world to cross the street.

The spiritual aspect of Christmas
By Francis Vethanayagam

It’s Christmas time once again, Christians throughout the world are looking forward to and preparing to celebrate what they believe and consider the greatest event in human history-the birth of Jesus Christ.

In our own country, Christians are in a festive mood. But how many relly understand the real meaning and significance of this unique event. The majority of the Christian population have an entirely different concept of this sacred and solemn occasion. The false values of life and the commercial world tends to erode the right way of thinking and get the better of most people, so much so that the historic occurrence is either forgotten, lost or totally ignored.

Meaning
To some the birth of Christ brought immense joy, solace and tranquility. To others great fear, anxiety, despair and impending danger of radical social changes of customs and traditions. To yet others, it meant hope,belief and expectation of a new life and the beginning of a new era for all mankind. Unfortunately, in this so called ‘modern world’,to the majority Christmas means an event that took place several centuries ago in a far off land or it only means a time of annual rejoicing. This is due to the fact that people here have been engulfed in the material aspect or selfishness and consumalism within a commercial environment.

What then is the real meaning of this great event and day? Christmas is a mass in memory of the birth of Christ. It means a deep interior peace with God with whom Christ has reconciled us. It is a day solely dedicated to the birth of the Prince of Peace. Therefore, let us alwaays be reminded that Christmas, like the life of Christ is a continuous mystery, for each day the challenge resounds in our hearts and minds.

Significance
Let us now reflect on the real significance of the birth of Christ. As it is known, Christianity is based on five important facts. They are the birth of Christ, the life of Christ, the crucifixion, the glorious resurrection and the transforming power of the risen Christ. It is a fact that the birth of Jesus was not considered important to some who were alive then or to some people of our time. For many it serves as an occasion and a time for eating, dressing, drinking and other forms of merry making only thinking of themselves. It is time we change and gave up all the the false values of life that are destroying us and reflect in the Christmas message of loving our neighbour as ourselves. Unless and otherwise we show our neighbour the same concern, affection, respect and thoughtfulness, the peace and joy of Christmas will never be ours. Christmas means God becoming man to save us and how many of us understand, appreciate and are prepared to accept this sublime truth. Peace is the theme of the day. It should be a spiritual reality in the human heart, which should always come in contact with God. In Jesus, God provided us sinners on this eart this vital missing link with Him. Jesus bridged the gap between Creator and crucifier and saved us from sin and separation from God which originated from the first Christmas.

Attitudes
Just like Easter, Christmas is a time that affords all of us a golden opportunity to make amends for past lapses, failures and changes of attitude. It is an occasion to identify ourselves with the less fortunate ones in our midst. We should understand that the Lord is always a source of strength and a friend of the poor, the oppressed and all who suffer. How many of us live a life of simplicity, with simple standards, whereby we get closer to these less fortunate brethren.

Do we as Christians accept the challenges facing the needy and take the message of the Lord in helping the Church to become the Church of the poor. To uplift the poor and needy from the oppression of poverty, the Lord became poor by his very birth in a stable and not in a mansion. So if we think of ourselves in a lavish manner, let us be reminded of Jesus Christ the poor man and share what we have with our poor friends. This would make Christmas more meaningful. In our own country and in the world, how many go hungry every day, lack proper shelter, face health hazards and other problems can sing untold miseries. Let us then this Christmas build an environment which would provide these suffering ones with a better living and bring them relief and happiness.

Globalisation and South Asia: Retrospect and prospect
Presidential address by Prof. A. D. V. de S. Indraratna at the SLAAS 50th annual sessions

(Continued from yesterday)

The growth rate of these countries has not been rising as much as it could have done because of this low productivity. Government’s intervention is necessary to correct this, without which these countries find difficult to make full use of the opportunities offered to them by globalisation.

For these reasons I have discussed the weak party of developing countries on the ship of globalisation must receive some discriminatory treatment in their favour until they get over their initial disabilities. The infant industry argument which even free trade theorists do not reject must apply globally to economically "infant" countries as well.

But what has actually happened in practice? Just the opposite. The governments of the North have been using their superior economic power of being in the first class to bargain at all negotiating tables to their own advantage. Even at the Uruguay Round, the countries of the so called Group of 77 had a very little voice. At the end of the day, the goods from the North received much greater tariff reductions than those of the South. Developing countries as group now face tariffs 10% higher, and the least developed countries to which category South Asia belongs 30% higher, than the global average.

Even when tariffs are not in their favour the countries of the North resort to NTBs of various types such as licensing, quotas (textile quotas of US) rigorous quality and health standards (Japan), anti-dumping measures and VERs, to protect their goods from competition from those of the South. By getting favoured treatment for agriculture through subsidies, they also have succeeded in not only protecting their agriculture but also depressing world prices of agricultural commodities much to the disadvantage of countries of the South. There are also other discriminatory practices such as the restriction of shipping between American ports to American flagged ships.

Transactional Corporations
Above all these, is the stranglehold of the countries of the South by TNCs which, in our analogy, steers the course of the ship of globalisation to their own advantage. In l995, these multinationals cranked out some $ 7 trillion in sales through their foreign affiliates - an amount greater than world’s total exports’ TNCs’ sales outside their home countries are growing at 20%-30% faster than exports. Not only in global trade, but also in global investment they play an important role. At the end of 1996, the total stock of FDI of these multinationals stood over $ 3 trillion.

Much of the FDI which comes into the developing world including our own region is owned, controlled and administered by Transnationals. Transactionals are guided solely by profit or return on their investment. They take advantage of every opportunity anywhere to amass wealth and consolidate their power. To this end, they would buy out domestic enterprises to capture the market for themselves, as has been already happening in India. It is to alloy the growing fears of the Indian entrepreneur that the Prime Minister of India gave a pledge on the occasion of the Independence Golden Jubilee of India: "We will not allow sixteenth century capitalism, wherein any outsider can come and overwhelm you. I promise you a level playing field. Outsiders are welcome, but will not be allowed to drown us. They are welcome, but will not be allowed to take over local firms. They will invest in sectors where we need them".

TNCs are not interested in increasing the growth rate or employment, or alleviating poverty of the developing countries which are latter’s pressing problems.

In 1957 which has grown up today as the highly integrated European Union comprising 15 countries of Europe. I shall look at only the Asian scene and that too very briefly within the scope of this address and the time constraint. The first regional grouping to start in Asia was the ASEAN in 1967, ten years after the EU. This has now matured as the AFTA. SAARC was established in 1985. Then came the larger grouping of APEC in 1989 comprising 17 countries of Pacific Rim countries. It now has 21 members becoming the largest and the most economically powerful block. Seeing the growing strength of APC, and unable to get membership in it, SAARC countries together with a few of the countries of East Asia (some members of ASEAN) and some African and Middle East countries has formed the IORARC, which is still a very loose organisation. Then the countries of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand have formed another alliance for economic co-operation, the BIMSTEC. Then there is the still larger alliance of 15 countries called the G 15. None of the latter three can be considered a trading block.

All the three Asian Trading Blocks have one major common feature. They have all pledged to achieve complete free and open trade between 2000 and 2020. All of them have also accepted open regionalism, which will ensure that no measures will be implemented which would restrict world trade and thereby slow down globalisation. South Asian countries have got an added mileage due to the formation of SAARC and other alliances. They are also able to enhance their bargaining strength with economic co-operation among them which would help South Asia not to get marginalised in the process of globalisation.

Conclusion
After all, the ultimate objective of free trade and globalisation should be eradication of poverty by increasing employment and income of the people and ensuring a good quality of life for all nations. However, unfettered free trade or globalisation will increase income disparities making the strong richer and the weak poorer, when there are market imperfections and the playing field is not level.

According to the Human Development Report of 1997 this seems to be what has exactly happened over the last decade or so. "A rising tide of wealth is supposed to lift all boats. But some are more seaworthy than others. The yachts and ocean liners are indeed rising in response to new opportunities, but the rafts and row boats are taking in water — and some are sinking fast". The message from this is loud and clear: the rich have been getting richer and the poor have been getting poorer. 515 million of South Asia’s 1,243 million people (1995), that is nearly half, are absolutely poor (living below 1 dollar a day in 1985 value of dollar), 395 million are illiterate adults and 77 million are not expected to survive to the age of 40 years (UN data & WDR data).

Intervention is justified if it helps to lift the weaker without weakening the strong. Globalisation is not laissez faire where Government intervention is taboo. Any domestic measure or regional or international action which helps to achieve the ultimate objective of globalisation should be welcome.

Globalisation has taken off and may be unstoppable. South Asia has already boarded it and cannot come out of it. However, without falling behind others, South Asia must use the opportunities it offers and reap equal benefits. In order to do this, it must exercise some control over it without getting overwhelmed by it. These countries should have already learnt a lesson from the experience they have gone through after they liberalised. They must have appropriate macro economic policies in place for proper management of their economies and income redistributive measures for poverty alleviation. Economic fundamentals must be strong. Corruption must be stamped out and transparency and accountability must be enforced in every sector of the economy.

The countries of South Asia need very high growth to resolve their pressing problems of severe unemployment and abject poverty. In the present context of poor S & T capability (except perhaps in India), low productivity, inadequate infrastructure, much needed reforms in education and other social infrastructure, public sector must be as much a partner of economic growth as the private sector. It is foolhardy to leave everything to the market on the basis that the private sector is the engine of growth. State intervention is also necessary for equalising opportunities and removing social injustices and inequities which are engendered by unfettered globalisation. Economic growth to these countries is a sine qua non but it is economic growth with equity — so called human face. "Economic growth must be pro people and pro poor". The poor can be defended against the onslaught of globalisation only by conscious social policies of enlightened Governments genuinely committed to the poor.

In concluding, I may do no better than agreeing with one of the greatest advocates of the cause of the poor, Amartya Sen, the Nobel Laureate for Economics this year, 1998: "I am not opposed to globalisation, globalisation is ultimately a major force for good, and indeed if adequately backed by national policies it can be a major force of prosperity in the world... Problems across for societies when pushed into a highly competitive situation by economic integration. Even with the best scenario there will be sudden changes calling for a system of social safety nets to protect those threatened by the increased competition". Adding my own little piece to this, if I may, globalisation must not be allowed to sow its own seeds of retardation.

Economists are usually accused of committing three sins: (1) inability to agree among themselves: (ii) stating the obvious and (iii) giving bad advice. The first sin may be committed in the next two days in the course of our International Seminar where several economists will be participating. I may have committed the second sin by stating the obvious to you this afternoon. Nevertheless, I believe I have not committed the third sin by giving any bad advice in the course of my address.

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