Muditha Dias
‘Whatever
we give
we have
and whatever
we have
we lose’
Whatever we give we have and whatever we have we lose is the philosophy of Sri Ishwara Sarma, Lecturer in Religion, Philosophy and Literature and President of Sri Lalitha Centre for Spiritual Enlightenment. It all began for him when he was barely 11 years old. “My father and grandfather were both priests and teachers. As a result I was born into a family of preachers. I inherited their talent for speech. Even in school I could talk well and explain everything to perfection. I made use of this talent and finally opened my own Counselling Centre.”
Sri Ishwara hails from a Brahmin family in Jaffna and in accordance with the customs. that prevail in a traditional Brahmin family, studied Sanskrit at the feet of his father and grandfather and thereafter graduated from the University of London in Eastern Classics. The first thing that strikes you about Sri Ishwara is that he is willing to share all the knowledge and experience he has gained, well over three decades worth, with anyone who in any way wants to lead his or her life in a more enlightened way. He guides you on the path to peace and prosperity. Self-realisation, liberation and emancipation are within reach when his guide-lines are followed. Sri Ishwara, who has developed a devoted following, explained that anyone can benefit from learning how to relax. “Through meditation and constant prayer people learn how to understand themselves and others and therefore get the best of life”.
Sri Ishwara, who has specialised in English, Tamil and Sanskrit, has preached throughout the world including Australia, France, Singapore and Holland. He invites anyone to come to his house and listen to him during his morning pooja. “I used to lecture small groups of people at the very start. Love is the answer to peace. This is the foremost thought I inspire in all my clients. Hate is conquered only by love and not through hatred. This is my basic philosophy. Every human being must reform himself and think positively in order to reform others. “It is through loving and doing that man finds joy and peace. Ultimately, we become great by our actions and these are directly motivated by our thoughts and feelings. If we are loving then we need not worry about the effects our actions will have on others, and whether we are making the ‘right’ decision. This a very simple and easy philosophy to live by. Love guides us and cares for us.
Supportive family life and religion are essential for any human being to achieve this love. If he lacks this, man automatically inspires qualities of jealousy and hate in him”. Seated in his house down Swama Road, Sri Ishwara said that every human being possesses some kind of weakness. Nobody is perfect. Ironically it is this weakness that helps him to improve in life, helps him to become a better person. My weaknesses have taught me to become a better person”. Asked to comment on why westerners, are more attracted to him than locals, Sri Ishwara said that mo t foreigners are depressed people. ‘They are faced with problems like AIDS and drugs and few have a happy life. They rarely see their parents, brothers and sisters and are often lonely. Thus they look for help. And what better place to find it in than in peace and love. Love is what they are in search of and love is what they get. There was a couple from Holland who lived in my house for four years. they saw the amount of love in our house. There was no fighting. Brothers, sisters, husband, wife-no one fought with each other and rarely argued. This is what attracted them to my way of life. From then on more and more foreigners were attracted to me. But of late many Sri Lankans too are coming for advice”. How has he been influenced by the teaching of Sri Satya Sai Baba? “I have met Sri Satya Sai Baba 18 to 19 times. In my opinion, he is a divine miracle. He has hardly had any schooling, but he is an ocean of knowledge and the way words flow from him is unbelievable. He can capture you with his speech and his knowledge.” Sri Ishwara is a keen student of ‘Sanathana Dharma’ – a peaceful way of life. “Once you know what Sanathana Dharma is you learn to understand yourself and broaden your outlook. This is my aim. I want people to get over their problems by constant prayer. and meditation. This is the only way to gain harmony and peace”. “But,” adds Sri Ishwara, “no amount of prayer and meditation will help if you don’t know what forgiveness is, what love is.” Says Sri Ishwara, “Surrendering to love provides the only true guidance and direction in our lives and also solves all our worries and problems.” On this note we left Sri Ishwara Sarma, indeed a magnificent human- being – a man you can go on listening to.
