Dr. Susantha Goonatilake will deliver the monthly Royal Asiatic Society lecture on ‘Ancient Anuradhapura: a happiness oasis?’ tomorrow, November 28 at 5 p.m. at the Mahaveli Centre. All are welcome. Over the years there has been a departure away from economistic definitions of development like the Gross Domestic Product to the Physical Quality of Life [...]

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Lecture on ‘Ancient Anuradhapura: a happiness oasis?’

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Dr. Susantha Goonatilake will deliver the monthly Royal Asiatic Society lecture on ‘Ancient Anuradhapura: a happiness oasis?’ tomorrow, November 28 at 5 p.m. at the Mahaveli Centre. All are welcome.

Over the years there has been a departure away from economistic definitions of development like the Gross Domestic Product to the Physical Quality of Life of the 1970’s, to the Human Development Index HDI of the 1990’s, to currently a Happiness Index. As these measures of development were changing, there was a parallel movement in psychology examining Asian explorations of the mind. Thousands of scientific papers have appeared on the efficacy of mindfulness meditation for happiness.

The lecture by Dr. Goonatilake notes how recent research on Anuradhapura has removed the essence of Anuradhapura. Examples would be the work of Conningham and his Sri Lanka followers who bracket the city with the human sacrificing Mayas. The lecture describes using descriptions in the Buddhist commentaries how in many ways Anuradhapura life could fit into current explorations of happiness, especially those found in psychology.

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