Sri Lanka: Moral Focus and a Stalking Cat
Sri Lanka: Moral Focus and a Stalking Cat
This chapter moves the investigation into mindfulness to Sri Lanka, where the tradition of Theravāda Buddhism emerged over two thousand years ago. After a visit to the ancient site of Anuradhapura, the author turns to the mindfulness practices of people in and around the city of Kandy. The chapter examines the focus of mindfulness in monks’ experiences at the Sri Lankan International Buddhist Institute and other monasteries in the area; the academic and supernatural powers of mindfulness in the minds of students at the University of Peradeniya; and the promises and purposes of mindfulness at the psychiatric unit at the Kandy General Hospital. It ends with a discussion of how psychiatrists and others make sense of mindfulness in a religiously heterogeneous culture, and how the Buddhist renderings of sati is thought to be applicable in other religious contexts.
Keywords: University of Peradeniya, Pirivenas, Sri Lankan International Buddhist Institute (SIBA), sammā sati, Visuddhimagga, Anuradhapura, Kandy Hospital, preta, Focus, Satipaṭṭhāna sutta
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