Book launch: ‘Inward Bound for Mindful Living’ by Deepal Sooriyaarachchi

“Turn you attention inward. Become aware of your posture, how you sit on the chair. Notice all your body sensations, notice any tensions that may be present, gently relax those places, relax your whole body, be totally comfortable in your posture….. now look closely for thoughts that may arise in your mind. If they are linked to the past or future just let them go by becoming aware. …. You might experience a sense silence and then that you will notice you are breathing. There must be movement for the mind to notice. Please observe the whole process of breathing without interfering, without forcing it in any way…… while you do this whenever you notice that you are thinking of something else please bring your attention back to the breath..keep doing this exercise…….”

Following these instructions the whole audience, a cross section of corporate leaders experienced the bliss of being totally silent for some time, perhaps for the first time in life during the very unique corporate event organised to launch the book ‘Inward Bound for Mindful Living’ by Deepal Sooriyaarachchi; who is himself a seasoned corporate executive, now fully committed to the purpose of developing managers. 

Union Ball Room of JAIC Hilton was filled to capacity on 16 February by those who responded to Deepal’s invitation to discover how mindfulness, the simple skill of becoming aware of what happens here now and observing them non judgmentally can improve corporate performance and happiness. 

It was a book launch of a difference. The event was totally focused on the audience. It was more an evening lecture series organised by a professional institute. There was not even the formal presenting of the book, but a line up of excellent presentations by eminent speakers.

Having referred to the origins of Mindfulness to Buddha’s teaching Dr. Tara De Mel educated the audience how in the last decade or so the scientific community had discovered immense benefits from the practice of mindfulness with undisputable evidence. Referring to a large number of scientific research publications she took the audience through as to how the practice of mindfulness definitely affect all the systems of the human physiology with positive benefits. She used the secular definition of mindfulness popularised by John Kabat Sin of USA ‘Paying attention on purpose in the present moment non-judgementally’ in sharing the various scientific aspects. She stated that there are over 500 peer reviewed articles in leading scientific journals to illustrate the significance the subject of mindfulness has gained in the recent past. 

She went on to say how the mindfulness revolution began when Dali Lama challenged Professor Richard Davidson (Neuroscientist – Founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of

Wisconsin, Madison) to research about the positive emotion and their impact on the human brain. She revealed how mindfulness has gained recognition and has got introduced to many fields including medicine, education, management and business. One of the key points that took the audience’s attention was the ‘Mindful nation’ policy that has been adopted by the British Parliament in a bipartisan move.

Pix by Shehan Gunasekara