It is not workshops but attitude that will govern the nation

Sri Lankans are always bombarded with “negative news” like underworld murders, corruption, unending depreciation of LKR against USD, etc. But on 3 June, I saw a ‘positive’ news which was not related to Sri Lanka. It was related to Japan. 

Its national football team and fans suffered a massive heartbreak on Monday night, losing to a last-gasp Belgium goal that shattered its hopes of reaching the World Cup 2018 quarter-finals. Anyway as a nation it has converted that as an ‘opportunity’ to position the country within the globe. Refer the following headings which appeared in world media:

nGracious in defeat, Japan leave Russia World Cup with pride – Aljazeera.com

nWorld Cup 2018: Heartbroken Japan fans clean stadium in tears following last-gasp loss to Belgium – Sun

nHeartbroken Japan players clean dressing room and leave thank you note in Russian after Belgium knock them out – Birminghammail

nJapan players clean dressing room after heart-breaking World Cup defeat to Belgium – Times of India

This is how Aljazeera reported this: “…But before leaving Russia, players and fans ensured they left an indelible mark not only on the tournament, but also followers of the game. The fans cleaned up the stadium and the players did likewise in the dressing room before leaving a note saying ‘spasibo,’ which translates to ‘thank you’ in English. Off the field, fans fought back tears and wondered what could have been after their dreams were crushed late on…”

What can we 

learn as a country?

I have witnessed many workshops in 5s, Six Sigma, Kaizen in Sri Lanka. Even after the dreadful tragedy of the Meethotamulla garbage dump, I have seen some workshops on ‘Waste Management’! But we should understand it is not workshops which matter, the right attitude with unbranded religion/s would help you to read the universe. You should have this ‘culture’ with generosity. We need to read the big picture. It is unfortunate that we focus on the symptoms of the ailment without making an effort to find out the cause.

We find a valuable example of this situation in Buddhist thought, thus:

“Asevanacha balanan

Panditanancha sevana…”

When we examine this saying from a conventional point of view, it interprets as ‘associate the wise and do not associate the unwise or the balaya’. The definitions of ‘pandita’ and ‘balaya’ are not clearly understood here, and it leads to much confusion. 

The philosophical meaning of ‘bala’ are our thoughts which lead to the 10 defilements, while ‘pandita’ denotes the wholesome thoughts that arise in our minds. It is the exploration of our own mind. But the conventional interpretation leads to much confusion and conflict. We can see many parallels like this in nature in the country. 

Anyway, there is a need to have people with the right attitude, which needs to be developed from early childhood. Right syllabus with educational reform, the gratitude of people and positive thinking can be considered as some factors to shape a great person. But more importantly, we should have a culture which needs to respect each other.

(The writer is a Senior Lecturer and Chartered Marketer, Department of Management Studies, Open University of Sri Lanka.)