2007 ~ 2012 |
A NEW CAMPUS AND THE BIRTH OF SASS
Centrality of Meditation in Religion
As one progresses in the practice of meditation, the
profound spiritual benefits of meditation can also
be experienced in the form of deep tranquility, an
unshakeable inner wellbeing and a deep awareness
and understanding of the nature of reality.
Meditation practice, through the continuous practice
of observation and awareness, ultimately develops an
inner peace which includes increased acceptance of
oneself and others, which enables one to realize that
there is no cause for an ego as there is no ‘self,’ but a
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collection of parts, nothing to hold over another being.
One aspect of understanding this truth comes with the
understanding that all of one’s thoughts and attributes
come naturally, and that, therefore, there is no cause
for self-pride or self-loathing.
Meditation is an integral part of all the great religions of
the world, and the goals of meditation are to achieve
oneness with ‘God’ and gain comprehension of Truth
or Knowledge of Ultimate Reality. It may be noted
that the older schools within religions placed central
importance on meditation practice for an individual’s
spiritual development.
Iromi Dharmawardhane studied for her Bachelor of
Arts at SASS, Monash University Malaysia (2007-
2008), and received the Best Student Award for
the ‘most outstanding undergraduate academic
performance’ for the Bachelor of Arts course.
The full version of this essay was first published as
a chapter of the book written by the author entitled
The Good Life: An Introduction to Religion and
Consciousness (Stamford Lake, Colombo: 2016).
Iromi would like to once again express her deep
gratitude to her lecturer at SASS, Dr. Julian C.H. Lee,
for his encouragement in publishing this book and
publishing in general!
◀ At my wedding to
Ashan (2017).