Dream come true

In October 2018, the Toastmasters Division J council meeting was held at Excel world. In the midst of our discussion regarding the itineraries for the tenure, I suggested doing a novel event. Previously not ventured. It was to hold a Debate competition among the Toastmaster fraternity instead of the Drama competition ‘Encore’ as per preceding years. My council members unanimously agreed to the idea. 

 You might wonder, WHY a “Debate” Competition from a person who has not participated in any debate competition at school. May be you are also in my group.   Opportunity knocked on my door when , one day I was the Table Topic master at one of our Toastmasters meetings. I decided to do something innovative. Two teams with two members each was formed and a topic was given for them to debate on. That was my first experience in debating. This afforded others also to take on this interesting topic and improve their skills. 

I can also recall, in year 2016, The Association of Professional Bankers (APB), organized a Debate competition among banks. I was leading one of the Teams at HNB but was unable to be a member of the Team,  which went up for the finals. The team effort and the experience was pretty amazing. I felt that I should share my experiences with my TM family.  At our meetings , I conveyed the message. "Let’s create a platform to improve on the aspects of a real debate". Speeches and debates are complementary to each other. Improvement in one ensures success on the other.  

We planned to launch the project after our annual Toastmasters Conference Ovation 2019, which was held in Chennai. I was searching for a suitable project chair for the debate competition. At SLIM Toastmasters club (TMC) installation l identified the correct person TM Kolitha Ratnayake, their enthusiastic Project Chair.  Consequently, he became the Coordinator for this project too.

 When it came to finding a suitable name for the competition, my mentor and our Administration Manager 2019/20 of District 82, Distinguished Toastmaster Keerthi Wijekulasuriya proposed a few names. We decided the spectacular name, “Debate & Conquer” as ideal. 

Four enthusiastic  teams came forward to debate with each other at the Preliminary round  on 22^nd June 2019 .We released the registration flyer one week prior and closed it on 19^th June. The topic was given two days prior to the contest .“Open economy is good/not good for our country”, was the interesting toipc to be thrashed out at the closed competition. The Preliminary round was held at Royal College Skills Centre, Colombo 7.  Timing was three minutes for a speaker and two minutes for summation by the captain . As per the request of the panel of judges, we increased the speech time to 5 minutes and summation to 3 minutes at the finale. We selected judges from non-toastmasters, in a bid to motivate them to join this wonderful movement.

The Finals were scheduled for the 20^th July at DIMO auditorium, Mercedes-Benz center, Colombo 14. We released a flyer regarding the finals to obtain more publicity. Although the audience attendance was less, we started the session on time.  The Topic was released 1 hour prior to the contest to the team members. It was “Does social media improve or impede communication”, as Horana TMC clinched the third place by beating Colombo TMC with a lean margin.

Finals was between SLIM TMC and Awakening TMC. Topic was “Education is a must for Entrepreneurship”. After a nail biting  competition,  SLIM TM emerged as winners.The panel of Judges selected the best debater as TM Dhananjaya Gamlath from SLIM TMC.  The winners and runners up were awarded with trophies and certificates. A Special token was given to project coordinator and Debate Master TM Kolitha Ratnayake for his dedication and commitment.

Gratitude goes to the past and present Division council members, as we were able to work as a team and finish it on a grand scale. When you have a DREAM, that you believe you want to make it come true, even the entire Universe will support you. By conducting this event my dream came true. What about your dream .............?

Noble Deeds of Merit

Everyone wants to be happy in this life. This clearly manifests in the story of Visakha, the great female disciple of Lord Buddha. She was the devoted and generous daughter of a millionaire in Savastthi, an ancient city in India.

At the age of fifteen, she was engaged and married to a son of a millionaire called Migara. On the wedding day Visakha’s wise father gave her some sound advice to be practiced in marriage.

"A wife should not criticize her husband and parents-in-law in front of others. she should not listen to the stories of other households and not report yours to others. Things should be lent only to those who return. Poor relatives and friends should be helped even if they don’t return.  When seeing her husband and ln-laws a wife should rise gracefully from her seat. Before taking her food, she should ensure others are served. Before going to sleep, she should ensure the household is safe and servants have performed their duties. As a rule, she should rise early in the morning unless she is sick. Ensure, her husband and in-laws are treated well and cared for and given due respect."

 One day, her father-in-law, Migara was eating sweet milk porridge from a golden bowl.  At that moment, a monk entered the house for alms. Migara saw him and continued eating ignoring the monk. Visakha seeing this, politely said “Pass on venerable sir, my father-in-law is consuming some leftovers.” Migara was very offended with the words and came to the conclusion that she had brought disgrace to his family. He ordered Visakha to be expelled. Visahka enlightened her father in law about the advice given to her by her own father; “If there is any fault, investigate it”. Migara agreed to her request. Vishaka proved her innocence by explaning “Sir, when my father-in-law ignored the monk and continued consuming the milk porridge, he was committing a great sin in the present life whilst enjoying the merit he had accumulated in his past actions. Her father-in-law admitted he was at fault and confessed his misdeed and the acknowledged the wisdom of Visakha. At her request, he invited Lord Buddha to their house to preach the Dhamma. Later, Migara was able to achieve the 1^st step in the noble path of supreme Nirvana.  Many deeds of merit have been done (with wealth, out of faith and generosity) by one subject birth like an expert florist can made  many garlands from a collection of flowers. (Ref: Dammapada  verse 53)

With wisdom and patience, Vaisakha converted her husband’s household to a happy home. Her good deeds of merit were an example to many.  Her kindness, generosity and conduct resulted in her being conferred as an acclaimed lady of yesteryear and also in modern times.

Power of Thoughts

Thoughts have the power to connect with nature and the universe. This story depicts the power of thoughts in a mind. The events unfolded during Lord Buddha’s time in 6^th century BC.  

In an ancient city of Soreyya in North India, there was a city treasurer who's son by the same name. One day Soreyya went out of the city with his friend in a carriage for a bath. There was a tranquil river flowing by the side of the city.   Beside the rippling waters they found a Buddhist monk getting into the water by the waterfront. Suddenly, there was a gust of wind and the monk’s robe was swished away from his shoulder. Soreyya saw the monk’s complexion. It was shining like gold. A thought came to him, “l wish he would become my wife, or may my wife’s complexion be like his body”. Instantly, due to his wrongful wish a miracle occurred. His manhood organs disappeared and changed him to a woman. He was confused and distraught.  He ran into the nearby forest withoutinforming his friend. His friend looked everywhere to find Soreyya, but failed and went back to his city alone. 

Lady Soreyya passed the forest, and arrived at the city of Takkasila. The treasurer of that city found her. Also got to know that lady Soreyya was alone in the city, therefore he got married to her. Time passed by and lady Soreyya gave birth to two beautiful sons. In her previous marriage as Soreyya, there were two other sons.  

After about five years later, lady Soreyya’s previous friend visited the city of Takkasila. Lady Soreyya got to know and arranged to meet the friend. She told him everything what had happened. Soreyya’s friend was shocked and decided to help his friend. He suggested a plan to get out of this mess. They arranged an alms giving to the Buddhist Thera, who was getting into water by that river who was none other than Venerable Maha Kaccana Maharahath Thera. He was one of the eighty supreme Maharahath theras of Lord Buddha. Afterwards, lady Soreyya asked for pardon for her dreadful and unrealistic thought beside the river. Then the Thera said, “Get up, I forgive you” As the words went into the air, a miracle occurred and her female organs disappeared and lady Soreyya became a man again. His friend was delighted.  

It was asked by many, “whom you love the most”. Then Soreyya said, “l love both my present and past sons, but l have more affection to the sons l have given birth than the sons borned to me”. Later Soreyya moved out of that unrealistic unsecured and unstable life and followed the footsteps of the Maha Kaccana thera. After a few years he attained the Supreme Bliss of Nirvana. (Ref: Dhammapada verses 43) 

Moral of the story is don’t underestimate the power of your thoughts in your mind. Well directed thoughts can do more for the well-being of one.  Also don’t judge a person from their outer appearance. You may not know that person’s capabilities. You can change your destination with your courage and determination.

May your rightful thoughts direct your life towards excellence!