Slow-Cooked Thoughts: Articles, Talks, Essays, One Old Poem, and Two Tales

By Rohan de Soysa

Human life on the earth has taken an exacting toll on the planet. Climate is changing, biodiversity is declining, and our children’s futures are in jeopardy. So what can we do, today, to reverse these trends and rediscover the value of our planet?

Slow-Cooked Thoughts is an eclectic and thought-provoking collection of talks, essays, and articles, including an account of an overland trip and two tales of life seen from the perspective of nonhuman life-forms. Running through the book is a common thread of concern for the environment, an appreciation for the arts, and rather idealistic ideas on simple ways of reversing the damage caused to the environment. Author Rohan de Soysa shows how this mindset is needed in the future so that we can achieve a balanced environment suitable for all life-forms, including human beings.

Preserving our air, water, soil, plants, animals, and the ecosystem as a whole is what is of real value. In order to realize a truly sustainable future, we must begin to respect other forms of life and, most importantly, the environment on which their survival depends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Feb 27, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543747942

Rohan de Soysa

Rohan de Soysa is currently active in the fields of art and the environment, and he has also been involved in photography, agriculture, industry, and trade. He became a trustee of the Sapumal Foundation in 1981, and he has been chairman since 2011; this charming place contains the work of the ’43 Group, the first modern art movement in Sri Lanka. In 1985 Rohan bought eighteen acres of secondary forest for his daughter, and today it is a sanctuary and the first community conservation project in the country.

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Copyright © 2019 Rohan de Soysa. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019932553

ISBN

978-1-5437-4793-5 (sc)

978-1-5437-4794-2 (e)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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05/28/2020

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Also by Rohan de Soysa

Supplement to the Sapumal Foundation Collection (2017)

Photographic contributions to

Sri Lanka: An Island Civilisation (1977)

Masks and Mask Systems of Sri Lanka (1978)

Briefly by Bevis

Sapumal Foundation Collection: A Select Catalogue (2009)

Slow-Cooked Thoughts

Articles, Talks, Essays, One Old

Poem, and Two Tales

Rohan de Soysa

With a Foreword by

Jill Macdonald

From US Review of Books by Kat Kennedy:

.........there is one constant theme running throughout: the preservation and enrichment of humanity through environmental conservation and promotion of the arts

The author’s work is an intriguing array of informative and delightful stories from the mind of one who has spent his life working to make the world a better place

From Foreword Clarion Review by Emily Webber:

The book ends with two fiction stories that are magical and rooted in ecological notions. The first is inspired by a Mahayana Buddhist legend on the origin of life: the other describes how other life on the planet might view human beings and functions as a plea for people to amend their ways.

From Pacific Book Review by C.C.Thomas:

....the ingredients making for a delightful stew of thoughts.

........emphasizes that Earth is the only planet where all four natural elements-air, earth, water and fire – are in equilibrium. ....Being more in tune with the natural world would heal our sick spirits, minds and bodies.

.....describes the connection between deforestation and the widening gap between the most affluent humans and the most poverty-stricken.

shows his versatility with .....a collection of stunning landscape photography echoing sentiments previously expressed through his words.

….ramifications of constant deforestation. ......the author shows the consequences ....in putting our children’s legacy and heritage at stake

From Blueink Review:

....whether De Soysa is advocating reforestation or the necessity of teaching children about conservation, his stance in favour of wise planet stewardship is consistently apparent. The two tales at book’s end include a table-like approach to the evils of over-consumption.

From Sunday Observer Sri Lanka by Prasad Abu Bakr:

The ‘technological jungle that may be created in the name of ‘development’ can never make up for the loss of the many natural wonders surrounding us.....

The title of the book alone sends a message...that sometimes ‘Thoughts’ need to be ‘Slow-cooked’ before hasty and ill-considered actions result in our losing forever the natural wealth..

The full reviews can be accessed from the author’s website: www.rohandesoysa.com/reviews

For Robert,

Ranya, and Aria

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CONTENTS

Illustrations

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Articles

What Is our Real Wealth?

What Is our Real Ancestry?

What Will Be the Real Results of Continuing Deforestation?

Decolonisation in the Rubber Trade, 1946 to 1954

Short Note for Resplendent Sri Lanka by Liz Doles

An Old Poem

Phadampa Sangay’s Teachings

Talks and Presentations

Becoming: Colombo Art Biennale 2012

Making History: Colombo Art Biennale 2014

Conceiving Space: Colombo Art Biennale 2016

Sapumal Foundation Fortieth Anniversary

Mihithala Mithuro Twentieth Anniversary

Talk at Bellanwila Temple

The ’43 Group: The National Trust of Sri Lanka

The Sapumal Foundation: The Sri Lanka Archive of Contemporary Art, Architecture, and Design, Jaffna

An Overland Trip

London to Colombo by Car

Essays

Guidance from the Tao Te Ching

Concept of God in Buddhism

Approaches to Health Care through the Ages

Tales

How Life Came to Earth

Who Is the Greatest?

Afterword

Two Points of View

About the Author

Resources

References

ILLUSTRATIONS

Cover illustration

Frontispiece

1. A section of Kodigahakanda

2. A beach

3. Hills

4. A forest scene

5. Ancient tombs at Kandarodai, Jaffna

6. The guru speaks

7. Some exhibition catalogues

8. The Varuni Hunt gallery

9. Clouds forming

10. Clouds at saturation point

11. Editor Neville Weereratne holding a copy of the book>>

12. Young guide and younger hiker

13. Climbing down a rocky slope

14. Taking a break

15. Wending our way down

16. A perennial water hole

17. A poster for Kandyan dance performances>>

18. Sapumal Foundation name board>>

19. Group spirit lives on

20. Diploma from RCA

21. View from the gate

22. On the left after entering

23. Side view of the house and garden

24. The portico at the main entrance

25. The main entrance

26. Mosaic floor and inlaid table

27. One side of the lobby

28. The main hall

29. An interior room

30. Antique furniture dotted around

31. The dining room

32. The Wendt and Collette room

33. Children’s art classroom

34. The reference library

35. Me with the vehicle

36. Co-driver Roshan in front of a mountain

37. A cabana we occupied in Yugoslavia

38. A dashing horseback rider

39. Four Turkish policemen

40. The van with the noisy clutch

41. Three boys by the roadside

42. Khyber Pass

43. A colourful lorry

44. Car being hoisted onto ferry from tugboats

45. Waiting wife and son

46. Waiting daughter and son

47. Taoist sage

48. Pearls

49. The three saplings

50. A shimmering planet

51. Life feeding on life

52. Birds perching on us

53. Bird nesting

54. Woodpecker making holes

55. Elephant munching

56. Deer munching

57. A lazy carnivore digesting an herbivore

58. Unnatural practice of cooking

59. Can you arrogant fellows fly?

60. Been around millions of years

61. A loud trumpeting rent the air

62. We are more numerous by far.

63. Our ancestors first populated the earth

64. An evolved fungus

65. Beings with external shells

66. Finally the tree king piped up

67. A lady says goodbye

68. Three Elephants bid goodbye

FOREWORD

It is a very particular pleasure to provide this foreword to Slow-Cooked Thoughts, a compelling compilation of writings both occasional and various, by Rohan de Soysa. Uniting this collection of articles, speeches, poems, and two stories is the writer’s passionate and unwavering belief about what constitutes a right relationship with the world around us. This motif, which runs with crystal clarity throughout the collection, lends to Rohan’s reflections the quality of a philosophical meditation on the very nature and purpose of being.

This is a uniquely visual piece of writing, perhaps the result both of the writer’s skill as a photographer and of his delight in and appreciation of the fine arts. But this quality also speaks of his careful and reflective observation, over a long period, of the world around him. It is evident from the very outset of the work, in the preface, in which Rohan paints an arresting image, which stays with the reader throughout the pieces which follow. The image is of the contrasting outlook on life of animals in captivity and those living freely in the wild, especially as expressed in their eyes. Ultimately, Rohan’s writing takes us to a place where we realise how readily we too may become captives, when we separate ourselves from the natural world of which we are a part. It is this conviction that underlies each of the contributing parts of this volume, making it a wonderfully coherent and integrated series of reflections—artistic, environmental, and theological—arising from a life of careful observation and quiet reflection. It is a testimony to the deep and abiding connections between all areas of knowledge and of human endeavour.

One of the joys of my long sojourn in Sri Lanka has been the opportunity to develop further the close friendship between my family and Rohan’s, which dates to my childhood in Canada, when Rohan’s sister, Iranee, was our next-door neighbour. Having had the privilege over the years of watching Rohan’s family grow, I am delighted to note the extent to which this collection of writing is, in effect, a love letter from one generation to another. This quality is strikingly apparent in the two charming tales Rohan has written for the final section of the volume, in order to illustrate and to bring more vividly to life the thoughts and theories of the early sections of the work. Indeed, as the godmother of one of the saplings to whom the volume is dedicated and whose ongoing conversation with their grandfather forms the structural basis of these tales, I am delighted to know that these lovely children have been bequeathed a work such as this—so full of reflections useful not only to them but also to those of us occupying a rather more aged strata of society but nevertheless equally likely to benefit from its wisdom.

It is my hope that this collection will be read widely so that its clarion call for a renewal of the love and respect owed to all sentient beings, and indeed to all living things, will be conveyed to those with eyes to see and ears to hear that the freedom and confidence of creatures in their natural habitat so pithily captured in the work’s opening image is also possible to us when we remember our shared heritage of the natural world. As the great English Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote in his powerful advisory on the integration of biology and theology,

He prayeth well, who loveth well

Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best

All things both great and small;

For the dear God who loveth us,

He made and loveth all.

It is the profound achievement of Rohan’s work to convey this philosophy in a manner that takes into account both the diversity of our modern world and the things we share. And so I commend and send this small but powerful volume out into the world in the words of Chaucer, another great observer of the world around him: Go litel book … And read where-so thou be /That thou be understood, God I beseech!

—M. Jill Macdonald

August 2018

PREFACE

Here is a collection of articles and essays I have written, talks I have given, plus a few other things.

Impressions received in travelling, talking to people, reading books, and seeing films, dramas, plays, exhibitions, concerts, etc. fermented in my brain for many years, till one day they began to distil in the still of my mind.

It dawned on me, drop by drop, what our real wealth is, who we are kin to, and what will happen if we continue to monopolise the earth’s resources for the selfish benefit of humans only.

When I was young I was taken to the zoo, where I noticed the apathy of the animals, especially in their eyes. When I was a bit older we went to the jungle, and I was struck by how much more confident they looked, especially in their eyes.

Initially I only planned to make five photocopied books, for my three grandchildren and two children. I hoped they might get some inkling of my deeper thoughts and feelings and perhaps benefit thereby. But then I thought of having it published in case it interested others, too.

I have always been more concerned with ideas of a general and universal kind; which underlie individual achievements, scenic wonders, myths and legends of our country and the world. I leave it to others to extoll these in far more detailed and glowing terms than I can muster. Nevertheless, I have not shied away from writing about them where appropriate.

People preserve and will even fight to the death to defend what they have been brought up to believe is valuable. It could be money, power, traditions, beliefs, ideologies, their nation, etc. The majority