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| Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka |
Being the son and brother of Elementary School teachers has helped me understand the difference between alliteration and onomatopoeia. Alliteration is when closely placed words sound alike, for instance
Sally Sold Seashells and onomatopoeia are words that are associated by the sounds made from saying them aloud (such as Bam, Pow, Zap). With that distinction out of the way, the former capital of Sri Lanka is Anuradhapura. It helps to pronounce the word by creating an alliteration situation by using the onomatopoeia in the word: onomatopoeia Anuradhapura.
Although Negombo (where I spent most of my Sri Lankan time) seemed mainly Catholic, the nation on the whole is primarily Buddhist. The spiritual peak of the trip was its first weekend, when we took a bus up to the ancient capital of Sri Lanka: Anuradhapura. There we saw many Temples and Monasteries. In America, it's not odd to note:
That building is very old, it was built in the 1890s. In Sri Lanka, I saw things older than my religion.
I'm not here to comment specifically on Buddhism, or other Eastern religions, but want to share one aspect of its faith:
Saṃsāra refers to a place, set of objects and possessions, but originally, the
word referred to a process of continuous pursuit or flow of life. In
accordance with the literal meaning, the word should either refer to a
continuous stream of consciousness, or the continuous but random drift
of passions, desires, emotions, and experiences.
Saṃsāra: Do you know what it means?
Mainly, this post is to share a couple pictures from this trip to Sri Lanka's former capital.
