What Sri Lanka’s landslides & cyclones teach — A Buddhist view

 

Sri Lanka is in shock. Never before in our history has all 25 districts been affected at once. We are in national mourning. The resilience of our people has been unwavering.

As a nation we have endured 17 South Indian invasions, 3 colonial illegal occupations. 2 armed insurgencies, 3 decades of LTTE terror, a single incident of Islamic terror, a devastating tsunami in 2004 covid, violent regime change and now cyclone Ditwah. Our strength to withstand and rise is guided by the Dhamma, a civilization that was built on compassion, wisdom and balance with nature. That spiritual resilience is within us. This is our cultural inheritance that shields us during times of suffering. This spirit carries the nation forward. Our resilience is not new, it is ancestral. Buddhas’s values have guided us over 2500 years – this spiritual foundation is the target. To break the spiritual foundation is the aim for a nation broken of its foundation is a nation easy to prey on. This is what we must contemplate on. As a Buddhist majority nation, where the foundation of society & life is based on Buddhist principles, there is a lesson for every citizen. There is much to introspect.

 

The Buddha taught that everything in this world arises from causes.

When we cut the forests, loosen the soil, build on steep slopes, and ignore the advice of nature, the earth simply responds to the causes we have created.

Those who enabled illegal construction — whether through bribes, negligence, or silence — must reflect deeply on the suffering caused and their role in it.

 

1. Nature follows Causes and Conditions

In Buddhism, nothing happens without causes.
A landslide is not “bad luck.” A cyclone is not “punishment.”
They arise from interdependent causes:

• Deforestation
• Greed-driven land misuse
• Building on dangerous slopes
• Ignoring environmental balance
• Extreme weather patterns intensified by human actions

 

What is our Lesson:

If we disturb nature out of greed or ignorance, nature responds according to the causes created.

 

From understanding causes, we then turn to our duties as individuals and leaders

 

2. Human Duty (Kamma of Responsibility), Not Blame

 

The Buddha taught that wise action reduces suffering.
In the Cakkavatti Sīhanāda Sutta, rulers and communities are advised to:

• Protect the vulnerable
• Ensure right livelihood
• Care for land, forests, water
• Maintain social and environmental harmony

 

This is why all rulers must be dharmishta.

 

Lesson:
When we neglect our duties—to the land, to forests, to each other—suffering arises.
When we fulfill them, harmony returns.

We have the answer.

 

3. Respect for the Environment is Respect for Life

In many Jātaka stories, animals, forests, and mountains are treated as living systems.

Our ancient Sihale kings did just that.

Teach children to respect the environment

Protect the Environment.

Environment Protects all Beings.

Examples:

• Ruru Jātaka:compassion toward beings in danger from floods
• Nigrodha Jātaka:importance of trees and forest life
• Sasa Jātaka:selflessness during natural hardship

 

The Ruru Jātaka 482 (The Deer King Story) – Lesson for Disaster Preparedness

Buddha was born as a compassionate deer who saved a drowning man after a sudden flood. Later, the man betrays the deer by revealing his location to the king, hoping for a reward. But when the king finally meets the Deer King, he is moved by the deer’s compassion and vows to protect the forest.

 

What does this teach us?

1. Nature can change suddenly.
   Just like the sudden flood in the story, landslides and cyclones can occur without warning.
2. Compassion must guide action.
   The Deer King risked his life to save another.
   Communities must help one another in times of disaster.
3. Protecting the environment protects us.
   The king understood that the forest was precious and promised to safeguard it.
   Reforestation and environmental care reduce future disasters.

The solution going forward.

4. Wisdom over greed.
   The man’s betrayal caused suffering for himself.
   Greed-driven decisions — illegal logging, unsafe construction — lead to disaster.
5. Safety comes from right action (Kusala Kamma).
   Planning, respecting nature, and listening to warnings ensure long-term protection.

 

How this Jātaka applies to Sri Lanka today

• Restore the forests that stabilize hills.
• Ensure honest, compassionate leadership.
• Teach children environmental respect.
• Build only in safe, geologically approved lands.
• Support neighbours generously during emergencies.

Just as the Deer King won protection for the forest,
Sri Lanka must make strong decisions today in keeping with our culture and not based on foreign templates.
Sri Lanka must protect her people tomorrow.

 

Lesson:
Destroying forests destroys the protection that nature gives us.

Landslides remind us that cutting trees is cutting our own safety.

How many hotels, villas have been built illegally with municipality permission based on bribes

 

Though spoken thousands of years ago, the Jātaka wisdom fits our modern crises exactly, reminding us that environmental harmony was a Buddha-era teaching

4.Impermanence (Anicca) — Everything can change in an instant – Nothing is permanent

Cyclones and landslides show that conditions can collapse suddenly.

Nothing can be taken for granted.

No one can be taken for granted too.

The Buddha repeatedly reminded disciples:

• Mountains can crumble
• Rivers can overflow
• Life changes in a moment

 

Lesson:
We should live mindfully, prepared, and with humility.
We must build not only houses, but resilience. Many Sri Lankans have this and have shown this by their good deeds.

 

When leaders or citizens believe they can overpower nature, they forget the reality of Anicca.

 

5. Compassion (Karunā) in Times of Suffering

When disaster strikes, the Buddhist response is immediate compassion:

• Share food – even when they do not have to feed themselves.
• Help the displaced – even when their dwellings are falling apart
• Offer safety to children and elderly – even when they too are vulnerable
• Support families who have lost homes

 

This aligns with the Metta Sutta:
“May all beings be safe. May all beings be protected.”

 

Lesson:
Disasters test a nation’s collective compassion.
Our humanity becomes our greatest strength.

 

6. Wise use of Resources (Appamāda – Diligence)

 

The Buddha called carelessness the doorway to suffering.

Building unsafe homes, ignoring warnings, or allowing illegal land use is a form of societal carelessness. Politicians and public servants have much to be held responsible for. Their conscience should prick them.

 

Lesson:
Appamāda means being diligent:

• Planning safe housing
• Replanting trees
• Enforcing laws without corruption
• Preparing evacuation plans
• Educating communities

 

Diligence prevents suffering before it arises.

 

7. Unity during difficulty

 

In disasters, divisions of race, religion, politics disappear.

We saw this in practice.

Even our foreign tourist friends joined in the rescue operations.
People help each other simply because they are human.

This reflects the Buddha’s teaching of  — unity, cooperation, and collective strength.

 

Lesson:
Sri Lanka must rediscover unity not only during suffering, but before suffering emerges.

This unity must translate into policy, preparedness, and a shared commitment to protect all communities equally.

 

What should we learn?

 

The landslide teaches us:

• Do not disturb the earth beyond safe limits.
• Restore forests that protect our slopes.
• Live with environmental mindfulness.

 

The cyclone teaches us:

• Nature is powerful and constantly changing.
• Preparedness, humility, and compassion are necessary.

 

Both teach Sri Lanka:

• Greed creates danger; wisdom creates safety.
• Protecting nature is protecting ourselves.
• Duties, not demands, keep a society safe.
• Compassion must rise immediately in times of hardship.

 

The recent landslides and cyclones remind us of a timeless truth taught by the Buddha:
“When causes are unwise, the results bring suffering.

When causes are wise, the results bring safety.”

From the Cakkavatti Sīhanāda Sutta, rulers are called to uphold five duties:

 

1. Protect the vulnerable— the poor, farmers, mothers, children, and the elderly.
2. Preserve the natural environment— forests, rivers, mountains, and wildlife.
3. Ensure righteous livelihoods— preventing illegal logging, unsafe construction, and corruption.
4. Act with compassion— respond quickly, with fairness and without discrimination.
5. Be vigilant (Appamāda)— because carelessness leads to the downfall of nations.

The landslide & cyclones are signals that our balance with nature has weakened.

It is now in the hands of the leaders to

 

• Reforest the hills – tea plantations were what the colonials enforced. How wise has this been for the environment.
• Enforce land-use laws without fear or favor.
• Relocate families from red zones with dignity & support – land belongs to no one but the soil.
• Build homes according to geotechnical wisdom not political pressure or palming hands
• Restore the rivers & watersheds that sustain life – our ancient kings thought & acted wisely.

 

A leader’s greatness is measured not by speeches or ceremonies, but by how many lives are protected.

 

Leaders must act decisively. Buddha’s Dasa Raja Dhamma reminds rulers that their duty is not merely administration but protection of life, justice and the environment.

 

Decisions regarding reforestation, relocation, land-use must be taken without political gain or foreign influence. Good governance is not optional it is a sacred obligation.

 

The Buddhist Leadership Framework

 

The Buddha taught that a ruler must embody the Dasa Raja Dhamma — the Ten Duties of a Righteous Leader:

1. Dana– generosity
2. Sila– morality
3. Pariccaga– self-sacrifice
4. Ajjava– honesty
5. Maddava– gentleness
6. Tapa– self-discipline
7. Akkodha– non-anger
8. Avihimsa– non-violence
9. Khanti– patience
10. Avirodhana– upholding justice & harmony

These ten qualities are not ornamental teachings from a distant past; they are practical, real-time obligations for rulers, especially in moments like this.

When leaders embody them, a nation is protected; when they abandon them, a nation collapses.

 

And the Buddha highlighted the Five Qualities of Enlightened Leadership:
Sīla (ethical conduct),

Dāna (giving),

Pariccaga (renunciation),

Paññā (wisdom),

Avihiṁsā (non-harm).

 

These qualities are not philosophical ideals — they are actionable duties.
Sri Lanka’s leaders must now embody them.

Natural calamities are not merely weather events —
they are reminders that when rulers abandon their duties and citizens forget their responsibilities, the balance between humans and nature breaks.

If leaders ignore this warning, disaster capitalism will exploit the suffering, and Sri Lanka will enter a cycle of irreversible decline — environmental, social, and moral.

 

A combination of these qualities and principles will put leaders back on track & safeguard the nation from further and future natural national calamities.

No leader can escape the ancient texts and teachings. Leaders have national responsibilities. Human life, nature’s sustenance must be placed above all political considerations before disaster capitalism leaders to new sets of irreversible calamities. Calamities which will have more adverse outcomes.

 

Today—not next month, not after inquiries—leaders must make the decisions that protect human life, stabilize our environment, and restore Sri Lanka’s long-lost ecological balance.

 

Good governance is not optional.

For a Buddhist nation, it is an obligation.

Leaders are custodians of the land, the people, the animals, and the future generations.

Conscience must be placed above convenience.
Wisdom above politics.
Protection of life above all else.

Sri Lanka has always risen from hardship through compassion and wisdom.
With right action today, we can transform this suffering into the foundation of a safer, wiser, and spiritually stronger nation — for all living beings.

 

 

 

Shenali D Waduge