Paticca Samuppada, Sustainable Development Goals, Communicating Compassionately

You are cordially invited to join us on 1 December 2025, when Dr. Kalinga Seneviratne will be leading the Monday night meditation at Baan Aree, the beautiful location so generously made available to us by the Baan Aree foundation.

A simple explanation of ‘Paticca Samuppada’ (Dependent Origination) could be stated as: “When this exists, that comes to be; with the arising of this, that arises. When this does not exist, that does not come to be; with the cessation of this, that ceases” (Bhikkhu P.A Payutto).
The Buddha presented the principle of Dependent Origination as a law of nature, which does not rely on the emergence of a Buddha or a divine being for its existence. The Buddha presented it as a natural truth. This talk explores how this “natural truth” impacts today’s environmental crisis, and how we can adopt Buddhist philosophical concepts to communicate practical solutions to address the crisis and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.
Interestingly, the 17 SDGs are in sync with the Dependent Origination theory (even though the UN did not probably realize it), and during this talk, the speaker will explore Buddhist philosophical concepts such as ‘anicca’ (impermanence), the three poisons – lobha (greed), dosa (hatred) and moha (delusion) –, the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, as the basis for developing a new paradigm of development communication that adopts a mindful path of communication that includes as a major plank the development of Compassion and Kindness to achieve the SDGs.

Everyone is welcome, from beginners to experienced meditators. We meet to support and encourage each other in our practice.

Programme:
6:00 pm Baan Aree opens
6:30 pm Opening meditation
6.45 pm Dhamma talk
7:30 pm Q&A
7:45 pm Session ends
8:00 pm Baan Aree closes

Baan Aree is a Thai Buddhist Center, please wear something that is comfortable to sit in, and avoid tight-fitting clothes, shorts, sleeveless tops, and short skirts. As Thailand is mourning the passing of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother, the Thai government asked people to cooperate in wearing black or non-vibrant tones for a period of 90 days, if possible.

There may not be sufficient drinking water on site, therefore you may bring your own water in a closed container. No other food/drinks are allowed in the main room.

As is usual with Buddhist teachings, there is no charge for this event. However, the Little Bangkok Sangha follows the Buddhist custom of Dana (generosity). The teachings and the venue are offered as an act of generosity, and those receiving them can, if they wish, reciprocate by making donations. These go towards the teacher’s and venue’s costs. Boxes for Dana will be provided.

About the Speaker:

Dr Kalinga Seneviratne, is a Sri Lankan born Buddhist, who has lived mainly in Australia and Singapore for the past 40 years. He is a journalist, television documentary maker, podcaster and an international communications scholar. He has recently authored 3 books on international news media. He has also edited numerous other books on communications issues such as ‘Mindful Communication for Sustainable Development: Perspectives from Asia’ (SAGE, 2018). Kalinga is currently a Honorary Research Fellow at the Shinawatra International University in Thailand and he has taught mass communications at tertiary level in Australia, Singapore, Thailand, India, Kyrgyzstan and Fiji. He has won an UN Media Peace Award in 1987 for his work on Australian community radio. He holds a PhD in International Communications from Macquarie University, Australia.

We plan a live broadcast of this talk on our Facebook group and the Baan Aree YouTube channel:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/littlebangkoksangha
https://www.youtube.com/@Baanaree2020/streams
It is also recorded for later viewing.

Please see this map for directions:
https://goo.gl/maps/1FuCuvCtNdPMAL4F9