Time and again, in the chaos of these days, there comes a moment when, if we attune ourselves deeply to its whisper, intuition blooms and carries us along. It is like a flower opening. We may not know where we are going but, as the flower opens, we find courage to take the next steps travelling tirelessly on between midnight and dawn when darkness provides cover while, at the same time, concealing a thousand unforeseeable dangers.
At the Butterfly Peace Garden (1996-2026) in Batticaloa Sri Lanka, we have been drawing water from this well of wisdom for thirty years through times of warfare and natural disaster, like the devastating tsunami of 2004. We call this vigilant yet flexible practice, Playing for Real. It is something we learned from the beautiful and brave children of Batticaloa who taught us to stand up for ourselves, amidst the violent inequities of life, by standing up for them.
Just as a snake sheds its skin we learned to shed our moral timidity, loneliness and anxiety, both as individuals and as a collective. By looking the dilemma we faced dead in the eye, acknowledging and embracing our fear, we transformed a frightening reality into something workable and beneficial to all. Fear became an unexpected partner, the blessed mother of invention by our side, inspiring creativity and courage in each and every step we took down the Garden Path.
Embracing this radical transformation within we learned that times of trial, however perilous, might not be the end of everything but rather the dawn of a hopeful new day and way of being. En route, we collected and archived the wisdom of these years of practice. Thus losers become lovers. We shaped what we learned into ten entrancing toys so that, by playing with them, we could share what we had learned with others facing hard times. And who, these days, isn’t facing hard times? This collection became our Out-of-the-Box Curriculum.
Though we come from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds and may not share the same politics, there is no denying that we share the same planet and are collectively responsible for whatever happens here. We now find ourselves at a critical tipping point. Sri Lanka itself is cradled in a prolonged state of emergency, dealing with one of its worst flood disasters in two decades, with nearly one million people affected and more than 400 reported dead or missing after Cyclone Ditwah unleashed catastrophic flooding and landslides across the island.
How to restore balance and a measure of sanity in this time of global chaos is a big challenge. On the Garden Path we Start with Art having learned through years of working in conditions of war and natural disaster that art is a form of play with which we all can connect through our innate sense of humour. No matter how dire the times may be, young people under most conditions, take naturally to play in the form of painting, poetry, story creation, music and theatre.
At times of disaster we instinctively transcend fear by going Back to Bindu. And what is bindu? In Hindu culture of Sri Lanka bindu is the point at which creation flows back into unity. Mindfully engaged, the obstacles we face become blessings that show us the way home.
The primary tool we use for nourishing bindu in the Garden is Mystery Painting, a contemplative practice that combines silent meditation with art, story creation and dialogue. It allows us to give form to the unconscious energies and impulses that direct, or misdirect, our lives. Through cultivation of intuition and imagination we can clearly see what we care about and leave behind whatever smothers and ensnares us
Mystery Painting is a way of purging and re-enchanting the traumatized mind through a ritualized process of making art, restoring individual mental health by releasing creative imagination.
If you would like to help us us begin again by starting over where it all began, not in the Garden of Eden this time but in the Butterfly Peace Garden. Your generosity will help nudge harmony and healing back into the Batticaloa community ravaged by Cyclone Ditwah. Through generosity of spirit and the communal practice of the arts we find a way back home to the heart of our common humanity. We learn to walk together in beauty once again.
poho Toronto 2026 / Painting of Holy Family by E. Kularaj
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