MGPCO Ottawa Canada

MAHATMA GANDHI PEACE COUNCIL OF OTTAWA

Peace, Compassion & Harmony

Peace and Compassion Forum

Conversations that Inspire Connection, Kindness, and Community
An MGPCO Initiative
Our Upcoming Conversation

Building a Compassionate Society

Mindfulness and Gandhian Wisdom in Action

Session Leader : LALTH GUNARATNE

Saturday, 14 Mar 2026

3:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Minto Recreation Complex, Cambrian Room, 3500 Cambrian Rd, Nepean K2J 0E9

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2026-03-14 Lalith Gunaratne :
"Building a Compassionate Society"

Mindfulness is framed not as a self-help technique, but as ethical awareness—a way of seeing clearly, exposing subtle forms of violence, resisting fear-driven reactivity, and aligning means with ends. In this sense, mindfulness becomes a discipline of courage, not comfort.

Through guided meditation, reflection, dialogue, and ethical inquiry, participants are invited to explore how kindness, empathy, and compassion—balanced with humility and firmness—can shape leadership, public life, policy choices, and everyday actions.

Meditation-in-the-woods

About the Session

Drawing on Gandhi’s core principles—swaraj (inner freedom and self-rule), ahimsa (non-violence in thought, speech, and systems), satya (lived truth), seva (service), simplicity, and solidarity—the talk shows how inner mind–body habits of attention can scale outward into social, economic, and institutional realities.

Building a Compassionate Society explores how mindfulness and the wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi together offer a grounded and courageous response to today’s fractured and polarized world. Moving beyond compassion as mere sentiment or goodwill, this session presents compassion as a form of moral strength—rooted in awareness, self-discipline, responsibility, and ethical clarity.

Session Leader

Lalith Gunaratne

Lalith Gunaratne (LinkedIn, YouTube, Blog Site) is a leadership strategist, mindfulness practitioner, and trusted advisor who works at the intersection of inner transformation and social responsibility. Drawing on decades of experience as an entrepreneur and organizational consultant to over 200 organizations, his work integrates mindfulness with Gandhian and Buddhist wisdom.

Lalith explores compassion not as sentiment, but as moral strength grounded in self-rule, non-violence, truth, and service. His talks invite leaders and citizens alike to see how disciplined attention, ethical clarity, and courageous kindness can shape leadership, institutions, and a more compassionate society.
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Our Mission

Promoting Gandhi’s timeless principles of truth, non-violence, compassion, and self-reliance to inspire personal transformation and social harmony.

How we Pursue our Mission

Through community education, dialogue, and action-oriented initiatives, we strive to cultivate a culture of peace, justice, and sustainability. We believe that by embracing ethical leadership, inclusivity, and mindful living, individuals and communities can create meaningful change in the world.

We aspire to engage, educate, and empower people from all backgrounds to apply Gandhi’s values in their daily lives, fostering a more just, peaceful, and compassionate society.

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The Board of Directors

Approved by the General Body of Members at the AGM 2025 on Dec 14, 2025

Directors by Special Appointment

Dr. Kanta Marwah
Dr. Jagmohan Humar, C.M.

Appointed (till AGM 2026)

Seleena Desjardins (Treasurer)

Elected Directors

Anil Agrawal (President)
Sudeshna Chakraborty (Director)
Rajesh Jain (Vice-President)
Kameshwar Mishra (Director)
Punita Patel (Director)
Dr. Noel Salmond (Director)
Santosh Shail (Director)
Sima Vyas (Secretary)

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The life-size statue of Mahatma Gandhi, unveiled on Oct 2, 2011, stands on Carleton University Campus in Ottawa, Canada.​

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
(2 Oct 1869 – 30 Jan 1948)

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was born in India on October 2, 1869. After earning a degree in law from the Inner Temple, UK, in 1891, he moved to South Africa where for the next 24 years he led a peaceful and non-violent struggle against racism and discrimination faced by the Indian community.

In 1915 Gandhi returned to India and soon became the leader of India’s struggle for independence from British rule. After years of peaceful civil disobedience and resistance, freedom came to India in August 1947.

Forever committed to non-violence and truth, Gandhi has been hailed as an apostle of peace and has inspired many of humanity’s leaders who employed non-violent resistance in their struggle against oppression and tyranny.

Gandhi's Speech in Kigsley Hall, London 1931

'Vaishnav jan to' sung by artists of 124 Nations (Excerpt)

Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye …

[Translation by noted Indian author and columnist Mr. Khushwant Singh. In a column written for The Hindustan Times, Mr. Singh published his English rendering of Bapu Gandhi’s favorite hymn: Vaishnav Jan To…]

A godlike man is one,
Who feels another’s pain
Who shares another’s sorrow,
And pride does disdain.

Who regards himself as the lowliest of the low,
Speaks not a word of evil against any one
One who keeps himself steadfast in words, body and mind,
Blessed is the mother who gives birth to such a son.

Who looks upon everyone as his equal and has renounced lust,
And who honours women like he honours his mother
Whose tongue knows not the taste of falsehood till his last breath,
Nor covets another’s worldly goods.

He does not desire worldly things,
For he treads the path of renunciation
Ever on his lips is Rama’s holy name,
All places of pilgrimage are within him.

One who is not greedy and deceitful,
And has conquered lust and anger
Though such a man Saint Narsaiyon has a godly vision,
Generations to come, of such a man, will attain salvation.