MGPCO Ottawa Canada

MAHATMA GANDHI PEACE COUNCIL OF OTTAWA

Peace, Compassion & Harmony

Peace and Compassion Forum: Monthly Talks for a Kinder World

An MGPCO Initiative

Building a Compassionate Society

Mindfulness and Gandhian Wisdom in Action

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Saturday, 14 March 2026

3:00 PM - 5:30 PM

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

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Venue Details

Minto Recreation Complex

2nd Floor, Cambrian Room, 3500 Cambrian Rd, Barrhaven

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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.

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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.
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Session Leader

Lalith Gunaratne

Lalith Gunaratne 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.