A S Balasooriya

A. S. Balasooriya

Aluthgama Sumanadasa Balasooriya (born December 6, 1940) is renowned as a spiritual Teacher, Philosopher, Poet and Writer in Sri Lanka. His talks and writings delve into profound topics related to consciousness, awakening and the nature of mind. His exploration of the Psychological mind and its necessity has captivated audiences.

Mr. A. S. Balasooriya, renowned Sri Lankan spiritual teacher, author, philosopher, and senior educator. Photo taken during a spiritual session in Sri Lanka on 19 July 2025.

Early Life and Education

A S Balasooriya ( Aluthgama Sumanadasa Balasooriya) was born in 1940 in Batticaloa. Father Aluthgamgoda James Balasuriya worked in charge of a government tourist home. The mother, Donna Magillin Athukorala, was a beloved woman who lived in Aluthgama Kadiyawatte. The child was taken to a grandmother in Kadiyawatte for his education. But since there was no school in that area, the child had to be enrolled to a Tamil school. Later, he was admitted to two schools in Badulla from time to time. In 1950, after the father moved to Bandarawela, they settled there. Due to being enrolled in various schools across different provinces for primary education, Mr.Balasuriya gained experiences in a wide social spectrum.

In 1959, he was appointed as an English teacher and chose to come to the Heddaththawa School in the Mahiyangana area. There he sought information from the Vedi people (indigenous people) who lived near the school and tried to learn their language. He also sought to understand the traditional beliefs and Yantra mantras of the surrounding villages. After some time Mr. Balasooriya returned to a school in a village called Makuluella in Bandarawela district. He studied Sanskrit books on Yoga Shastra and was deeply studied in that. During that time, Gupta Vidyadhara monk, who lived in the Bandarawela temple, came into the company of a mystic and mastered various exercises for psychic abilities.

A. S. Balasooriya in his youth, in 1958.

Career in Education

Balasooriya began his career as an English teacher in 1959. He later became a principal, educational administrator, and a senior lecturer at Sri Lanka’s National Institute of Education (NIE). His groundbreaking work introduced Value Education and Peace Education into the Sri Lankan school curriculum. He co-authored national education policies and influenced international frameworks via UNESCO and Indian education systems.

Notable Works

Mr.Balasooriya observed through his students and their lives as they grew into adulthood that education has the power to transform society. He realized that merely filling the pure minds of children with subject knowledge in an exam-centric manner could lead to a society devoid of human qualities and wisdom.

He emphasized that the mission of the school is to contribute to society by nurturing knowledgeable, ethical, peaceful, wise, and enlightened individuals. To achieve this, he experimented with various research-based programs in schools on his own initiative.

Importance of non-violence / The importance of being free from violence.

He started with Mr. E W Adhikaram together to organize various lectures and programs across the Uva Province, aiming to educate people about the importance of non-violence, compassion, kindness, and a good way of life. As a result of that various organizations were established.

Young Thinker’s Society - තරුණ සිතිවිලි සමාජය

Founder of this society was Mr E.W Adhikaram and Mr Balasooriya gave great support for him.

When all young members joining to this society must take the following oaths.

“1. I abstain from alcohol.”

“2. I avoid smoking and drugs.”

“3. I refrain from violent actions.”

The society produced a large number of young people who refrained from the above mentioned misbehaviors, with non-violent attitudes in life.

Children’s Righteous Society - දැහැමි ළමා සමාජය

Mr Balasooriya established Children Righteous Society. This society had started as a small unit in the school and gradually spread throughout schools of Uva Province, with approval of the Provincial Director of Education.

This society has delivered a very voluble message about the ‘smoking ’. The proposal, that cigarette packets should be bearing the warning of “Smoking is harmful to the health” came from Children Righteous Society and which ultimately the President of Sri Lanka implemented.

After this foundation developed he received many invitations from various schools and organizations to deliver lectures and he served as the chief lecture and trainer in those institutions.

Leadership Programs for students

He introduced a model for student leadership development for the school to follow. It included aspects such as self improvement, social skills, assertive skills and spiritual values.

Rehabilitation programs for prisoners

Mr. Balasooriya started a service to rehabilitate prisoners, which was considered one of the best voluntary rehabilitation programs at that time. Here, three main aspects were implemented. Specifically, classes were conducted for illiterate prisoners, facilities were provided for literate prisoners to read books, and they were given correct life vision and social awareness.

His vision on rehabilitation of prisoners, as expressed in the 1985 publication of “Sahanaya”magazine. According to it He says that “thinking that people can be changed through fear of punishment is a misconception. Instead, people can be changed through developing their human conscience, life education, self worth, and mindfulness.”

He demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the traditional prison system and instead proposed a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to rehabilitation through his voluntary programs. This approach focused on helping prisoners to change their behavior and attitudes, and to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to reintegrate into society.

Mr.Balasooriya mainly focused on his sessions to build up positive self-image within the prisoners, cultivating their spiritual consciousness through meditation, and instilling in them a correct and wholesome vision of life.

Anti Cattle slaughter campaign

Mr.Balasooriya worked together with Mr. Maliyadeva to prevent cattle slaughter, which was rampant in the city of Badulla at the time. Through their combined efforts building public awareness of cruelty of slaughtering cattle, they were able to save the lives of many cattle that were destined to be slaughtered.

Peace Education

Because of that time, the country was experiencing a surge in terrorist activities, resulting in a social atmosphere that inclined children's minds towards violent tendencies. Mr. Balasooriya emphasized the urgent need for education to guide children towards peaceful living at various educational conferences. As a result, UNICEF expressed its willingness to provide financial assistance to launch a project to incorporate peace education into the school curriculum. Accordingly, the National Institute of Education and the Ministry of Education jointly launched an educational reform project called ‘Peace Education’, with Mr. Balasooriya playing a leading role in it.

There was no understanding among anyone regarding the concepts that should be included in peace education and the educational approaches that should be used for it, and it was not possible to obtain even foreign experiences related to it. Under this situation, Mr.Balasooriya presented an effective peace education framework that could be implemented in classrooms and schools, using his teaching experiences and related previous student activities. He introduced a number of books on ‘Peace Education’, ‘Teaching Peace to Children’, and ‘Managing Conflicts in Schools’, which were printed in Sinhala and Tamil mediums. More than 70,000 copies of these books were distributed to schools, educational institutions, and teacher training colleges in the country. Foreign educators even came to study this educational framework.

Concepts and මුදු කුසලතා necessary for a citizen to live peacefully were included in the primary and secondary curricula and textbooks, and the theme of these මුදු කුසලතා was named ‘ජීවන කුසලතා', for which a large number of teachers were trained.

Peace Education to India

At the request of the UNESCO institution located in New Delhi, India, to prepare a teacher's guide to peace education that can be used for training Asian teachers, he wrote the book ‘Learning the Way of Peace: A Teachers’ Guide to Peace Education. This book was published in Hindi and Urdu languages. The launch event was held at the Indian Parliament, where the Indian Minister of Education decided to introduce Peace Education into the school syllabus in India, and Mr. Balasooriya was invited to inform Indian educators about it.

He shared his educational approach and experiences in Sri Lanka with prominent Indian educators at that time. As of today, Peace Education is recognized as a national education policy in India and is being implemented.

Value Education

There was a public concern regarding the lack of anyone presenting to discuss the moral degradation of the youth generation and the general society in this country. Parents have alleged that the school has neglected the character development of students. In this regard, a separate division has been established within the National Institute of Education to take action.

Mr.Balasooriya focused his attention on value education and introduced a framework and methodology for its development, writing several books titled ‘ value Education: New Methods for Teaching of value education’ and ‘Student Discipline and value Education,’ thus completing that deficiency. This has led to a new initiative in the country regarding value education. Currently, value education has been integrated at the postgraduate level, and various programs are being implemented in schools.

Spiritual Development Education

Mr. A. S. Balasooriya conducting a spiritual discussion in Seethawaka Botanical Garden, Sri Lanka on 26 August 2023.

The true essence of a human being lies in spirituality, just as the true essence of education lies in the spiritual development of children. This profound understanding was deeply rooted in the mind of the young child. The crisis present in the world highlights the mental and spiritual crisis that exists within us as human beings.Mr Balasoorya spirituality is defined as “the essence of humanity that exists within.” It is the deep form of all human qualities. It is like an inner treasure. We must uncover that essence which naturally arises within us. Once someone uncovers it, the pure life qualities that emerge within them will extend outwards to society.

He considered the inability to perceive the spirituality of humans through psychology as a significant deficiency. To address this deficiency, he established a foundation and wrote a book titled “Psychology of Spiritual Development.” Through this, he conducted a psychological study on “the spiritual powers of children.” (ළමයින්ගේ ආධ්‍යාත්මික ශක්ති)

Mr.Balasooriya defines education as the act of learning and teaching that leads the new generation from ignorance to knowledge and from knowledge to wisdom. He declared that his life's mission was to heighten the consciousness of mankind thereby.

Providing knowledge to the public through media

‍Mr.Balasooriya has been using mass media for a long time to educate people about human development aspects. Many related discussions on television and radio have been complied by many books like ‘ආත්ම පූරණය’ ‘ජීවත් වීමේ සතුට’ ‘යොවුන් ඔබේ සරු දිවි මග’. His many public talks over 700 (2024) have been uploaded to YouTube and are being watched by a large audience around the world. Since 2014, he has presented a wealth of knowledge guiding spiritual development to the public through the weekly program titled ‘Induru Dora’.

Publications

His bibliography spans across:

• Spirituality (e.g., Niwana Dan Methana, Adhyathmika Gaman Maga)
• Education (e.g., Pasalehi Gatum Kalamanakaranaya, Saaradharma Adhyapanaya)
• Peace Studies (e.g., Sama Sithuwili, Gatum Samathakarana Kriyawaliya)
• Psychology (e.g., Adhyathmika Sanwardhana Mano Vidyawa)
• Philosophy & Poetry (e.g., Weda Geetha Sambhawana, Pini Warusa)
• Translations (e.g., Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam)

See full list of books: Publications

Media Presence

Mr. Balasooriya has conducted numerous TV programs such as Ilakkaya, Doramadalawa, Induru Dora, and has been featured on Buddhist Channels. His YouTube channel A. S. Balasooriya contains hundreds of spiritual talks and teachings.

Recognition and Legacy

• Introduced Peace Education curriculum to India (via UNESCO)
• Consulted for World Bank–backed teacher motivation research
• Contributed to UNESCO’s education and conflict research publications
• Revered across Sri Lanka for his teachings on awakening, meditation, and self-realization

External Links

• Official Website
• YouTube Channel
• Vimukthi Yathra YouTube Channel

References

This article "A S Balasooriya" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:A S Balasooriya. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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