Above is a photograph of myself, Dr. Mahendra Perera (left) and his nephew Prasan at the wonderful Kandalama Resort and Hotel in central Sri Lanka. (Details and images on this amazing place can be found at http://www.heritancehotels.net/kandalama/).
This was the first meeting of the Sri Lankan-Australian-British Itladian Group. I would suggest this location for any future international Itladian meetings but it really is quite a difficult place to get to. It is right in the middle of the Sri Lankan jungle (the monkeys on our balcony every morning was something of a novelty ... the pythons, leopards, tarantulas, crocodiles and cobras we were warned about that could be encountered in the grounds of the hotel were less of a novelty, more of a concern!). Maybe Birmingham would be better ...
Dr. Perera is not only a member of the FORUM but also, like myself, a professional member of the International Association of Near-Death Studies (IANDS). He is a consultant psychiatrist based at the Albert Road Clinic in Melbourne, Australia.
For an example of Dr. Perera's work on NDE check out this article from an Australian newspaper:
Dr. Perera and his associates have written a fascinating paper published in the Journal of Near-Death Studies (vol 26, Number 4, Summer 2008). This discusses the results of their research into Near-Death Experiences in Sri Lanka. Dr Perera was also responsible for the largest survey of the NDE phenomenon in Australia.
We all had a wonderful evening. The arak flowed as freely as the conversation. We discussed many things itladian including some fascinating "from the coal face" examples of the itladian elements of schizophrenia from Mahendra. and I am looking forward to reading more of Dr Perera's work and collaborating with him with regard to a specialist book on the NDE experience for the Australian medical market.
