Abstract:
‘Reconciliation’ is a new term that came in to the vocabularies of Sri Lankan local languages
with different translations and adaptations after 2009 when the armed conflict between
government forces and the LTTE came to its end with the defeat of the LTTE. However, not
only the term ‘Reconciliation’ is new but the meaning and approaches of the reconciliation as
well seems obscure to the mass of the society even after 9 years from the end of the armed
conflict. One of the basic problems pertaining to this is the failure to find deep rooted local
traditions, knowledge, and the approaches towards reconciliation and connect those practices
with the present reconciliation efforts. In this paper Buddhist approach of Healing of the Mind
of all the parties connected with the conflict is discussed without identifying them as
‘Oppressor’, ‘Oppressed’ or ‘By standers’. Particularly, it is highlighted here the need of
understanding the so called oppressor, as well, as an ‘oppressed’ person in different levels and
in different conditions to develop the healing model that include all the parties into a liberation
model. This approach supports to see what happen in a conflict situation is a process of
‘wounding’ and then what need is ‘Healing’. It is argued here this paradigm shift helps to avoid
further wounding that can happen even in the ‘reconciliation’ processes
