{"id":107399,"date":"2020-10-08T17:09:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T00:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=107399"},"modified":"2020-10-11T17:39:17","modified_gmt":"2020-10-12T00:39:17","slug":"the-sinhala-buddhist-civilization-of-sri-lanka-part-1a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/10\/08\/the-sinhala-buddhist-civilization-of-sri-lanka-part-1a\/","title":{"rendered":"THE SINHALA BUDDHIST CIVILIZATION OF SRI LANKA Part 1A"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

This essay is a preliminary to the study of\nthe modern Sinhala Buddhist civilization of Sri Lanka.  This essay draws attention to   those aspects of Asia\u2019s Buddhist\ncivilization, which are not well known and have not received much attention in\nSri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhism, which originated in north India in\nthe 6th century BC, spread over most of South and Southeast Asia, creating a\nvast Buddhist civilization, which included many sovereign states of today. Sri\nLanka played an important role in  \npreserving Buddhism and in spreading Buddhism within this region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhism held a monopoly position in Asia\nuntil the 16th<\/sup> century. In the 16th century, South and Southeast\nAsia went under Muslim rule and then Christian rule. Sri Lanka had 450 years of\nChristian rule, during which Sri Lanka’s Buddhist heritage came under attack.\nBuddhism returned to its \u2018rightful place\u2019 after independence in 1948, to the\nopen resentment of the other religions, which had been given entrenched\npositions by the foreign rulers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhism is the only atheist (non-God)\nreligion among the three world religions[1]<\/a>. This makes it unique. Buddhism does not speak\nof a God and   does not call for the\nassistance of a God in human affairs.   \nIt did not say, as other religions did, that a God figured in the creation\nof the world.  Buddhism has no theory of\ncreation.  In addition, Buddha   said he was not a messenger, incarnation or\na prophet of God. He was not a supernatural being at all. He was plain human\nand if he could achieve Buddhahood, so could others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhism was very much a product of the Indian\nthinking of its time. India in the 6th<\/sup> century BC was teeming with\nvarious philosophical ideas.  It was in a\nveritable religious and philosophical ferment, said Ananda Guruge.  The public changed faith frequently and there\nwas competition for followers.  When they\nmet, people asked each other, \u2018who is your teacher\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most important contribution of Buddhism to\nthis medley was its focus on the individual, on analytical thinking  and on  \nthe control of the mind. However,\nconcentration of the mind is only a means to an end. Buddhist teachings are a\nraft to be abandoned later, said the Buddha. Buddha played a pioneering role in\nconcept formation in Indian philosophy, said Guruge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhism begins with the present, with the\nempirical observations of human existence. But these were given a new twist.\nThe Greek philosopher Heraclitus said \u2018one cannot step twice into the same\nriver\u2019. Buddha said \u2018the same man cannot step twice into the same river\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nirvana was the goal, but that was far away. What\nwere Buddhists to do till then? Lay Buddhists were advised to carry out duties\nand obligations which ensure harmony and common good. Buddha was as    concerned with saving and investment of\ncapital as with the duties of a ruler and duties one owes to ones parents,\nfamily, friend, and even servants, said Guruge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddha found it advisable to build on the\nexisting knowledge and use the vocabulary that existed. Buddha  \nincorporated some of the existing philosophical ideas into his own\ndoctrine. These include the theory of samsara, rebirth, Karma and meditation.\nAnthropologists have sneered as Sri Lankan Buddhists saying that they imagine\nthat Buddhist concepts, especially Karma, are unique to Buddhism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddha    used the existing vocabulary, as well, but\ngave the words new meanings. He used \u2018Tevijja\u2019 to mean Buddhist knowledge not\nthe three Vedas. He gave new meanings to \u2018arahant\u2019, \u2018dharma\u2019, \u2018atman\u2019,\n\u2018Samadhi.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhism arose long after Brahmanism was\nestablished in India. The Vedas had been organized into the three Samhitas and\nthe Vedic literature, such as the Upanishads, had been written long before\nBuddhism appeared.  But it is doubtful\nwhether the Buddha was exposed to the full impact of this literature, said\nGuruge. The Vedic teachings   were known\nonly to a limited group. and the part\nof India in which the Buddha lived was on the periphery of the Vedic\ncivilization. The Buddhist canon\ntherefore shows only a vague acquaintance with the Vedic literature, said\nGuruge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddha\u2019s preachings were directed towards the\nintelligent listener. The doctrine of Anatta was not intended for those who are\ndull, because they will fall into the error of nihilism, Buddha said. Buddhist learning consisted of progressively\ndifficult mental exercises. Buddha had designed    individualized courses of meditation for\nhis disciples   according to each ones\npersonality.  In Majjhima nikaya, Buddha\ncompared his teaching to training a horse or elephant,   learning archery or accountancy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddha was a skilful teacher. His discourses\nwere planned with meticulous care. There was an orderly presentation of ideas,\nsaid Guruge. Beginning with an attention catching statement he analyses a Buddhist\nconcept into its constituent elements. He posed a battery of questions aimed at\nconvincing and leading his listeners gradually to his point of view. He sets\ntasks which made people arrive at conclusions, by their own efforts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddha\u2019s teachings had been committed to\nmemory and classified during the time of the Buddha itself.  Scholar monks recorded the utterances of the\nBuddha and his disciples and classified them, said Guruge.    Commentaries  began to appear in the Buddha\u2019s life time. And\nwhen the first Buddhist Council was held within three months of the death of\nBuddha, disciples were able to have a \u2018general rehearsal\u2019 of all teachings and\nexamine its codification and classification, reported Guruge. A body of knowledge divided into Vinaya and\nDhamma had  emerged.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was other literary activity going on. Indices,\ntables of contents, summaries and annotated references were prepared to keep\ntrack of the growing mass of sayings, sermons, discourses, debates,\nclarifications, interpretations, elucidations, expositions as well as\npoems.  There were mnemonical summaries\nto facilitate recall and a proper system of indexing. All this literary\nactivity commenced in the time of Buddha, presumably under his direction, said\nGuruge.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddha used the  Magadhi language  for his teachings. These \nsermons were later converted to Pali language .  Pali \nwas a literary language , not a spoken one  and it showed many divergences from Magadhi ,\nsaid Guruge. The word Pali means  \u2018text\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guruge gives us information on Gautama Buddha\nas a person. The Buddha was not the austere person some western scholars have\nattempted to show, Guruge said. Buddha could appreciate good music and had\ncommented favorably on a love lyric. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddha had a fine aesthetic sense. He saw the\nbeauty of a well laid paddy field and ordered the monks to sew their robes in a\nsimilar design. Buddha chose beautiful sites for his stops during missionary\nactivities.  Donors should construct\nbeautiful monasteries and gift them to the monks, Buddha said in the\nChullavagga. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Buddha was a persuasive orator, whose\npowerful verbal onslaughts on opponent and lucid and eloquent explosions of\nmoral and spiritual values were worth of record and repetition. Similes drawn from everyday life made his\ndiscourses picturesque. He delved into legend and history for anecdotes and\nillustrations. He made apt use of dramatization and visual aids drawn from the\nenvironment.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was a poet of extraordinary talent, whose\npicturesque language, figures of speech and simple metrical compositions had a\npermanent appeal, said Guruge. Buddha presented his ideas in metre, usually a\nquatrain of 32 syllables. Around the\nBuddha was a galaxy of equally gifted poets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Buddha\nwas a great story teller, and his repertoire, judging by the Buddhist\nliterature, was enormous, continued Guruge. He could create or recall a story\nto suit every occasion. Buddha delved\ndeep into the vast folk literature of India for stories and anecdotes which he\ncleverly adapted to illustrate doctrinal points.  The Jataka stories are a collection of 547\nIndian stories which become Buddhist only because the main characters are\nconnected to the Buddha.  The Hindu and\nJain stories are also based on this common source of Indian folklore, Guruge\nadded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddha did not appoint a successor,  nor did he create an \u2018administrative set up\u2019.\nBuddha had no pre conceived plan for the Sangha either. The    Sangha evolved gradually. Rules were laid\ndown  for the Sangha as and when\nsituations arose. But a vibrant Sangha\nwas  created. It proved to be a\nresilient  organization with a proven\ncapacity for self regeneration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sangha were effective teachers. Moggalana\nhad illustrated a talk on dependent origination using the diagram of a wheel.\nThis became a popular motif in Nepal and in the Tangka paintings of Tibet.Monks\nand nuns prepared their own sermons and even composed poetic appreciations of\ntheir way of life, as in Thera-theri gatha. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monks were expected to have a good memory,\nlegible well rounded hand writing, and clear speech.In all Buddhist countries parents sent their children to  the \nBuddhist temple to learn akuru, said Guruge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Monks\nalso had a wide range of manual and technical skills. They knew something of\nwood work, masonry, and metal work. In Tibet monks studied carpentry, masonry,\nsewing and embroidery as well as their religious subjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sangha consisted of women as well as men.\nThe bhikkhuni order was created soon after the bhikkhu order.In the  Vinaya Pitaka there is a separate Bhikkhuni\nvibanga. A  collection of scriptures concerning the role\nand abilities of women in the early Sangha is found in the fifth division of the\nSamyutta Nikaya<\/em><\/a>, known as the Bhikkhun\u012b-Sa\u1e43yutta<\/em> . A\nnumber of the nuns whose verses are found in the Therigatha<\/em> also have\nverses in the book of the Khuddaka Nikaya<\/em><\/a> known as the Apad\u0101na<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An important feature of Buddhism was the\ncreation of monasteries. Settled life within monasteries promoted the pursuit\nof study , debate, discussion teaching and research. There was \nintellectual liberalism. The Buddha asked the monks to  avoid tradition, dogma, subject\neverything  to critical examination,\nincluding his own teachings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 A\ndistinctive feature of Buddhist education in the monastery  was its individual centered learning. The  teacher met each pupil individually, not  in  a\nclass taught collectively.  The student\nspent time in self learning, using commentaries,  glossaries, indexes and lexicons. He had to provide\nan original composition in the final exam.However, <\/strong>no student was considered a failure. The  average student was  given \nthe task of memorizing  material\nor printing texts for dissemination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Buddhism evolved into an organized\nreligion, there was a need for a permanent record of its activities and the donations\nreceived. This led to the well known\nBuddhist tradition of record keeping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a substantial Buddhist\nliterature.The missionary outlook, the monastic organization and the\nintellectual interaction of highly motivated men and women provided an ideal\nclimate for intensive literary activity, observed Guruge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In addition to the Buddhist philosophy, the\nliterature consisted also of  secondary\nmaterial. Thera gatha<\/em>\u201d  is written by monks, starting with those who\nlived during the time of the Buddha. The collection has continued to grow until\nat least the Third\nBuddhist Council<\/a>. Many of the verses \nare  on the attempts of monks to\novercome the temptations of Mara<\/a>. One set of\nverses is recited by the reformed killer Angulimala. Verses mirror contemporary\nsecular poetry of their time, with romantic lyrics replaced with religious\nimagery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theri gatha<\/em> is a collection\nof short poems by senior  Bhikkhunis.\nThey also  start in the  late 6th century  BC and go on for the next 300 years. They\nwere composed orally in the Magadhi\nlanguage<\/a> and were passed on orally until about 80 BC when they were\nwritten down in Pali. It is the earliest\nknown collection of women’s literature composed in India. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Therigatha<\/em>\ncontains passages reaffirming the view that women are equal to men in terms of\nspiritual attainment . It also contains verses that address issues of\nparticular interest to women in ancient South Asian<\/a> society.\nThere are verses of a mother whose child has died ,a former sex worker<\/a> who became a\nnun, a wealthy heiress who abandoned her life of pleasure and even verses by\nthe Buddha’s own aunt and stepmother, Mahapajapati Gotami<\/a> .  One verse is spoken by a woman trying to talk\nher husband out of becoming a monk. ( continued)
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> Christianity, Islam  and  Buddhism. Hinduism is not a world religion.\nHinduism failed to take  root abroad. it\nis confined to India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS This essay is a preliminary to the study of the modern Sinhala Buddhist civilization of Sri Lanka.  This essay draws attention to   those aspects of Asia\u2019s Buddhist civilization, which are not well known and have not received much attention in Sri Lanka. Buddhism, which originated in north India in the 6th century BC, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107399\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}