{"id":87689,"date":"2019-04-25T15:41:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T22:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=87689"},"modified":"2019-04-25T15:41:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-25T22:41:00","slug":"response-of-sinhala-buddhists-to-the-muslim-menace%ef%bb%bf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/04\/25\/response-of-sinhala-buddhists-to-the-muslim-menace%ef%bb%bf\/","title":{"rendered":"Response of Sinhala Buddhists to the Muslim Menace\ufeff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The Bodu Bala Sena is a movement under the leadership of group of distinguished, academically accomplished, and deeply patriotic Bhikkhus and lay Buddhists, dedicated to the task of revitalizing and reinforcing cultural nationalism in Sri Lanka, the only motherland of the Sinhala community. In spite of varied challenges and threats to which they were subject in the recent past, it continues to have a steadfast support base among concerned Buddhists both ordained and lay, across the country and overseas. Its aim is to save our nation from spiritual decay and disintegration, to halt the erosion of Buddhist social values and to peacefully counter the varied local and foreign forces\u00a0 that are hell-bent on undermining Buddhist culture and related heritage of Sri Lanka. It aims at directing society towards a cultural rejuvenation based on traditional Buddhist norms, principles and values which have been the foundation of this nation for over 2200 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s Bhikkhus, should necessarily be in the forefront in\nmovements aimed at protecting and promoting the Buddha Sasana or the historic\nBuddhist establishment, especially when it is under threat. Bhikkhus of the\nBodu Bala Sena have voluntarily made their choice to take an open public stand\non issues surrounding Buddhism and Buddhist culture which is the greatest\ntreasure that Sri Lanka could offer to the world or to humanity. Why should\nanyone feel uncomfortable when the traditional spiritual leaders of our\ncountry, the Bhikkhus<\/strong>, take the initiative and provide necessary leadership\nto protect the greatest wealth of this nation \u2013 our Buddhist cultural heritage?\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like anyone else, under a democratic system, Bhikkhus are eligible to\nexercise their rights, including political rights. They are traditional leaders\nof this nation.  Those who object to the initiative taken by our Bhikkhus\nof the Bodu Bala Sena, appear to be those with ulterior motives, those having\ntheir own self-interests to promote, those attempting to promote blind beliefs\nand establish unwholesome lifestyles based on such beliefs, those opposed to\nfurther strengthening  and consolidation of Buddhist culture in this\ncountry, and those resorting to unwholesome activities that are contrary to\nBuddhist norms and principles and all those who are inclined to undermining the\nBuddha Sasana and Buddhist values which have been preserved and promoted for\nthousands of years in this country, by the large majority of its inhabitants.\nThese undesirable elements may feel uncomfortable about the Bodu Bala Sena\nactivities which are, on all counts, legitimate, wholesome and timely.\nNon-violence and compassion form the basis upon which the programme of activities\nof the Bodu Bala Sena is structured. Our Bhikkhus have become a thorn in the\nflesh of religious extremists, the recent breed of inter-faith dialogue\nfacilitators, those in the ethnic and human rights businesses and above all\nthose who are funded or backed by extremist anti-Buddhist elements.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genuine and practicing Buddhists of our country should be closely and\nactively involved in politics. They have a duty by the nation, which is founded\non Buddhist principles, to be fully involved and participating in their\nnation\u2019s political life. Most of the ills of our country\u2019s political life could\nbe attributed to the absence of genuine Buddhists in the political arena. This\nis particularly relevant today owing to the fact that our nation is severely\nthreatened at present by diverse negative forces, especially by Muslim\nfanatics. They are trying hard to undermine the wholesome Buddhist cultural\nheritage and values of our nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the Buddhist perspective to public life and decision-making, that\nis most needed today in the country\u2019s political domain. We need compassionate\npoliticians with unselfish and mindful interest in the welfare of the country.\nThis alone can bring about needed positive changes in public life which at\npresent is infected with dishonesty, crime and corruption. The impact and\ninfluence of such people can make a big difference. They can help to generate a\nwholesome political culture, that is characterized by Buddhist approaches and\nattitudes and a truly Buddhist atmosphere, conducive to the development of a\nhealthy political climate in our nation, so that all nationals will benefit\nirrespective of their diverse origins and cultural-religious inclinations.  \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politics in actual fact is simply about deciding how to live together\npeaceably while bringing together the wide variety of perspectives available in\nthe human realm. It is something necessary and something creative. \nPolitics is part of our life. If we regard all life as sacred and politics is a\npart of life, then politics must be sacred. Politics is not an inherently\nunclean and base activity. It becomes dirty in the way that everything else\nbecomes dirty. That is, through lack of attention, through lack of mindfulness,\nthrough ego, all of which resulting in greed, hatred and delusion. The best\nkind of politics can take the profound viewpoints and virtues of spiritual\npractice and apply them in the public realm. Buddhism can be of fundamental\nhelp in this regard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we do not bring spiritual virtues to the public arena, we are\ndestined to both a selfish kind of spirituality and a selfish kind of\ngovernment, devoid of vision and meaning. It is time that more and more of our\ngenuine and practicing Buddhists entered the political arena in various\ninfluential capacities. We are grateful to and value the initiative and\nleadership provided, in this regard by the highly esteemed movements such as\nthe Bodu Bala Sena, Sinhala Ravaya, Ravana Balaya  among others.\n     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SOCIALLY\nENGAGED BUDDHISM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhism has always been engaged in various socio-political contexts.\nThe idea of interdependence is widely associated with Buddhism. Buddhism is the\nreligion of Human Ecology. Engaging in the lives of others through compassion,\nsacrifice and service is the worthy spiritual path that we need to observe in\nthe contemporary world. We need to expand our approach or shift somewhat away\nfrom those traditional customs that excessively promote monasticism and\nindividual salvation, and become more socially engaged and be more concerned\nabout service to the community, the human habitat and the environment in\ngeneral.  We need to broaden our spiritual practices to include both\nfamily and community and the social and environmental concerns of the broader\nworld. We need to approach meditation not as a way of escaping from society or\ngetting out of society, but to prepare us for a re-entry into society so that\nwe will be better able to identify and understand social hardships, misery and\nperils, and be able to do something tangible to relieve them.  It is time\nthat we as Buddhists involve ourselves in an organized manner, become socially\nengaged and apply Buddhism to matters of everyday life, individual work,\nfamily, politics and the community.  It needs to be a direct application\nof Buddhist principles and concepts to the overall development of our motherland,\nto the varied social, economic and political issues that have implications for\nthe short and long term welfare and development of our motherland, the only\ncountry of the Sinhala\n community.              \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The great mass of Sinhala Buddhists continues to be lethargic and appear\nto be adopting an indifferent attitude towards the plight of their fellow\nBuddhists. It is a pity that today, being a Buddhist is of secondary importance\nto many  Sinhala Buddhists. This explains the lack of unity and a common\nstand when it comes to matters pertaining to securing and promoting the rights\nand privileges of Sinhala Buddhists. They get together in temples to perform\ncommon Buddhist rituals, but are reluctant to join forces when it comes of\nsecuring or promoting the legitimate rights of Sinhala Buddhists of this\nnation. They show indifference to the idea of joining hands as Buddhists, in an\norganized manner, to deal with forces that violate Buddhist rights and are a\nthreat to Buddhist culture and values.  As long as this prevails, they\nwill fail to become a force to counter the threats and violations of their\nlegitimate rights in their only homeland. It is their motherland whose cultural\nfoundation has been inspired by Buddhism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhist cultural norms and values are being threatened today by Muslim\nextremists. The violation of the historic rights of Sinhala Buddhists by\nMuslims is clearly evident today. Under the circumstances, the initiative of\nsome of our Mahasangha, providing leadership  to the Bodu Bala Sena\norganization is timely and most admirable.  In spite of challenges from\nvarious quarters, they are determined to provide a genuine leadership to this\nmovement to save the Buddhas Sasana and the Buddhist heritage of this\ncountry.  This is demonstrated well by the courage, forthrightness,\nfearlessness, determination and foresight that they have shown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE BUDDHA SASANA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all the institutions and organizations of the country, the Buddha\nSasana is the oldest and the most fundamental of organizations of our country\nfor over 2200 years. It is this institution that promoted and protected the\nBuddha Dhamma and fostered Buddhist culture and values among us. It is this\ninstitution that formed the foremost advisory body of our kings, royalty and\nleaders. It is this institution that was instrumental in laying the cultural\nfoundation of our country. It is this institution that endured the harshest of\npunishments and atrocities during invasions of our country by the South Indian\nTamil-speaking Pandyans, Cholas and others, and the Christian Portuguese, Dutch\nand British. It is this institution that endured the murder of Bhikkhus, the\nburning of Buddhist scriptures, the destruction and demolition of Buddhist\nshrines, monasteries and stupas. It is this institution that helped to develop\nand enrich our language \u2013 Sinhala which is spoken only in our motherland. It is\nthis institution that produced the greatest of our Sinhala scholars, writers,\npoets, artists among other leaders in various fields. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is this institution that salvaged and protected the priceless ola\nbooks and scriptures containing valuable information for eternity when the\ncountry was under threat by ruthless foreign invaders and ethnic and religious\nterrorists. It is this institution that provided us with the Mahavamsa,\nChulavamsa, Deepavamsa, Thupawamsa, among many other chronicles and works that\noutline the history of our country, making our country one of the very few\ncountries in the world with a well-recorded history that extends to over 2500 years.\nIt is the structures and historic sites connected with this institution which\nhave preserved for us the rich, exquisite and most fascinating collection of\nour indigenous sculpture, paintings, architecture, wood carvings, and unique\nfine arts. It is this institution that was instrumental in the preserving for\nus one of the greatest cultural events of the country – the Dalada Perahera,\nwhich has been able to preserve for us the richness and uniqueness of our\nindigenous visual culture and most enchanting heritage of performing arts. It\nis this glorious and invaluable historic institution of ours, the Buddha\nSasana,  that is being threatened today by the extremist Muslim\nmenace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane The Bodu Bala Sena is a movement under the leadership of group of distinguished, academically accomplished, and deeply patriotic Bhikkhus and lay Buddhists, dedicated to the task of revitalizing and reinforcing cultural nationalism in Sri Lanka, the only motherland of the Sinhala community. In spite of varied challenges and threats to which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-daya-hewapathirane"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87689","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=87689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87689\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}