{"id":97777,"date":"2020-01-14T17:42:26","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T00:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=97777"},"modified":"2020-01-14T17:42:26","modified_gmt":"2020-01-15T00:42:26","slug":"affronts-to-buddhist-monks-must-stop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/01\/14\/affronts-to-buddhist-monks-must-stop\/","title":{"rendered":"Affronts to Buddhist monks must stop"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala Courtesy The Island<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

This is a reply to the opinion piece under the heading \u2018Separating\nReligion from Politics\u2019 sent in by George Braine (The Island\/January 13, 2020).\nAccording to Braine \u2018The various Mahanayakes and other Buddhist leaders must\nact quickly before the deterioration of the Sangha hits rock bottom. Another\ndanger is to the state; when the monks begin to opine on and influence all\naspects of national affairs, they cross the line between religion and\npolitics\u2019. After reading his scurrilous comments on the Maha Sangha, unworthy\nof a scholar of his stature, I would like to draw his attention to the wisdom\nof the following verse (158) from the Dhammapada: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018One should first establish oneself
In what is proper;
Then only should one instruct others;
Thus the wise man will not be reproached.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or let me quote the same idea put more strikingly in the Bible\n(Matthew 7.5) that came later  thus:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then\nyou will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother\u2019s eye\u2019\n(from the Good News Bible\/The Bible Society in Australia).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Braine\u2019s criticisms (even if well meant, frivolous though they\nreally are) acquire some significance in Sri Lanka\u2019s current politically\ncharged atmosphere. There is overwhelming evidence to show that the\nBuddhasasanaya (the Buddhist religious establishment), which has been part and\nparcel of the Sri Lankan polity for over two millennia, is under siege by\nvarious foreign funded fudamentalist groups, apparently  without enjoying any\npatronage from the traditional mainstreams of the Abrahamic religious\ncommunities in Sri Lanka. Today, the fundamentalist onslaught is at its most\nvirulent. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa made an explicit public assertion of\nthis fact recently. This is something unprecedented in his case, considering\nthe fact that he is very prudent and politic when he speaks as a politician He\nis not the kind of political leader to make such statements without concrete\nevidence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This response to someone\u2019s ill supported opinion is not an\nimportant enough context to dwell on the matter. But I wish to refute all the\nindiscriminate allegations that Braine makes against the Maha Sangha.\nAllegations against individual bhikkhus who are human and fallible and those\nagainst bhikkhus  as a single organized community are two different\nthings. It is a fact that there is no more peaceful, no more nonviolent, no\nmore spiritual, no more democratic, and no more altruistic body of men and\nwomen than the Maha Sangha, which literally means \u2018The Community\u2019 (of Buddhist\nmonks).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrary to what Braine asserts without evidence, Buddhist monks\nare in the news for all the right reasons. It appears that the few monks who\nare active (out of a total of some 30,000) have been forced to talk loudly and\nagitatedly (which is out of character, but justified in the prevailing\ncircumstances) about various controversial subjects do so because the\ntraditional Buddhist leaders (Ven. Mahanayakes)  have been sadly remiss in\nattending to their duties until very recent times. The issues broached by the\nmonks affect all Sri Lankans in general, and the majority Sinhalese Buddhist\ncommunity in particular as a \u2018targeted\u2019 or victimised group of people. However,\ncircumstances are now emerging that are conducive for positive changes to be\neffected in this respect, with a high level of awareness rising among the new\ngeneration of Sri Lankans about this and other matters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The professor monk who criticised the sex education book written\nfor early teenagers (of Grade 7) substantiated his objections by referring to\nthe inappropriateness of the language used, the explanations and examples\ngiven, etc. in terms of their apparent insensitivity to local Buddhist cultural\nvalues. He mentioned how mothers in the traditional Buddhist society educated\ntheir daughters in the past about sexual matters without violating cultural\nnorms. Monks do not disapprove of or object to sex education for school\nchildren in accordance with modern trends; but they want it done in a\nculturally acceptable way.  We have enough sociologists, scientists and\neducators equipped with the necessary knowledge and linguistic competence who\ncan collectively produce proper sex education textbooks for school children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other issues raised by the monks (Shafi, Rajitha, Champika,\nand Duminda cases) appear to be based on sound verifiable evidence, contrary to\nwhat people have been led to believe. They are not imaginary allegations\ndesigned to harm the reputation of some individual or group for some personal gain,\nwhich is the last thing that Buddhist monks would choose to do. Why can\u2019t\neducated Buddhist monks express their opinions about such matters as\nagriculture, and foreign policy, etc.? Is it only the preserve of benighted\nreligious fanatics, foreign NGO mercenaries, and Diaspora parasites? One young\nmonk started a fast unto death at the Independence Square protesting against\nthe  MCC agreement. He had read the original document before he did so.\nThose who habitually and maliciously underestimate the knowledge and\nintelligence of the Bhikkhus need some education and moral\nrehabilitation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Braine\nfurther writes: \u2018Their tirades, sometimes leaden with obscenities, pollute TV\nchannels and social media. Essentially, these militant monks are out of\ncontrol. When added to their dubious financial dealings, religious and racial\nintolerance, drunk driving, sexual liaisons, abuse of minors and other\nescapades, there is little doubt that the Sangha is facing a rapid decline.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nare a couple of monks who do sometimes use obscenities. But they have expressed\ntheir personal regret about having had to do that. However, had the Ven.\nMahanayakes had intervened at the appropriate time\/beforehand, those monks\nwouldn\u2019t have resorted to such language. They will certainly return to their\naccustomed ministerial duties in their respective viharas and monasteries once\nthese problems are sorted out by the state. If necessary, persons interested in\nthe welfare of the Buddhasasanaya and the Sri Lankan people, may study the case\nof the famous\/notorious Madakalapuwe Hamuduruwo, who was shown recently\nslapping a drunken evangelist who dared question him about his knowledge of\nBuddhism in order to insult him. Ven. Galaboda-aththe Gnanasara underwent a lot\nof persecution at the hand of the police and NGO types, even imprisonment, as\nresult of his relentless attempts to reveal the unlawful activities of\nreligious fundamentalists. His warnings were ignored by the authorities for\nseven years. The Easter bombing by Islamic terrorists happened killing 270+\ninnocent men, women and children at prayer in Catholic churches, and leaving\nover 500 injured, while the monk was still in prison, a few days before his\nrelease. He shed tears of sorrow over the perishing of those innocent people,\nand over the failure of his attempts to convince the authorities and help\nprevent such mayhem. That monk is not a demon. It was his violently prejudiced\ncritics who created that image through the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Braine\nalso quotes from an article by Dr Sarath Amunugama in The Island (“Bonds\nof friendship: Sri Lanka and Thailand”, Nov. 24, 2018), where the latter,\naccording to him, had written to the effect that \u2018…. the Sangha faced a\ncrisis in the 16th century. Monks had become landowners, promoted demon\nworship, and kept concubines These women and their children even lived on\ntemple premises. These “monks” were called Ganninanses, not\nSwaminwahanse, which was the common Sinhala term for pious Buddhist monks. Even\nupasampada had been abandoned and had to be restored with the help of Thai\nmonks.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nis a misinterpretation or an uninformed misreading of Dr Amunugama\u2019s\n\u2018presentation\u2019 as Dr Amunugama calls it in that particular article. When the\nPortuguese came to the island in 1505, the country was passing an advanced\nstage of its economic and cultural achievements, although it was an unstable\nperiod of internecine political rivalry and fratricide. Still, the Portuguese\nrecognized the king of Kotte as the \u2018emperor\u2019 of the island. The native\npopulation were at a higher stage of civilization than the invading Portuguese.\n(In this connection, one may read Dr Susantha Goonatilake\u2019s \u2018A Sixteenth\nCentury Clash of Civilizations: The Portuguese Presence in Sri Lanka\u2019, 2010.)\nThe degradation and the corruption of the Buddhist Order – this happened, not\nin the 16th century, but in the 17th and 18th centuries; it was was mostly an\nindirect result of the depredations of the rapacious Portuguese and Dutch\nintruders. The system of ganinnanses, which Dr Amunugama calls \u2018lapsed\nmonkhood\u2019 in his biography of Anagarika Dharmapala \u2018The Lion\u2019s Roar\u2019 (2016) was\nactually a temporary device to tide over that period in which the\nBuddhasasanaya and the Maha Sangha were faced with unprecedented trials and\ntribulations, that threatened their very existence. The ganinnanses did yeoman\nservice to sustain the learning and practice of the Dhamma. However, the Dutch\nlater assisted the King of Kandy – king Kirti Sri Rajasinghe – to bring by ship\nmonks from Siam (Thailand) to restore the Upasampada or Higher Ordination\nritual in the country, which had lapsed due to difficult circumstances, not\nvoluntarily \u2018abandoned\u2019 as Braine irresponsibly claims.  There are no\nmilitant monks. The handful of monks who, on behalf of the whole Maha Sanga,\nvolunteer to fulfill their historic duty of protecting the country, the people\nand the Buddhasasanaya when they are threatened – this obligation of theirs is\n2300 years old – may feel forced to sometimes assume unexpectedly threatening\n(but ultimately nonviolent) postures to achieve their legitimate ends. Braine\nmentions some exceptional allegations such as drunk driving, sexual crimes,\nwhich, whether true or false, need to be investigated, as isolated cases, not\nreflecting on the whole Sangha Order, and the culprits punished according to\nthe common law of the land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\nwould be in agreement with what Thomas Jefferson said about \u2018the wall\nseparating the church from the state\u2019: \u2018The\nlegitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to\nothers. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods\nor no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.\u2019 That, however, better\napplies to the Christian nation that America was then and still is. As Buddhism\nis not a religion, Braine\u2019s strictures on Buddhist monks\u2019 alleged intrusion\ninto politics do not hold water. Don\u2019t worry about GR. He knows how to use the\nlessons he learnt as a distinguished military officer and as an efficient senior\ngovernment functionary, and also to draw on the  social and professional\nexperience he gained in America to serve our Motherland in the way he has\npledged to. He is a man of his word.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala Courtesy The Island This is a reply to the opinion piece under the heading \u2018Separating Religion from Politics\u2019 sent in by George Braine (The Island\/January 13, 2020). According to Braine \u2018The various Mahanayakes and other Buddhist leaders must act quickly before the deterioration of the Sangha hits rock bottom. Another danger […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rohana-r-wasala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97777","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=97777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}