Buddhism - Order and its sustenance in a changing world

by Ranga Chandrarathne

Sri Lankans join the thousands of the Buddhists around the world in celebrating the birth, enlightenment and the passing away of the Buddha, a founder of one of the great religions of the world.

As Buddhism is not only an ethical philosophy which spiritually nourished the Sri Lankans for centuries, but also a way of life, its over arching influence pervades every facet of life and shaped the contours of Sinhala literature, arts, especially paintings and sculpturing from the days of the ancient kings.

This fact is amply manifested in the ruin cities of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa as well as in the remnants of monasteries.

Although the Sangha, the members of the Buddhist order, had been the advisers to the rulers from the days of the kings, their contribution to the independent struggle and subsequent revival of language, culture and art was monumental in the sense that it was a movement based on principles of pluralism and equality.

One of the fundamental objectives of the setting up of English medium Buddhist schools including Ananda, Nalanda, Dharmaraja and Mahinda colleges was to empower the Buddhist and to impart them with a modern education while inculcating moral values that would shape their future characters.

The salient characteristic of Ananda College, the foremost Buddhist school founded by Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda thera and Sir Henry Steel Olcott was that it was founded on the principles of Buddhist philosophy, equality and with the objective of imparting English education in order to produce citizens with a balance personality.

The school, from its very inception, admitted children from non-Buddhist families and children belonging to diverse religions.

It is pertinent to ponder whether the founding principles of Ananda College have been upheld by now and that the society had wilfully forgotten that it had benefited from them.

Unfortunately, the society had ignored the essence of the teachings of Buddhism and embraced tribulations bringing about untold miseries on the society and future generations.

What is essential at this crucial juncture of the society is not the state patronage for Buddhism, for the simple fact that it survived despite grand conspiracies hatched throughout the history. Buddhism is, perhaps, the only religion which has the reputation of not being violent to protect and propagate the order even at worse times.

Buddhist can be proud of the fact that it had always been the non-violent communication which won the heart and the mind of the people and not the violence as Portuguese did in Sri Lanka where entire villages were converted by force.

However, individuals and especially the intellectuals in the Western hemisphere becomes Buddhist by conviction and not by conversion through violent means, as they are interested in discovering the truth.

As the ocean absorbs water from different rivers, streams, Buddhist order admits members from diverse caste and ethnicities. According to the teachings of the Buddha, the novice Bhikkus drawn from different caste and from diverse social background, enjoy equal status in the order.

However, subsequent formation of different chapters originally sprang from Malwatte and Asgiriya Viharas (the principle Temples which exert considerable political influence) led to the division of the order in Sri Lanka and as Buddhists led by the temple should seriously consider the escalating crimes, growing violence, the communal divide, fundamentalism of all hues, cynical politics which seems to separate people from people by artificial barriers of region, religion, caste and creed, dowry system within the society, on this day of significance.

I seriously contemplate, as a Buddhist that the temple can play a pivotal role in stress management through meditation, counseling, addressing problems faced by the youth.

Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera	Sir Henry Steel Olcott	Anagarika Dharmapala,	Ven. S. Mahinda Thera
How far has the society derived and nourished by the ideology of these founders of the new age of Buddhist education?

All the chapters should unite in a mass movement to eliminate social vices considering the fact that criminals and anti-social elements are not born but created by the society itself. As a Buddhist, I firmly believe that Viharas can play a more meaningful role than other religions as Buddhism has spread throughout the history through non-violent communication.

Although a section of the Maha Sangha (members of the Order) cries foul over the unethical conversions of Buddhist by newly-formed Christian sects and sought state intervention to stamp it out, the real threat comes from within the order as the order has not been reformed to address the changing paradigms of the modern society.

Unfortunately, what has happened in Sri Lanka is that the caste system which is very active underneath the social fabric, has, in fact, absorbed the Buddhist order into it, contrary to the founding principles of Buddhism.

Granting prominence to rituals and Buddhist mantras, though they serve a purpose, over the deep philosophy and age-old practice of meditation which is an effective antidote to stress and pressure bought about by modern consumerism, drive away the youth from the traditional Buddhist temples, thus making them easy pray to mushrooming Christian sects which lure the youth by offering attractive programmes such as retreats and ministry services in addition to organizing excursions to suit different age groups.

The activities of the traditional Buddhist temples caters specifically either to elders or to the middle aged groups and it is rarely , except for few temples in and around Colombo that offer programmes for youth, while most of the Viharas have neglected the youth aspects of their programme schedules.

Buddhism has become one of the fastest spreading religions in the West against the backdrop of thousands of disenchanted Christians and closing up churches. Meditation is practised in the West by non-Buddhists as an effective tool of stress management and hundreds of meditation centres have been set up in diverse parts of the globe by Buddhists of both Theravada and Mahayana traditions.

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