Amarapuraya – For the journey from ecstasy to enlightenment
Review
by Athkandawaka Saddhajeewa Thera
Those who are wise, spend their time, enjoying poetry and pursuing
learning. Poetic creations possess the potentiality to generate both
ecstasy and enlightenment. Wisdom is two-fold; worldly and
transcendental. Transcendental wisdom confers upon people a firm
awareness about the reality of life and the world. Conventional worldly
wisdom, implies the effort to lead a life, that approaches the awareness
of reality-understanding clearly, what is right and wrong. Worldly
wisdom, indicates the path to transcendental wisdom.
Art and this reality have an affinity with each other. If a given
work of Art, does not help a person to approach true reality, it is
difficult to recognize such a creation, as a work of Art. Art is a
phenomenon, that is quite close to the masses. As a result, creations
that constantly delight the masses, emerge through Art. But, creative
works that awaken wisdom, through delight, are rather rare. There is no
doubt whatsoever, that ‘Amarapuraya’ (The Immortal City) is among those
rare works of Art.
The creative artist Bertram Nihal, stands out as exceptional, because
he has taken ‘Amarapuraya’ towards that difficult peak. He has succeeded
in taking the profound values of Buddhism, towards visual frames.
One cannot help but wonder, whether any other religious system, has
analysed the spiritual background of life, as much as Buddhism has done.
Buddhist Metaphysics analyse the four elements – Mind, Thoughts,
Personality and Eternal Bliss, as the absolute truths. World is two –
fold; material and spiritual. Beings are created through the fusion of
these two elements. The beings, that emerge through this fusion, belong
to two categories primarily-namely humans and animals. In the whole
kingdom of beings, man is especially outstanding. He achieves this
special status, because of the sharpness of his inner spirituality.
Every being is the product of five components. These are described as
the five – fold components. Of these, sensation, perception,
conditioning and consciousness belong to the spiritual area, while the
fifth the physique is in the material area. Physique comes into being
through the fusion of the four primary elements, which are dense
objects, water, heat and air. A living being emerges through the fusion
of these four elements with the four spiritual components-sensation,
perception, conditioning and consciousness. The being that emerges that
way is activated by its mind.
The world is led by the mind,
The mind activates the being.
It is the mind, that is in
Control of every thing.
The world goes backward or forward, in terms of the mind. It is
according the dictates of the mind, that a being cries at one time and
smiles at another moments. A being loves, according to the prodding of
the mind. The whole universe is under the control of the mind. The
teledrama ‘Amarapuraya’ has succeeded in emphasizing this nature of the
world, quite effectively. The affluent entrepreneur Charles
Balawardhane, Mahasen, Keminda, John, Menaka all these characters are
motivated by their minds. The motivation of their mind is determined by
their level of spiritual development. A person who is not spiritually
disciplined or experienced, is bereft of right conscience. A person who
is devoid of right consciousness, is not able to identify the thoughts
that occur within his mind.
In consequence, those actions, done under the control of jealousy,
anger, ill-will, vengefulness and craving, turn and to be blemished
actions. Menaka turns into a prostitute. Earning money that way she
seeks happiness in life. Such characters as John, Ratharan Ajith, Army
Suda, attempt to derive happiness by intimidating others and instilling
fear into them. Charles Balawardhana, is on a quest for happiness, by
amassing wealth, with an insatiable craving – forgetting even his wife
and children. Such political beings as Mahasen and Seelawansa are on a
hunting trek, looking for power.
They attempt to discover happiness through this effort. When these
materially motivated persons, take various paths to achieve happiness, a
white Westerner, discards all his worldly possessions and seeks
happiness through meditation in a forest hermitage. That is how he
quests happiness. What compels him to seek happiness this way, is the
unsatisfactioness he experienced after living the highest levels of
sensual indulgence.
Through this varied personalities, Bertram Nihal has succeeded, in
demonstrating the phenomenon of change, which is the central teaching of
the Supremely Enlightened Buddha.
The teledrama ‘Amarapuraya’ succeeds in becoming an exceptional
stream of story-telling, because Bertram Nihal has been able to analyse
two opposing worlds, in one narrative structure. These two worlds are
the material world and the transcendental world. In this narration the
two forces that are in conflict with each other, are the material view
and the spiritual outlook.
In the course of this conflict, a variety of personalities have been
able to demonstrate efficiently their subjective states. ‘Amarapuraya’
is a creation, that enables both the amateurs and the adepts, to learn
many a lesson.
Bertram Nihal has eminently succeeded in portraying the two streams
of narration that travel to the past and to the future, simultaneously.
The character portrayal of the white Westerner begins with the
incident of his being ordained a novice monk, and proceeds backward to
his past. Charles Balawardhane and others are being taken to the future.
Here, Bertram Nihal has succeeded in teaching us a lesson obliquely.
Bertram Nihal presents certain facts with a marked vigor and emphasis.
He points out that, Buddhism which is for the wise, will not become
accessible to those who are bereft of wisdom.
He indicates that those who are Buddhists by birth, tend to make
material offerings, while those who embrace Buddhism through wisdom and
understanding emphasize the practice of the Buddha’s Teachings.
Charles Balawardhane and others who are emphatically materialistic,
indulge in the search of material pursuits. Their vehicles are adorned
with the statues of the Buddha.
But Buddhist virtues are absent in their lives, this can be described
as a satirical barb aimed at those, who are Buddhists by birth but are
un-Buddhistic in their practices. Whatever that may be, when the worldly
material progress shatters, they are compelled to seek spiritual
development. In terms of this, the white Westerner, who realizes the
nature of insatiable craving, comes over to Sri Lanka, to seek a way to
enter the path to eternal bliss.
We may have met a whole series of characters of this type. I have
seen how a multi-millionaire of New York who enjoyed all the worldly
pleasures to the hilt and became dissatisfied with that kind of
indulgence. He gave up all his wealth and took to a life of social
service – helping others in search of happiness. Yet another person who
led a life of extreme sensual indulgence experienced the
unsatisfactiness of that form of life.
He became ordained as a monk and practiced meditation. A situation
quite similar to those two incidents given above, is revealed in this
Teledrama through the character of the white Westerner. He renounces
everything and starts meditating. He approaches close to the essence of
Buddhism. He eloquently presents that solutions for all the problems
that occur in daily life, can be found in Buddhism.
Bertram Nihal has succeeded in presenting, the developments that
occur in association with such discourses of the Buddha as ‘Singalovada
Sutta”, Maha Mangala Sutta and Vasala Sutta. According to Maha Mangala
Sutta (The Discourse on the Auspicious) it is auspicious not to keep
company with the Ignorant. This helps both partners. When one keeps
company with vicious friends, one begins to see what is good, as evil.
They tend to see, the escape from a way of vicious existence, to be
disadvantageous.
That explains why persons like Balawardhana and Suriyakantha do not
allow Menaka, to escape from her evil way of life.
When Keminda is sunk in the depths of drug addiction and in the
excessive indulgence in feminine companionship, Menaka extends him a
helping hand as a good friend to enable him to escape that vicious
circle.
As a result Keminda and Menaka, plan to get together and live
eschewing vices. But those forces of evil, who convert what is good into
evil and what is just into injustice, rise against the two of them.
Balawardhana is an efficient entrepreneur. But, he is not either a
successful father their children or a good husband. His son Keminda, is
a drug addict. The second child – his daughter takes to drugs, while
still a school-girl.
The secret why the children tend to escape the grasp of their parents
and take to a life of viciousness, is the shattering of the family unit.
Love, affection, protection etc. are not material things.
They all belong in the spiritual field. When love, affection,
protection etc. grow in strength, the family unit too begins to increase
in strength. When these weaken, the family unit too weakens. This
phenomenon is vividly portrayed through Balawardhana’s family unit, in
Amarapuraya.
According to Tika Nipatha, in Anguttara Nikaya, fear and trepidation
occur within those whose inner being is empty. Extremely clear instances
of this development can be seen throughout this teledrama.
The five-fold vices are committed by those whose inner being is
empty. Due to the five- folds vices, fear, suspicion and sorrow get
entrenched.
How fear and tension are instilled into social life through the lives
of Balawardhane, Ratharan Ajith, Army Suda and politicians, is quite
effectively projected in this teledrama.
This happens due to the emptiness of their lives. If we are keen to
enter the world of the Immortals, which is full of all luxuries and
comforts, we have to create the necessary setting ourselves.
Perceiving the road, and walking along the road are responsibilities
assigned to us. But, they are not responsibilities assigned to others.
Indicating the path, is a responsibility assigned to religious teachers.
Amarapuraya provides a light-signal, that enables us to strive day and
night as a group, that has accepted the responsibility of walking along
that path, recognizing it.
The responsibility of a work of art is to teach the masses the
methodology of travelling from light to greater light and from darkness
to light. In many teledramas, what takes place is the momentary
experience of a joy and later being
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