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Save Buddhism from Brahma elements

In Sri Lanka the bhikkhus always identify themselves as bhikkhus or Theras, for example, Narada Thera, Madihe Pannasiha Thera, Walpola Rahula Thera and Ananda Maitriya Thera, who were internationally recognised great scholars compared with the so-called ‘Meditation Masters’ who appear time and again from Myanmar and Thailand.

The Sri Lankan bhikkhus never prefixed the tag ‘Brahma’ before their names, but only what the Buddha had bestowed on them, that is bhikkhu or Thera. Brahma is a despicable term in Buddhist literature. The Buddha had showed compassion to the leading Brahmins, the worshippers of Brahma in His day, who came to confront the Buddha in defence of the pre-eminence of Brahma.

Challenge

When the leading Brahmins held that since they were born out of the great Brahma's mouth, they were above all other castes, the Buddha openly challenged them to come forward and declare themselves that they were born through the mouth of the Brahma. Thus the Brahmins of the Buddha's day were put to utter shame by the Buddha on many occasions.

Subsequently a large number of youth from Brahmin families, entered the Buddhist Order, the Sasana. The two chief disciples of the Buddha, Ven. Sariputta and Ven. Moggallana (previously Upatissa and Kolita) came from two prominent Brahmin families in city of Benares.

Buddhist meditation

At the meditation centre, they promote mass-scale, “meditation classes,” which they claim to be “Buddhist meditation.” This is an utter hoax. The Buddha, never expected His disciples, the Bhikkhus to confine themselves to the temple enclosure and seated cross-legged and practise what they call meditation.I have read a few booklets distributed by the Brahma monks who had arrived in Sri Lanka recently to promote their Brahma meditation practices and found in them nothing but misleading distortions of the Buddha's explanation of Bhavana, the sine-qua-non for attaining Nibbana.

The Buddha told His first batch of Bhikkhus - “Go thee, O! Monks on foot, for the well-being of the many, for the good of many people, with great compassion for the worldly-beings (Caraka bhikkhave Carikam bahujana hitaya, bahujana sukhaya, (okanukampaya). The Buddha, Himself set an example by leaving His monastery and going on foot to convert thousands of adamant Brahmins and others who practised Vedic rituals such as worshipping Agni, the fire-god.

Kassapa brothers

Of the first batch to be converted in this manner, was the three Kassapa brothers, Uruvela Kassapa, Nadi Kassapa and Gaya Kassapa, who worshipped the Vedic Fire God, Agni. Having listened to the Buddha's sermons, they understood His Dhamma and attained Arahanthood within few days and joined the Buddhist Order.

The Buddha visited thrice to Sri Lanka and converted many people, who were worshipping their own form of gods, called Yaksa gods. Later with the dawn of the rule of emperor Asoka, who befriended the King of Sri Lanka, Devanampiyatissa, the whole island Kingdom was converted to Theravada Buddhism, through the good offices of Arahant Mahinda and their Sanghamitta the Crown Prince and his sister, the children of Emperor Dhammasoka.

Theravada Buddhism

It was this original Theravada Buddhism that prevailed for more than two thousand millennia, and is still the living religious force in Sri Lanka. All the Bhikkhus in Sri Lanka are reverently addressed “Sangha” or “Thera”, and the Sri Lankan Bhikkhus from time immemorial adopted themselves pure Buddhist names such as Buddhadatta, Dhammapala, Sanghamitta, Buddhasena, Dhammasena, Sangharakkhita and Dhammarakkhita.

Never in the history of Theravada Buddhism, there appeared bhikkhus with the appellation Brahma, the supposed creator god of Hindus, in India.

‘Brahmamoli’, ‘Brahmajoti’ and ‘Brahmasami’, who have come from Western countries and pose themselves as great ‘meditation masters’ of the Buddhist Order in Asian Theravada Buddhist countries such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. The Buddhist leadership in these primary Theravada Buddhist countries should be aware of this unethical appearance of “Brahma monks” and take precaution to protect the purity of the Buddha Sasana from Brahma elements from the West.

Else irreparable damage will be caused to the Theravada Bhikkhu community, who are the custodians of the Buddha Sasana of Sakyamuni Gautama Buddha.

The writer is a former Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of New Mexico, US.

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