A Bhikkhu for the people

By Kalakeerthi Dr. Edwin Ariyadasa

“Selo Yatha Ekaghano
Vatena na sameerati
evam nindapasansasu
Na saminjanti pandita”

“A mighty rock does not shake in the wind. In the same way, the truly wise persons are never shaken, either by praise or blame.”

The Supreme Buddha – Dhammapada

Happy New Year,
everyone.

The dawn of a New Year is a moment of beginnings. It is the sacred season of gift bearing and gift receiving. Joy is prignantly experienced.

Along with it, hope arises, with renewed vigour. Resolutions are made, to strengthen the will to achieve the hopes they have for the New Year.

In the New Year, as well as at every stage of importance, people require inspiration to illuminate their path, towards the realisation of their hopes.

As things are, when we make our auspicious entry into this brand New Year 2015, we are greeted by an eminently readable work, which deserves the epithet “Inspirational”, unreservedly.

Unique

The tome I have in mind is the biography of a unique religious dignitary who has escalated the role of the Bhikkhu in modern society to an exalted arena.

The book is titled Gangaramaye Podihamuduruvo (The Little Bhikkhu of Gangarama Monastery). Although the Ven. Little Bhikkhu has now grown into a Nayaka Maha Thera (prelate) of mature, commanding personality, the initial term of endearment given by the fellow members of the Sangha and the doting devotees, continues to persist.

Today, without even any shadow of a doubt, Podihamuduro has evolved into the high profile of a legendary figure.

Gangarama Monastery, located at the centre of osmopolitan Colombo, is a Buddhist shrine of international repute.

The monastery, which in reality resembles a “spiritual archives or museum”, has blossomed forth into this stature, primarily due to the inventive and organisational skills of Podihamuduruvo.

Even if one were to take only a bird’s eye-view of the multiplicity of institutions, movements, projects, homes, services, functions and ceremonies in which Podihamuduruvo has a prominent hand, one cannot help but wonder whether he possesses some super-normal prowess. They are numerous and their sweep is bewilderingly variegated.

Preamble

But all these preliminaries are a mere preamble to our central focus: the biography of Podihamuduruvo. Just a couple of days ago, Podihamuduruvo passed his 70th birthday.

At the approach of this significant milestone of Podihamuduruvo’s life, many tended to think and talk about his biography.

As the saying goes, cometh the moment, cometh the man. The moment was the birthday. The man was the biographer.

And what a man the biographer has proved. The biographer is a legal luminary, corporate executive, human rights specialist, devout Buddhist and above all keenly sensitive human. Prasantha Lal de Alwis – has risen to the occasion admirably.

Those who are at least peripherally aware of the complex texture of Podihamuduruvo’s life, can fully appreciate what a formidable task it is to write his biography.

It is not at all, a smooth path that progresses in due chronological order, that the biographer has to tread in this instance. This venerable life has evolved through many ups and downs, through over-passes and under-passes, tunnels and roads that criss-cross.

In effect, what the biographer has done is shaping a priceless precious stone into a multi-hued, multifaceted gem.

Challenging task

The learned biographer has been equal to this highly challenging task, primarily because he made this unting-effort, the major mission of his life.

His close devotion to Podihamuduruvo spans a period that is nearly a score of years. The biographical details he reveals are quite likely to stun the reader into a state of high surprise. Though capable of the highest form of luxury with tremendous ease the biographer records that Podihamuduruvo’s life is utterly simple and reclusive.

As the biographer narrates it, Podihamuduruvo hails from a village in a typical rural settlement in the deep South.

His peasant home in Galboda was a serene centre of cententment, where self-sufficiency prevailed.

Fulfilling a wish he cherished from early childhood on, the young lad was ordained a bhikkhu at the tender age of 11.

At that time, no one would have foreseen, that this novice monk, will eventually earn a lasting name in the age-old brotherhood of Buddhist Sangha.

According to the biographer, a strange stroke of good fortune arose, making the young bhikkhu meet an equally young son of one of the most prestigious families in Sri Lanka.

And this young person – Ranjith Wijewardene and the little Bhikkhu entered into a life-long bond of friendship.

The biographer dwells upon the transformation of Gangarama Monastery, into spiritual haven for all, irrespective of the differences of faiths, credos, races and communities.

Continuous building is a characteristic trait of Podihamuduruvo. The story of this leading Buddhist stalwart is an amazing spiritual odyssey.

A mere enumeration of the initiatives Podihamuduruvo has taken over the years, will seem overwhelming to all.

His educational centre, the vocational training institute he established, the homes he has set up, for the helpless, for the underprivileged and for the differently abled, the pilgrims rest at Kataragama, though superior socially beneficial efforts, they seem only a few, when one considers the larger tapestry of what he has done to ensure worldly and spiritual well-being of the people.

The great pageant he started in 1979 – the Navam Perahera – is an eloquent testimony to his unparalleled capacity to conceptualise and implement even the most complicated of projects.

Podihamuduruvo of Gangaramaya is an outstanding and pioneering thinker. He was the first in this country to establish a language-lab to provide systematic English education, which he saw farsightedly as a sine qua non for true national development.

He pragmatically approached the problem of rural poverty, by opening avenues for income generating self-employment, to benefit rural folk.

Author Prasantha Lal de Alwis has recorded most of those multitudes of elusive facts, that are essential to be taken note of, if one were to understanding the salient aspects of Podihamuduruvo’s personality.

The author’s assiduous research, his unrelaxed exploratory pursuits, are vividly evident from this book.

Given such a context, one cannot help but wonder how this biographer was able to find those precious quiet moments, in Podihamuduruvo’s untra-busy life-style, to elicit these absorbing details.

As this indefatigable biographer records, Podihamuduruvo has transformed a messy swamp adjacent to the Beira Lake, into a magnificent modern building, which has turned out be an impressive centre of education.

Gangarama Monastery, is in effect, a very efficient ‘Residential University’ for Bhikkhus.

The unofficial Vice Chancellor Ven. Galboda Sri Gnanissara Nayaka Maha Thera has provided pragmatic guidance to his Bhikkhus to pursue a wide variety of activities. These include not only religion and spiritual tasks, but even such skills as engineering, administration, management, human relations. ‘Establishing and maintaining international relations”, is an area that Podihamuduruvo has trained his Bhikkhus.

The pragmatic outcome of this unofficial “university” has yielded practical results, which may surprise anyone taking a profound look at those.

The praiseworthy synthesis, Podihamuduruvo has been able to achieve, between the monastic and the worldly responsibilities of a leading Buddhist prelate of our day, is a brilliant example for some of those religious people, who squander away vast swaths of time in futile pursuits.

The anecdotal approach of the Biography, enhances the compelling appeal of this week.

The Biography emphasises Podihamuduruvo’s deep-seated concern for the people.

At times, he may even take up an attitude of aggressive confrontation, when he feels deeply, that justice has been wanting. I have been personally witness to such a situation.

One evening towards midnight. I received a message from Podihamuduruvo who needed to see me urgently at Gangaramaya. He fold me that he had a letter to be translated. It was addressed to the then President – J.R. Jayewardene.

As soon as I perused it, I told Podihamuduruvo that it is very harshly worded, especially since it is being addressed to the strong – willed President of the land. When I had hesitations, Podihamuduruvo said. “Mr. Ariyadasa please translate those words as they are. He is our great devotee. He provides us meals, requisites and steady patronage. Therefore, we must, even harshly, make him see the truth, when he goes astray. That’s our sacred duty. We must protect him, before he gets entangled in harmful difficulties.”

That’s Podihamuduruvo. (I, of course, translated, but modified some things discreetly.) I quote this incident here, as Podihamuduruvo has referred to this story, in public, in some contexts.

And, no wonder, that JR. should have famously stated that “I would have included Podihamuduruvo in his Cabinet, had he been a lay person.”

The biographer has enriched his work with a whole series of appealing anecdotes. I am quite impressed by the pleasantly surprising stories the writer has included to show the intimate approach he had towards elephants. There are instances of ferocious, unruly pachyderms that run amok turning docile at a word from Podihamuduruvo.

All told, this biography is the kind of gift, one should have presented to the people at large, at a time like this, when widely experienced turbulence, is more or less, the order of the day.

Author Prasantha Lal de Alwis’ text has a profound telling effect, primarily because of its simplicity and elegance.

The typographical presence of the work is equisitely impressive and special recognition is clearly due to all those involved in its printed personality.

The illustrations that adorn the work add a high value to the book. The total make-up of the work enhances the greatness of this sacred biography, by contributing to it an alluring shimmering saffron shine.

Podihamuduruvo’s spiritually enriched, pragmatically organised life, so impressively narrated by this dedicated biographer Prasantha Lal de Alwis is an inspirational gem, for all times.