The Monks and Dollars

(Image: The front view of the temple where US$ 1,000 went missing.Athuraliye Ratana had lost this money at this extravagant residence -Asapuwa and so far, no one was arrested. )

by Mangala Wicramasinghe

(July 20, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Many people were taken surprised when the JHU monk Athuraliye Ratana logged a complaint at the Welikada Police station when he lost 1000 US Dollars. Athuraliye Ratana had lost this money at this extravagant residence -Asapuwa and so far, no one was arrested. Nobody knows how Athuraliye Ratana got a large amount of US currency (as he told the Police there were some 4,000 dollars in the safe) and even the Exchange Controller seems to have not taken any interest.

The JHU monk Athuraliye Ratana who had humble beginnings first did JVP politics and then changed his path to nationalism. Probably he may have realized that it’s easy to address the high emotions of the Sinhala Buddhists and capitalize on their gullibility. Igniting hatred between ethnic groups and creating conflicts between religions Athuraliye Ratana seems to have made his fortune.

With the political patronage, he built a mansion and named it with a religious name – Asapuwa. If he had not lost millions at the Golden Key debacle Athuraliye Ratana would have been one of the richest monks in Sri Lanka.

Several decades ago, Mr Gunadasa Liyanage wrote a divisive novel based on some actual characters that used Buddhism to accumulate wealth and power and indulge in sensual pleasures. The novel was titled Thevani Sil Padaya Nokadami – (I will never break the 3ed precept) and it exposed some crafty characters of 1960 s who pretended to be the guardians of the Sinhala Buddhists and misled the masses to fulfill their selfish needs. If Mr Gunadasa Liyanage was alive he would have written the pat two of the novel describing the full scale damage done by these monks to the Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

It is a well know fact that some prominent monks and even some Christian priests are in to moneymaking business by working for the politicians behind the curtain. These clergy are making money and in the mean time damaging the national spirit of the country by preaching hate. Therefore, the damage has a double impact and no one dares to printout.

Several years ago, the Divaina newspaper editorial questioned Murruthetuwe Ananda Thero about his income source when Murruthetuwe Ananda Thero made a complaint to the Police that he lost 400,000 rupees that was kept in his Avasa. Also up to date no one has questioned Rev Bellanwilla Wimalaratana who lost millions of rupees at the Golden Key swindle and how he made such a fortune. Apparently, Rev Bellanwilla Wimalaratana owns several houses in Colombo including a mansion in Moor’s road Dehiwala.

The politicians in power clearly know about the machinations of these monks and they rather encourage them to practice in illegal and unethical activities. Mark my words, the Exchange Controller will never question Athuraliye Ratana how he got the foreign currency although it is a violation of the Act. But all these moves and dealings are recorded and files are maintained by the politicians. When the time comes, the politicians can use these files to blackmail the monks. In a crucial event that affects the country and people, we can never expect social justice from these egoistic monks who have double standards. They will always do the dirty work of the power hunger politicians. The public must clearly understand this fact.

Any attempts to highlight the unethical work of these monks are interpreted as a conspiracy against Buddhism and it has become their escape route. I think these monks with double standards cause the biggest damage to the Buddhism and probably they may be the biggest conspirators who want to cause utmost damage to the Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Thanks to poisonous work of these monks, today the Western World view Buddhism as a radical and extreme religion.

The most dangerous part in this game is these monks play with the Buddhist nationalistic feelings, showing the public an imperceptible enemy while they make money and enjoy all the earthly pleasures. When the masses are divided by the religion and ethnic groups and they fight with each other, that toxic atmosphere nourishes these false prophets.