This country is reeling in misinterpretation, misinformation, convoluted facts, rigged narratives on anything and everything these days.
by Mass L. Usuf
The public opinion is that the politicians in general, have almost sucked the life out of this country. In doing so, among other things, some of them have not spared even harnessing the noble buddha Sasana to their selfish ends.
This country is reeling in misinterpretation, misinformation, convoluted facts, rigged narratives on anything and everything these days. Rarely do we see in this unfortunate period of time politicians who are sincere in expressing their true opinions. Uttering falsehood, making hypocritical statements and deceptively reshapingthe abnormal to look normal abounds in this little island which boasts to be a nation representing the world’s greatest religions.However, a majority of them are careful not to lose their vote bank and not to antagonize the Buddhist monks. The Sinhalese politicians know well that they need to keep the robed Order in their good books. It is, therefore, not surprising to note the show of excessive obeisance to the monks. Maybe some of the respectable monks may be feeling embarrassed by this.
Media AndAuctioning
In an auction, all are aware that the highest bidder succeeds. There was once a reading to the effect that monks are also being auctioned by politicians. What this meant was that one politician wants to outdo his opponent in the public display of commitment towards the Sangha. The reason for this is because they themselves have created this situation by competing to venerate the monks. Apparently, subject to correction, with a dual purpose. Firstly, to curry favour with monks and, secondly, a public demonstration of the commitment to the Sangha and Sasana. These are indeed noble deedsprovided the intentions are pure and sincere. However, the JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake has a different opinion. In a TV programme he questioned, “why do politicians take the media with them when they go to visit the monks? Did Buddha in his sermon ever say that the people will have to be notified via the media, when paying homage to the monks? He said that these are television Buddhists. These are politicians deceptively exploiting the religious sentiments of the people.
By this unethical practise the position of the monks is blown out of proportion. This is an extremely dangerous development. The consequences of such unethical indulgence have been clearly demonstrated in the conduct of some of these monks. In the end, the innocent monk who was in relative oblivion has been thrown into the limelight not of his own volition but driven by circumstance. Many of the un-Buddhistic statements made recently by the higher clergy disturbed many a civic minded citizen especially, embarrassing those belonging to the Sinhala community. The younger monks are being misled by this drama and conduct themselves in a manner that tarnishes the image of Buddhism, not only locally but, internationally.
Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha
For the matured and sincere among the monks, whose primary concern is treading the path to nibbana, these ephemeral attractions were not a distraction. In their wisdom, they understood the manipulations of the politicians and kept themselves at bay. At the same time, for the monk who was obscured from limelight, deprived since childhood and less known publicly except to the devotees around, the opportunity to be with politicians and on national television makes him forget why he donned the venerated robe in the beginning. Such a person justifies his boisterousnessnot by seeking refuge in the triple gem- Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha - but by seeking refuge under ethno-racial nationalism, spreading hate and victimising the ‘other’. Obviously, these are actions eons away from the pristine teachings of Master Gotama. Yet, these people would dishonourably take sanctuary by naming themselves as 'buddha putraya'.
Psyche Of The Sangha
Since the panchamahabalavegaya of the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike there was an exponential increase in the reengineering of the psyche of the sangha. Consecutive governments and politicians were racing to please this institution for their narrow political gains. The Sangha who have been thrusted to limelight are not able to handle this more than a handful of fortune falling on their laps. Generally, most of them start giving their opinions on political matters, economics, foreign policy, geo-politics etc.
In his research titled, ‘New Buddhist Extremism and the Challenges to Ethno-Religious Coexistence in Sri Lanka’, (ICES, October 2016), Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri relates an incident which indicates the sad level this molly-coddlingbetween politicians and monks have led to.
“The confidence with which they displayed their violent behaviour in public spaces was remarkable. They grossly violated the law even in the presence of the police, who took no action. Apart from the political protection that they enjoyed with impunity under the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, they fully exploited the public respect for the robe and the authority that was commanded by those who wore it. Perhaps the most exemplary moment was when Rev. Gnanasara clashed with police and other officials at an expressway entrance when his vehicle was stopped from entering the expressway due to its poor technical condition. At one point of the heated argument, he shouted at expressway officials with the following words:
“ ….. Dena ganilla me ammage redden āṇḍuperaḷānnathpuluwan”
(Make note you bastard!!! This piece of cloth is capable of even toppling governments”.)
The author in his note mentions: It is not possible to translate “ammageredda” into English to render the actual meaning it carries. This is indeedconsidered to be an extremely indecent expression, not supposed to be used in public. By using the term “ammageredda” for the saffron robe he in fact ridiculed it.
Dewasiri further states that these aggressive monks had no problem with taking part inany event of the mainstream Sangha, and the high level of tolerance towards theirill behaviour is conspicuous.
Mangala Samaraweera
In this backdrop, for Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera to say what he said without caring for his vote bank and not bothered about the sentiment whether he pleases the monks, distinguishes him as a person or a politician very different from the run of the mill.
The Minister was recently reported in the national newspapers to have said, “Sri Lanka was not a Sinhala Buddhist country but a country belonging to all those who had taken Sri Lanka as their motherland. The majority of Sri Lanka, which belongs to Sri Lankans, are Sinhala Buddhists. There are also people belonging to Christian, Catholic, Hindu, Islamic and other religions in that country. All of them have the same rights which the Sinhala Buddhists have. Simply because Sinhala Buddhists were in the majority, they can't impose their opinion on others.”
He went on to draw an analogy, in this way, “Most of us have gone abroad or had relatives abroad. If you go to Italy or the UK and if you become a citizen of one of these countries, there are no second-class citizens. The one who became a citizen today and the one became a citizen even thousands of years ago have the same rights.”
Monks Must Rethink
Now this is music to the ears of the minority folks but disturbing to many others within the Sinhala community especially, the hyped-up monks. The point that needs attention is the daring statement apart from being another sycophantic and insincere bidder in this auctioning game.
The positions taken by Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Mr. Mangala Samaraweera are insightful and lays down the foundation for a fresh impetus for the politicians to revisit their behaviour in politics involving monks and Buddhism. Also, on the part of the monks to re-evaluate their opinions, attitudes, principles and values in conformity with the pristine teachings of the Buddha.
The End.
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