Final Destination

By Damitha Hemachandra

Monday, January 17, 2005

She was a Christian American born during the Second World War with a last name called Zenn. It was the queer connection of her last name to Zen Buddhism, which inspired her to read in to Buddhism at her local library.
“It wasn’t easy since there were only two books at the library on Buddhism at that time and Buddhism was a stranger to America in mid 1950s,” explains Ven. Karma Lekshe Tsomo Therani, who is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Peace and Justice, University of San Diego on Buddhism and World Religions
At the age of sixty she had travelled a long way from being the teenager reading about Buddhism to a Bikkhuni and the President of Sakyadhita, International Association of Buddhist Women with nearly 2000 members and representing 300 million Buddhist women worldwide.
Her journey seeking true teaching of Buddhism had taken her to Japan when she was 19 but her attempts were proved in vain since she failed to find a Buddhism teacher. However her attempt proved successful at Dharamsala, India when she met a teacher appointed by His holiness Dalai Lama to teach foreigners of Buddhism.
“ I learnt Buddhism for nearly 15 years at Indian Himalayas from the Tibetan Bikkhus and it was this knowledge which inspired me to be a Bikkhuni in 1977” she said adding that she felt as she could not be a full Buddhist without being a Bikkhuni.
“It was a matter of practising my faith to the fullest.”
While in Tibet Ven. Karma Lekshe Tsomo Therani came into full realisation of the state of Tibet Bikkhunis.
“ There was illiteracy and lack of education due to heavy strain of communism in Tibet,” she explained.
Tibetan Buddhism was under heavy restrain from communists yet the plight of Bikkhunis were gloomier than the Bikkhus. The Bikkhunis were less participative in social and religious efforts since they themselves were helpless and were in turn was receiving poor help and responce from the communities.
Yet attempts of Ven. Karma Lekshe Tsomo Therani through literacy improvement programmes and educational programmes in empowering Bikkhunis and female communities. Her exercise had not only empowered the Tibetan Bikkhunis but has encouraged most of them to receive full ordination.
“ Earlier it was just a question of capabilities of Tibetan Bikkhunis but today they have proved themselves equal to the responsibilities granted through full ordination,” she said adding that social participation of Bikkhunis in Tibetan as well as in Sri Lanka had increased immensely within the last decade thus improving the support from the lay community.
“Yet there is a greater responsibility with the lay women to assist their Bikkhuni sisters,” she said questioning as to who else other than other women are more capable of understanding the needs of women.
Aside from empowering women around the globe through Buddhism Ven. Karma Lekshe Tsomo Therani carries the flame of peace and cooperation through her academic work.
While insisting that Buddhists should be completely peaceful Ven. Therani acclaims Buddhism as the solution to many conflicts around the world.
“Religion is the base of many conflicts around the world and Buddhism as a philosophy, which denounces any kind of violence even in self protection is the best solution,” she said upholding the words that ‘Dhamma would protect those who act according TO dhamma’
She again reminds the duty of Buddhist women in ensuring and promoting peace around her,” for it is women who are most injured or hurt in war through loss of lives and bereavement.”

w@w-http://www.dailymirror.lk/sections/supp/w@w/180105/7.asp

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

State leaders and Buddhist dignitaries from India, Bhutan, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Tibet and Sri Lanka are to gather in Buddhagaya to celebrate the 2550th Buddha Jayanthi in May 2006, Secretary of Maha Bodhi Society of India announced at a media conference held at Asapuwa yesterday.
Sri Lankan President, Premier, Speaker, Opposition Leader, Indian President and Prime Minister, Singaporean state leader and Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama will participate at the year long celebrations.
Construction of a temple at Kusinara by the Japanese Buddhist Association, publication of a book on 'Buddhism in India' and the production of a Rs. 1.6 billion movie based on the life of Lord Buddha are among the year-long celebrations, educational programmes and seminars organised by the Indian Maha Bodhi Society. The programme seeks to revive Buddhist Education worldwide and especially in India through initiating Bikkhu education in India.
"We hope to establish a Pirivena for young Indian Bhikkus with the assistance of the Singaporean Buddhist Federation to coincide with the celebrations," Ven. Rewatha Thera said pointing out the lack of Indian Bikkhus to spread Buddhism in Indian dialects. There are 27 Sri Lankan Bhikkus in India, which has a Buddhist population of nearly 80 million.

Galvihara 

By Damitha Hemachandra, Daily Mirror, July 5, 2004

Colombo, Sri Lanka -- American Sangha Nayaka, Ven. Walpola Piyananda Thera urged the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) to support the cause of the government in presenting a Prevention of Unethical Conversion Bill and three other important bills, which seek to uplift Buddhasasana.

Speaking at the 19th memorial dhammadesana of late Ven. Panadura Ariyadhamma held at the Sambodhi Viharaya yesterday, Ven. Thera pointed that all Buddhists should join hands to overcome this difficult situation faced by Buddhists in Sri Lanka.

While expressing surprise over the joint statement made by the Roman Catholic and Christian churches against the proposed Anti-Conversion Bill, Ven. Piyananda Thera observed that the church failed to express their opinion when Buddhism was challenged by Christian fundamentalism.

Chief Incumbent of Sambodhi Viharaya, Ven. Daranagama Kusaladhamma Thera questioned as to how the future of more than 70% of the Buddhist population could be staked at the request of the Church, which is a religious minority of the country.

"Since the proposed bill would be preventing only unethical conversions, which were made by extremist fundamentalist groups, the Bill would not hinder the right of thought and belief of established Christians or Catholic churches of the country," Ven. Thera added. Speaking at the occasion Minister of Buddhasasana, Rathnasiri Wickremanayaka denied the charges of the church, adding that the Bill was drafted after much research and study done by the Commission to Protect Buddhism appointed by himself during the past PA regime.

"There is no justice in trying to prevent any action which is taken to ensure the well-being of the poor Buddhists in the country," the minister said questioning as to why the Catholic and Christian Church alone is against this bill

by Damitha Hemachandra

07 June 2004 (Daily Mirror) - JHU parliamentarian monk Ven. Kolonnawe Sri Sumangala Thera yesterday warned they would stage a Sathyagraha campaign at the Dalada Maligawa or the Kelaniya Temple if the UPFA government failed to reveal the truth behind Ven. Kathaluwe Rathanaseeha Theras alleged kidnap drama.

The JHU yesterday condemned the UPFA government on its moves to discredit it through false allegations of kidnapping and shooting.

Addressing a news conference at the Asapuwa yesterday, JHU Parliamentary group leader and spokesperson, Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera alleged that the sudden change of mind of the JHU rebel monk Ven. Rathanaseeha Thera was a plot laid out by Deputy Ministers Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi and Lasantha Alagiyawanna. "The Bikkhu is now under the custody of these people," Ven. Rathana Thera alleged.

JHUbs, Patali Champaka Ranawaka in reply to the accusations made by Mr. Sooriyaarachchi linking him to Saturday's shooting said he was awaiting the conclusion of Police investigations into the incident.

Meanwhile, the JHU is likely to file a court case against the controversial monk, Ven. Rathanaseeha Thera for contempt of court next week. Ven. Rathana Thera pointed out that Ven. Rathanaseeha Thera had made a statement to the Moratuwa Magistrate court recently insisting that he was not abducted. This was contrary to what he told the Colombo District Court last week.

Another Hela Urumaya Parliamentarian Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera also questioned the correctness of the statement made by the Ven. Rathanaseeha Thera to the police. "He could have easily revealed about the alleged threat to his life when he was repeatedly questioned by the police during the past weeks," Ven.Dhammaloka Thera said. The controversial Bhikku and former JHU MP, Ven. Kathaluwe Rathanaseeha Thera had filed a civil suit in Colombo District Court last Thursday charging he was kidnapped and was forced to resign from his parliamentary seat.

Kurulu Kariyakarawana and Damitha Hemachandra reporting from Ampara

An ancient archaeological site -believed to be the only evidence of the 2000 year old Sinhala-Buddhist habitation in Ampara-is facing destruction at the hands of quarry miners.


The Walathpitiya site recently identified by the Ven Ellawala Medhananda Thera was found half destroyed when the monk accompanied by Sihala Urumaya leaders and about 300 others and protected by security forces visited the area again on Monday after he had been allegedly threatened and obstructed by LTTE cadres during an earlier visit last month.

Sihala Urumaya leader Thilak Karunaratne said they would provide everything necessary including security for the monks excavation work to ensure the protection of the ancient site with its relics and monuments.

The group found that the site east of Ampara was owned by a quarry trader who had employed about 50 men who had already dynamited a bed of granite in an area where there were believed to be rock inscriptions belonging to the 2nd Century BC.

They said the site in a government controlled area had been leased to the trader by the Samanturai Pradeshiya Sabha. The group said they found parts believed to be relics of an ancient Buddhist establishment flattened by a bulldozer while a Hindu Kovil had been built on the premises.

Speaking at the site Mr. Karunaratne said they had decided to go there with the monk because LTTE members had earlier threatened the monk telling him not to excavate religious artefacts which belonged to their homeland.

Security for the group was provided by the police, the STF and the Army

By Damitha Hemachandra

Leader of Jatika Hela Urumaya and Archeological expert, Puravidyachakrvarthi, Ven. Ellawala Medhananda Thera yesterday accused the Christian Church of deliberately trying to distort the Sri Lankan history in order to prove a ‘baseless Sinhala Christian heritage’ in the country.

Hitting hard at a recently released book called ‘Iparani Sirilaka Kithunu Ithihasayen Bindhak’ (Some facts of Ancient Christian history of Sri Lanka) Ven. Thera said that this is a newest face of an old plot to destroy Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

The book claims that the beginning of Christianity in Sri Lanka could be traced as back as 72 AD and that the faith was introduced to this country by St. Thomas the Apostle. The book claims that the Christians may have lived from the first century in Sri Lanka and that the North Central province is supposed to be their motherland. The Book also alleges that the first Christian church was built in Sigiriya and that King Mugalan was the first Christian king of Sri Lanka.

Ven. Medhananda Thera pointed that any local archeological evidence or any written evidence does not indicate the presence of Christianity in Sri Lanka before the arrival of Portuguese 1505.
He pointed out that not a single stone inscription notes of a visit of the St. Thomas the Apostle despite the fact that ancient Sri Lankans were in the habit of recording almost all the important incidents.
Ven. Thera strongly denied the speculations that Sigiriya was the first Christian monastery in the country questioning as to what happen to the archeological evidence of the monastery and how it came to look like the palace of a ‘play boy king’.
He questioned as to what solid historical evidence this Christian group is basing its book on and alleged that the book is the second round of a plot, which seeks to destroy Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

By Damitha Hemachandra

The two proposed Bills Preventing Forceful Conversion of Religions had triggered more debate and controversy in the country perhaps more than any prospective legislation to be passed in Parliament in the near future.

The original or the first bill presented by the all Bikkhu Political Party, Jatika Hela Urumaya (JHU) seeks to prevent forceful attempts to convert one’s religion through favourisem in educational or occupational fields, financial offerings and other direct or indirect gains while biding imprisonment for five years and a fine of Rs.500, 000 for anyone found guilty of forceful unethical conversion.
The initial draft of the bill, which is to be presented by the Ministry of Buddasasana, too indicated marked similarities to the JHU bill while being considerably lenient with the penalty.

Commenting on the necessity of the Bill leader of JHU, Ven. Ellawala Medhananda Thera said that unethical conversion has become a major dilemma to the predominantly Buddhist Sri Lanka.
"Buddhism is one religion in the world that was not and will not be propagated at the point of sword. There has been a 'Dharma Vijaya by Emperor Ashoka, when he shared the gift of Buddhism with the rest of the world through Bikkhus. We too are beneficiaries of that act of sharing of the Dhamma. But conversion today has become a dirty business and has reached terrifying proportions," Ven. Thera said.

Having waged in a long war and experienced an inner revolution after meeting samanera Negrodha, Emperor Ashoka of India also wished to share this newly acquired wisdom with his friend King Devanampiyatissa of neighbouring Sri Lanka. He sent his son Arhanth Mihindu and six others bearing a message of Dhamma in third BC and to date, King Devanampiyatissa remains one of the most famous converts to Buddhism of all time.
However much water had flown since then. Today the modes of religion conversion have changed dramatically around the world as well as in Sri Lanka, and in most cases had failed to be an enlightening personal experience. An element of inducement or 'faith buying’ had been playing a larger role in conversion than the inner transformation and true belief in embracing a faith.
Religions today appears to be force-fed, and in extreme cases, even the traces of early religions, which bear remembrance to other faiths, are not tolerated, like in the case of Afghanistan's Taliban rule that wiped out valuable Bamiyan Buddha statues.
According to the 1998 Buddasasana Commission 188 Non-Governmental Organisations were engaged directly in spreading Christianity around the country. As a result the introduction of a bill prohibiting 'unethical conversions', is being heavily campaigned with renewed interest in Sri Lanka, one of the few remaining Theravada states, in the world.
The bill which was a matter of life and death to many ardent Buddhists was tabled in Parliament in early May and is now under the heavy criticism some Christian NGOs, who propagate unethical conversion while receiving support from Muslim and Hindu religious leaders.
The main fear and allegation against the Bill is that it would curb religious freedom. The Catholic Church was eager point that the proposed bill would prevent religious harmony among Sri Lankans and prevent converts through true belief.
They alleged that many Sri Lankan temples around the world in fact could to be charged under ‘Unethical Conversion’.

However Ven. Sobhitha Thera was quick to indicate that Buddhist and Christian ways of conversion are as opposite as water and fire.
‘While many Christian evangelists in Sri Lanka are practising this aggressive mode of conversion by getting to destroy symbols of Buddha statues and making offensive comments on the belief and rituals of Buddhism, Buddhist conversion depends solely on the theory of ‘Come and Discover’,” he said adding that in the case of spreading Buddhism in Christian majority countries the Bikkhus do not even advertise their presence at the neighbourhood.
“Usually Buddhist Temples are established in a neighbourhood after the invitation of a group of Buddhists in the area and the Bikkhus in the temple never engage in door-to-door ‘advertising, as in the case of evangelists,” he pointed.
Ven. Thera said that it is absurd to compare the visit of Arhanth Mihindu to Sri Lanka with present trickery of evangelism.
“Arhanth Mihindu did not arrive in Sri Lanka with Thripitaka in one hand and a sword in the other as the way Portuguese who came to Ceylon 500 years ago did,” he pointed.
There is no dispute that every person is free to follow the religion of his choice or for that matter not follow any religion. The difference arises when this freedom is deprived as in proselytization, which in fact means going beyond free choice making one to accept a doctrine by inducing someone to convert to one's faith.

Meanwhile the Minister of Buddasasana, Rathnasiri Wickremanayake reassured that the traditional churches would not be affected by the proposed Bill.
According to the Minister the only groups, which would be affected by the bill, would be the newly established minor churches or evangelical groups run with American, European and South Korean funds who were eager to show a speedy increase in their flock within the shortest time to get more grants from donor agencies.
When Columbus led the Spanish expeditions, he tacitly justified all the atrocities committed by the conquistadors by declaring his mission as "Gold for my Sovereign and Souls for The Church".
Critics observe that this is happening even today with the most powerful nation with her allies beginning to grab and steal the resources both natural and biological of the poor nations.
“It had become a game of numbers with deceitful champions of Christianity backed by big money, registering their institutions under the Companies Ordinance coming to exploit the poverty of our people by proselytizing them by financial and other inducements,” Buddhist Activist Hema Gunathilake said.
“The more people they have in power, easier for them to handle the resources of a country,” she added.

However Unethical Conversion and Evangelism are not issues restricted to Sri Lanka alone. Three Indian states had already introduced legislation to curb Unethical Conversion while response towards evangelists is not as pensive as in Sri Lanka.
Not so long ago a missionary was burnt alive inside a motorcar in India by Hindu extremists while evangelism is prevented through law in many Islamic countries. Attempts of unethical conversion had been often dealt with heavy violence at many neighbouring South Asian countries but this violent behaviour had been successful in keeping missionaries at bay in countries like India and Pakistan.

Meanwhile few feel that a Bill to prevent Unethical Conversion could harm Buddhism in the long run.
Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Colombo, Rohan Edrisinha feels that it is best to keep restrictions and religion factors at two ends. According to Mr. Edrisinha such regulations could be abused at largely and could trigger sensitive social and political situations.
“There has been a great deal of abuse of such laws in India,” he pointed adding that there was a case in India where an electrician accused a Priest of trying to convert him after a payment dispute.
But to minimise legal abuse Edrisinha suggests”Council of Religious Leaders” to sort out religious differences instead of a new law.

If one's faith is like commodity and could be purchased at a price, let it be so. Buddhism does not mean maintaining numbers but having even a handful of true followers. According to the Buddha himself few who understand and value the true meaning of Buddhism could keep the flame of Buddhism alive besides masses, who are bind to it by blind faith or restriction.
The teachings of Buddha encourage self-discovery and logical thinking against blind faith. Are we not destroying the foundation of that liberal teaching by binding an individual to a religion by law? Yet would total persistence as Buddhists endanger Sri Lanka‘s future?

Professor S.T.Hettige – Professor of Sociology. University of Colombo warns that unethical conversion could have long-term consequences on the Sri Lankan society.
“ The Agro-Aqua culture we found in the country today was introduced with Buddhism and have its roots dug deep into it,” he said adding that although Sri Lanka is considered to be a multi cultural and multi ethnic country the main cultural system we find in the country today is based on Buddhist roots.
Mass scale conversion without a correct foundation could show its consequences in the future, he said.

Unethical or forceful conversion from one religion to another according to Dr. K. Vigneswaran, advisor to the Ministry of Hindu Affairs is a serious threat to the humanity.
“ It is not a threat faced by the Sri Lankan Buddhists alone the situation is worst in North and East and even in the central province of the country,” he said adding that legislation to control forceful, unethical conversion is an essentiality today.
According to Dr. Vigneswaran Sri Lankan Hindus are the worst hit by the wave of unethical conversion by missionary groups who luring away poor Hindus away from their religion by promising various perks.

Father Cyril Gamini Fernando of the National Catholic Social Communication Centre (NCSC) however fears that the proposed prevention of forceful conversion to other religions could limit ones’ right to convert to another religion based on true faith.
“ I do agree that there is a issue of mass scale unethical conversion by unconventional religious groups but yet we feel that it could be solved through discussion and agreement and not through restriction,” he said.
According to Father Fernando an all-religious council is a better option to solve the problem over restriction and legislation.