Thoughts of a pessimist

The prime objective of a Buddhist monk is to learn, understand and follow the noble eight fold path preached by Lord Buddha in order to attain (if that is the correct term) Nibbana and guide their followers to do so. All other things coming up in their lives are secondary in front of this noble objective. Unfortunately, as in many other cases, things are on the wrong track here in Sri Lanka. What Buddha preached more than 2550 years ago, according to my understanding, is a universal truth and should have no borders or constraints. But, this island nation has developed its own version of Buddhism called Sinhala-Buddhism which has wrapped the universal truth by the nationalism and hence, we don’t have it as pure as it should have been.

A vast majority of monks nowadays are Sinhala-Buddhists and what they preach are absolute rubbish in comparison with pure Buddhism. (Not to be misunderstood that I claim myself to know everything in Buddhism). Being Sinhala-Buddhists, these monks have freedom to involve in politics, get elected to the Parliament, support the war and killings, tell lies to the public, spread hatred among the people and be a part of malpractices, corruption and thuggery. It is said that you need to carry an immense amount of good credit (Karma) from your previous lives to be able to wear that yellow robe in this life. But just few days back, we saw hundreds of Sinhala-Buddhist monks wearing the sacred yellow robe getting hammered by security forces for whom it is enough to pass the 8th grade to wear that uniform, let alone the credits from previous lives.

I don’t know when this Sinhala-Buddhism started, but I remember reading a column by a certain extremist professor who ‘proudly’ says that it was Henry Steel Olcott’s influence that triggered the concept. According to Sinhala Buddhists, we should first protect our nation (Sinhalese) before anything else, because they claim that Buddhism would not survive without Sinhala nation. It is hard to believe that a universal truth cannot survive without a particular nation. For me, the whole concept of ‘nation’ (and race, cast or creed for that matter) is insignificant if you think in terms of Buddhism. If you believe in reincarnation like all Buddhists do, what would happen if you are born as a Tamil or Muslim in your next life, while acting against those nations in this life? More than that, what would happen (by any chance) if you remembered what you did in your previous life?

As far as I know, there’s no place for extremism or racism in Buddhism. It’s not a joke, nor something to cry about. It’s not a commodity; it’s not about miracles either. It’s not there to give vision to the blind or voice to the dumb. It’s all about truth and hence it’s bitter. It was meant for intellectuals and not for fools. There are so many examples in Buddhist literature about individuals who were lucky enough to be born at Buddha’s time, listen to his own words yet failing to understand what he says. You just cannot compromise the quality of Buddha’s teachings for the sake of making it understandable for each and every individual in the society.

If you listen to preachings of modern day monks, you are most likely to hear a ‘remixed’ version of Dhamma. Some of these monks could well compete with the biggest comedians in the country. Their preaching sessions are full of laughter. Some would talk fully supportive of the war and some dare redefine Buddha’s teachings to suite their personal and political agendas. I remember a certain ‘Chakrawarthi’ monk saying recently that during a war, if you go forward shooting at your enemy and if they get killed in the process, still you don’t commit a sin. I don’t quite understand this theory. Probably I’m not brainy enough to understand what a killing means and how you commit a sin in doing so.

All in all, it is apparent that Sinhala-Buddhism and its caretakers have ruined the noble teachings of Buddha. Nobody questions the behavior of these monks, not even the chief incumbents. Which chief incumbent had guts to speak a word when several monks decided to contest an election? Which chief incumbent had guts to ban a certain monk started talking double meaning filth and selling them in CDs recently? Which chief incumbent had guts to prevent hundreds of student monks hitting the roads to win certain claims and get hammered like stray dogs in the process? In which part of Buddhism has these types of acts allowed? The civil society has also fallen dumb by mere respect.

There was a severe discussion in the country about converting Buddhists into other religions by giving massive incentives. As a remedy, some political monks attempted to pass a bill in the Parliament to ban such acts. While those monks themselves behaving in absolute contrast to what they ideally should have been doing, would it be of any use if they pass thousand such bills and impose thousand such rules? How would you expect an average man to respect these monks when they get their balls squeezed by politicians? In that sense, it’s not the extremist religious groups or western forces that are ‘conspiring’ against Buddhism. The biggest enemy lies within us.

My belief is that it’s high time for a social discussion to redefine the role of Buddhist monks. The chief incumbents and intellectuals should get together and put things on the right track. Those who are involved in politics in any form should be stripped off their yellow robes, be it Chakrawarthis or Pundits, because that certainly is the worst thing happened in the recent past. Monks have a much nobler role to play in this complicated society than being in the same boat with dirty politicians. Those who talk bullshit in public and trying to be jokers, those who ask for money to attend a ‘bana’, those who conduct false meditation classes and those who live in their own high class monasteries should be chased off. If we are left with 10 quality monks, let it be. It’s far better than having thousands of corrupted around.