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By: Dr. Rajasingham Narendran
The overnight appearance of an oversized statue of Lord Buddha near the
fish market in Trincomalee town has become an event of historical
significance in Sri Lanka. This event has the potential to trigger a crisis
capable of overturning even the stalled peace train. With some elements
among the Sinhala-Buddhists, including monks, threatening dire
consequences if the statue is removed and some elements among the Tamil –
Hindus holding out the threat of a resumed civil war if the statue is not
removed, we are faced with an interesting but dangerous situation, that will
require King Solomon’s wisdom and authority to resolve.
Lord Buddha- the messenger of peace, logic, dharma (righteousness),
tolerance and kindness has become a contentious symbol of everything
contrary- violence, madness, adharma, intolerance and cruelty, in the form of
a statue. Lord Buddha, born a Hindu as Prince Sidhartha, set out to find
explanations, on seeing the pain, illness, suffering and death among people,
in his forays outside the confines of his palace. He forsook his Kingdom, a
young wife and child, wealth, power and comfort to seek the truth. The
Hinduism practiced by the masses of his day, ridden as it is even today with
meaningless rituals and foolish beliefs, did not provide him the answers.
Meditation, deep inward seeking and physical suffering, brought forth
enlightenment and the profound thoughts that constitute the essence of
Buddhism today. He trod a path; few humans since his time have, attained
nirvana (nibbana) and became a Buddha- equivalent to a Munivar or Rishi to
the Hindus. He is a universally accepted symbol of peace today. The
concept of ahimsa (non-violence) that Mahatma Gandhi adopted as a political
tool and was the basis of Satyagraha, is deeply embedded in Buddhism.
Lord Buddha, who was sensitive to even the pain of crushed ants, forbade his
disciple monks to wear slippers to forestall the possibility. We have now
managed to make him in the form of a statue, a cause for potential strife,
bloodshed, destruction and suffering! How could we have gone so wrong?
Lord Buddha was born a Hindu and died a Hindu. He did not make a new
religion. His followers established the religion-Buddhism, which swept through
ancient India from north to south and east to west, and crossed borders to
reach Sri Lanka and the Far East. Buddhism was a breeze of fresh air that
blew through the citadels of Hinduism and blew away most of the cobwebs
that had accumulated over the centuries in the form of Brahminical rituals,
foolish beliefs and the abhorrent practices of casteism, disguising its
fundamentals. Buddhism was a liberation movement based on love, kindness
and tolerance; ahimsa, dharma and karma (cause and effect) that provided
hope for the down trodden and oppressed. Lord Buddha to this day is a
revered figure among the Hindus and his thoughts are part of the Hindu
ethos. Although Buddhism as a religion did not survive as a separate entity in
India or among the Tamils, many Hindus consider Lord Buddha an avatar.
To all Hindus, he was a reformer of historic significance and a philosopher
par-excellence.
Tamils had embraced Buddhism during it’s hey day in India. Archeological
evidence indicates Tamils practiced Buddhism in the Jaffna peninsula. Tamil
Buddhists were in the forefront during the golden era of Tamil literature.
Sillapathikaram, the magnificent epic that tells the story of Kannahi, Kovalan
and Madhavi, was written by Illankovadihal the Chera Prince, who became a
Buddhist monk. The epic Manimehalai that tells the story of Manimehalai,
daughter of Madhavi who became a Buddhist monk, is another gem steeped
in Buddhism in Tamil literature. Kundalahesi another Tamil epic with the
Buddhist ethos has been lost to mankind. The Mahavamsa chronicles names
of Tamil traders who contributed extensively towards the maintenance of
Viharas and the Sangha. Even today the Tamils who visit the Nagapooshani
Amman temple in Nainativu (Nagadeepa) do not fail to visit and worship at the
famous and historic Naga Vihara near by. This Vihara and its monks have
survived the tribulations of the civil war, without being harmed by the Tamil-
Hindus.
Most Sinhala- Buddhists to this day worship Hindu deities, visit Hindu temples
and participate in Hindu festivals. The sight of Sinhala-Budhists carrying
lighted candles (a Buddhist practice) and coconuts (a Hindu practice) in Hindu
temples, is heart warming and an indication of the unity existing amongst the
ordinary people, amidst the diversity being trumpeted by the so-called
nationalists on both sides of the ethnic divide. Gana Deviyo (Pillaiyar),
Kataragama Deviyo (Muruhan), Natha Deviyo (Vishnu) and Pathini Deviyo
(Kannahi) are worshipped and are enshrined in most Buddhist Viharas. The
Sinhala-Buddhist King, Gajabahu introduced Pathini (Kannahi) worship to Sri
Lanka. Prof. Dharmadasa has recently (The Hindu of 25/05/05) stated that, ”
A lot of Buddhists in Sri Lanka worshipped deities. If one were to look at this
phenomenon, it is not in tune with what the Buddha taught. Buddhism did not
believe in a creator or redeemer. ---We have Buddhisised Hindu Gods and
deities. This was syncretism- two religions coming together and mixing up”.
I had the opportunity of meeting a Senior Sinhala-Buddhist army officer at the
Elephant Pass camp in 1987, whose desk was covered with images of
Pillaiyar, Muruhan, Saraswathy and Luxshmy, in addition to that of Lord
Buddha. I do not think we would see any comparable display on the desk of
any senior Tamil Tiger militant. I was also the witness to this particular army
officer advising a Sinhala-Buddhist soldier to marry the Tamil-Hindu girl with
whom he had a love affair and sexual contact or face the consequences of
karma in his next birth. The Sinhala mob, which threw the Pillaiyar (Ganesan)
statue in the Koneswaram temple in to the sea and pronounced, “Gana
Deviyo Naanda giyaa” (Lord Ganesha has gone for a bath) and the Tamil
militants who attacked the Dalada Maligawa are not the norm or the reality
among the Sinhalese or the Tamils.
I do not see why the Hindus in Trincomalee or else where, are perturbed by
the installation of a big Buddha statue, replacing a smaller one, considering
the above facts. Although the intents of those installing this statue,
surreptitiously overnight, were mischievous and malicious, there is nothing
intrinsically wrong with a bigger Buddha statue being there. Let there be
thousands of Buddha statues erected under every Bo-tree, in every market,
near every bridge and on top of every mountain, from Point Pedro to
Hambantota, from Colombo to Trincomalee, across the length and breadth of
our island, if these statues will remind us every day; morning, noon and night
that Lord Buddha stood for love, dharma, tolerance, non-violence, meditation
and perpetual striving for enlightenment. It will be even better, if preferred and
mutually worshipped Buddhisized Hindu deities are placed along side, to
reflect existing practices among Sinhala-Buddhists and underline our unity as
peoples. It will be a pleasant and hopeful sight to see in the first instance
Buddhists and Hindus worshipping their preferred images near the fish market
in Trincomalee, instead of drawing their daggers over the statue. We should
all learn to see the substance beyond an image or appearance, in everything
around us. This is what our religions teach.
It is sad that the Tamil-Hindus who had photographs of Mahatma Gandhi and
Jawaharlal Nehru in every home a decade or two back, in admiration of their
freedom struggle based on the principals of ahimsa and the weapon of
satyagraha, have to now resort to violent hartals, hand bombs and, threats of
violence and resumption of civil war over a statue of Lord Buddha – the
Prince of Peace. Have we been brutalized to the extent that we have lost our
humanity, humaneness and even our senses? Have we forgotten the very
basics of Saivaism and Saiva Sitthantham- Anbey Sivam (in simple
translation- ‘Love is God’)? There are more important things that we have to
struggle for vigorously right now- our rights as citizens in relation to the
Sinhala polity, our democratic rights within the Tamil polity and our right to
lead our lives free from fear, intimidation and thuggery in the north, east and
the world at large. Let us not be confused by the pranks of the imbeciles
whether they are Sinhalese or Tamils and lose our essential character as a
civilized people and lose sight of important goals.
May a thousand Buddha statues bloom, if they will help retain our humanity as
peoples and, restore peace and justice in our island!
thousand
Buddha
statues
bloom,
if they will
help retain
our humanity
as peoples
and, restore
peace and
justice in our
island!
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