Mobs, Monks and the Problem of Political-Buddhism: explaining matters to Kalana Senaratne.
Posted on May 14th, 2012
by Charles .S.Perera
Mr.Kalana SenaratneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s article of the 5 May,2012 on the above subject is confusing.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ He mixes religious doctrine with matters outside it.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ One should not bring in Buddhist teachings in order to condemn human behaviour and peopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s attachment to traditions and accepted religious norms , ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ sanctity ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ all that ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ belongs to the performance of religious rituals.
Buddhism is the oldest religion of Sri Lanka, apart from what ever belief system King Devanampiyatissa followed before the advent of Buddhism.
Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lankan during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ That was between the years 250-210 Before Current Era, where as Islamism is quite recent.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Mohamed while in Mecca was said to have begun receiving the revelation from God in the year 610 of the Current Era. Islamism was brought to Sri Lanka by Arab traders only in the 8th Century. When the Portuguese and the Dutch came to Sri Lanka the Arabs fled to the Kandyan Kingdom where they were given protection.
Therefore when Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka there were no otherƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ religious faith in Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The King Devanampiya Tissa was the king of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ whole of Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ He after accepting Buddhism offered the Island ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of Sri Lanka to the Buddha Sasana.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Therefore the Buddhists believe that this country has been sanctified by that offeringƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and there are four gods that protect the land where the teachings of the Buddha has taken root.
Therefore Mr.Senaratne ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ what you say, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-It is always a curious and odd little matter, to witness how even Buddhists become so obsessively attached to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”sacredƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ lands and in protecting them, commit acts seemingly prompted by hatred, delusion and ill-will.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ seems to be through your ignorance of Buddhist history.
Land is by itself not sacred but it becomes sacred by virtue of the sacred purpose for which it had been offered. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Therefore, your reference to Vasala sutta and the rest has no relevance to why a land ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ is considered ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-sacredƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ by the Buddhists.
You say Mr.Senaratne: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦. that a land becomes a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”sacredƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ (or Buddhist) land not by anything else but only by the words and deeds of those inhabiting that land. Even a place of religious worship would lose its sacredness if, in the guise of religion, all manner of nefarious activities are carried out therein. In such cases, your virtuous neighbourƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s backyard becomes more sacred than the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”sacredƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ land or place of worshipƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
But all what you say is rank nonsense. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ You state those irrelevancies, through your failure to have investigate why land could be ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-sacredƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ before writing your article. When a Buddhist Monastery is built along with a Temple, it has to be maintained. As the monks devoted their time to meditate, study the scriptures or write commentaries, they did not have the time to prepare their meals, cultivate the land and grow vegetables for consumption, performs the religious rituals, and prepare ceremonies etc. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
So what the King did when he constructed a Monastery and a Temple for worship was to donate a large extent of land to the temple. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Temple in turn gave lands to various people who in return performed various services to the Monastery and the Temple. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There were the drummers who performed religious rights and participated in temple ceremonies, the land was given to people for cultivation to provide paddy, and other agricultural produce for the well being of the monks. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There were others who cooked the meals and kept the Monastery and the Temple clean. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
These lands given to the people to perform various services were sacred land that cannot be sold. And consequently all that land offered by a King to a Monastery and a Temple became ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-sacred temple landƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, which cannot be sold out to any one outside the temple. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ And the owner ship of the land by the temple is eternal. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Therefore no one can put up a building on a temple land and reside in it for a number of years and then claim it as his land, as that land would always belong to the temple.
Then you say a whole lot ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ things you do not seem to have understood.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ You say, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-.. However, these are not ideal times and ideal societies. Laws and regulations can be enacted empowering ministers and other officials to declare a particular territorial area a sacred land.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
If you refer to lands reserved for places of worship as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-puja bhumiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, these are not new land that has ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ been declared ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-sacred landƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ but these are the original land offered to a place of worship demarcated by providing ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ new visible boundaries, so that the place will not be desecrated ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by putting up buildings and other unauthorised constructions.
Then you continue your harangue , ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-And of course, this is not a practice limited to Buddhists alone. But when mob violence is seen to be propagated, as was done in Dambulla on the 20th of April ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” when a number of Buddhist monks and laymen stormed a mosque in Dambulla and demanded the dismantling of that mosque ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” we know, very well, that something is not quite right; not only in the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”sacredƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ land of Dambulla, but also in this supposedly Buddhist-country.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Nothing is wrong Mr. Senaratne in this supposedly Buddhist-country, but what is wrong is the way you look at it without knowing the history of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-supposedly Buddhist-countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
Then you write on the Dambulla mob attack, putting the whole blame on the Buddhist priests, it is worth quoting:
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The immediate concerns arising from the unfortunate vulgarity exhibited by some Buddhist monks and their lay followers have been already highlighted. In what was said by some of the protesting monks, there are the obvious traces of violence, racism, religious extremism and that burning desire, if necessary, to cleanse the territory concerned of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”otherƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ (the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”otherƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, in this case, being the follower of the Islamic religion). How this plays out politically ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” domestically and internationally, both against the country and against Buddhism ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” is easy to understand ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ is an unnecessary , unfair attack without looking at the problem objectively , and leaving room for nefarious activities of followers of some religions to mark there ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-rightsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ by placing a statueƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ or converting a shop to a prayer room to later claim that place so ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-markedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ as their rightful place of worship and construct a place of ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ their religion adjacent to an ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ existing place of ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ worship on a land ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-sacredƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to that existing place of worship having received it as an offering by an ancient King.
In that case that Temple has the right to reclaim its ownership to the land on which unauthorised ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ religious activities are being carried out . ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The fault in that case is not that of the Buddhist priests or the supporters( Dayakayas) of the temple, but it is the fault of the people who have used a temple land as a place of prayer with the ulterior motive to claim that land later as theirs by the mere fact that they had prayed in a place there on that land.
It is unnecessaryƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to go through SenaratneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ very long article,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ as ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ what has been written above may perhaps make him understand ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ why the Buddhists Monks have taken up the issue in Dambulla ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and demand the removal of the Islamic Prayer room which is on temple land.
May 14th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
Dear Charles, Are you trying to say that all these thugs in yellow robes should be treated the same way as your well-disciplined village monk. Then, where were you in late fifties when the police rounded up Buddharakitha, the Head Monk of Kelaniya Vihara, a very sacred temple for Buddhists in Sri Lanka and successfully prosecuted him for conspiracy to murder then Prime Minister Mr. S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike. If you don’t remember that Google it and read it. So Please don’t try to white wash petty criminals just because they try to cover their criminality with a sacred yellow robe.
If you are not convinced what I say, I strongly recommend you to watch these you tube clips and see the disgraceful and criminal behaviour of these monks. They have no moral nor legal rights to take law into their hands and destroy someone else’s place of worship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2O_B2sxTkU&feature=relmfu
In your write up, you have deliberately missed couple of important points.
1.The Muslim prayer room what you are talking about, is located outside the temple boundaries and in the adjacent shopping area where Muslims, Tamils and Buddhists run their boutiques serving the pilgrims.
2. Muslims being so religious, they usually pray five times a day. As a practising Buddhist I can’t see any harm in providing prayer room for them even within the temple premises. If we can provide Kovils for many Hindu gods and goddesses within the temple premises in Sri Lanka why can’t we extend our kind and compassionate gesture to the Muslim community also?
3. In England, we always allocate prayer room for visiting Middle Eastern business people in our office environment. Taking all these exposure to consideration, I wonder whether we have come to a silly situation in Sri Lanka where we can’t tolerate and respect any other religions anymore?
4. And that shows the ignorance (Avijja) of the very basic concept of what Buddha taught us “Ahimsa”- thought of harmlessness. This is one of the three constituents of right thought (samma sankappa) and the second factor of the Eightfold Path.
May 14th, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Charles and NeelaMY,
There are two other sides of this issue.
1. Please investigate properly whose land is this. This land belong to Muslims because it was sold to them by the temple, as I am informed at the moment. This may not be the truth too. But please check before you write.This priest has done harm to Buddhism than good. That too you have to accept.
Haning said that, one cannot build a temple or mosque just because he owns the land. He should get approval for that. So, it appears that this place is a place of worship only not a mosque. But it will turn into a mosque in no time, by bribing politicians.
2. Muslims buying over the Sinhala lands is taking place for a long time now. (20-30 years). They are building more and more mosques. And psat 10-15 years some of them started to claim that they originated from some sacred race in Saudi Arabia. More and more Goni Billas have become apparent ( excuse me Neela, I know your wife is Muslim originalally, she should have been converted to Buddhism if you have been kind eneough to let her read some Buddhism ). In Colombo, it looks like a Muslim country and and Negambo it looks like a Christian country.
May 14th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Political Buddhism?
What rubbish?
Why can’t he talk of political Islam? Political Hinduism and political Christianity?
Take the Dambulla incident. How many Buddhist politicians got involved? NONE. How many Muslim politicians got involved? PLENTY. ALL SLMC MPs, Moulana, Fowzi, Hasheem and all the rest.
How many times Kasippu Joseph and the Jaffna bishop get involved in politics? Almost every day!
How many times the Anglican bishops Chikera, Kaldera get involved in politics? Almost every day!
Eran is a Evangelical missionary and he is a MP.
How many Hindu priests in funny robes got involved in politics? Some even came down from India!
Why this BIAS?
We have to seperate religion from politics. But that should happen to ALL religious groups NOT just Buddhism. SELECTIVELY targeting ONE religion is racism.
May 14th, 2012 at 4:38 pm
Dham,
“Neela, I know your wife is Muslim originalally”
Come on Dham, this is IRRELEVANT to the argument.
I 100% agree SL MUST remain a Buddhist country as the Constitution says. There is NO WAY SL can be a SECULAR country or a multi religious country. People of ALL religions can live in SL as eqaul citizens while it remains a Buddhist country.
OTOH if it becomes a Muslim country, non-Muslims cannot live! If it becomes a Hindu country non-Hindus cannot live. We can see this in the neighbourhood – India, Pakistan, Kashmir, etc.
So SL MUST remain a Buddhist country for all to live peacefully.
May 14th, 2012 at 6:07 pm
My dear all,
Charles is a person who should be respected by all who value his contribution to the peace of the country. Whatever said and done Charles is a person of substance. No one is perfect. Give and take we are all human. Undoubtedly Chikera, Rayappu and Saundranayagam have mixed up politics with religion together with Enmanuel. They are involved with seperatist movement. The whole blame in Dambulla affair goes to the GoSL. So far GoSL has not stepped in to settle the matter peacefully. GoSL neglecting its responsibility purposely to divert the attention of masses from the spiraling cost of living. When 126 billion rupees have been pocketed by the politicians and the banks are not revealing the names of the debtors who do we turn to? Hillary or Manmohan. Bank loans offered to the politicians without any colateral to import luxury vehicles and some are air lifted, these are the burning issues. Why are you silent about this? Organise a camaign like in Ice land. The next revolution has already begun in Iceland.
May 14th, 2012 at 6:44 pm
Karunanayake and Ranil meet Mahinda Rajapakse to save Karunanayake going to jail on charges of corruption of 2 million dollars investment of LTTE money. When SF comes out Karunanayakam goes in. Is Karunanayakam the next in line to cross over with an offer of massive bank loan from the state banks without any colateral?
May 14th, 2012 at 7:25 pm
NeelaMaha Yodaya, Let’s talk about Islam. Do you know why WOMEN are not allowed in the Mosque? I bet you don’t. This is what happend at the Mosque. Every one in the village has to attend mosque on Friday. So no one is in the village. MULLA starts by making every one bend to say the prayers, men and woman. MULLA also bends looking in front, so no one looks back. A young boy fell in love with a young girl and they wanted to make love. Both the Girl and the Boy agreed to have sex while every one was praying. So the girl got her friends and the boy got his friends to surround them so that no one will notice it. But a jealous boy crept under crowed and alerted the girls father. When the girl’s father saw what was going on, took his knife and cut the penis of the boy. Boy’s father then stabbed the Girl’s father. Girl’s mother then Stabbed the boy’s mother. Boy’s 8 yera old brother cut the throat of the Girl’s mother. MULLA then found the jealousy boy who started this and stabbed him after cutting his penis. After one hour no one was alive in the Mosque and in the village. When no one came to visit MOHAMED he decided to visit the village. After seeing the two boys, without penises, he knew what happed. HE BANED ANY WOMAN coming near a Mosque he also orded that MULLA face the gathering. Women had to stay one mile away from a Mosque. This is why today, NO WOMAN can attend a Mosque. Now you know what this religion is about. As you state Muslims pray five times a day, then where is the time to do a honest job. Unless one get an allowence from Soudi Arabia like you do.
May 14th, 2012 at 7:26 pm
The Buddhist monk concerned made a wrong claim that Muslim men came to the island and married Sinhala women. This is not true. Surely inter-marriages happen but blaming one ethnic group for it (or even blaming anyone for that matter) is not right.
Arabs came to the island since pre-historic times. Silk Road was the main reason for their arrival. The prime of the Silk Road was before the introduction of Islam. Arabs who came to the island and settled down ended up becoming Sinhala Buddhists.
Muslims of Sri Lanka are South Indian immigrants after the 13th century. They speak south Indian langauges even today. No Arab would ever learn south Indian langauges!
Most of them would have ended up as Sinhala Buddhists because a small ethnic community cannot sustain itself. Look what happened to the European, African, Chinese or Jewish communities in Sri Lanka. Due to their small size, they got absorbed into the majority community.
Only when the rate of integration is smaller than the rate of immigration can a foreign ethnic group can establish in an island. This happened close to the Portuguese times for Muslims. Most of them married Tamil women either from the small Tamil community that was begining to emerge in the island or from South India. Very few would have married Sinhalese women. The status of women in these 2 communities make it almost impossible for Sinhalese women to marry Muslims at that time. On the other hand, Tamil women did not hold equal status as men making them more likely to marry Muslims.
Using untruths to incite dislike and disgust for a community is not what I would want to see from a monk.
I’m not writing this against Charles but against the monk who went on rampage in Dambulla. Charles is a proven and long standing patriot capable of looking at all sides of problems.
May 14th, 2012 at 7:36 pm
What some fail to see is the political fall out the incident creates that is detrimental to the nation.
On one side there is the international aspect. Will the Islamic countries stand by us in 2013 as in 2012? Propogation of Islam is one of their key foreign policy issues. We need not pander into it but the incident is a threat even to religious freedom. These countries can take the easy way out of not voting.
Then the more important local aspect. One main thrust open to the government to defeat Tamil homeland madness is to allow a Muslim chief minister in the east. As mentioned by many writers TNA vehemantly oppose this. However, if provincial councils are to remain, this is the best way to kill Tamil homelands. For it to work, Muslims and Sinhalese must be together as it was always in the Eastern Province. Creating divisions between the two communities allows TNA to become needlessly powerful in the east which they lost in 2010.
Ethnic groups in the east are – Tamil 40%-45%, Others – 55%-60%. However, Tamils tend to vote for communal parties so they can reach 30%-40% of the vote. Others are divided between UNP and UPFA with 30% to 35% each. If SLMC contests seperately that further strengthens the TNA. This is why it is crucially important to keep Sinhala-Muslim unity to kill and bury Tamil homelands nonsense.
Containing the spread of Islam and other minority religions must be done through the management of the economy. If Muslims control more than their ethnic percentage (11%) of the economy, mosques will spread faster. This is what needs correcting.
May 14th, 2012 at 10:58 pm
Dear Lorenzo,
This is Just to inform you that my wife is also a Sinhala Buddhist, a descendant of that great union of Wijaya singhe of Singhe dynasty of ancient Bengal and Hela dynasty of Queen Kuwani of ancient Hela Dveepa and the identity now known as Singhe-hela or Sinhala. Unlike you who is a descendent of Lorenzo de Almeda, a recent invader of Hela Dveepa.
May 15th, 2012 at 1:50 am
As per KIT ATHUL “why muslim ladies do not go mosque for the love with boys . ok I agree with him no problem muslims making love in their homes but BUDIST are making love in the temple which one is good also muslim boys are go to budist temple why to look and make love with girls. other thing the monks (sadu) remove their cloths to show all hide things to people in Dambule you belive these are religion leaders. also I like to tell you bring all your house maids from Gulf countries then what will happen . Just try once . we all will beg from outsiders with our wifes and kids. if take statistics more budist womens are working in middle east.
May 15th, 2012 at 2:53 am
As per Lorenzo no budist political members invoilved in Dambulla incident . yes you are correct , there were hiding behind the cloth and the public and monks were involving in this incident. but muslims political leaders are came front they did not hide behind the cloth.
May 15th, 2012 at 3:09 am
Dear Neela,
I NEVER told anything about your wife (or anybody’s anyone). It was another commentator. Too bad you have been smoking.
I would NOT do that. You may apologise like a true gentleman.
I only pointed out to him the IRRELEVANCE of dragging your wife into the conversation.
I don’t descend from Lorenzo de Almeda. It is just a handle as you use NeelaMakaYoda.
Have a nice day.
May 15th, 2012 at 3:11 am
Kit,
I don’t think that’s the reason. In ancient middle east only men prayed in gatherings.
May 15th, 2012 at 3:15 am
SF will be released before Friday to face war crimes investigations later.
Chaos in JVP and UNP will erupt as their leader will TRY (but fail) to take over the leadership. But this soldier will NOT give up without a FIGHT.
May 15th, 2012 at 3:55 am
Lorenzo,NeelaMy,
I did not syat any bad thing. I excused for wiritng about Muslim expansion since I got to know NMY wife is from Muslim community and I respected that. I have no problem with Muslim or even Tamil communities.
I assumed this becauuse NMY said so. Please read his comment in
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2012/04/29/dambulla-incident-we-need-rule-of-justice-equality-to-prevail-not-the-laws-of-the-jungle/
To be honest, I am not so proud to be Sinhala. But I speak for justice, just as both of you do.
When you see your neighbourhood dissapear and become a Muslim village as Muslims bought land using Drug or Oil money you feel sad. This is exactly what is happening near my birth place. It is not racism. It is the truth. Where the hell these money came from ?
May 15th, 2012 at 4:25 am
Lorenzo, NeelaMY,
I read it again and I have not read it properly. My sincere apology to NeelaMY and to Lorenzo too!
May 15th, 2012 at 4:46 am
Dham,
No need of an apology. You didn’t mean anything bad.
“When you see your neighbourhood dissapear and become a Muslim village as Muslims bought land using Drug or Oil money you feel sad. This is exactly what is happening near my birth place.”
OF COURSE!
This MUST be stopped one way or the other. Allow me to bring Ben Silva. He was saying the same thing. Only problem is he advise to disregard Buddhism to protect it! This is like devolution! You have to divide to unite!
The eight noble paths CANNOT save us and Buddhism. That was NOT how our kings saved it. We can follow the noble path AFTER the future is assured. Now the future of Buddhism is in MORTAL danger.
There is another point. When USA, etc. rob Libyan, Iraqi, etc. oil, etc, we should not complain. At least those terrorists are doing something about this. If Iran and Saudi can be robbed likewise this oil-money-Islam problem will be over.
Otherwise there will be Saddam Hussein town, King Farad town, Gadafi town, etc. island wide. Oil MUST be REMOVED from these fundamentalists.
May 15th, 2012 at 5:59 am
One of the big problems in Lanka is that Sinhala Buddhists are generally considered a ‘naive, push over’ sort of group to be exploited by various others. Buddhists are supposed to be predictably gentle, unassuming and withdrawing, easily led to anarchy too ! – not a suitable image for present day climate in terms of SURVIVAL. It is time to change this image to one of being a savvy, tough survivalist group, whilst being just and fair to all others. The Law of the land must prevail for everyone in every matter.
Since we are still discussing the aftermath of the Dambulla incident, let us go back to the Dambulla incident. Here are some pertinent facts & questions:
In the ancient times, the King gifted the Temple Lands to a particular Temple. We assume that even after gifting the land, the King &his Court had a say in how that land was to be used. Generally, land had been given on loan to Dayakayas who looked after the needs of the Temple. In the present day, the rules have changes. What are the new rules ? Who makes the rules ? We, the Public, like to know the answers. Could someone with knowledge in these matters please let us know.
(1) We have it from good authority that it is on Temple Land that the unauthorised ‘mosque’ is located.
(2) Who is in charge of lease or otherwise, of Temple Land throughout Lanka ? Is it the Temple Trustees ? Who leased the Temple Land of Dambulla ? Was it the MP for the area or the Temple Trustees ? Is the MP also a Temple Trustee ?
(3) What are the laws governing leasing of Temple Land ?
(4) Can temple land be leased out to non-Dayakayas to build other religious structures ? or any structure for that matter.
(5) What rules govern leased out Temple land ?
etc.
We would like to see the Dambulla incident sorted out in the Courts so that the Public learns the facts behind it all.
May 15th, 2012 at 7:09 am
The person who wrote that article to the Ground View did not know what sacred land is. He thinks any Minister could declare a land sacred. Therefore I wrote the history of Buddhism in the frirst few paragraphs. And added that a prayer room if it is on the Temple land and for what ever period it had been used the Temple can reclaim the land. Please read before commenting.
The Priest I am told by those who I spoke to is a person who defends the interest of the people. When a Minister opened a liquor Bar in Dambulla it was he apparently who took up the case to remove the Bar. It was apparently the same Priest who opposed the construction of the Hotel at the Kandalama wewa, but President Ranasinghe allowed its construction.
In order to establish a good communal relationship, when reconciliation has become the vogue word, each community should respect each others religion and culture and resort to dialogue to settle issues. And if some one is encroaching upon a land which is a Temple land then it is right that such land is given back to the rightful owner without allowing an error stand in the way of communal unity.
I am in Sri Lanka temporarily. I like to listen to what people say about news which is “actuality” and I write what I hear as an article adding what I think is useful as background information and giving my views of the news item.
When I read an article and find that there are irrelevancies I try to write an article in reply, to correct what I think is wrong.
May 15th, 2012 at 10:56 am
With you, Mr Charles Perera, all the way ! and our many thanks for your untiring efforts to help your motherland ! There are very few people of your calibre who are committed to raise the Sinhala Buddhist community from the depths of despair that they had fallen into.
On the whole, we like the attitude of our feisty Buddhist Chief Prelate from Dambulla too. He and small group have set out alone to correct some bad moves by unthinking Others against the Sinhala Buddhist society. Hope he and his companion priests (or monks) learn the Law of the land and take all future such matters to Courts and use their knowledge to help the Buddhist flock . He will make a fine lawyer, we are sure of that.
On another relevant note, the Dalai Lama is using part of his Peace Prize money to educate young Tibetan Buddhist priests in Science. This is a bold move and we applaud his courage & ground breaking thinking in implementing new ideas to advance the Buddha Sasana into wider areas of study and creative thinking.
May 15th, 2012 at 11:15 am
Dear Lorenzo
I am very sorry for posting a blunt reply. I posted that reply in the morning without reading your post completely and properly. Please accept my sincere apologies. By the way, I respect your moderate views on this issue and we need more liberal thinkers to educate our young generation.
May 15th, 2012 at 2:12 pm
Dear Neela,
Thank you.
BTW I don’t think I have moderate views on this. We need the RIGHT view not moderate or extreme views on these matters. My opinion. If Sakra tells me we need devolution of power to any ethnic group or that we should not have killed the terrorists, I tell him to go jump in Lake Superior.
Always value and respect your views which reflect the general consensus in SL.
May 15th, 2012 at 2:16 pm
Charles,
MOST good people like to take the easy SLIDE than the hard climb.
If we had taken the easy slide in August 2006, we are history by now.
May 15th, 2012 at 2:22 pm
pokirimama,
“I like to tell you bring all your house maids from Gulf countries then what will happen.”
Simple. YOUR housemaids will go there instead!
It is reciprocal if you understand English. You give, we give. You take, we take!
How Muslims are treated in SL depends on how Muslims treat others in Muslim countries.
May 15th, 2012 at 4:54 pm
Charles, you made a small mistake on the comments you put on May 15th 7.00 am. Who are you referring to: President Ranasinghe?
Dham is correct. This is in the Khoran!, first buy the land near a village that is not muslim. At that time Jews and Christians lived there. In the Kohran they are called MIS BELIEVERS and others who are MUSLIMS, are called believers. Next buy all the land the Mis beleivers have once who refuse to sell the land and become Muslims are killed. This is how this religion was spread. One has to look at both sides of the story. If this priest defends the people and the Buddhist religion, then what did he do for the last ten years? Why did he start this attack on the Geneva week. Tamils who attend the Geneva comerdy, took it up and said there is no religious freedom. I saw on Utube TV placed on Infolanka, one Prominent Sinhala man saying that this priest has been a UNP supporter all his life. As far as Muslims: Sinhala Buddhists must do what the KHRON states. (The word Assassin come from the Khron to English) Kill the Muslims at night so there will not be any Muslims in Dabmulla.
Lorenzo, the shir law book states my story about the fight at the mosque and why no women are allowd in the Mosque are true. Do you know how many Mosques were in Portugal 10 years ago? NONE. Do you know how many Mosques are there in Portugal today 18! and counting. Mosque building in SL must be controlled.
May 15th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
Kit,
You are right on Portugal.
But don’t forget history. Portugal SUCCESSFULLY halted and REVERSED Islamic expansion 500 years ago. Buddhists and Hindus cannot do it. ACCEPT it. Only Christians and Jews have ever done it. If SL is serious about it, get the experts to do it.
Owls are bad omens in many cultures. They are ugly and nasty too. But farmers invite them to their farms. Why? To get rid of rats. That’s right.
In SL many Buddhists don’t like to kill rats. But they keep cats. Cats do the job, gladly!!
May 16th, 2012 at 5:05 am
Dear Lorenzo,
Let’s tackle this problem together.
————–
Best put a Moratorium on all shrine building. We wish someone take a count of all the existing temples, mosques & churches in Lanka – we ought to be the most peaceful place on earth ! Instead of that we have become the Conversion Centre for Tamil Nadu escapees via illegal immigrants plus a stomping ground for all sorts of dissenting sectors.
Kit Athul,
We are aghast to learn that you think our Dambulla priest (or monk) did his protest just to help the UNP ! Is this really true ? I have some doubts on your theory. The Dambulla ‘mosque’ had earlier been some sort of ‘kade’ (shop), next a meeting place and ended up as a mosque – somewhat like the Arab, tent, & Camel story, a creeping take over, so it happened over a space of time. Didn’t a similar event take place near a Buddhist Temple in the A’pura area ? We think all this Mosque building is to accommodate a possible influx from the Maldives which seems to be going slowly under water due to global warming. That may become the next political bargaining point for Muslim leaders. Be prepared Lanka, and do not be caught off guard, as usual.
Let us not forget that Indonesia was a Buddhist country till the Krakatoa volcanic eruption and Buddhists there were told that the event happened because they were not Islamists, thus the conversion to Islam. Btw, the volcanoes and earthquakes continue to happen ! See what I mean ? Buddhists are gullible, it seems, and that is the greatest weakness of the Buddhist Nation.
We were presented with a suggestion via e-mails, not too long ago, that Crosses be planted in the sea to prevent Tsunamis. Such is the world today ……
Also, the same priest (or monk) had done other acts for justice to the Dambulla Temple area by removing a liquor shop. He had also attempted to get a hotel built on the bund of a tank during the Premadasa era (UNP) and failed – so how did you come to your conclusion ?
Let us not be ‘gullible gulls’ ! Smart, Preventive Care type thinking will save all Sri Lankans.
May 16th, 2012 at 6:04 am
Correcting an error. Please read as : “He had also attempted to STOP the building of a hotel on the bund of a tank ….”
May 16th, 2012 at 9:56 am
Fran Diaz, I agree with you 100% but lets leave the Monk aside. If your info is correct, then what ever he has done in the past is not relavent. We must stop MOSQUE BUILDING. WE MUST STOP TURKEY STARTING a consulate.
May 17th, 2012 at 3:19 am
Dear Lorenzo I take your challange we will bring all the budist girls, boys , ladies and gents from Middle east (Arab Countries) but you will think that all budist whoever working will return to Sri Lanka .NO, because these budist who are working in middle east are rich and living good so if you say to come back 1st they will kill you. but you are like that then stop bringing oil from ARAB MUSLIM COUNTRIES . use like your forefathers cart and donkeys to go here and there with you family .. you dont like muslims but you like only muslims oil