Senaka Weeraratna

In 1953, Asoka Weeraratna, Founder and Honorary Secretary of the Lanka Dhammaduta Society, paid a second visit to Germany and surveyed Buddhist activities in that country. On this trip Asoka travelled widely all over Germany, i.e. Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Stuttgart, Bremen, Frankfurt, Bonn, and Cologne among others, meeting leaders of Buddhist organizations in various German cities > and enlisting their support for the cause of establishing the Buddha Sasana in Germany. He was also asked to inspect a suitable site for a  Buddhist Centre and Vihara, and a Settlement for lay Buddhists and Upasakas. 

In Hamburg, he met Dr. Helmut Palmie, President of the Hamburg Buddhist Society. Dr. Palmie was a Pali Scholar and an ardent Buddhist. Dr. Palmie convened a special meeting of the Hamburg  Buddhist Society on 10th March 1953, at the Belvedere Hotel, Warburgstrasse, Hamburg, on the occasion of Asoka’s visit. About 200 German Buddhists and friends of Buddhism attended the meeting which Asoka addressed. speaking on the aims of the Lanka Dhammaduta Society in propagating Buddhism in Germany and his talk in English was translated into German by Friedrich Muller (later to be known as Ven. Polgasduwe Nyanawimala). Asoka presented an ola-leaf book on the Buddha Dhamma to Dr. Palmie as a token of goodwill from the Lanka Dhammaduta Society( later renamed the German Dharmaduta Society). At this meeting, a German Buddhist named Herr Severloh-Mohr administered Pansil and gave a talk on Satipattana. Dr. Helmut Palmie followed with a talk on the fundamentals of the Dhamma. Friedrich Muller, later travelled to Ceylon on a plane ticket given by Asoka Weeraratna, arriving on June 05, 1953, at the Ratmalana Airport, on the condition that Muller would become a member of the first Dharmaduta Mission from Ceylon to Germany, planned for the Buddha Jayanthi in 1956. Friedrich Muller became a disciple (the last disciple ) of Ven. Nyanatiloka Maha Thera. He was ordained by Ven. Madihe Pannasiha Nayake Thera at the Vajiraramaya, under the name Nyanawimala. Muller wanted more time to study Buddhism and therefore he was not able to join the first Buddhist mission from Sri Lanka to Germany which comprised Ven. Soma, Ven. Kheminda and Ven. Vinita, all of whom were selected from the Vajiraramaya, Bamabalapitiya, Colombo 04. 

Asoka Weeraratna joined the Mission in Frankfurt and together they flew from Frankfurt to Berlin. On the same day i.e. July 02, > 1957, the Mission took up residence at Das Buddhistische Haus in Berlin – Frohnau. The Mission was sponsored by the German Dharmaduta Society. The World of Buddhism Magazine (April 1953) provides more details of Asoka Weeraratna’s visit to Hamburg in March 1953. It says as follows: ‘Several questions were asked by the audience and the meeting received good press” It adds: ” The Lanka Dhammaduta Society which sponsored this project under the inspiration of Mr. Weeraratna has provided funds for the printing of Buddhist pamphlets in German and for the regular free supply of two German Buddhist Magazines to the principal public and university libraries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland “. 

Asoka Weeraratna in a Report entitled ‘ Buddhism in Germany’ published in the form of a booklet, soon after his return to Sri Lanka in May 1953 comments on the Hamburg Buddhist Society as follows: ” I was greatly struck by the keen enthusiasm they all showed in Buddhism. The Hamburg Buddhist Society holds its meetings every Friday of the week at which lectures and discussions are conducted. The average attendance is between 30 to 40 persons”. 

Senaka Weeraratna