SACRILEGE AT ITS PEAK!

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando

To criticise, condemn or pass judgment on any religion is considered as an act of blasphemy, yet if religious pictures or sanctified statues are made use of, for business purposes, how would the general public react, particularly the Buddhists?

Buddhism is regarded as a tolerant religious conviction which advocates peace and harmony but in Winchmore Hill, a North London town in the UK, what stuck me personally, as a most horrendous and a mischievous act, was a Public House (Thompsons) using Buddha's head as an objet d'art. Here two giant statues made out of concrete adorn the main entrance, along with several other smaller models on the front wall of the building.

Not so long ago, Victoria Street, the famous American company, violated this rule and started printing Lord Buddha's pictures on ladies swimsuits and bikinis, which brought the whole hornets' nest upon the company by Buddhist devotees the world over by exerting pressure until they knuckled under with an apology. The result was the withdrawal of millions of such stocks from the world market.

Towards the middle of year 2006, British Home Stores in the UK, a popular chain of high street shops, similar to that of Marks and Spencer stature, jumped the gun and started selling 'Buddha Candles' - Buddha's head moulded into eye catching fashionable candles when lit melted into a pile of wax! This perturbed the Sri Lankan Buddhist expatriates in London, the consequence of which was that an editor of a Sinhala tabloid newspaper published in the UK felt this as a gross violation of theological ethics and took the matter up seriously by writing to the Sri Lanka High Commissioner with a request to make an official condemnation to the Management of British Home Stores !

Sri Lanka, being a Buddhist country, with a sufficient percentage of Buddhist expatriates now living in the UK, stern action against such evil acts would be justifiable as this type of behaviour goes against the very grain of one of the Precepts of Lord Buddha's guidance to man. (Sura Meraya Maggapama Dastana Veramani Sikka Padan Samadi Yami).

This dastardly act of the pub owner, who uses Lord Buddha's 'head', either deliberately or unwittingly, merely to fatten his bank balance by selling liquor to the public, needs to be brought to the attention of all Buddhist temples, Buddhist institutions, multi-faith organisations and thousands of Buddhist devotees of many nationalities now living in the UK, including that of Professor Gombridge, an eminent Buddhist scholar who has authored valuable books on Buddhism and lectures on Buddhist philosophy from the highest seats of learning in the UK, as a collective protest against it.

Imagine the fate of those violators if, for example, the symbol of the Holy Koran or heads of Jesus Christ or Mother Mary were to be erected in this manner !.

It is quite evident that the 'Buddha Head', made out of wood and concrete is increasingly becoming a kind of a fashionable artefact, to be used liberally in sitting rooms and in some of the British gardens ! True, Buddhism encourages patience and forbearance, but should Buddhists be acquiescent to such an extent and allowed to test their own level of patience ?

In my mind this particular glitch will fall into the category of one's responsibilities, one's job, one's mother country and the country's widely accepted religion, which was included in the pep talk given to all Sri Lankan diplomats working outside the country by President Mahinda Rajapakse last year, pinpointing their moral, ethical and administrative responsibilities during their tour of duty.

If the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in the UK has not been advised by any one so far about this unsightly scene in London, this letter is intended to draw her personal attention to it, so that she could, as in the case of the Buddha candles controversy, take remedial action officially on behalf of Sri Lanka, an immensely respected Buddhist country with over 2500 years of Buddhist history.

Dr. Tilak S. Fernando

11 March 2007