Buddhaagama: Triumph of Brahmanism

by Ananda Wanasinghe
ananda@slt.lk

Seventy percent of the population of Sri Lanka assert that Buddhaagama is their religion. That such a massive majority must significantly influence the socio-economic status of the country has been recognized in academic studies. President Gotabaya Rajapakse, at his virtual inauguration, gratefully acknowledged the role of Sinhala Buddhists who voted him to power with a massive majority. It was an authoritarian boast that mirrored an aristocratic mindset, which raised concerns of the ethnic and religious minorities.

Today the country is mired in internal strife ranging from rampant corruption, widespread poverty, to economic bankruptcy. Possibly 60 percent of the people live in varied ranks of hunger and privation. Seven decades of half-hearted Reformist Reform has failed. The country could be on the brink of frightening and painful Revolutionary Reform. The seeds of trouble could be traced to the end of the nineteenth century.

Buddhaagama

is a deviation from Buddhism – The dhamma that Buddha taught. This essay addresses the transformations of Buddhism that have influenced the contours of today’s Sri Lankan society with its spiritual and political framework, which has declined in morality and industriousness leading to the current hideous ruin. Buddhaagama became a national issue with its revival movement in the 19^th century. Its focus at that time was the extreme discrimination in education policy practiced by the colonial administration. Unfortunately, it has failed to instill a nationwide ethos of unity, discipline, and productive work. Now it impacts all national issues.

Dhamma is the universal reality (law) common to all, which Buddha discovered and addressed to the individual. Among its first principles are (1) Inviolability of cause and effect. (2) Impermanence of all component things. (3) Desire of all sentient beings to be safe, well, and happy. (4) Mind is the forerunner of all phenomena. (5) Impeded desire is the cause of sorrow. (6) The noble eight-fold path leads to Nirvana. Buddha claimed that he derived all concepts in dhamma through Intelligent Inquiry (yathabhutam gnanadassanam) – Examining things as they are, with wisdom. This is the fundamental principle that sustains the entire Buddhist philosophy. Blind acceptance of the dhamma out of devotion and reverence, even for the Buddha himself, was explicitly rejected.

In the 6th century B.C., the long-established Brahmanism, an extreme patriarchal and cast-ridden religion was confronted by Buddhism – The new revolutionary, rational, philosophy of life based on cause and effect; with man being supreme among all living entities. Buddhism enabled the righteous principled underpinning of statecraft, that the ruler (king) is not the owner of the nation’s resources, but only the guardian of those assets. His sole purpose was to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the nation’s people as well as its environment for the benefit of the future generations.

Hostile action against Buddhism commenced in the time of the Buddha himself. Eighteen centuries later in Sri Lanka, it peaked with the brutal depredations of Raja-raja followed by Magha. These Chola invaders indulged in indiscriminate plunder and destruction and gave precedence to fostering Saivite Hinduism among the peoples of Lanka. Everything that was Buddhist was forced into decline – never so far, to rise again.

Buddhagama as religion

Eventually, practices of Brahmanism got entrenched into Buddhist customs and veneration. The pantheon of Hindu gods was adopted by the people who found greater comfort in their supposed divine support and protection, rather than in reflecting on reality and acting accordingly. Latter-day monks, having given up intelligent inquiry were swayed by the tales of miracles. They reinvented the Buddha with 32 imagined bodily signs, still watching over us from nirvana. That Buddha attained anupadisesa nirvana (complete extinction of everything he ever was, in mind and body) at Kusinara is quite forgotten.

The resulting changes have effectively made Buddha the chief god. Today, even to a casual observer, there is hardly any difference, in veneration in Buddhist temples and in Hindu kovils. Religious tracts are recited in languages not understood by the respective devotees – Pali and Sanskrit. Lamps are lit – food, flowers, and incense, are offered to statues. In the kovils, prayers are tendered to the statues of several gods, and the Lingam. Buddha statues and the Bo tree are similarly venerated in the temples. (To psychologists, a tree is a phallic symbol.) While the ascetic Siddhartha gave-up all attachments under the Bo tree, those who today claim to be his followers pray to the Bo tree for everything including babies!

Now, bodhi pooja are commercially advertised in newspapers and on electronic media! All activities of worship in temples are done with two objectives. One is to accumulate merit for the journey through samsara and the other is to pray for prosperity and protection in this life. In Brahminism, caste-based segregation and exploitation is compulsory religious routine. Buddha vehemently rejected the concept of caste-by-birth and associated discrimination. Yet, caste differences continue to be accepted and upheld, even by monks. Dismissal of intelligent inquiry and acceptance of superstitious ritualism along with trust in astrology, led the noble Buddhist philosophy to degenerate into Buddhagama – The triumph of Brahminism!

What could be done?

A nation-wide campaign for social reform is essential. If the constitutional requirement to “Protect and foster the Buddha Saasana” remains in force, insistence on the reform of Buddhist practice is essential. People’s money should not be wasted on enterprises that are clearly at variance with the substance of the dhamma. This would require holding a Dhamma Sanghayana (council) among scholarly and senior monks with the participation of learned laymen and respected members of other religions. The project should be insisted-on and driven by the government. Politicians and businessmen in yellow robes should be strenuously kept away, even if they are PhDs.

Future planning for economic recovery and development of Lanka may benefit from considering a few relevant issues from non-traditional development approaches. Economist Earnest Schumacher, author of the famed book ‘Small is beautiful’ in an essay captioned, ‘Buddhist Economics’ (1966) wrote “From an economist’s point of view, the marvel of the Buddhist way of life is the utter rationality of its pattern – Amazingly small means leading to extraordinarily satisfactory results.” Henry David Thoreau an American philosopher and author practiced simple living in natural surroundings and reflected on the advantages. Bhutanese are exploring the pursuit of Gross National Happiness. A sustainable world is economically feasible if there is an end to mindless growth and if the rich people could be convinced to change how they live. Will the rich-world accommodate a reduced growth rate in the name of planet-wide sustainable development?

If early in the 20^th century, Sinhala Buddhist leaders and senior monks realized the apprehensions of the minority communities about their future in a Sinhala dominated country, they would then have addressed the worries of the minorities in a spirit of humanism as prescribed in Buddhism. Then, leaders of all communities would have seen the realities, and with wisdom collectively, planned and executed the development of this nation. By now, we would be a friendly, caring, people freed of superstition and ignorance. Our population would have stabilized at less than fifteen million. Our schools, universities, and health institutions would be among the best in the world. With social security assured for every citizen, we would be among the happiest people in the world, living in pristine surroundings of vast forest cover teeming with wildlife, bubbling streams, and shimmering lakes. That would have been within, the scope of Buddha’s expectations – Wellbeing and welfare of men living in a cared-for Earth.