Buddhism: Saved by Constitution?

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

Unfolding events make me wonder whether it is the Constitution that would ultimately save Buddhism in Sri Lanka. I am not talking of saving Buddhism from external threats, for I fear the biggest threat to it comes from Buddhists themselves. Whilst claiming that we have the most pristine form of Buddhism they seem determined to disregard the liberating message of the Buddha and subjugate themselves to supernatural forces, as can been seen during this present distressing epidemic. I can understand the frustration of the man on the street, desperately seeking for something to save their livelihoods, but doubts have crept into my mind because of the actions of the so-called intelligentsia regarding the use of untested cures.

Talking of intelligentsia, I wonder whether I should include some politicians as well. Anyway, I do not have to dwell much on politicians as the excellent editorial “Putting the cart before the horse” (The Island, 14 December) sums up beautifully the erratic behaviour of those who govern us. Talking of intelligence, anyone with even an ounce of it would have been flabbergasted by the utterances of one politician who compared the discovery of “Kali Syrup” to the discovery of gravity by Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists of all time and was a key figure in the scientific revolution. Sir Isaac had to prove that his speculative discovery was correct by writing a thesis, which is considered a masterpiece.

It is rumoured that this idiotic politician is the political power behind the “Kali kapuwa”

Reading some of the comments on this issue by a scientist turned anti-science campaigner really disturbed me. After all, whilst he was the Dean of the Faculty of Science at the Kelaniya University, he claimed that god “Natha” had given him the information that chronic kidney disease in Rajarata was caused by arsenic. He is our ambassador to the Buddhist country from which two of our Nikayas obtained higher ordination. He condemns modern science as a Judeo-Christian invention and criticises the application of principles of science-based medicine for the assessment of the syrup formulated on the basis of advice from goddess “Kali”. He claims “prathyaksa” (experience) is a sufficient test! He seems to be supported by many ‘intellectuals’!

Interestingly, the abusive behaviour of the inventor of this syrup towards the Maha Nayaka of Atamasthana escaped criticism from most media, maybe because they promoted the syrup without justification. There was not much criticism from most of our vociferous Bhikkhus either. The learned professor/ambassador has added a new dimension to the controversy. He has stated that the kapuwa addressed the Maha Nayaka in that manner because the Maha Nayaka takes regular treatment from him and is aware that the kapuwa derives his knowledge from Kali. He goes on further to state that the Maha Nayaka usually addresses this kapuwa as “Meniyo”!

If this story is true, one has to assume that the guardian of the sacred Bo Tree, the oldest living human-planted tree in the world with a known planting date, is no respecter of the Buddha’s teachings. The Buddha took treatment from physicians of the day when he was ill. He neither went behind gods for treatment nor encouraged divine interventions of this sort. His attempts to save us from dependence on the supernatural seems to have been a total failure if you go by the interpretation of this Buddhist philosopher and the Maha Nayake, provided of course the narrative of this intellectual is correct.

The Buddha instructed the Sangha not to indulge in the occult or take part in disciplines like astrology or even medicine. What do our Bhikkhus do? There are plenty of “Veda Hamuduruwos”, “Nakshatra Hamuduruwos”, “Political Hamuduruwos” and even trade union leaders. Did the Buddha want Bhikkhus to take to politics?

After a protracted battle between two prominent Buddist monks, one has entered Parliament dashing the hopes of Buddhists who wished to have a Bhikkhu-free parliament. The Siyam Nikaya denies higher ordination to those who are not Radala or Govigama and justifies this on the basis of a supposed-to-be edict of a king, blatantly violating equality preached by the Buddha.

Talk to many Buddhists, they will come up with a list of external threats to Buddhism completely disregarding the greater threat; the internal one. It is not only the behaviour of Bhikkhus that is a threat to Buddhism but also the behaviour of many lay Buddhists too, who are nominal Buddhists. Go to any famous Kovil and you will find most who go there for favours are Buddhists. When one of my relations went to a Kovil to get the kapuwa to chant a seth-kaviya to save the marriage of her son, she found the mother-in-law of her son had beaten her to it; the latter had got the same kapuwa to recite a vas-kaviya! These gods must be having a tough time, deciding which side to take.

To digress slightly, a child specialist from my hometown Matara has raised the question “Why doubt only Kali’s cure?” (The Island, 22 December). After referring to the US president, who claimed he invaded Iraq as he heard God saying that there are Weapons of Mass Destruction and to the US commander, who claimed they won the war because his God was more powerful than Saddam Hussain’s God, he concludes the opinion piece with another question; “Can someone explain why the two powerful persons were not taken in the same perspective?” Obvious answer is that both are idiots who think that other idiots would believe their idiotic explanation!

What concerned me is the following comment “Now comes an indigenous medical man from Kegalle, with the power of God Kali, offering to cure Covid-19. Surely, he is not going to do as much damage as mentioned above, even if allowed to go in full potency (and I feel he will never be allowed).”

There is no end in sight to this epidemic, and the development of a highly transmissible mutation, identified in the UK, is very ominous. If Sri Lanka is unfortunate enough to get it, our health services would not be able to cope with it. The danger of promoting untested remedies is the neglect of proven preventive measures which may lead to a catastrophe.

Whilst I am not against constitutional recognition of the role Buddhism played in the evolution of the culture and heritage of Sri Lanka, I feel it is the bounden duty of we Buddhists to protect Buddhism instead of leaving that task to the Constitution.