Distorting Buddhism

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

Two recent glaring distortions of the life of the Buddha, in Sinhala newspapers, has compelled me to pen these thoughts. Contrary to the high standards maintained by most of the English language newspapers, I have been appalled by the journalistic standards of some of their Sinhala counterparts. True, Sinhala is a difficult language but if it is to be simplified, it should be done with the consensus of experts than by gross disregard of typography at the whims and fancies of editors. In spite of this, we love to watch programmes surveying Sinhala newspapers for a multitude of reasons and it has become a daily routine in our lives though, unfortunately, some of these programmes have of late become crude political tools and means for the glorification of some presenters. Headlines in Sinhala newspapers are a better indicator of ‘how the wind is blowing’ and, more importantly, the sharpest ‘weapon’ attacking politicians, sarcasm, is at its best in the poems and cartoons. Indian Prime Minister Modi honoured Sri Lanka and recognised the importance of Sri Lanka in Buddhism, by inviting a delegation from Sri Lanka to be the first to land officially at the newly developed Kushinagar International airport. A delegation consisting of 100 high-ranking Buddhist monks and some Ministers, led by Minister Namal Rajapaksa, arrived there on the inaugural SriLankan Airlines flight for the opening ceremony on Wednesday 20th, the Vap full moon Poya day.

A headline in one of the Sinhala newspapers, on 20th, stated that an airport in Prince Siddhartha’s place of birth was to be opened that day! How could the reporter confuse the place of Buddha’s Parinibbana with the place of birth Lumbini, which is in Nepal? The following day, another Sinhala newspaper, reporting on the opening ceremony with a beautiful photograph of our Monks walking in procession, had a poem as the headline. Unfortunately, the poem stated that Sangha with “Nava Arahadi Guna” were in procession. Even a child knows that the correct term is “Nava Arahadi Budu Guna” which refers to the Nine Noble Qualities of the Buddha! Considering that on many an occasion our editor has saved me from embarrassment by correcting inadvertent mistakes I have made; I find it puzzling that these glaring mistakes were not picked up by the respective editors. In many recent ‘Quiz shows’, Muslim children have shown surprising depth of knowledge about Buddhism and the life of the Buddha. Considering this, is it not appalling that reporters and headline writers make such inexcusable mistakes? To add insult to injury, not even the newspaper reviewers picked up on these howlers. Perhaps, they do not understand what a review means! I am beginning to wonder whether there are deliberate attempts at distortion as, for quite some time, there have been spurious claims made on the life of the Buddha, often by the members of the Sangha itself.

Instead of following the path the Great Teacher showed, some of them want to bolster their argument that Sri Lanka is the birthplace of the Buddha, in spite of confirmed archaeological evidence to the contrary. Recently, a friend of mine forwarded what appeared to be a clip of a news item, titled “The lawsuit uncovering the world’s biggest colonial scandal – Rediscovery of Bhudha’s true home land”. It stated that a lawsuit had been filed in the UK courts, by a Buddhist monk living in Norway, requesting that Sri Lanka be declared the place of birth of the Buddha and compensation be paid for British archaeologists distorting facts. This took me completely by surprise as I had not heard of any such action and my suspicions were aroused because there was no indication what the news channel was. I sent the following message to my friend:

“Did you forward this because you believe in what is stated?” and I got a vague reply. Fortunately, another friend forwarded the same message with additional information in the form of an audio clip, addressed to a Nayaka Priest in Sri Lanka, by a Bhikkhu living in London wherein he states that there is no such action pending and the person referred to is a person connected to the LTTE, living in Norway, pretending to be a Buddhist priest! When I googled to get details of the organisation this Norwegian Bhikkhu represents, there was no information about the person concerned, but there was a page seeking contributions!Maybe, this is an imposter out to make a fast buck, but we have enough ‘robed-men’ demonstrating behaviour in total contrast to the teachings of the Buddha. During the teacher’s strike, one of these who leads a nurse’s trade union, though not having any nursing experience at all, took the leader of the teacher’s union, who has not done even a day’s teaching, to the Prime Minister for a settlement.

Then there is the dirty spectacle of two politicians in robes fighting for a parliamentary seat! One of the fundamental teachings of the Buddha is “Tanhaya Jayati Soko”—Greed begets sorrow—but their greed seems endless! Interestingly, one these distinguishes himself by being in all the major parties and is now prepared to go to courts to retain his seat.We have Sangha Nayakas, “Adhi Karana” Judicial Sangha Nayakas but nothing seems to be happening to these men in robes who are a disgrace, to say the least, to the Buddha. I am told that an ‘Adhi Karana’ Sangha Nayaka for the UK also has been appointed recently. I cannot understand why all these Bhikkhus are driven by greed for positions. Perhaps, it is excusable if they at least serve a purpose. Buddhist principles are distorted and destroyed whilst those in authority are in a slumber. I do tender my humble apologies to many Buddhist monks around the world who render a great service in the true spirit of the Dhamma, and do hope these comments, in no way, hurt them. In fact, we are very fortunate to have three Venerable Monks in our local Vihara whom we can worship without any hesitation. I often wonder, whether the future of Buddhism is in the West!