Vesak under lockdown; A welcome change?

BY Dr. Sarath Gamini De Silva

Having listened to an erudite monk in a YouTube interview lamenting the decline of the Vesak celebrations, I thought of having a relook at the issue. His main contention was that these celebrations, though with greater bias to amisa pooja, is an essential part of our cultural heritage which should be preserved at any cost. It was recalled that Vesak was the main national celebration from the time of Sinhala kings. The monk surmised that this religious festival is being downgraded by governments or other non Buddhist influences. He expressed fears that apart from the Dalada Perahera in Kandy, all other Buddhist festivals will be of little value soon.

It was further stressed by the monk that making Vesak lanterns at home, constructing pandals and organising dansals actually embraced core values preached by Buddha. There was unity in the family while making lanterns at home. How lanterns made with much effort perish with a short spell of rain is supposed to demonstrate the impermanence of all matter. The prominence given to artists and artisans in constructing pandals and other decorations and the sense of giving practiced in dansals no doubt are beneficial aspects of the Vesak celebrations as we have known it. All these were prominent by their absence during periods of restricted activities as we are seeing now.

However, a fresh look at all these is warranted, in the background of what has been happening over many years now. With the globalization of all activity, there is intense commercialization of almost all aspects of human life. With their increasing change over to urban life, most of the day is being spent for earning a living. Children have no time to spare from busy school schedules. Thus there is little space to engage in tasks like making lanterns. It has become more convenient to buy the ready-made lanterns or more decorative imported ones. The printed messages, even inappropriate ones on these lanterns, are not of concern to anyone. Lanterns are covered with polythene protecting them from rain, but eventually adding to environmental pollution. Erecting pandals used to be an activity lasting weeks for the village youth. Various pictures painted in vivid colours depicting Jataka stories were expressing the artistic talents of those involved. Now of course there are ready made pandals owned by businessmen which can be leased out for a considerable amount of money and are assembled at short notice. Same pandal could be seen at different towns in successive years. Electrical illuminations, the most attractive part in a pandal, are also a collection of readily assembled pieces. Of late, decoration of streets with Vesak lanterns has been assigned to armed forces with their emblems prominently displayed on each lamp.

As for dansals, they used to be a collective effort with contributions from townsfolk so that all got a chance to take part in the meritorious activity. Now it so happens that a few wealthy individuals or business establishments fund them. With prominently displayed banners they are a form of commercial advertisement for those contributing. It has also become high fun for youngsters to wave flags and stop vehicles to offer ice cream or soft drinks to occupants. They appear to be blissfully ignorant of the whole concept of giving as preached by the Buddha, though some may argue that giving in any form is to be encouraged.

The “adulteration” of Vesak celebrations is the culmination of various undesirable trends in the name of Buddhism throughout the years. Much prominence is given to ritualistic amisa pooja so that following the practical path for emancipation (prathipaththi pooja) has taken backstage. The ritual aspects of the religion are taking preference over the philosophy, though there appears to be greater awareness of the fundamentals of the dhamma among laymen, mainly the older generation. Nowadays, there may be more people observing sil or engaging in meditation at least on Poya days. It is not an easy task to keep youngsters away from so many distractions in the globalised, commercialized world. That is why it is all the more important to see that they are given at least a basic understanding of the universal truth preached by the enlightened one.

Poojas with hundreds of thousands of flowers and thousands of oil lamps covering the precincts of holy sites and wrapping hundreds of meters of cloth round the dagabas are commonplace now. Imagine hundreds of atapirikaras kept round large dagabas or lorry loads of fruit laid on the ground as offerings! These supposedly meritorious activities that cost large amounts of money can enlighten the thoughts in the devotees temporarily, catering to their blind faith. But they are unlikely to contribute much to the path of decent living, emancipation or enlightenment as preached by the Buddha. These rituals are organized by monks, some of them considered “specialists” in the respective activities. These monks should ideally impress upon the ignorant devotees the need for practicing what Dhamma teaches rather than be content with such extravagant rituals.

Never ending construction of all kinds of buildings in temples is a common sight now. A few resemble permanent building sites rather than places of worship. Many Buddhist monks are surrounded and patronized by lay people who are ever ready to dole out large amounts of funds (probably earned without much effort) for these non essential activities. There are some monks who induce even not so well to do devotees to part with funds they can ill afford. Such lavish expenditure is undertaken in a country with many temples in remote areas where the resident monks are not guaranteed even the next meal. Poverty, malnutrition and homelessness are rampant everywhere. Instead of spending on new buildings for temples already amply endowed, poverty alleviation funds for the upliftment of the suffering masses should be established. Such acts would be more in keeping with the teachings of the enlightened one.

Vesak on a subdued scale during the pandemic could be a blessing in disguise. It is a time for reflection. The essential practices like observing sil, engaging in meditation, listening to dhamma sermons, etc., would have been followed in full by the laymen at home with all the services provided by the electronic media. However it was a sad spectacle to see the temples being deserted. They are the centres that are essential for the sustenance of the sasana. There is no doubt people in their masses will return when the situation eases. Vesak decorations on a small scale were limited to residences and the immediate surroundings of the temples. The money spent on them would have been a tiny fraction of what used to be.

To return to the erudite monk lamenting on the demise of Vesak celebrations, let me reassure him that there is a silver lining in every dark cloud. Nature has shown what Buddhists should practice. It is the noble duty of learned monks to show them the right path.