SRI LANKA – the land of the Dhamma

“Sri Lanka, popularly known as the land of the Dhamma enjoys the rare distinction of preserving the Buddha’s doctrine in its pristine form”, writes our guest columnist penning a brief history of Sri Lanka exclusively for Dhammanet. This short article gives the reader a bird’s eye view of Sri Lankan Buddhist heritage, highlighting the historical significance she has played in preserving Buddhism for posterity.

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Sri Lanka, popularly known as the land of the Dhamma enjoys the rare distinction of preserving the Buddha’s doctrine in its pristine form.The island formally received Buddhism in the third century B.C, as a result of the Indian Emperor Asoka’s missionary activity. His son Arahant Mahinda visited Sri Lanka and preached the Buddha’s doctrine in the native language. And it is said that before his demise the local literature on the new doctrine was so large that if all the manuscripts were heaped together, it would reach the height of seven well grown elephants standing one on top of the other. The numerous archaeological sites and cave inscriptions testify to the rapid spread of Buddhism throughout the island during this initial stage

The Great Chronicle- Maha Vamsa says that the Buddha visited Sri Lanka on three occasions and preached the Dhamma. Hence it is quite possible that Buddhism was known and followers were there in Sri Lanka long before the arrival of Arahant Mahinda. That, perhaps, explains the rapid spread of Buddhism throughout the island in this early period.

Even though the Dhamma was expounded in Sinhala, the language of the island, the discourses themselves were preserved in their original language Pali or Magadhi used in Buddha’s time. It was a continuation of the oral tradition prevalent during the Buddha’s time and formalize after the first Buddhist Council held three months after the parinibbana of the Buddha. In Sri Lanka a number of schools specializing in the different sections of the Tri Pitaka faithfully preserved this oral tradition along with their commentaries compiled in the Sinhala language. As such, the Budddhist world recognized Sri Lanka as the land where pure Buddhism prevailed and always looked up to her for inspiration and guidance.

However in the following centuries, recurring invasions, political upheavals and a seven year famine during which a large number of learned monks died and many fled the country, made the veteran monks realize the need to make permanent record of the doctrine. So, in the first century B.C during King Walagamba’s reign, a Buddhist Council of 500 monks was held in Alulena in the Central Malaya Hills and the scriptures were written down for the first time in history.

Since then, Sri Lanka has been looked up to as the country where Buddha Dhamma in its pristine purity prevails and whenever there was dissention or controversy on doctrinal matters Sri Lanka’s help was sought. In India when Hinduism revived leading to the rise of different Buddhist schools the scholar monks turned to Sri Lanka.For example Acharya Buddhaghosha, the Great Commentator came to SRI Lanka in the 5th century in search of the original scriptures and their Sinhala commentaries. He translated the Sinhala commentaries into Pali, the language of Buddhism and compiled a number of books including the Visuddhi Magga, a treatise on Abhidhamma and carried a large number of books on his way back to India and then to Burma. Similarly, King Anoratha of Burma, in the 11th century, when he got the Tri Pitaka inscribed for the first time in the Burmese script, sent four of his ministers to compare it with the genuine version preserved in Sri Lanka. In the 15th century King Dhammaceti also of Burma, sent monks to Sri Lanka for re-ordination, because Sri Lank was considered to be the country where the true faith flourished. Then again, King Rama Kingheng, the son of the first Thai King Phra Ruang, sent a mission to Sri Lanka to get a Sinhala Mahathera to establish a pure Sangha in Thailand. His grand son King Dhammarja I in the 14th century, followed his grand father by getting down another prelate from Sri Lanka.

In the time of King Parakramabahu I, the prestige of Sri Lanka as the seat of pure Buddhism spread throughout the Buddhist world, especially among countries like Burma, Thailand and Laos where the Theravada prevailed. With the revival of Hinduism, the emergence of various Mahayana sects and the invasions of the Muslims, Buddhism suffered heavily. It almost, disappeared from India; in China, Japan and Cambodia, Mahayana prevailed and the Indonesian and Malaysian countries became predominantly Muslim. Sri Lanka too came under foreign domination in the early 16th century and in spite of persecutions and forced conversions under the Portuguese and the Dutch, Sri Lanka remained a predominantly Theravada Buddhist country.

With independence in mid 20th century Sri Lanka re-emerged as a flourishing Buddhist country celebrating in 1956, the Buddha Jayanthi- commemorating the 2500th anniversary of the parinibbana of the Buddha. In that year she participated in the sixth World Buddhist Convention held in Burma, where the Tri Pitaka was inscribed on 720 marble slabs. In Sri Lanka, the translation of the Tri Pitaka into Sinhala was inaugurated b y the government in the same year. But, the translators, out of their deep respect for the Dhamma used a high flown language for the translation and the 54 volumes remained the preserve to the elite and the common man was left without access to the original words of the Buddha.

However, half a century of colonial independence has brought about enormous political and social changes in the country and now there seems to be resurgence in Buddhist activity in Sri Lanka. The number of Dhamma schools has increased along with the number of students attending them. Some of the Sunday Dhamma Schools have an attendance of over 2000 students, testifying to the fact that young people are now taking to Dhamma in a big way. Large temples, huge Buddha Images, secluded Forest Monasteries, are being built in most parts of the country. A new breed of learned monks and laymen have taken upon themselves the task of bringing the Buddha Vachana- Buddha’s Words within the easy reach of the ordinary man. They make use of the new technologies associated with the radio, TV and the Internet. Books on various aspects of Buddhism appear regularly and are available in book stalls set up in temples usually frequented by a large number of devotees. About a decade ago this was a rarity. Even popular Buddhist texts were shelved in the temples and available only for veneration. The number and scale of Buddhist festivals and celebrations not only in the historic cities of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Kandy but also in the newly developing cities like Colombo, Kurunegala and Matara, have increased. With the decreasing threat of terrorist activity and the increasing political stability, the government has rightly accepted the responsibility for the protection of Buddhism- as it has always been the case-and is now making elaborate preparations to celebrate the 2600th anniversary of Buddha’s attainment of Enlightenment, which falls due on the Wesak Poya Day in 2011.
Copy from Dhammanet.com