More Thuggery In The Name Of Buddhism
Pic via Thinakkathir.
I’m a Buddhist and have the utmost respect for the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, that being the community of practice. There are, however, claimed and robed Buddhists who are a shame to us all, to all Sri Lankans. For example, in Panamai, a mob led by a Buddhist monk has stolen a statue from a Hindu Kovil, a place where it was safe for Buddhists or Hindus to worship. This violent thuggery is an affront to all people of faith, and everyone really.
In a flagrant violation of law and order and the freedom of worship, an ancient statue of God Pillaiyar also known as Vinayagar and Ganesh was seized by a mob and taken away from the Sithi Vinayagar Hindu temple in Panamai /Panama in broad daylight on Monday August 6th.
The “captured” Pillaiyar statue has been taken to the Buddhist Vihare in Panamai by the mob comprising thugs, homeguards and members of the armed forces in civil attire. The entire operation was masterminded and commanded by a Buddhist Priest.
The Pillaiyar statue is now being kept in the premises of the Panama Buddhist Vihare. (DBS Jeyaraj)
Despite the ethnic conflict, there hasn’t traditionally been religious beef. I have worshiped at and slept in Hindu Kovils and temple premises alike. Most temples have a Hindu shrine built-in. Trishaw and bus iconography usually has the Buddha plus a range of other gods, often Vishnu. Lakshmi pours coins from her palm at the front of many buses. Also, in practice, many Buddhists worship at Hindu kovils or shrines, especially if they need a particular result, exam score or something, which the Buddha is not especially attached to.
At the Sri Maha Bodhi shrine in Anuradhapura, services at that holy Buddhist place are done by Hindus, the descendants of a caste that came down generations ago, with the sapling I think.
This long history of community and shared practice makes sacrilegious events like this all the more sad. This and acts like ‘Buddhists’ threatening and evicting a mosque in Dambulla are a shame to both religion and nation. Sri Lanka is an ostensibly Buddhist state, but an open one, not a Taliban. Buddhism itself is incredibly open. On retreats I have always seen people of other faiths, and the libraries have a range of materials. The Buddha himself would never be so unwelcoming or rude.
The very idea of stealing a statue is so anti-Buddhist it boggles the mind. You’re stealing a Hindu statue? Why? There is some twisted permutation of Buddhism that makes this possible, but the fact remains that theft is pretty clearly wrong in our nation of laws, so these errant monks need to be hauled up for doing wrong.
This is against the law of the land, against local custom, and is a great shame to both the Sri Lankan faith and nation. This, what Jeyaraj calls Saffron Terrorism, needs to stop.
Posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 in Religion, Sri Lanka.
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Unfortunately no one ever gets brought to justice (or even arrested/questioned) on the Saffron Terrorism. The silent approval of this behavior is implying this is state sanctioned.
Wondering how many will be bothered about it now. Everyone has their own problems and few like you will raise their voice for it.
God bless mother Sri Lanka.
i think this is more of a robbery, as i understand monk had taken the statue by force to keep it in his temple. That is done to attract the buddhist crowds who went to worship the kovil. I cant understand y the mahanayakas keep silent.This should be condemned publicly and the accused should be brought to justice.
Its a shame that media also very silent on this matter…
Here’s Indian media (on a different form of thuggery):
http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/article3739230.ece
Hay, Don’t try to ruin the good name of Buddhism. We well know about people like you who hate to Sinhala Buddhist foundation of this country. So your hate speech can never do anything.
Indi did not ruin the good name of buddhism. The monk who led the mob did.
There are many monks who break the vinaya rules all the time without any repercussion. We cannot turn a blind eye to it. Buddhism has a bad taste amongst many Buddhists in SL b/c certain monks can do whatever they want without and act immorally and no one has the force to derobe them.
As a Buddhist I know they are a minority but the number of such is so large that they are the one who denigrate Buddhism with their behavior and speech.
When people like you Sadun don’t accept the truth and allow Buddhist monks to get away with crimes like this then the good name of Buddhism is ruined. This is not some made up story this is real, this is happening ever day in Sri Lanka and the 30 year war which just ended is turning into a new kind of war. A religious one where the majority Buddhists of this country are against all the other religions.
I’m a Buddhist. I meditate every morning and I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma AND the Sangha. I don’t steal stuff from temples.
That isn’t Buddhism. What type of Buddhism involves mobs and stealing Ganesh statues? What type of Buddhism involves unkindness and prideful attachment to identity? We need to stand up against nonsense like this to defend the honor of Sri Lanka and the Buddhist faith.
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Buddhism falls within the Hindu pantheon, the gods are common to both religions, which may explain why the statue was of interest.
The act however is that of simple thuggery.
Totally wrong… Don’t mix the practice of some Buddhists worshiping Hindu gods and the essence of Buddhism.
Correct me if I am wrong, but Buddhism does recognise the gods and although worship is not necessary. One may earn merit in the same way as with other beings by performing acts of merit for the gods, if I am not mistaken.
I wouldn’t say that. The Buddhas teachings were a stark departure from Hindu teachings. The practice has become mixed, but the Dhamma is quite distinct, especially in our Theravada practice
Nuts
where this “Panamai” is located? Some one seems to have sinister motives to add suffix to a Sinhalse name to make it like Tamil.
Panama is a Sinhalese name?
so the tamils calling anuradhapura as “anuradhapuram” is also sinister? what next? should we stop calling shoes “sapatthu” because it makes the shoes sound sinhala? imbecility at its best.
Sapttu is Portuguese word, I think.
I’m not proud to admit that I have felt the same way on many occasions, once when I saw Wellawattai in the Sunday Times.
Tamils do it too. A colleague once aked me why I said Madakalapuwa intead of Madai kaluppu. I asked her what Madai Kaluppu meant in Tamil. She was surprised to learn that my pronunciation actually had a meaning in Sinhala.
We need to get over these things.
Sometimes it is only pronunciation. Sometimes they use different names, it might be interesting, from a purely linguistic point of view to discover the origins of these names. Kandy is Maha Nuwara or Nuwara in Sinhalese. Jaffna is Yapanaya or Yalpanam in Sinhalese or Tamil.
Kandy comes from “Kanda Udarata”, as the central kingdom was then known. Jaffna was called Jambu Kola Pattana or Yapa patuna. Pattana/patuna means port.