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The annual Upasampada ceremony of Kotte Sri Kalyani Samagri Dharma Maha Sangha Sabhawa

The Upasampada ceremony of Kotte Sri Kalyani Samagri Dharma Maha Sangha Sabhawa which until recently was held once in two years is now held annually. It was held this year from June 23rd to 26th at the Seema Malaka Poya Ge, at Kotte Raja Maha Viharaya which is the headquarters of the Sangha Sabhawa.

During the 18th century the Portuguese controlled the coastal areas. the birth of the future Sangaraja Welivita Pindapathika Asarana Sarana Sri Saranankara in the year 1658 in the village of Thumpana to the Welivita Kulatunga generation, was like a silver lining in that period full of dark clouds.

He entered the sasana under the tutorship of Venerable Sooriyagoda Kithsirimewan Rajasundara as Welivita Saranankara.

He was the architect of temple education and those who opposed his work were instrumental in poisoning the mind of king Narendrasinghe in misleading the king and finally the Thera was banished to the Laggala forest hermitage by the king.

Subsequently the King realized the value of the Thera, and regretted his earlier decision and made amends by opening the educational Institute at Niyamakanda and appointing the Thera as the Head of the Institute.

Invited by the king, the thera wrote two valuable books which were the "Sarartha Sangrahaya" and "Bhesajja Manjusawa".

The main motive of the Thera was to revive the Upasampadawa which was then in the doldrums.

When Upasampadawa was about to be revived under the patronage of King Narendrasinghe, he passed away. The next king was Sri Wijayarajasinghe who was the brother of the queen of the former king. Having been requested by the king he wrote the book 'Sathara Banawara Sannaya".

The first attempt to bring Bhikkhus from Siam (present Thailand) failed as the ship sunk and only two people returned out of 7 who ventured to Siam.

The Venerable Thera then arranged the second voyage which also met with disaster as the first voyage. At the time the group landed in Siam the King Vijayarajasinghe passed away as such the group had to return empty handed and only "Wilba Gedera Rala" returned due to a mishap on the way.

In 1747 king Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe who was the brother of the former King ascended the throne. The king as requested by the Venerable Thera sent another group to Ayodya of Siam. The King of Siam was highly satisfied and sent Seventeen Priests who had received Upasampadawa and seven samaneras under the Chief Priest Upali.

In the year 1753 the month of Esala on the full moon day, Venerable Upali thera and the other Bhikkhus from Siam conducted the first Upasampada Ceremony within the Malawatta Seemamalaka at Kandy. To begin with firstly the Upasampadawa of a novice from Siam was conducted.

On the following day the Upasampadawa of six priests including the Venerable Saranankara Thera was conducted. The Venerable Saranankara Thera received his Upasampadawa at the ripe age of fifty five. The King then appointed the Venerable Thera as the "Sangha Raja" and presented him with a sannasa.

The Sinhalese Buddhists of Sri Lanka are forever indebted to the Venerable Saranankara Thera in his endeavour to conduct the sacred Upasampada Ceremony in Sri Lanka by bringing in bhikkhus from Siam which in turn brought about Buddhist revival in Sri Lanka when the country was immersed in a dark period which could be compared similar to another revival brought in by Angarika Dharmapala in the latter period of Sri Lanka history.

King Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe appointed the priests Thibbotuwawe and Kobbekaduwa as the chief priests of Malawatte and Asgiriy respectively and conducted the Upasampada Ceremony in buddhist Era 2307 November for the first time under the tutorship of Sri Lankan bhikkhus.

Later as mentioned in the "Dalada Kathikawatha" it was decided to hold the Upasampada ceremony yearly with or without the patronage of the King. This was later continued at Asgiriya and Malawatte Viharas.

However these bhikkhus who sought Upasampadawa had to trek by foot to kandy and had to face numerous difficulties. Therefore this led to the low country bhikkhus seeking a way to conduct the Upasampadawa in the low country.

In the year 1855, in the Poson month of June the following priests belonging to the Upali Wanshika Maha Viharaya decided to conduct the Ceremony in the low country.

They are:

1. Chief priest Venerable Bentara Sri Attadassi Thera,

2. Chief priest of Kotte Temple Venerable Maligaspe Mangala Thera,

3. Chief priest Venerable Pepiliyana Seelawansa Thera,

4. Chief priest Venerable Panadure Sri Sumangala Thera,

5. Chief priest Venerable Walane Sri Siddaratha Thera

Therefore the Chief priest of Kotte Raja Maha Viharaya, Venerable Maligaspe Thera was unanimously appointed to preside over the Upasampada ceremony to be conducted either at Kelaniya Temple or Kitshiri Mevan Kelaniya Temple.

To conduct the ceremony letters were sent, asking Malawatta Temple to send bhikkhus. But on the 12th May 1856 a reply was sent refusing the request by the chief priests of Malwatte, Asgiriya, Dehigama Nilame an others.

At this stage all arrangements had been made to conduct the ceremony and the approval of the English Government had also been obtained as such on 22nd May 1895, the Upasampada Ceremony was conducted in the low country for the first time on the waters of Kelaniya river in a specially constructed "Seema Malaka".

The following Chief Sangas participated in the Upasampada Ceremony

Venerable Panadura Sri Sumangala Thera - The Chief Sangha of Maha Ruggoda Indasararama Viharaya, Venerable Pepiliyana Seelwansa Thera - The Chief Sangha of Galgoda Sri Maha Viharaya.

Venerable Walane Sri Siddharatha Thera - The Chief Sanga of Parama Dhamma Chetiya Pirivena - Ratmalana. Venerable Udugampola Rathanapala Thera - The Chief Sangha of Bellanwila Sri Maha Bodhirajaramaya. Venerable Baddegama Saranankara Thera.

The Chief Sangha of Sri Maha Viharaya Pamankada. Chief Sangha Venerable Thalangama Sumangala Thera. Chief priest Venerable Kathaluwe Attadassi Thera. Chief priest Venerable Borelesgamuwa Piyadassi Thera.

The Groups were named after the Temples where the Sanghas each Group resided. They are Bentara Group, Aruggoda Group, Kotte Group, Galgoda Group and Ratmalana Group.

Today these five groups have changed to six and annually an average of about Fifty Sanghas receive the higher ordination or Upasampadawa at the Kotte Seema Malaka Poya Ge. The priests who receive the higher ordination either reside in the existing temple or construct new temples of their own and reside in them.

All such temples come under the umbrella of the "Kotte Kalyani Samagri Dharma Maha Sangha Sabhawa "There are more than five hundred temples coming under the Sangha Sabhawa.

During the period the Upasampadawa is being held, the people of Kotte, Pagoda and Mirihana supply the morning and mid day Dana to the hundreds of bhikkhus who are present during these days. All are welcome to participate in these meritorious acts.

- Ven. Pandit Pitigala Jinasiri Thera.

Resident monk, Raja Maha Vihara Kotte.

May you all be blessed with the triple Gem!

Metta Bhavana

by Kingsley Heendeniya

Many persons have grievously not understood Metta Bhavana as taught by the Buddha. The popular idea is that a person can' radiate or broadcast waves of loving kindness and compassion' through the air to others. This is absolute rubbish.

Then one should also be able to radiate hate! No one can influence even a cat except by stroking or feeding or talking to it. Our state Radio broadcasts Metta every morning now for more than 50 years - with what results?

The best way to inform interested readers is to quote from the writings of my friend, the late Nanavira Thera of Bundala, from a letter written by him to a Dayaka. I have condensed it. Metta Bhavana practise, first and foremost, is done to obtain Jhana. It is recommended by the Buddha as a way to abandon or overcome anger.

Anger normally arises when dealing with other people and Metta is best practised therefore when dealing with other people. But the difficulty is this: "We have firstly to know what Metta is, and secondly, have it at our command".

Just as it is not difficult to practise Anapanasati in the presence of others when we are skilled in it, Metta Bhavana is possible when we are skilled in it. Just as the worst possible condition for anapanasati is presence of other people, one can never succeed in Metta Bhavana except in solitude. Noise and bustle is a hindrance to Bhavana.

The obstacles are too great. For example, suppose there is someone you dislike in whose presence you get angry, unless you are able to prevent anger from arising when he is absent - which needs practise - you shall have no chance of getting rid of anger when he is present.

There is little you can do except stop it from getting worse, getting possession by harsh words etc. It is now too far late to practise Metta. In other words, in your dealings with others, Metta should be practised in solitude until you are skilled in it.

You might think that whereas Anapanasati concerns me since it does not consist of watching the breathing of another, and Metta on the contrary is about my relations and attitude to others, presence of others is an advantage for Metta Bhavana. That is true.

But the important point to note is that their bodies need not be present. I do not mean that their 'spirit' is present while their bodies are absent. This is a mystical confusion of thinking.

Presence of 'other people' is a fundamental structure of consciousness. It happens most of the time. For example, when we are doing something shameful - say even urinating - and we believe we are alone, we hear a sound and immediately react thinking someone is watching.

We turn around but there is no one. It is our guilty conscience bothering us. This is an indication that in order to have a relationship with others, their bodies are not necessary. We are implicitly conscious of others all the time.

And it is this consciousness that we have to attend to when we practise Metta. When we practise it, we are developing and gradually training our attitude to other people whether their bodies are present or absent.

Then, when we meet another, our attitude will be correct from the beginning and no anger will arise. When we are long practised in Metta, in solitude that is in consciousness of others when their bodies are not present we have Metta in dealing with them. It is not other people that are a hindrance to the practise of Metta Bhavana but their bodies.

There are no two ways of practising Metta Bhavana, one for Jhana and for one's dealings with others. There is only one method, practised in solitude, which will lead to Jhana if persisted, and which will ensure that when we happen to deal with other people we do so with Metta.

It is noteworthy that in the Sutta for protection against snakes, one first develops thoughts of Metta to all beings - legless, two-legged, four-legged and many legged - and one says "let all beings keep away." Metta is best at a distance from its object.

The unsuccessful attempt to practise Metta in company with other people may lead some to other practise such as generosity (caga) in the belief that it is Metta. You may appoint yourself as a sort of Welfare Officer for Humanity! Metta has nothing to do with communism or socialism.

A communist or a socialist presumes to love humanity as a whole. But 'humanity as a whole' is an abstraction that can neither be hated nor loved. The communist regards, on principle, that each individual is an enemy of the people. The practise of Metta on the other hand is concerned with loving all individual beings, starting with oneself.

My practice would be patience

by Ajahn Sumedho

When I first went to Wat Pah Pong, I couldn't understand Lao. And in those days Ajahn Chah was at his peak and giving three-hour desanas every evening. He could go on and on and on, and everybody loved him - he was a very good speaker, very humorous and everybody enjoyed his talks.

Scenes from the life of the Buddha. Sandstone. 5th century A.D. from Saranath India.

But if you couldn't understand Lao...! I'd be sitting there thinking, 'When's he going to stop, I'm wasting my time.' I'd be really angry, thinking, 'I've had enough, I'm leaving.'

But I couldn't get enough nerve to leave, so I would just sit there thinking.' 'I'll go to another monastery. I've had enough of this; I'm not going to put up with this'.

And then he would look at me - he had the most radiant smile - and he'd say, 'Are you all right?' And suddenly all the anger that had been accumulating for that three hours would completely drop away.

That's interesting, isn't it? After sitting there fuming for three hours, it can just go. So I vowed that my practice would be patience, and that during this time I would develop patience. I'd come to all the talks and sit through all of them as long as I could physically stand it. I determined not to miss them, or try to get out of them, and just practise patience.

And by doing that I began to find that the opportunity to be patient was something that has helped me very much. Patience is a very firm foundation for my insight and understanding of the Dhamma; without that I would have just wandered and drifted about, as you see so many people doing. Many Westerners came to Wat Pah Pong and drifted away from it because they weren't patient.

They didn't want to sit through three-hour desanas and be patient. They wanted to go to the places where they could get instant enlightenment and get it done quickly in the way that they wanted.

In those days, I was just a very junior monk and one night Ajahn Chah took me to a village fete - I think Satimanto Bhikkhu was there at the time.

We were very serious practitioners, and we didn't want any kind of frivolity or foolishness. And of course going to a village fete was the last thing we wanted to do - because in these villages they love loudspeakers.

Anyway, Ajahn Chah took Satimanto and me to this fete, and we had to sit up all night with the raucous sounds of the loudspeakers - and monks giving talks all night long! I kept thinking, 'Oh, I want to get back to my cave - green-skinned monsters and ghosts are much better than this.'

I noticed that Satimanto, who was incredibly serious, was looking really angry and critical and very unhappy. We just sat there looking miserable. I thought, 'Why does Ajahn Chah bring us to these things?'

Then I began to see for myself. I remember sitting there thinking, 'Here I am getting all upset over this. Is it that bad? What's really bad is what I'm making out of it. What's really miserable is my mind. Loudspeakers and noise, and distraction and sleepiness, I can put up with, but it's that awful thing in my mind that hates it, resents it and wants to leave - that's the real misery!'

That evening I saw what misery I could create in my mind over things that actually I could bear. I remember that as a very clear insight into what I thought was miserable, and what really is miserable. At first I was blaming the people, the loudspeakers, the disruption, the noise and the discomfort - I thought that was the problem. Then I realised that it wasn't; it was my mind that was miserable.

If we reflect on and contemplate Dhamma, we learn from the very situations which we like the least - if we have the will and the patience to do so.

(Courtesy: Buddhist News Network)

Singapore hosts first conference on Mahayana Buddhism

Scholars and practitioners of Buddhism from around the region were to come to Singapore to attend South-East Asia's first conference on Chinese Mahayana Buddhism this weekend.

About 400 were expected to participate in the two-day event organised by the Singapore Buddhist Federation, the University of Hong Kong and the Nanjing University in China.

Twenty six from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore were to speak on the significance of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism in the modern-day context.

This version - which takes the tack that an individual cannot only break the cycle of birth and death but can also help others do so - is widely practised in the region.

One of the speakers at the conference was to be 41-year-old Venerable Jing Yin, the acting director of the Centre of Buddhist Studies at the University of Hong Kong.

He will give a talk on the correct Buddhist values and how to develop them in today's society.

Another speaker, Taiwan's Professor Cheng Chen-huang, director of Taiwanese Buddhist organisation Torch of Wisdom, will discuss the role of layman Buddhist organisations in contemporary society.

He has written more than 500 articles and over 20 books on Buddhism, including Zen In Martial Arts.

Chinese philosopher Xu Xiao Yao from Nanjing University was to talk about the modern interpretation of the teachings of the Sixth Patriarch, a monk renowned for his wisdom.

The Buddhist Federation's president, the Venerable Wai Yim, suggested having the conference because he believes an exchange of ideas is needed to promote the role of Buddhism in Singapore, and no such discussions have been held here.

Registration fees for the conference, to be held at the Tai Pei Buddhist Centre at Lavender Street, were $100 each for adults and $30 each for students.

(Courtesy: BNN)

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