Sri Lanka 2007: political turmoil, inflation and a never-ending civil war. Where did this all start? POWER; the quest for power has lead SWRD Bandaranaike, JR Jayawardene and the Maha Sangha to embrace the disasterous path of racism and injustice. We all know and understand how SWRD and JR are among the leading causes for the rise in the current problems of this nation. A relatively less discussed cause has been the negative influence of the Maha Sangha in Sri Lankan politics.
SWRD Bandaranaike, a member of the colonial aristocracy, recognized his inability to turn the electorate in his favour. He realized the the only way he would be able to achieve power was by swaying the majority Sinhala masses. Yet Bandaranaike was a person who had very little in common with the average peasant whose support he wished to gain- he was a notable member of the landed elite (who had close ties with the British Raj), he was educated at Oxford in “Western†classics and law and he was raised an Anglican. He could not even read Sinhalese proficiently. He turned to a tool that was waiting for someone to wield- the power hungry monks of the Maha Sangha.
The Sangha had lost the control and influence it had possessed in its heyday during the Anuradhapura, Polanaruwa and Kotte/Kandy periods. Through the period of British rule they attempted to build themselves primarily as an anti-colonial influence yet their failure and British influence prevented them from having any in power in the government envisioned under the Soulberry Constitution. Upon achieving independence, the monks who had been kept in check by colonial powers, began seeking opportunities to re-exert their dominance . The Colombo based, primarily Anglican hierarchy, prevented the re insurgence of the Sangha at a State level but it was busily at work in rural areas.
This lead to a “double coincidence of wants†with the Maha Sangha needing a member of the elite sic Bandaranaike and his needing of a popular base which the Sangha possessed in the rural Sinhala masses. This is the point where both the Bandaranaike and the Sangha forsook their ideals for Power; Bandaranaike’s vision for unyoking Sri Lanka from imperialism and poverty and the Sangha’ a desire to propagate the Buddhist philosophy. Instead of building national identity and extending the hand forsook erhood and toleration the Bandaranaike-Sangha coalition abandoned sÄ«la ie ethical conduct and embraced the chauvinist path of destruction. Their support was based on whipping up the base emotions of an oppressed and effectively disenfranchised populace. This lead to the “Sinhala Only†policy, the conscience decision to make the Tamils second class citizens and unfortunately landslide electoral victories.
This has lead to the current situation of unspeakable suffering; Bandaranaike’s aims have not been achieved with Sri Lanka falling into ever deeper dependence on aid and intervention from both the traditional imperial powers and the neo-imperial powers viz India and China. The average peasant still struggles to eke out and an existence. The country has effectively been divided in every manner possible; geography, race, religion, knowledge, capital, connections being but a few as a direct result of these decisions. The civil war which rages ever more ferociously is but one of the many divisions our nation is facing. This will continue until the Maha Sangha returns to a truly Buddhist political philosophy of tolerance, ahimsa and self-denial.
As our you read this, a model is developing of the positive power of the Buddhist clergy. The barefooted (not Mercedes-Benz shod) multi-ethnic monks walking peacefully and applying samÄÂdhi or mental discipline against the bullets and tear gas of the military junta in Myanmar. They struggle for humanity as they should. The Sri Lanka Sangha is effectively a traitor to its ethics and philosophy:
“It was to help humanity that the Buddha founded the Order. He intended it to be a voluntary association of dedicated persons who would devote themselves to the task of making the process of wayfaring through life easier for such among their fellow beings as were weak, helpless and stricken.
It is another matter that the order never quite became what it was meant to be. The Bhikkhus (homeless ones) very soon became Priests, living in temples built like palaces. Today the lazy and ceremonious Church, split into Nikayas based on caste divisions, maintains its place in society, not by tendering to the sick, the poor and the helpless but by placing a Messianic halo above the Buddha-myth, and by chanting faint Pali gathas to the cold, fruitless moon.â€Â
Buddhist Monks and Politics in Sri Lanka, James J. Hughes
The war-mongering clergy must undergo a revival again originating in Myanmar as it repeatedly has through its history. The Sangha has such potential for positive change, will it take the opportunity like its Burmese counter parts, or will it allow Sri Lanka to become a mockery of Buddhism and a place of hatred for the years to come.
“Do we… want a single nation or do we want two nations? Do we want a single state or do we want two? Do we want one Ceylon or do we want two? And above all, do we want an independent Ceylon which must necessarily be united and single and single Ceylon, or two bleeding halves of Ceylon which can be gobbled up by every ravaging imperialist monster that may happen to range the Indian ocean? These are issues that in fact we have been discussing under the form and appearance of language issue.”
Will the Sangha be a catalyst in hastening the process of dividing Sri Lanka in two bleeding halves, or will it serve only as a tool for the fulfilling the worldly desires of the elite?
Editors note: Article submitted to Groundviews by anonymous author.