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Men & Matters Reading the many, generous, posthumous tributes to Mr. Maitripala Senanayake, the gentle giant of Madawacchiya, I realised how poor my own final salute looked. And I had known him intimately and for quite sometime... at least three Parliaments, I would say. The "gentle giant" tag was also a tribute to another Senanayake, D. S. "The Father of the Nation", rugged, tough, and cunning enough to outwit the brilliant intellectuals of the Marxist Left. "Maitri" who lived up to his name could claim a world, as another admirer pointed out... never defeated. "Wait will you, till WE come to POWER" is pure Sri Lankan and could claim a place in Prof. Passe's "Ceylonism", his PhD. thesis, I believe. "Power" was not part of Maitri's vocabulary, except as part of a portfolio... Irrigation and Power. Hydro-electricity! A self-effacing public servant can become a servant of the people if he understood national politics as part of that vocation. That was the essential Maitripala. Ethnic bomb What has the threat of a nuclear holocaust or even small "Bang" got to do with ethnic studies? We had a ready answer thanks to the disarming comment of a Colombo campus friend who said "Only in South Asia can you have a Hindu Bomb (the B.J.P) and an Islamic bomb! Ethnic Identity is the overwhelming issue, the roots of conflict, from Kashmir to Trincomalee. Besides, the B.J.P. is in charge of the World's largest democracy. Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar spotted the danger, right away. That's why he was the first to visit Delhi to convey the good wishes of Comrade President Chandrika Kumaratunga to the newly elected B.J.P., all Hindu nationalist hard hats. India's program is "not country-specific... whereas Pakistan has always been Indo-centric" the prime minister told the Rajya Sabha. Pakistan, however, is not convinced. So Chairman Sri Lanka, Comrade President Kumaratunga and her Foreign Minister can look forward to a lively week later this month... But it won't be another "Black July". Only last month, India and Russia signed a deal on nuclear power reactors, while the persistent Madeleine Albright, repressing the sole superpower keeps hen-pecking India and Pakistan...sign CTBT, and NPT she keeps saying. India and Russia... the spirit of Indira Gandhi's Indo-Soviet treaty lives. The US is more pro-Pakistan. China is the great loner. How is our team... Comrade President Chandrika, Oxford Union's Kadirgamar and the Foreign Ministry's Nihal Rodrigo (successor to colleague Jayantha Dhanapala .... doing?) In the circumstances, fairly well. Lanka bomb Two police officers were wounded in one of two bomb explosions... near a private telecommunication tower. Private enterprise, I guess, in violence-torn island where the sources of conflict are disturbingly multifarious. Religion I had been very unfortunate in missing the reading of the article appearing in the Sunday Observer of 12.4.98 which Mr. D. Amerasiri Weeraratne mentions in his letter in your publication of 1.7.98. However Mr. Weeraratne has quite correctly exposed the Mahanayakas of their self interest in requesting the government not to recognise the recently formed Bhikkuni Sasana, fearing their position will be jeopardised. No sooner, I read, heralding the good news of setting up of the Bhikkuni Sasana, a letter of mine appeared in The Island of 19.3.98 praising the revival and pointed out the cause for deterioration of Buddhism in this country due to the shameless behaviour of the Buddhist clergy. This letter was followed up with your editorial of 20.3.98, castigating the present day Buddhist monks and the editorial ended up by saying "these are some aspects of the sasana that we say with due respect, the Maha Sanga should give serious thought to. And a reassessment of the sasana is what is called for". In response to my letter and the editorial one M. Wickrama-rachchi from U.S.A. while commending the idea has mentioned of women leaders in the international field and had gone further to state "The next century will make women to lead or be co-partners in nation building to seek peace and harmony through, perhaps religion". What other better way than spreading Buddhism which teaches compassion, love, maithriya, karu-nawa, avihinsa, if only our Buddhist monks lead an exemplary life according to the vinaya and set example for others to follow. Woefully this is lacking in our clergy and those in authority the maha-nayakas, without correcting and disciplining the monks under them, object to setting up of the Bhikkuni Sasana, which the majority of the Buddhist clamour and eagerly await the resurruction of Buddhism from the mire it has now fallen into. It surprises and beyond any right thinking person as to why the mahanayakas should object when we see laymen run Buddhist temples with devalas as money making business enterprises under every wild bo-tree which grows wild all over the country. There are also, hair short cropped, laymen who don yellow robes without being ordained, going about in the country collecting money for some non-existing temple. Buddhists in this country, specially the women, yet respect and worship the robe and let not that respect be misused. It should be emphasised that it is the women — mothers — who teach the young of the Buddhist practices and inculcate Buddhist way of life and not the monk in the temple. Mentioning of Buddhist temples business enterprises, it is clear that the existence of devalas of Hindu gods and godessess in Buddhist temples is presently for collecting money by kapuralas engaged by the temple and duping the innocent and ignorant to part with their money to gain favours or cause harm to someone, through deities. Is this permissable in Buddhism? The maha nayakas should present and preach the dhamma as expounded by Lord Buddha and not encourage the worship of other gods. There are also monks who organise strikes and hold high positions in trade unions, causing untold misery to the sick and the needy. Suggestions to Bhikkunis I wish to place this proposal or suggestion for consideration by the Bhikkuni Sasana and get mothers, parents, mothers to be and families to offer prayers or meditate on Mahamaya Devi in the mornings and before retiring to bed at night, to bless them with intelligent, virtuous sons and daughters who would lead a righteous life. Psychological effect on parents who want births of wanted children will have a tremendous impact or effect on the baby conceived in the womb of the mother. If this psychology works, as most scientists and psychologists believe in such therapy, this earth will be a happy to live in with compassion and hatred towards none. Finally, Bhikkunis need not be disheartened, disappointed and feel defeated if the government pay heed to Mahanayakas and refuse recognition of the Bhikkuni Sasana; as path to attain "Nibbana" is in the adherence to Buddha's Teachings and not through the government recognition as mahanayakas seem to think. Anna hi labhupanisa "Surely, the path that leads to worldly gain is one, and the path that leads to Nibbana is another; understanding this, the bhikku, the disciple of Buddha should not rejoice in wordly favours, but cultivate detachment" (Dhammapada — Bala Vagga — Fools). Buddha
foretold Buddha Gautama - The Blessed One, Light of Asia foretold the coming of a successor to him, who has been referred to as 'Maitreya' (in Sanskrit) and 'Metteya' (in Pali) meaning 'The Merciful One.' After Buddha only two messengers appeared in the world. Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad. But Jesus himself declared that 'the spirit of truth' is yet to come to guide men into all truth. "Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come." (John 16:13). No one has appeared in the world after Jesus Christ answering this description except the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). And the disappearance of falsehood from Arabia before his eyes showed the truth of this assertion. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) at his Farewell Sermon delivered at Mount Arafat some 1400 years ago declared: "O people, NO PROPHET OR APOSTLE WILL COME AFTER ME AND NO NEW FAITH WILL BE BORN. Understand my words, I leave behind me two things - the Qur'an and the Sunnah (Traditions). Follow these and you will never go astray. Beware of Satan and safguard your religion. Pass on my words to others and those to others again, and may they understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness, O Allah, that I have conveyed Your Message." The Holy Prophet's advent was foretold by every world teacher and is embodied in every scripture. The Holy Qur'an, the Final Scripture, revealed by God Almighty Allah, the Creator, Sustainer, Nourisher, Kepper, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent and Master on the day of Judgement has referred to the Holy Prophet as 'a mercy unto all nations,' who is the last and seal of all prophets, preachers and reformers. Before the advent of the Holy Prophet, people believed only in the truth of their own respective prophets and sacred scriptures. For instance even today a Jew believes only in the Israelite prophets, a Christian believes in Jesus and halfheartedly in the prophets of Israel, a Buddhist in the Buddha, a Zoroastrian in Zoroaster and in some prophets of their own country, a Hindu in the rishis raised up in India, but Islam came with a new conception of Religion. It drew our attention to the universe, there to find the clue tothe Religion of God. The all comprehensiveness of the Lordship of Allah in the very first words of the Qur'an: "Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds" is quite in consonance with the cosmopolitan nature of the Religion of Islam, which requires an admission of the truth of the prophets of all nations, its most striking characteristic therefore is that it requires its followers to believe that all the great religions of the world, that preceded it have been revealed by God. It is a fundamental principle of Islam, that a Muslim must also believe in all the prophets of different nations of the world. Some Muslim theologians think that the Holy Qur'an mentions only the prophets of Israel. This is a sheer misunderstanding. Assuredly there are prophets. who do not belong to the House of Israel. It is stated in clear words: "We have told you about some messengers (xent) previously, while other messengers we have not yet told you about." (Qur'an 4:146). The earlier prophets and reformers were in a way national prophets. Their preachings were not conclusive, they were links in a long chain of preachings. None of them gave their name for their preachings. The names were decided by a later generation of man, as in the case of Christianity which was named after Jesus Christ, Buddhism after Gautama Buddha, Judaism after the tribe of Judah, Zoroastrianism after Zoroaster and Hinduism after the Indoos. The Religion of Islam is not named after a person or a people, nor was it decided by a later generation of man. ISLAM meaning Peace and Submission to the Will of God is the religion which was given to Adam (pbuh), the First of mankind and the First of Prophets, who was created from dust and it was the religion of all the prophets sent to mankind for guidance and salvation. Further its name was chosen by God Himself and clearly mentioned in the Final Scripture, the Holy Qur'an. Allah states as follows: "This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed my favour upon you, and I have chosen for you Islam as your religion." (Qur'an 5:3). "If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (Submission to God), never will it be accepted of Him." (Qur'an 3:86). "Allah is He who created the Heaven and Earth and sent down water from cloud, then brought forth with it, fruits and sustenance for you, and He has made the ships subservient to you to run their course in the sea by His command and He has made the rivers subservient to you, the Sun and the Moon, pursuing its course, and He had made subservient to you the Night and the Day" (Qur'an 14:32-33). Islam does not claim to be a new religion brought by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) into Arabia in the seventh century, but rather to be a re-expression in its final form of the true religion of Almighty God, as it was originally revealed to Prophet Adam (pbuh) and subsequent prophets. None of the Reformers taught idol-worship or to worship them when they were alive or after their demise to worship idols, relics or any objects. For example Jesus invited his followers to worship God, but those who claim to be Jesus' followers today call people to worship Jesus, claiming that he was God. Buddha did not claim to be God, nor did he suggest to his followers that he be an object of worship. Religion is not a new invention, it is as old as the world, if not at least as old as the world we know. The word 'Religion' means 'the belief in God.' This belief in God is ingrained in the nature of man from the time of creation. God, the Originator of Religion has raised up several prophets (preachers, reformers, etc.) to guide mankind to lead a righteous way of life to achieve salvation here and the Hereafter. At its commencement the Qur'an lays down clearly: "And those who believe in the Revelation sent to thee, and sent before thy time" (2:4). The reason why prophets are raised in all the nations of the world is stated by the Holy Qur'an to be:- "that people may have no plea against Allah after the coming of the messengers" (4:165) and it is added "Nor do We chastise until We raise a messenger (to give warning)" (17:15). In other words, the punishment of the hereafter will be meted out only after man has been warned through a Divine Messenger, "To every people (was sent) a Messenger: when their Messenger comes (before them), the matter will be judged between them with justice, and they will not be wronged." (10:47). In the light of these clear injunctions of the Holy Qur'an, if there is any nation on the Earth that has not seen any prophet among them, God will not chastise them; they will enter the Paradise without being questioned at all, because their excuse before God will be something like this. "Our Lord: why didst Thou not send us a messenger, so that we might have followed Thy messenger and been of the believers" (28:47). And if we find in our revealed book the prophecy about the coming of the 'Desire of the nations' or 'the seal of all prophets' as it is termed in the sacred book of Israel, we must believe in him, when he appears in fulfilment of such prophecies. God is not the author of confusion, it is man, who because of his hypocracy, his ulterior motives and his vested interests, has created so much confusion in their beliefs about the "same God" and thus has, in the name of God, destroyed countless innocent human lives besides dividing mankind into Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. God sent all his prophets with one and the same message which was "Islam" and all prophets of Allah were "Muslims". Islam means "peace," for God forbids wars except in self-defence of the life and property of believers if they are being persecuted on being exterminated. Islam is a natural religion. Islam is a rational religion. It is a simple non-dogmatic religion. It is the religion of the common man and not of priests and popes, nor a religion of pomp and power. All men are equal before God and nobody can boast of being superior by birth, blood or any other status. God alone knows who is higher in His eyes. Thus not even a Caliph can claim that, by virtue of his office, he is holy and pious. Which man could not like to believe in such a simple straightforward humanitarian religion which neither discriminates nor persecutes those who do not believe in it, nor permits use of any force for its propagation. In the authentic teachings of the Great Reformers and God's divine guidance there are enough solutions needed for mankind for solving the numerous burning problems faced by them today. The only possible way to smoothen the roughness and hatred among nations and ethnic groups the world-over is to create an awareness of the authentic religious teachings of the Great Reformers. One could regard, respect and honour the Great Reformers by understanding fully their great teachings and strictly upholding and abiding by them without making any invocation into their teachings to suit one's whims and fancies. Instead of regarding, understanding, abiding and upholding their great teachings, man is moping in the dark in search of solutions from elsewhere. The acceptance of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the last and seal of all prophets and preachers, a mercy unto all nations, who brought the Religion of Islam meaning Peace and Submission to the Will of God - Allah, who is the Maitreya - 'the loving one,' the so-called messiah of the Buddhists. The whole concept of Maitreya encompasses peace and prosperity and appears to be born out of the necessity to promote friendliness among peoples and among nations to ensure peace and harmony in the world. |
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