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Which Buddha? Whose Buddhism?

| by Tisaranee Gunasekara
it was like a poisoned source which would continue to rot both people and things
mile Zola Truth!
"uly #$% #&'(% )olombo% *ri +anka Guardian! ,ing -utugemunu .ought his .irst war
en .amille% literally/ 0ccording to 1ahawamsa% he waged two succession2wars against
his usurping younger brother% Tissa/ 3t was a.ter securing his throne that -utugemunu
began his series o. wars against se4eral 5lesser6 kings and ultimately against ,ing 7lara/
0gain according to 1ahawamsa% 5many thousands6 li4es were lost in the two succession
wars/ *ince these were ci4il con.licts% it is reasonable to assume that the dead were
predominantly 8 i. not e9clusi4ely 8 *inhala and Buddhist/ 0nd yet% 1ahawamsa says
nothing about -utugemunu being .illed with horror and remorse at killing his .ellow
religionists/ 0ccording to 1ahawamsa% the only crisis o. conscience the king su..ered
was o4er the deaths he caused in his war against 7lara/
The )hronicle has monks assuring -utugemunu that there is no reason .or regret or
.ear: ;<rom this deed arises no hindrance in thy way to hea4en/ =nly one and a hal.
human beings ha4e been killed by thee// The one had come unto the three! re.uges
and the other had taken on himsel. the .i4e precepts/
>nbelie4ers and men o. e4il li.e were the rest% not more to be esteemed than beasts
This 5assurance6 would not ha4e been possible had -utugemunu6s crisis o. conscience
included the Buddhists he killed in the succession wars/ 1ahawamsa mentions only
one crisis o. conscience because its purpose was to establish a new dogma: unbelie4ers
are worse than beasts? it is no sin to kill them? .ighting .or the .aith opens up a straight
path to hea4en/
Bhikkhu 1ahanama places these words in the mouths o. 0rhats to lend them gra4itas
and legitimacy/ @e had to% because the Buddha had been 4ery clear on the subAect/ The
deliberate taking o. li.e 8 human or non2human 8 is a sin% under any circumstances/
There are no e9ceptions? none at all/
3n BodhaAi4a *utta Gamani *amyutta o. the *amyutta Cikaya!% BodhaAi4a% a headman
asks the Buddha whether warriors who die in battle go to hea4en/ Thrice the Buddha
e4ades the Duestion/ Eressed again% he answers: ;When a warrior stri4es and e9erts
himsel. in battle% his mind is already seiFed and debased and misdirected by the
thought: 51ay these beings be struck down or slaughtered or annihilated or destroyed/
1ay they not e9ist/6 3. others then strike him down and slay him while he is thus
stri4ing and e9erting himsel. in battle% then with the break up o. the body he is reborn
in the hell called the realm o. those slain in battle/
There is no ambi4alence here% no Duali.ication/ The Buddha does not say those who die
in battle to protect Buddhism will go to hea4en/
0nd this uneDui4ocal rule would not ha4e suited either Bhikkhu 1ahanama or the
monarch who is said to ha4e commissioned the 1ahawamsa% -hatusena/
-hatusena was Bhikkhu 1ahanama6s patron 8 and his nephew/ The uncle brought up
the nephew% in ad4ersarial times/ +anka was under Eandyan rule .or almost thirty
years ? -hatusena came to the throne a.ter o4erthrowing the last Eandyan king/
Wars cause carnage/ Eerhaps -hatusena was appalled at ha4ing to break the .irst
precept on a massi4e scale? perhaps his warriors were concerned about their a.terli.e/
0t this distance% only surmises are possible/ 0nd it is reasonable to assume that
Bhikkhu 1ahanama created the myth o. 5*inless War6 to encourage the king andGor his
warriors be.ore the war and to com.ort them post2war/
Bhikkhu 1ahanama was a superlati4ely success.ul ideologue2propagandist/ @e
upended the Buddha6s teachings and created a new% totally per4erted Buddhism% which
continues to in.orm and shape +ankan politics .i.teen centuries later/
The 1ahawamsa Trap
+ast night
3 dreamt
Buddha was shot dead
By the Eolice
@is body drenched in blood
=n the steps o. the "a..na +ibrary
Thus begins Ero./ 10 Cuhman6s hauntingly beauti.ul poem on the burning o. the
"a..na +ibrary/ When agitated ministers ask the policemen why they murdered the
Buddha they reply%
Without killing him
3t was impossible to harm a .ly
True/ But the original murder o. the Buddha happened in the Hth )entury/ Bhikkhu
1ahanama not only rewrote Buddhism? he created a new martial Buddha to .it in with
the new martial .aith/
The Buddha o. 1ahawamsa is a totally di..erent being .rom *iddhartha Gautama% the
Buddha we meet in the Tripitaka and other Buddhist te9ts/ 1ahawamsa2Buddha is a
holy2warrior who uses natural cunning and supernatural .orce to de.eat enemies o.
.aith/ 1ahawamsa2Buddha does not regard e4ery li4ing being with eDual compassion%
as the Buddha did/ 1ahawamsa2Buddha has attachments? he wants to protect +anka%
as the sole .uture2re.uge .or his teachings? in this political proAect% gods are his allies%
arch2criminal IiAaya his instrument and Bakkas% the original inhabitants o. +anka% his
enemies/
*o 1ahawamsa2Buddha does something the Buddha ne4er did/ @e comes to +anka%
and instead o. preaching to the yakkas% chases them away/ 3n the Tripitaka% yakkas are
not treated as enemies/ 3n the Bakka *amyutta% the Buddha seeks out and con4erts
0lawaka Bakka% with patience% reason and wisdom? *i4aka% another yakka% thrice
encourages the merchant2prince 0nathapindaka to 5go .orth6 to 4isit the Buddha /
But in 1ahawamsa% yakkas are the original bad guys to be succeeded by 5-amilas6!/
1ahawamsa2Buddha sets an e9ample to 1ahawamsa2Buddhists by 4anDuishing them?
he strikes ;terror to their hearts by rain% storm% darkness and so .orth and chases
them .rom the .uture holy land/
1odern +anka6s inability to maintain ci4il peace is sourced partly in the @osts and
Guests concept% the belie. that Buddhists are the sole owners o. the island and
e4eryone else is a mere guest without inalienable rights/ This concept is based on
another 1ahawamsa2creation 8 the myth o. the original beDuest/ 0ccording to
1ahawamsa% the Buddha on his death2bed tells the gods% ;3n +anka% = lord o. gods%
will my religion be established% there.ore care.ully protect+anka
The Buddha6s .inal days are detailed in the 1aha2Earinibbhana *utta / 0nd nowhere in
that e9tensi4e account can one .ind such a reDuest mentioned/ The Buddha ne4er says
that his teachings in their pristine .orm will sur4i4e only in a tiny island? he does not
ask the gods to protect it/ The )onsecration myth too is ob4iously another 1ahanama
.abrication/
3n the BodhaAi4a *utta% when BodhaAi4a hears the Buddha6s reluctant answer% he
weeps/ When the Buddha reminds him that he insisted on knowing the answer% he
e9plains that he is crying because he was ;decei4ed% cheated and .ooled .or a long time
by .alse teachers who preached that hea4enly bliss awaits warriors who die in battle/
<i.teen centuries a.ter the writing o. 1ahawamsa by a political monk% we are being
5decei4ed% cheated and .ooled6 by his lay and ordained successors/
1ahawamsa2Buddhism declared +anka as the sole Buddhist holy2land% decreed that
Buddhists and non2Buddhists cannot co2e9ist here and proclaimed that to wage wars
against encroaching unbelie4ers is no sin/ These three myths ha4e helped to turn
maAority2minority relations in modern +anka into a Fero2sum game underlined with
4iolent intolerance/ 0 +ankan peace and a +ankan nation cannot be until our history%
our politics and Buddhism are liberated .rom these pernicious .abrications by Bhikkhu
1ahanama and his descendents/

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