Gurus I Have Met II

In the late 70s Swami Chinmayananda was on a teaching tour of Sri Lanka and being accommodated at the Ramakrishna Mission in Welawatta. As I was staying just nearby at Venerable Hinatinna Dhammaloka’s International Buddhist Centre I decided to go and see if I could meet Swamiji. I arrived at about 7.15 in the morning and as I entered the Mission I noticed Swamiji in the garden looking at the flowers so I approached him and introduced myself. He greeted me smilingly and invited me to the veranda outside his room where we sat with a cup of tea and talked. Swamiji Chinmayananda had an aristocratic bearing and demeanour, not at all ascetic-looking. His drooping moustache and long grey beard gave his face and head an elongated appearance. After some preliminary small talk the conversation soon moved to religion. As I expected, Swamiji clearly believed that the Buddha’s Dhamma was just a restatement of Vedanta, a reformed Hinduism. I politely pointed out what I thought was the evidence that this was not so and he quoted Buddhist texts showing that it was. To my surprise, some of the texts he marshalled showed that he had some knowledge of the Tipitaka, but the clinching quotes were unknown to me and were I’m pretty sure spurious. Not that he was being dishonest. Certainly not! But clearly he was only familiar with aspects of Buddhism that did not clash with Vedanta. This part of our conversation soon led to a deadlock and understanding this Swamiji  gracefully shifted the  subject to meditation. He shared with me the practices he did and recommended to others, and I described my practices and experiences. He listened respectfully, sometimes adding his own insights and comments. Altogether we talked for about two hours. Swami Chinmayananda  spoke  faultless  English with only a slight Indian accent. Every now and then he would emphasise a point he wanted to make by raising his voice while pointing his finger upwards.  He struck me was articulate, discerning and learned, not just in Hinduism but in a wide   range of subjects. But I sensed that he was more an intellectual  than someone who spent time in solitude and meditation. Our meeting ended when an attendant came to inform that a car had arrived which was to take him to some engagement. He rose, bowed respectfully and smilingly to me which I did to him and we parted. Swami Chinmayananda died in 1993.

Gurus I Have Met I

Over the next month or so I am going to write a series of posts about famous and not so famous but nonetheless interesting spiritual teachers I have met, if only briefly, giving my experiences with and impressions of them.  I will start with Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, more widely known as Guru Bawa.

Sometime in either the late 70s or early 80s a Muslim friend told me that a Sufi saint named Guru Bawa was on a short visit to Sri Lanka, his homeland, from the US where he was then living, and was staying in Colombo. “If you would like to meet him I can arrange it”, my friend said. I knew little of Sufism but what I did know impressed me so I said that yes I would like to meet this saint and my friend made the arrangements. A few days later I and a monk friend went to the address we had been given in Colombo 7, which turned out to be a large and rather grand bungalow. As we sat waiting to be shown into the presence an American woman with a pronounced Southern drawl told us all about Guru Bawa. “He’s over 150 years old you know. And he has amazing healing powers, why, Miriam here had cancer and Guru Bawa cured it. And he never eats or drinks. Nothing! He lives entirely on the grace of God.” I took note of all this and out of politeness made a genuine effort to disguise my scepticism. After a while another American woman disciple entered the hall and told us that Guru Bhava would now see us, and she guided us into his room. There before us was a small, rather frail-looking man  of dark-brown  complexion, a wispy white beard on his chin, dressed in pure white robe and turban, sitting on the floor. He bid us welcome, I anjalied him, and we sat down on the floor near him. The first thing I noticed about him was his face. His countenance was one of utter serenity and kindness which together with his gentle smile and shining dark eyes fitted exactly my image of a saint. He asked us about ourselves and while my friend was answering the next thing I noticed was the cup of tea on the floor beside him. He asked me about myself, I told him and then he invited us to ask anything we liked. The conversation continued for some time and while my friend was talking I noticed a cut or abrasion on Guru Bawa’s arm which looked slightly infected and which he occasionally rubbed. I asked him about it and he looked down and examined  it and  said he had had it for a while and that so far the medicine he was taking for it was not having the desired effect. Nothing Guru Bawa said has stuck in my mind. It is his extraordinary demeanour and presence which has remained with me. As for the “he never eats or drinks”  (the cup of tea)  and the “he has amazing healing powers” (the nasty cut on his arm), I suspect  they had  their origin in the adulation and  devotion of his disciples rather than any claim that he himself made.

My 2014

2014 has been both a good and a bad year for me. The low point was the fire that severely damaged the Buddha Dhamma Mandala Society premises. It has meant a drastic cutting back of the Society’s activities for the rest of the year, and for me it was a close shave with the Grim Reaper. Repairs are ongoing and hopefully we will be able to return to our old place in  March or April. On the positive side I managed to complete three books this year; Like Milk and Water Mixed; Buddhist Reflections on Love, Nature and the Environment in Early Buddhism and Good Kamma, Bad Kamma! What Exactly is Kamma? This third book will only be published when our Society is able to return home, as that is the only place we have to store the books. I have also written an essay entitled ‘Water in the Religions of Sri Lanka’, my contribution to a large coffee  table book on water in Sri Lanka which will be edited by my friend Sarala Fernando and which is due out in the middle of next year.  In November I attended a conference in Pune, India, organized by the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies. Others attending were Richard Gombrich, Dr. Alexander Wynne, Jeffrey Race, and various academics from Pune and Mumbai universities. While there I also met Pankaj Padghan who is busy translating Good Question Good Answer into Marathi. With luck the book should be published next year. Another translation, my Guide to Buddhism A to Z into Indonesian as Ensiklopedi Mini Buddhisme, is due out in January. Apart from joining family in France and trips to Cambodia and Indonesia, the most interesting trip I made this year was to Korea. I and members of the BDMS spent 10 days visiting some of South Korea’s famous Buddhist sites. The highlight of the trip was seeing the 81,2058 wooden printing blocks of the great Tripitaka Koreana at the famous Haeinsa Monastery. Later, I climbed the beautiful forested hills behind the monastery and met some of the hermits who have their small temples there. In October, just after my 63^rd birthday I had my first ever complete medical check-up which showed that other than being slightly overweight I am in good health, a state that I hope shall continue in 2015 and beyond. Mentally? Well, that’s another story! * I have spent much of this morning trying to get the pictures in the right place but without success. Sorry about that.

 

Christmas Reflections

Nowadays and for most people Christmas is about shopping, eating, trying to find a Christmas tree or taking the fake one out of the garage and assembling it. Then there is the problem of trying to remember who sent you a Christmas card last year so that you don’t neglect to send them one this year. In some countries it has become a time to argue about whether saying to others “Happy Christmas” or “Happy Holidays’ is appropriate. Of course it’s supposed to be about celebrating the birth of Jesus and an opportunity to give heart to some of the things he taught. Here, this Christmas, are some of the more important things he or his disciples said.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13,34-35.

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13,10. 
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12,31.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4,8.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful…1 Corinthians 13.   

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5, 22-23. 
Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Romans 12,10.  
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.1 John 5,3. 
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15,13.
Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippains 2,2-4.

The Buddha With Headphones

Three men have just been arrested in Burma  on a charge of insulting Buddhism. The three own a bar in Rangoon. It seems they posted an image of the Buddha wearing headphones on the bar’s Facebook as part of an advertisement for an upcoming event at the bar. The news reports do not make it clear whether the alleged insult stems from the identification of the Buddha with a bar, the picture of the Buddha wearing headphones, or both. If it is about the headphones I think it rather curious that Buddhists would find this insulting. In Rangoon there is a temple enshrining a large statue of the Buddha wearing glasses. Many Burmese Buddha images depict him with a crown on his head. Indeed in Thailand once a year the king places a crown on the Phra Kaew, the country’s most revered image. In Thailand and I think in Burma too, the Buddha is not uncommonly depicted adorned with a necklace, armlets, bracelets, rings and other jewellery, things which as a monk he never wore and would have probably disapproved of. If the bar/Buddha association is the cause of the outrage I think this is misplaced. That someone could live in Burma, where Buddhism is so pervasive, and not know that such an association would be quite inappropriate, I think calls for education of the offenders rather than punishment. 
The Buddha actually made a comment on this very matter  which would be worth keeping in mind. I quote from the Alagaddupama Sutta: “If others abuse, revile, insult or harass the Tathagata…you should not because of that feel annoyance, bitterness or be down-hearted” (M.I,140). I am pretty sure the Buddha would have considered anger on the part of those who know his Dhamma, far more unbecoming than the misuse of his image by those ignorant of it. Let’s hope Buddhism is not deteriorating into a religion that reacts with angry indignation and calls for retribution at every slight real or imagined. The three men should be asked to attend several talks on basic Buddhism and the cultural norms of Burma. This way they would respect Buddhism because they understand it, not because they fear it. 
You might like to read this too http://sdhammika.blogspot.sg/2010/09/burn-buddha.html