Most Venerable Bhante Walpola Piyananda's 80th Birthday Celebrating - Collected Essays
Collected Essays of Bhante Walpola Piyananda Celebrating His 80th Birthday. Ven. Walpola Piyananda Nayake Maha Thera has chosen to dedicate his life to sharing the teaching of the Buddha in the Western World, knowing that it has so much wisdom to offer; not an easy task for someone coming from a foreign background. However these articles reflect his ability to make a great impact on the American Community. He has helped many people and monks new to this country in many ways throughout the years, He has helped these monks to establish Dharma Centers in various parts in this country. Venerable Walpola Piyananda is an extraordinary monk and dharma teacher who exemplifies wisdom, compassion and selflessness. He has made a profound impact on numberous individuals and communities worldwide through his teachings and service. On his auspicious 80th birthday, I express my deepest gratitude to Venerable Walpola Piyananda for his remarkable contributions and limitless love. Ven. Walpola Piyananda Maha Thero has been a pioneer in establishing Theravada Buddhism in America and developing knowledge of the Buddha Dhamma through radio and promoting education to uplift the children of his native Sri Lanka. As a Theravada monk, he has manifested a sense of caring with wisdom and compassion by providing hospitable spiritual and physical shelter at his Los Angeles monastery. Bhante, as he is affectionately known, is a teacher with a great breadth of interests spanning from the origins of Buddhism to how Western people could apply the teachings, Dhamma, into their daily life. I have known Bhante since we were students at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)…. This edition of his collected works is an important contribution for Western readers.
Collected Essays of Bhante Walpola Piyananda Celebrating His 80th Birthday. Ven. Walpola Piyananda Nayake Maha Thera has chosen to dedicate his life to sharing the teaching of the Buddha in the Western World, knowing that it has so much wisdom to offer; not an easy task for someone coming from a foreign background. However these articles reflect his ability to make a great impact on the American Community. He has helped many people and monks new to this country in many ways throughout the years, He has helped these monks to establish Dharma Centers in various parts in this country. Venerable Walpola Piyananda is an extraordinary monk and dharma teacher who exemplifies wisdom, compassion and selflessness. He has made a profound impact on numberous individuals and communities worldwide through his teachings and service. On his auspicious 80th birthday, I express my deepest gratitude to Venerable Walpola Piyananda for his remarkable contributions and limitless love. Ven. Walpola Piyananda Maha Thero has been a pioneer in establishing Theravada Buddhism in America and developing knowledge of the Buddha Dhamma through radio and promoting education to uplift the children of his native Sri Lanka. As a Theravada monk, he has manifested a sense of caring with wisdom and compassion by providing hospitable spiritual and physical shelter at his Los Angeles monastery. Bhante, as he is affectionately known, is a teacher with a great breadth of interests spanning from the origins of Buddhism to how Western people could apply the teachings, Dhamma, into their daily life. I have known Bhante since we were students at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)…. This edition of his collected works is an important contribution for Western readers.
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fortunate enough to study under the guidance of many erudite monks
such as Ven. Walane Sri Siddhartha Thero, and he studied hard till
he mastered several languages including Pali, Sinhala, Sanskrit, and
English.
In 1848 his higher ordination as a Buddhist monk took place
at the Malwatha Buddhist Chapter house in Kandy. As a young
novice monk, Ven. Hikkaduwe Sumangala Thero started tackling the
criticisms against Buddhism by Christian missionaries by publishing
his comebacks. In 1858, to loosen the hold that other religions had
over the Southern province of the country, Ven. Hikkaduwe Sumangala
Thero established a publishing company named “Lankopakara,” and
started printing books – and most importantly, the Buddhist newspaper
“Lankaloka.” Further, several Sinhala Buddhist schools were founded
under his patronage and they were provided with all the required
facilities. In 1871, Ven. Thero moved to the Maligakanda area, and in
1873 he initiated the establishment of the treasure house of knowledge,
“Vidyodaya Pirivena.”
Even those who followed the teachings of Mahayana
Buddhism, such as Rev. Kojin Gunaratana, Revs. Kojina Kondanna,
Sato and Tochibana, from foreign countries like Thailand, Burma,
Bangladesh and Japan, also came to Vidyodaya Monastic College to
study the teachings of Theravadha Buddhism under the tutelage of our
Ven. Thero. Ven. Dhammananda Kosambi Thero, who travelled to Sri
Lanka from India, also studied under the guidance of our Ven. Thero.
Ven. Mohottiwatte Gunananda Thero, who participated in
the famous Panadura debate in 1873, made sure that Ven. Hikkaduwe
Sumangala Thero also came along to assist him with the debate. The
debate became so famous that information about it was also published
in a magazine called “The Truth Seeker” in America (Mr. Thomas
Paine who played a major role in creating the Constitution of the
United States was also one of the patrons of this magazine).
As a result of the published article about this debate, many
important persons such as Colonel Henry Steel Olcott and the Russian
philosopher and author, Helena Blavatsky visited Sri Lanka. On
17 th of May 1880, they both embraced Buddhism as their religion at
Vidyananda Monastic College in Galle, and started studying the Pali
language and Buddhist philosophy under the tutelage of our Ven. Thero.
They understood the importance of education and how it could
be used to salvage the pitiful situation that the Buddhist religion in Sri
Lanka had fallen into. As a result, Parama Vignanartha Corporation
was established in Colombo. In 1895, this corporation established
Ananda Vidyalaya in Colombo with the Cambridge graduate A.E.
Bultjens of American descent as its principal. This was followed by the
establishment of several other schools in the country such as Nalanda
Vidyalaya in Colombo, Dharmaraja Vidyalaya in Kandy, and Mahinda
Vidyalaya in Galle.
In 1885 Ven. Hikkaduwe Sumangala Thero chaired the
committee which designed the Buddhist flag. Many foreigners that
were interested in studying Buddhist philosophy came to Sri Lanka
just so they could meet our Ven. Thero and study Buddhism under his
guiding hand.
Thomas William Rhys Davids (1867), who was the Magistrate
of Galle at the time, studied Pali language from several Buddhist monks
including Ven. Yathramulle Dhammarama Thero, Ven. Dodanduwe
Piyarathanathissa Thero, Ven. Weligama Sri Sumangala Thero, and
Ven. Waskaduwe Subhuthi Thero. He also made sure to meet often with
our Ven. Hikkaduwe Sumangala Thero to discuss Buddhist philosophy
in depth, and thus he amassed a vast wealth of knowledge regarding
Buddhism.
This provided our Ven. Thero with an opportunity to associate
with, and build friendships with, many important figures of British rule
in Sri Lanka and to earn their respect. These relations allowed Ven.
Hikkaduwe Sumangala Thero to get a fine understanding of how he
should go about explaining the Buddhist philosophy to foreigners so
they could clearly understand exactly what Buddhism was about.
Paul Dahlke, of German descent, was a famous Buddhist
philosopher who came to Sri Lanka specifically to meet Ven.
Hikkaduwe Sumangala Thero in order to study the doctrine of non-self
(Anathmavadaya) as taught in Buddhism.
The young Anagarika Dharmapala, had written a letter
complaining about the British Governor in Sri Lanka to the Foreign
Affairs Secretary in Great Britain, in the name of our Ven. Thero.
Though at the time our Ven. Thero was not aware that such a letter had
been sent in his name, he wasn’t bothered by the fact once he did get to
know about it.
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