Most Venerable Bhante Walpola Piyananda's 80th Birthday Celebrating - Collected Essays

nation we must have Right View, which will shape our collective Right
Intention for moving forward.
So, what does our national Sri Lankan View and Intention need
to become to survive? I propose that we cultivate the View of unity
– even as we are a group of people coming from different cultures,
different religions, and even different languages. From View, we need
to cultivate our national Intention as “Find Unity, Realize Unity, Come
together as United.” Understand that United we stand, Divided we fall,
therefore let’s stand united at all costs. It’s the only way to survive,
by pulling together and forging a national unity. This will foster an
unbreakable intention to stick together and continue as a unified
sovereign nation, forging ahead with a strong economy, living in peace
and in harmony with everyone.
During the past year, perhaps because of all of the things
Sri Lankans had to endure to survive, many people have engaged in
the “Blame Game:” finger-pointing. Some folks have looked to find
scapegoats for our collective suffering, a thing that is much easier to
do than look within – or look without in order come up with effective
solutions for the issues at hand. Playing the blame game simply does not
work. It accomplishes absolutely nothing – it is negative, destructive,
and fuels further feelings of divisiveness and hatred. If we can put aside
these habits of blaming one another to join together, we just might find
the answers we need.
One of my favorite stories from Majjhima Nikaya,
Culamalunkya Sutta (#53) is an excellent example of the futility of
blame, shame, and guilt. It’s the story of the poison arrow, and it goes
like this:
It’s just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly
smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives
would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, ‘I won’t
have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded
me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.’
He would say, ‘I won’t have this arrow removed until I know
the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me... until I
know whether he was tall, medium, or short... until I know whether
he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored... until I know his home
village, town, or city... until I know whether the bow with which I
was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow... until I know whether
the bowstring with which I was wounded was fiber, bamboo threads,
sinew, hemp, or bark... until I know whether the shaft with which I was
wounded was wild or cultivated... until I know whether the feathers of
the shaft with which I was wounded were those of a vulture, a stork,
a hawk, a peacock, or another bird... until I know whether the shaft
with which I was wounded was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water
buffalo, a langur, or a monkey.’
He would say, ‘I won’t have this arrow removed until I know
whether the shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common
arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.’
While the poisoned man was trying to find a reason to blame
someone for his plight, he wasted precious time and died. Meanwhile,
the questions he persisted in asking about the poisoned arrow and the
man who shot him – would still be unanswered and remain unknown
to him.
Let’s see if during the coming year we can create and instill a
national Sri Lankan intention to become unified, to act with the purpose,
to strengthen our Motherland, to find workable solutions to help ease
our suffering, and to be able to work as One. If we realize this intention
we will surely survive. If we don’t, then our future is doubtful, and we
may all die while looking for someone to blame for the poison arrow.
May all of you have the Blessings of the Triple Gem.
Thank you.
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