Ceylon Today Editorial

Materialism and Enlightenment

12 May 2017

Another Vesak, remembering the Birth, Enlightenment and Parinirvana of the Buddha has 'come, and gone.'

And, in hardly a month from now, on 8 June, the island will also commemorate the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka from India, introduced by Arahat Mahinda, son of Emperor Ashoka, more than 2,000 years ago, during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa in Mihintale, Anuradhapura.

And, yesterday, India's Premier Narendra Modi arrived on a whistle-stop two day tour of the island, where, among other things, he will be participating in various ceremonies related to the United Nations International Vesak Festival held here.

Nonetheless, the teachings of the Buddha and the practice He advocated for a 'better' living and therewith, perhaps peace and prosperity not only to self, but in the wider context to a country and even to the whole world, leading to the 'self' attaining 'Nirvana', by being released from suffering, desire and from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth may be captured in his precepts of the 'four Noble Virtues', the 'Four Noble Truths', the 'Five Noble Precepts' and the 'Noble Eightfold Path'.
The 'Four Noble Virtues' 'left behind' by the Buddha to the world were: Love or Loving-kindness (Metta), Compassion (Karuna), Sympathetic Joy (Mudita) and Equanimity (Upekkha).

The 'Four Noble Truths': 'The Truth of Suffering', 'The Truth of Cause of Suffering', 'The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering' and 'The Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering'.

The Buddha's 'Five Noble Precepts': 'Abstain from Killing,' 'Abstain from Stealing,' 'Abstain from Sexual Misconduct', 'Abstain from Lying' and 'Abstain from Consuming Intoxicating Drinks and Drugs' and, finally, his 'Noble Eightfold Path': 'Right Understanding,' 'Right Thought,' 'Right Speech,' 'Right Action,' 'Right Livelihood,' 'Right Effort,' 'Right Mindfulness' and 'Right Concentration.
'The Buddhists form the majority of this population, some 70%. Most, if not all of whom, belong to Sri Lanka's majority Sinhala community.

Nonetheless, due to a mix of poverty and being socially disadvantaged, eclipsing this critical mass of the island's population, they are therefore found to be malleable and are used as tools by vested political interests, unsurprisingly to the detriment of the country in general and to that particular section of the population as a whole, as history, especially since independence, in the modern contemporary context has shown.

But during this period of time, Japan, after being devastated by World War II, phoenix like, rose from the ashes, to become the world's third largest economy.

Japan has a civilization far older than Sri Lanka's 2,500 years and a country where the second largest religion or practice, in respect of the uplift of the self, is Buddhism.

It may be an example to be followed.

What, probably may be missing in the Sri Lankan context in this period of time is 'tolerance' and 'acceptance', though both are widely regarded as cornerstones in Buddhism.

Whereas, in the case of the latter, that is widely connected to the 'Law of Karma' is also believed by the Buddhists.

'Karma' is similar to Newton's third law of physics in reverse, revolving round the mathematician's theory that 'every action has an equal and opposite reaction'.

Whereas in Buddhism, it's one's works, in one's present life or in the past, which determines what sort of a person one is in the present, especially, in the physical and material, or even in one's mental state.

The ultimate objective of a Buddhist is to be free from this 'vicious' cycle of 'Samsara' and graduate into the state of 'Nirvana' or nothingness or enlightenment, by achieving Buddhahood.

Whereas seeking materialism is evil, while seeking enlightenment is not, nevertheless, it's by trying to obtain the former, more often by foul means - fuelled by politicos - that has led, to the country's degeneration economically and spiritually.

The bottom line is that only by practising the teachings of the Buddha and not listening to vested political interests, can Sri Lanka be uplifted, both economically and spiritually.