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| Wednesday, 5 May 2004 |
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A perfidy of Dhamma by Kingsley Heendeniya The Buddha has said there is a time to speak what is correct, true and beneficial even when it is unwelcome and unacceptable. In this article, for the education of genuine Buddhists, I want to comment in terms of Dhamma, about the happenings involving the nine JHU monks in parliament at their first appearance as MPs. There is now overwhelming evidence that the election of the Speaker from the Opposition was a cunning conspiracy hatched with their sponsors to defeat the Government nominee by 109 to 108 at the first vote with two rebels known to be voting for it, when the balance seven would merely have to walk away to abstain as confirmed by them consistently to the President and everyone. If the plot succeeded, the seven monks could have (falsely) claimed to have acted with complete probity. But there was an unexpected quirk of sankhara dhamma - a tie - and a mocking second vote. A third voting was required. The seven monks now had no choice but to openly cast two votes - not three - in order to make certain the Opposition nominee win by one vote when they can say they did it to nullify the 2 votes of the rebels - and in revenge for 'abducting' them by the Government. It was a classic perfidy of Dhamma. Mendacity The Buddha says that whatever a monk frequently thinks and ponders upon, that will become the inclination of the mind. 'The evil herein is: greed and hate; anger and revenge; deceit and fraud; obstinacy and presumption; conceit and arrogance; vanity and negligence.' (Majjima. 3). 'There is no evil that cannot be done by the liar who has transgressed the one law of truthfulness and is indifferent to a world beyond.' (Dhammapada 176). 'Though a fool, through all his life associates with a wise man, he no more understands the Dhamma than a spoon tastes the flavour of soup.' (Dhp. 64). Anyone who voluntarily joins the Order and has not abandoned memories and intentions of sensual pleasure, attachment and greed of household life but wears robes and shaves the head is not by that much a descendent of the Sariputta-Mogallana lineage of the Sangha. When the monks of the JHU decided to contest at the General Election, they abdicated their pabajja or going forth into homelessness and ceased to belong to that noble Order. As such, more than 95% of monks and lay Buddhists in our country did not vote for the election of the nine monks in parliament. Revenge The Suttas or discourses of the Buddha are replete with his Teaching on the pervasive underlying tendency to hate. That is well-known even by non-Buddhists. What does the Buddha say in the Cula-Assapura Sutta? 'How, bhikkhus, does a bhikkhu not practice the proper way? For so long as a bhikkhu who is covetous and has not abandoned covetousness, who has a mind of ill will has not abandoned ill will... angry... revengeful... contemptuous... domineering... envious... avaricious... fraudulent... deceitful... has evil wishes... wrong view... has not abandoned wrong view, for so long he does not practice the proper way to the recluse, I say... results are to be experienced in an unhappy destination. Suppose the weapon called a mataja, well whetted on both edges were enclosed and encased in a patchwork sheath. I say that such a bhikkhu's going forth is comparable to that.' Let me quote also from the Dhammapada. 'Mind is the forerunner of all evil states. Mind is chief; mind-made are they. If one speaks or acts with a wicked mind, because of that dukkha follows one even as the wheel follows the hoof of the draught-ox' (Dhp. 1). 'Hatreds never cease through hatred in this world; through love alone they cease. This is an eternal law.' (Dhp. 5). 'Victory breeds hatred. The defeated live in pain. Giving up victory and defeat, the peaceful live happily.' (Dhp. 201). 'Verily, an evil deed committed does not immediately bear fruit, just as milk curdles not at once. Smouldering, it follows the fool like a fire covered with ashes.' (Dhp. 71) Vinaya rules JHU spokesman claimed that by contesting at the General Election, the monks have not broken a single of the 227 rules of the Vinaya recited at the First Council. That is correct. But it is immoral and specious. There were no elections in the time of the Buddha! No further comment is necessary. It is only necessary to remind the JHU monks of what the Buddha said: 'Better to swallow a red hot iron ball like a flame of fire than to be an immoral and uncontrolled person feeding on the alms offered by people.' (Dhp. 308). Dharma rajaya The concept of an eternal 'fair and just society' is myth. Never in history has there been any record remotely evident of a society free from greed, hate and selfishness. The Buddha described these three inclinations as the root of the arising of every conditioned thing and dukkha in the world. At no time for example, did he or his disciples go on a crusade to control corruption in governance. Society was just as it is today. There were corruption, highway robbery, prostitution, alcoholism, gambling and evil things that we see today. The Arahat Moggallana was killed by highwaymen. The King caught and burnt them alive. A woman even accused the Buddha of having made her pregnant! (Dhp. 76). The dharma rajaya of Dharmasoka lasted only 40 years. It disappeared soon after his death. King Saddhatissa, the brother of Dutugemunu could not find a single holy man in his kingdom! That is how it is. Devadatta On account of the widespread upheaval created by the venal conduct of JHU monks and their not acceptance as bhikkhu MPs by the majority of monks including all the Mahanayake Theras, there appears to be another schism of the Sangha developing after the abortive attempt by Devadatta more than 2,500 years ago. Devadatta, a cousin of the Buddha enjoyed a short period of fame and power through the patronage of King Ajatasattu. The Buddha called him a 'wastrel and a gob of spit' in public. The JHU monks will do well to recollect how he further described Devadatta. 'Bhikkhus, do not begrudge Devadatta's his gain, honour and renown. Just as if one were to break a gall bladder under a fierce dog's nose, the dog would get much fiercer, so too, as long as Prince Ajatasattu keeps waiting on Devadatta as he is doing, so long may wholesome states be expected to diminish and not increase in Devadatta. "Just as a plantain tree bears fruit for its own destruction and its own undoing, so too, Devadatta's gain, honour and renown have arisen for his self-destruction and his own undoing.' (Vin. Cv. 7:2; cf. S. 17:35-36 and A. 4.68). Aniccata Happily, things that depend on other things fade, change and are impermanent. This shameful episode will go into the limbo of forgotten things. Dhamma belongs to no one. It belongs to everyone. It shall prevail. That is how it is and shall be. The monks will correct themselves. Just as the dawn heralds and foretells the rising of the sun, with experience of the hurly-burly of politics, they shall see wisdom and revert to their correct role as disciples of the Buddha. |
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