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There were no Syrian Christian priests, no sermons, no rituals. His body was taken to the Medical College as if to pay penance for the un-Godly campaign he carried out throughout his life. The medical students cut and chopped his soul-less body.
It was desecration of the highest order. After the medical students committed all that could be done to a corpse and as a result widened their knowledge of the human anatomy, the skeletal remains were sent to Thurstan College, where the students learnt about the human skeleton.
One thing the students were certain about was that no sorcerer would cast a spell on the Kovoor skeleton and send a 'pilliya' to frighten them, as Kovoor firmly believed that with his death everything ends.
But he was wrong. A few days ago, his chief apostle Carlo and his chief disciple Dharmapala resurrected him from the dead. Though he did not physically appear and bless the audience, it was a resurrection of another kind. It was the resurrection of Rationalism in Sri Lanka.
A few years after his death, the rationalists and his movement withered away. His followers did not have his energy or his attitude to continue with his vision and mission. The free thinkers, Atheists and the rationalists disappeared. God men, angels, wizards, witches, astrologers, clairvoyants, light readers, palm readers, ola leaf readers, all took over the gullible masses with relish.
At every village corner there were men and women of formidable spiritual attainment who could perform any miracle. They could make your girlfriend come back to you, they could make you pass exams, they could cure of cancer and they could win you a parliamentary seat.
They could foretell the future, present and the past. There were others, who could tell you about your previous birth. Stories of children being re-born, recounting their past birth and tracing their past relatives were a common feature.
Hundreds of people gathered to Hanguranketha to see a young boy recounting his previous birth as President Premadasa.
Others of the political divide caused untold misery to his helpless parents. Similarly, throughout the country, various persons with miraculous healing powers appeared. At Nikeweratiya, there was a Bo tree, a white cobra and a priest. All roads, instead of leading to Rome, led to Nikeweratiya.
After this phase of God men, there came the fundamentalist rage. We became a Dharmishta society. Buddhism became a religion protected by the Constitution. As an answer to this explosion, various sects of Christianity, deviating from the traditional faith sprang up.
These faiths assumed new theories and their Churches were different from the conventional places of worship. Conversion of the infidel took an important turn.
Firstly, people deviated from their conventional religions and started following these religions, conversions took place, monies were given and people in their hundreds changed their religion not out of self belief but due to their greed for the filthy lucre and other offerings made by these churchmen. Then, others went on a rampage, burnt these churches and assaulted the pastors.
Sri Lanka, a multi-national, multi-religious secular country, in which there was hardly and religious enmity, was engulfed in the polemics of the fundamentalists, whether they were Buddhists, Christians, Hindus or Muslims.
They went against the fundamental teachings of these religions. Religious hatred became a fact in deciding to whom the people should even cast their votes.
The astrologers, the soothsayers, card readers, light readers, the Yakaduras, the mantharakarayas had a field day. There was no Kovoor to debug these charlatans and challenge them. So the resurrection of Kovoor and his re-entry to the main stream of conscience of the people is a welcome sign.
It is not that Kovoor was infallible and his speeches and words were the Gospel truth, but he was able to infuse another dimension to the two dimensional approaches to the thinking of the people.
As his disciple Dharmapala Senarathne said, "even the most learned men of today, whether they be scientists, doctors, lawyers or members of the other professions, had the knowledge they have gained in the universities and the seats of learning in one pocket and in the other trouser pocket carried loads of superstition, mythology combined with ignorance".
This is one of the most poignant statements made at the commemoration meeting. The professionals, like the ordinary people, do not even want to ponder and question their beliefs. They are firmly rooted and convinced in their beliefs and firmly convinced in what they follow.
They would denounce any other thought. During Kovoor's time, he was able to shake the foundations of their beliefs and made them think and think deep of what the truth was.
It is interesting that 2,500 years ago, Siddhartha Gautama must have had the same notion and was in search of the truth. W. V. Quine, Professor of Philosophy at the Harward University says "the persuit of truth is a quest that links observation, theory, and the world".
Various faulty efforts to forge such links have led to much intellectual confusion. Therefore philosophers throughout the ages have devoted their entire lifetime and energy in the pursuit of truth.
Today, in hindsight we begin the feel the absence of Kovoor, who regardless opposition maintained his quest for inquiry and truth. He felt that all men are driven to superstition by one source, fear. Life is in a way so dreary and miserable and a majority of the people do not have the amenities to lead a decent life.
Therefore, they have no time to think and question their beliefs or their faiths. Others, who are wealthy and powerful, are in constant fear of losing their wealth, position and place in society and ultimately the power they enjoy over the others.
They similarly want to maintain and safeguard their wealth and to this end they worship their deities and they do not question the spiritual power of what they worship.
As the poor, who are constantly engaged in finding food for the next meal, similarly the rich have no time as they are engaged in making their wealth increase and therefore have no time to think.
Both rich and the poor are engulfed in fear, which is the main source of superstition. Fear and superstition is another source of cruelty. As Russell said "conquering fear is the beginning of wisdom".
Thomas Huxley, the father of modern rationalism, the famous English Philosopher said "When I reached intellectual maturity, and began to ask myself whether I was an atheist, a theist, or a pantheist; a materialist or an idealist; a Christian or a freethinker, I found that the more I learned and reflected, the less ready was the answer; until at last I came to the conclusion that I had neither art nor part with any of these denominations, except the last...So I took thought, and invented what I conceived to be the appropriate title of "agnostic". It came into my head as suggestively antithetic to the "gnostic" of Church history, who professed to know so much about the very things of which I was ignorant..."
The rationalist says that there is no God. Then, they believe in that concept. Similarly, one can accept or reject the theory of Karma and rebirth.
There is no proof that God exists. Similarly, one could put forward an argument and say that there is no proof that God does not exist.
These arguments are true of the concept of re-birth and Karma. Though there are many universities and professors, who have indulged in research and spent a lifetime to find out whether the theory of re-birth is true no one has proved it in a manner acceptable to scientific methods.
It is in this context that Kovoor opened a whole new debate on our beliefs. Kovoor in a way tried to establish freedom to think and reject the mythology of the gullible used by charlatans to deceive men of low intellect.
It is unfortunate that men of learning, education, academics and professionals who had distinguished themselves in their chosen fields have been equally guilty as men of lesser learning.
Especially, in these days of ethnic and religious intolerance which has culminated in the ethnic and religious wars, sometimes between the same faith like the Christians and the Catholics in Ireland and Sunnis and Shities in Iraq and other Muslim countries. Millions of people have died, perished and beeing killed over their religious beliefs.
Kovoor's speeches and writings, at least made people rethink about their beliefs. His work is more relevant today than even in the sixties. Kovoor was instrumental in imbibing us with free thinking, free of any religious dogmatism.
He questioned the validity of our beliefs and discussed our faith in relation to science. If you are a reasonable and a prudent man, you may say that as all religions disagree, then only one can be true. But there is also a greater possibility that none is true.
Kovoor attacked various God men as he believed that these men thrive and live on fear of man. It was not long ago that an Indian God man 'Swami Premananda', born in Sri Lanka was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was able to manifest 'Vibuthi' and perform the "lingothpavam' before thousands of devotees.
Lingothpavam is a ritual where Swami was able to bring out a phallus, from his mouth, said to be in his stomach. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and other devotees witnessed this miracle performed before thousands of devotees.
He was convicted and the Supreme Court upheld his conviction. When the trial proceeded a former Supreme Court Judge from Sri Lanka, a devotee of the Swami gave evidence for the defence to no avail.
Kovoor came hard upon these charlatans and challenged them. He exposed our weaknesses and our inability to think freely. He addressed our fear. The fear of losing our material things. Our fear of being burnt in hell for eternity.
Our fear of being ostracised by church families and finally from society. Our fear of not having anyone to look up to when we are in trouble. As Russell once said. "Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear.
It is partly the terror of the unknown, as I have said, the wish that you may have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing; fear of the mysterious, fear of disease, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty.
Therefore it is no wonder that cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand. It is because fear is at the basis of those two things. In this world we can now begin to understand things a little to master them by the help of science, it has forced its way step by step against the Christian religion, against the Churches and against the opposition of all the old precepts.
Science can help us to get over this craven fear in which mankind has lived so many generations. Science can teach us, and I think our own heart can teach us, no longer to look around for imaginary support, no longer to invent allies in the sky.
But rather to look to our own efforts here below to make this world a fit place to live in instead of the sort of place that the Churches in all these centuries have made it.............................. conquer the world by intelligence and not by being slavishly subdued by the terror that comes from it".
It is also significant to note that when Russell delivered this lecture, churches were empty and free-thinkers were aplenty. Rationalists, existentialist, Agnostics, Atheists and socialists and communists were in vogue.
Soviet Russia and the Eastern European bloc and the Communist Party of China were actively in control of the thinking of their people. But today Communism has withered away. Even in China, people are moving slowly towards the temples and churches.
The temples, churches and mosques have become centre of acquiring wealth and power. We hear of no Russells of no Sartre, Huxley or of Voltaire or of Kovoors. People have become so dogmatic, even the conventional temples and churches have been overrun by fundamentalists.
Barbrie Mosque was destroyed by Hindu fundamentalists. Taliban destroyed the Bahamian Buddha statute which existed for centuries.
In Sri Lanka, Churches were burnt and places of worship desecrated. The Dalada Maligawa was bombed. Similarly 'Nallur Kovil' was bombed.
There was debate on unethical conversions and as a result a new political party was formed by Buddhist monks and had a fair percentage of Buddhist voters voting for them.
There are religious discourses on every Radio and TV channels every day. On the Poya Day, Dhamma is taught over the electronic media. But cruelty, intolerance lack of compassion, lack of love has not diminished but is on the increase.
The rate of murder and grave crime still remains very high. Human life has no little or no value. People are confused and confounded by the fundamentalist propaganda. One believes in one's religion and one's race as superior to all other religions.
Therefore, in a way, the chief apostle 'Carlo'and the disciples 'Dharmapla' and other young people who had worked tirelessly to resurrect Kovoor and spread the message of rationalism, are to be appreciated and applauded.
As it is expected that rationalism will promote reason and with that promote freedom of thought and speech and feed us with thinking which are closer to the truth which the teachers of great religions and philosophers were in pursuit of.
Till the people have the capacity to think independently, fearlessly, until that day the truth is found the search for it must go on. It is hoped by all reasonable men that only the truth and nothing but the truth will survive at the end.
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