Pilgrim, journey and the reach
 One Friday evening, last month, I was eyewitness to a pilgrimage. It
was basically about the story of Pilgrim Kamanita by Karl Gjellerup,
translated into Sinhala by Most Ven Balangoda Ananda Balangoda Thera.
The work has been translated into English by John Loggie, and later has
been edited by Ajahn Amaro.
This certainly needs explanation. All this, except for Most Ven
Balangoda Ananda Maithri Thera, sounds unfamiliar. Well, the wording
indicates another book review – how can you expect anything else? But
this is something uncharacteristic for a book review, you will realize
gradually.
Though it’s late to bring up in this space, last month’s poya bears
much significance in Lanka’s revolution of culture. Arahant Mahinda’s
arrival channeled the country’s creativity. That is where the modern
propagation of Buddhism starts. How relevant or timely this fact is, you
will see towards the end of this essay.
Karl Gjellerup was a Danish theologian before his interest diverted
to oriental philosophy. Pilgrim Kamanita, so to say, shows the
enthusiasm he had for oriental teachings, especially Buddhism.
 Now Buddhist teachings or rather the biography of the Buddha - have
inspired writers from many walks of life. The book is considered the
oddest novel written in Danish. The closest book we can link with this
is Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha. If you are in for comparing or
contrasting then it should be the protagonist first.
Siddhartha’s protagonist is in search of the Buddha, but remains
quite independent all throughout. On the contrary Gjellerup’s
protagonist, Kamanita, meets the Buddha. Even though he doesn’t identify
the Buddha, he tries to follow the teachings. I can reach for more words
to dwell here, but this basic fact would do for the time being.
Now I turn to the translators cum editors: Most Ven Balangoda Ananda
Maitreya Thera and Ajahn Amaro. They both have taken liberty to alter
the text of the novel. Hesse’s work has never been altered in the
translation. We have hardly heard a work, especially a creative work,
being altered and translated into English – abridged, simplified text
aside. In Sinhala, of course, it is now becoming a trend with too many
translators only a few rich in their languages. But it was not quite
common at the time Most Ven Maitreya Thera did the translation.
Now we have the natural question: why is it so? It would seem an act
of folly if the original author was alive.
First may be because the author was Danish. This is insufficient
explanation though it makes us believe that Gjellerup may not have had a
good command of the Buddha’s teachings. Third, he is influenced by
Hinduism too. And fourth, Most Ven Maitreya Thera hints that the work is
authored with Mahayana inspiration. Both translators belong to the
Theravada school. They have seen the beauty of creativity and at the
same time felt the need to readjust the work to suit the Theravada set
up.
Ajahn Amaro, an English monk, belongs to the Thai Forest Tradition
pioneered by Ajahn Chah, a Thai monk. That tradition doesn’t encourage
reading books. Most books authored by the famous Ajahns of the Thai
tradition are compiled by others based on sermons. Ajahn Chah is famous
to have said to read only one book: heart. In such a backdrop, what made
Ajahn Amaro take pains to alter the already translated work? That means
Kamanita’s story is quite important – creatively, at least.
European monks had to face great difficulty in propagating Buddhism
across the Europe. One way to spread the teaching is creativity, they
realized.
Edwin Arnold’s Light of Asia played a pivotal role. In his
introduction, Ajahn Amaro describes that they felt the need to promote
creative works to spread the Buddha’s teachings.
Next, the publisher of Sinhala Pilgrim Kamanita tells us how Ajahn
Amaro could be linked with Most Ven Maitreya Thera. Once Ajahn Chah was
invited to ceremonially open a monastery in England, but he could not
make it due to failing health.
In his place Ajahn Chah recommended Most Ven Balangoda Ananda
Maitreya Thera. Ajahn Amaro is a direct disciple of Ajahn Chah. This
seems to link connections, and the importance of the work gets heavier.
Most Ven Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thera and Ajahn Amaro belong to
two different timelines and cultures. But they both seem to have been
inspired by the concept of pilgrimage.
A Vesak supplement in 1930 features an article by this senior monk
about a journey in search of happiness. Most Ven Maitreya Thera was only
34 years when he wrote that – he passed away as a centenarian in 1998.
Ajahn Amaro too has written a sequel to Pilgrim Kamanita. It is titled
as Mangala and Mara. That shows the weight of Ajahn’s inspiration from
Gjellerup’s work.
Interestingly Ajahn Amaro has authored another book titled Tudong.
Tudong in Thai means dhutanga in Pali which means austere practices. The
book describes Ajahn Amaro’s pilgrimage across Britain.
This is how an imaginary account of a pilgrimage led Ajahn Amaro to
write his own real life pilgrimage.
All this I could hear out thanks to Samudra Wettasinghe, who now runs
his own publishing house. A student of Most Ven Maitreya Thera,
Wettasinghe has published a number of the erudite scholar monk’s books.
[email protected]
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