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Grow a tree and shelter the world!
Dear children,
Sometime ago I talked to you about the importance of maintaining a
home garden. It is a pleasure to consume vegetables and fruits grown in
your own garden than buying fertilized ones from outside. It is equally
important to pay attention to grow trees in your garden.
Hope you have heard of the story where a small boy questions his
grand pa as to why he grows a mango plant in his garden because the
grand pa will not live that long to enjoy the fruits born in that tree.
The response of the grand pa shows how broad minded and compassionate he
is. "Though I may not live that long to eat any mango born in this tree
it is a pleasure to enjoy the mere thought that somebody else will enjoy
the fruits born in this tree in the future."
Today you can grow a small plant in your home garden, school garden
or anywhere. Tomorrow it will become a huge tree to provide shelter and
other benefits to society. People cut down trees in great numbers for
development purposes - to get timber or to clear the land for building
construction. However trees are not grown adequately to replace those
that are cut down. Even though there are various programmes under
different themes to promote planting trees it seems that many have not
understood the importance of these programmes yet.
As school-going children you have a responsibility to promote
planting trees in your surroundings. Different trees have different
values. Trees such as sandalwood and Khomba have fine herbal values.
With the assistance of your teachers and guardians you can learn the
value of each tree. Whether they have herbal values or not one thing
that is common to all the trees is that they provide shelter. Do I need
to tell you how it is like to be under a shady tree when the sun is too
hot?
The Buddha has stated in one of his sermons that the forests do not
expect anything from us for their survival, but generously donate their
produce for our benefit. "Forests protect all living beings; they give
shade to even those who cut them down mercilessly."
It is high time that you thought of growing a tree or two in your
garden...
Bye for now,
Sanju
[email protected]
Great Minds:
From a tiny seed to a healthy tree
Anagarika Dharmapala:
In the book titled, From a Tiny Seed to a Healthy Tree edited by
Lakshman Jayawardane, you come across the words of the great Buddhist
Philanthropist, Anagarika Dharmapala. "In January 1891, I visited Bodh
Gaya, the holy spot in India where the Buddha received enlightenment...
My heart swelled with emotion as I rode along the bank of the river and
passed pilgrims journeying afoot to the holiest shrine of Buddhism...
Perhaps, no other place in the world has been so venerated for so long a
period by so many...
'In Bodh Gaya, when I visited the Bo-tree, an offshoot of the
original tree under which the Buddha sat, I had the same winged peace of
soul as the humblest pilgrim from Burma. Reverently I visited the brick
temple, built in the form of a pyramid, and examined the carvings on the
ancient stone-railing. But I was filled with dismay at the neglect and
desecration about me... It seemed an outrage that this holiest temple of
the Buddhists should be under the management of a man whose ancestors
had always been hostile to Buddhism."
"I intended to stay a few weeks and then return to Ceylon so I had
only a few rupees with me. But, when I saw the condition of the shrine,
I began an agitation to restore it to Buddhist control. I communicated
with the leading Buddhists of the world and urged them to rescue Bodh
Gaya..." Thus writes Anagarika Dharmapala, describing the first steps
that led to the founding of the Mahabodhi Society in 1891. Soon this
Buddhist site would be restored to the Buddhist pilgrims thanks to the
dedicated efforts of this exemplary leader.
Born on September 17, 1864 he was given the name, David Hevavitharana
by his father, Carolis Hevavitarana, and mother, Mallika Hevavitarana.
Though he was educated at Christian institutions and found a job in the
government services, influenced by leading Buddhist figures like Ven.
Migettuwatte Gunananda and Col. Olcott, he gave up his career in 1886 to
dedicate his life to raising funds for Buddhist education in the country
and to spread the message of the Buddha throughout the world.
From now on, he would be called Anagarika (meaning non-householder)
Dharmapala (guardian of righteousness). The most suitable name for
someone who would spend forty seven years of his life-span of sixty-nine
years, in the most noble task ever imaginable for a Buddhist - the
restoration and progress of the Buddha Sasana.
In the speech he made at the Chicago Assembly in 1893 he describes
clearly the teachings of the Buddha to Western listeners. "Love all
beings for love's sake,...lead a life of purity and the sunlight of
truth will illuminate you." He was also the founder of the Sinhala
newspaper - Sinhala Bauddhaya. Towards the end of his life Anagarika
Dharmapala became a Buddhist monk. From then on, he was known as Sri
Devamitta Dharmapala. He passed away on April 29, 1933.
His last words were, "May I be born twenty-five times over again to
continue the noble task of promoting the Buddha Sasana".
- Aditha
[email protected]
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