Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya
A Personal Appreciation
Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
Venerable Balangoda Ananda Maitreya was one of the great personalities
of Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century, and it is testimony to
his vast store of past merits that his life span stretched clear across
this century from its beginning almost to its end. In the course of his
exemplary life this outstanding Mahathera has held some of the most
prestigious academic and ecclesiastical posts in the country. Yet such
honour and fame hardly touched him inwardly: at heart he always remained
a simple monk whose greatest joy was quiet study and meditation at his
small village temple near the town of Balangoda. For me it is a personal
honour to be able to name Ven. Ananda Maitreya as my own ordination
teacher, the one who brought me into the Sangha and guided my first
steps in the life of a bhikkhu.
The background story to my meeting with the Mahanayaka Thera goes back
to the year 1971. At that time I was living at a Vietnamese Buddhist
meditation centre in Los Angeles. I had been ordained as a samanera
(novice) in the Vietnamese Mahayana Order and was lecturing in world
religions at a local university. One day our centre received notice that
a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka would be arriving in Los Angeles. We
invited him to stay with us and give a series of lectures on Theravada
Buddhism at our centre. That Buddhist monk was none other than Ven.
Piyadassi Nayaka Thera of Vajirarama. I served as Ven. Piyadassi's host
during his stay, drove him around town over Los Angeles's forbidding
maze of freeways, and accompanied him to the airport when it was time
for him to leave. When we parted, Ven. Piyadassi suggested to me that
some day I should come to Sri Lanka, where he could arrange for me to
stay at a Buddhist monastery.
The next year the decision had crystallized in my mind to go to Asia to
take ordination as a Theravada Buddhist monk. I wrote to Ven. Piyadassi
to remind him of his invitation, and he wrote back, giving me the name
of a senior prelate who, he said, had previously ordained Westerners.
The name was that of Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya. I wrote to the
Mahanayaka Thera, telling him of my background and of my desire to come
to Sri Lanka to ordain as a bhikkhu and to study Pali and Buddhism. The
Venerable promptly replied, extending me a warm welcome and assuring me
that he could oversee my ordination and my instruction in the Dhamma.
It was at the end of October 1972 that I at last arrived in Sri Lanka,
and a week later I made the trip out to Balangoda. I was accompanied on
this trip by the late Ven. Baddegama Vimalavamsa Nayaka Thera, who had
been my host in Colombo, and by Ven. Pimbure Sorata Nayaka Thera, in
whose vehicle we travelled to Balangoda. Though both spoke highly of the
excellent qualities of my prospective guru, all along the way I felt
somewhat apprehensive about my impending meeting with the Venerable One.
Again and again the doubts plagued my mind: Would I make my prostrations
in the correct manner? Would I fumble hopelessly for words? Would I make
some blunder that would immediately convince the Mahathera that I was
unsuited for ordination as a monk?
We arrived in Balangoda in the middle of the afternoon and headed for
the Sri Dhammananda Pirivena, where we were to meet Ven. Ananda Maitreya.
As we approached the room where he was awaiting us, my mind was torn
between a keen desire to see my chosen teacher and the anxious thoughts
that played havoc with my good intentions. My anxiety increased even to
the point where I wanted to flee -- back to the familiar smog-drenched
roadways of Los Angeles, which I had left a few months earlier --
abandoning this "noble quest for the Dhamma" as a foolish figment of
youthful idealism. But there was no turning back: the two Nayaka Theras
had already entered the room, and now it was my turn.
As soon as I crossed the threshold and set eyes on the Ven. Ananda
Maitreya, all my fears were dispelled like the morning mist before the
rising sun. It was no stern, cold, ascetic glare that met my questioning
eyes, but a bright radiant kindness, a natural simplicity, and a
twinkling immediacy of presence which instantly put me at ease. At once
I felt delighted that my kamma, and the good offices of Ven. Piyadassi,
had brought me into contact with such a luminous being. My fears of
bowing in the wrong way were also laid to rest. As soon as I came up
close to the Mahanayaka Thera to begin my bow, he waved me towards a
chair, as though he thought he should not impose Asian monastic
formalities on a visitor from urbane America. Of course, I did not
accept his invitation but made the customary triple prostration -- with
no fear at all that a pair of censorious eyes would be watching to see
where I would trip up.
Later that afternoon, after tea and light talk, the two Nayaka Theras
who had so kindly brought me out to Balangoda departed, and the Ven.
Ananda Maitreya, a few novices, a lay attendant, and the American
postulant piled into the quaint, ancient British-made car that was to
take us to Sri Nandaramaya, the Mahanayaka Thera's temple in Udumulla, a
village about 3 km from Balangoda town. A light rain had started to
fall, and after several stopovers along the way we entered the rough
dirt road that led to Udumulla. By this time darkness was thickly
descending, and thus, when we reached the temple, I could barely see
farther than the small area illuminated by the kerosene lantern I was
given.
Over the next few days I had the chance to explore the full extent of
Sri Nandaramaya. Earlier, while living in the U.S., I had heard
worrisome reports about the comfortable living standards that Sri Lankan
prelates were inclined to stake out for themselves. Though Ven.
Piyadassi had already warned me that I must be ready to "rough it" at
Udumulla, on my first morning there I had still been half-expecting a
monastic palace to emerge from the mist. Well, one quick walk around the
Mahanayaka Thera's temple was enough to pull the ground away from any
bold generalizations about luxury-loving prelates. The temple was, in a
sense, an external reflection of the Mahanayaka Thera's own character:
simple, stripped to bare essentials, without ostentation, revealing an
almost complete indifference, even oblivion, to the perks and privileges
of high office.
The main part of the temple, the "pansala" or monks' residence, was a
simple wooden structure with tile roof, mud-and-cowdung floor, a plain
verandah with a chipped wooden lattice facade, and a few cells for the
monks. These contained little more than beds, book cases, and wooden
tables; it was in one of these that Ven. Ananda Maitreya was living at
the time. A primitive alms hall in the back could accommodate about ten
monks, none very comfortably. Behind the temple was a hill on which two
"kutis" or cottages had recently been built and were still drying out:
one, lower down on the hill, was a wattle-and-daub structure intended
for myself; the other, higher up, was made of concrete and was to be
occupied by the Mahanayaka Thera.
Over the next few months I came to learn, as a hard lesson, that the
diet at Sri Nandaramaya conformed to the same austere standards as the
temple's physical structures. No gourmet's delight here! Breakfast
generally consisted of thin rice gruel (lunu kenda) with a few cream
crackers and occasionally a couple of small bananas. The midday meal was
usually country rice with a dhal curry and a single vegetable, and a
local confection for dessert. Occasionally a piece of papaya provided a
special treat. For a year before I came to Sri Lanka I had already been
a vegetarian, but the fare at Udumulla was still too spartan for my
needs. I soon enough learned how to go on alms round to the surrounding
hamlets, where I collected a variety of nutritious curries and could
supply the monks in the temple with my surplus.
For two and a half years (1972-75) I lived with Ven. Ananda Maitreya at
Sri Nandaramaya. During this happy period I received regular instruction
from him in Pali, Suttanta, and Abhidhamma, fields in which his
erudition was impeccable. The guidance he gave me so generously at that
time has continued to benefit me right up to the present. In this early
stage of my monk's life I faced considerable confusion trying to find
the proper key to understand the Dhamma correctly. Western interpreters
of Buddhism are often prone to invent their own versions of the Buddha's
teachings, which they then hail as the sole valid interpretation of the
Dhamma. Without a reliable guide it is easy to get lost in the jungles
of speculation and opinion, littered with the landmines of pride,
contention, and conceit. During this period the Mahanayaka Thera always
reminded me of the importance of relying on the Theravada commentarial
tradition in order to understand the Pali Dhamma correctly. He implanted
in my mind a profound respect for the Atthakathas and Tikas, the
Commentaries and Subcommentaries, an attitude which inspired and guided
my study of the Suttas and the Abhidhamma. Although I subsequently came
to see the need to distinguish among the various strata in the evolution
of Theravada Buddhist thought, this early advice from my teacher helped
to steer me away from fruitless interpretations often rooted in little
more than the pride and cleverness of the expositor.
My meetings with the Mahanayaka Thera in those days were not all devoted
to religious instruction. Ven. Ananda Maitreya was widely read, had a
rich store of experience, and was an original thinker and writer. Thus
every so often we would lay the books aside and he would dilate on his
theories ranging from the origins of Christianity to the scientific
basis for extrasensory perception. During this period I also discovered
one of the secrets to the Venerable's health and vigour: long walks. At
this time he was already 77-79 years of age, yet several times per
month, armed with a load of books, we would make the 6 km walk from his
temple to the Balangoda pirivena, and then, after a short break at the
pirivena, would make another 6 km walk back to the temple. I myself was
some fifty years his junior, but even then I had to hasten to keep up
with him on these walks!
Writers who have eulogized the Mahanayaka Thera after his death have
often extolled his lofty titles, his numerous writings, and his
extensive missionary work all over the world. A very different image of
the Mahanayaka Thera remains fixed in my mind as a summation of his
character and attitude towards life. The image stems from a scene I
witnessed one afternoon about 25 years ago. We were on our way back to
Sri Nandaramaya from the pirivena, and the Venerable decided to stop off
at the Thumbagoda temple, near the approach road to Udumulla. He often
liked to stop off here on his way back to his own temple -- to rest,
enjoy a cup of tea, and chat with the incumbent monk, a close friend of
his for many years. On this particular afternoon the weather had been
cool and rainy, so the break was especially welcome.
I sat out on the verandah sipping my tea while the Mahanayaka Thera and
his friend spoke inside. About an hour later they still had not emerged.
Darkness was starting to set in and the rain clouds were rumbling, so I
thought I should remind the Venerable of the time. I did not find the
Mahanayaka in the main part of the temple, though the incumbent monk was
milling about there, so I went all the way back into the kitchen. There
I found him, sitting on a small stool next to the fireplace, chatting
amiably with the temple servant, who was sitting on a mat on the ground.
I could not help being struck by the utter simplicity, the lack of any
sense of self-importance, the utterly unpretentious kindness of this man
-- the highest ranking prelate in the Amarapura Nikaya, the most learned
scholar-monk on the island, yet never thinking for a moment he was too
good or too high to sit almost on the same level with a simple kitchen
hand, extending to him the same gracious friendliness that he extended
to everyone else who sought his guidance and help.
In recent years I did not have frequent personal contact with Ven.
Ananda Maitreya. He had spent long periods abroad, and when he was in
Sri Lanka he was residing at Balangoda while I have been in Kandy,
looking after the late Ven. Nyanaponika Mahathera and supervising the
publications programme of the Buddhist Publication Society. But from the
reports of newspapers and friends and from my own occasional meetings
with him I often heard of the Venerable's successful missions abroad. I
was especially glad to know that he had become a virtual "Sangha father"
to the Western Bhikkhu Sangha based at the Amaravati and Chithurst
monasteries in Britain.
I was fortunate to have three delightful meetings with the Mahanayaka
Thera in the past three years. During the Vassa of 1995, which he spent
at Giriulla, about halfway between Kandy and Colombo, I went out with a
friend to visit him. I was both amused and impressed to see how
assiduously he had taken to the computer, a skill he had learned at the
ripe age of 94 and in which he had become quite adept. It was altogether
in character for him not to think he was too old to learn something new,
and to achieve an effortless mastery over it in minimal time. We even
exchanged views on the relative merits of different software programmes
and computers. At this meeting he told us he had a strong intuition that
he would live to the age of 105. So sure was I that his intuition was
correct that when I heard he was seriously ill in Colombo this past July
I had no doubt that he would recover.
A second meeting took place almost exactly a year before his death. With
a group of friends I had gone to Colombo on Ven. Piyadassi's 83rd
birthday to share a birthday dana with him. I had earlier heard that Ven.
Ananda Maitreya was staying at his temple at Maharagama and I wanted to
visit him too. I had a special reason for this visit. About a month
earlier a group of Buddhists from Malaysia had called on me and
presented me with a two-volume work they had published for free
distribution: "The Great Chronicle of Buddhas," by the Ven. Mingun
Sayadaw of Myanmar. The work describes in detail the spiritual path of
the bodhisattva, and since I knew Ven. Ananda Maitreya followed this
ideal the thought occurred to me to present him with this pair of books.
Fortunately we were able to meet him and I could offer him the books,
which he started perusing even before we concluded our meeting. Just a
few months earlier he had received Myanmar's highest ecclesiastical
honour, the title of "Abhidhaja Maharatthaguru," and he told us about
his trip to that country to receive the honour. When we left his room we
found to our astonishment a line of about thirty people waiting to see
him. It seemed to us his room was like a doctor's office, but these
people, waiting so patiently, were seeking medicine for the spirit, not
for the body.
My third meeting with the Mahanayaka Thera took place only a month
before his death. On a trip down to Colombo, this time to visit an
ailing Ven. Piyadassi, I had heard that Ven. Ananda Maitreya was also in
the hospital, warded on account of a buildup of phlegm in the lungs that
had developed during a trip to Taiwan and Thailand that he made in May.
Together with a few friends I went to the hospital to see him. On our
arrival there we were told that the Venerable had been discharged that
same morning and was now at his temple in Maharagama. We set out for the
temple at once and found him in apparent good health, though still
complaining of "a little phlegm trouble." He told us about his trip and
gave us an illuminating explanation of his approach to insight
meditation. We expected him to be returning to Balangoda before the
rains retreat, and I was hoping to go out to Balangoda after the rainy
season to spend a longer period with him at his temple. He seemed so
fit, so clear-minded, so full of vitality that we never doubted he would
live on for at least a few more years. Yet that "little phlegm trouble"
was to become the agent that, only one month later, would snatch him
from our midst, leaving us with only the pain of loss and the
consolation of pleasant memories.
As I drove out to Balangoda with some friends to attend the Venerable's
cremation, when our southbound road linked up with the cross-country
road leading to Balangoda, I had a surprise that brought a knot to my
throat and tears of joy to my eyes. All along the road for about 100 km,
from Avissawela onwards, every town was decked out in yellow and orange
banners inscribed with words of homage to the Mahanayaka Thera. Almost
every house and shop flew a yellow flag or strips of yellow cloth.
Balangoda itself was ablaze with yellow and orange banners, some with
pictures of Ven. Ananda Maitreya, most with inscriptions. When I saw
this, and when I saw the long lines of people that turned out to pay
final respects to the body, and the huge crowd that attended the
cremation, I realized how powerful an impact this simple monk had made
on the people of this nation: on people of all communities, ethnic
groups, and religions, whom he always regarded without the least
discrimination. Though gross materialism has made its inroads here with
alarming force, though a futile ethnic conflict has raged on for over
fifteen years, though crime and social problems escalate daily, the
massive public expression of solidarity with this humble monk showed
where peoples' sympathies and affections really lie -- when they are
given the right example.
May the great Mahathera, the light of Sri Lanka's Sangha in the second
half of the twentieth century, quickly attain the highest goal and shed
the radiance of his wisdom and compassion over the entire world.
State Funeral for Ven. Ananda Maitreya
(From the Daily News, Monday, 20 July 1998)
By Lionel Yodhasinghe
(Translation of titles, etc. and a few comments in brackets by Bhikkhu
Bodhi.)
The Most Venerable Abhidhaja Maharatthaguru Agga Mahapandita Balangoda
Ananda Maitreya Maha Nayaka Thera passed away at the Sri
Jayawardhanapura General Hospital on Saturday. He was 102 years.
[Actually, one month short of his 102nd birthday, on the Western way of
counting; in the Sinhalese way of counting, one's age is given by
counting one's day of birth as 'one'.]
A state funeral will be given to the late Most Venerable Ananda Maitreya
Maha Nayaka Thera at Balangoda on Thursday, July 23. The body of the Ven.
Mahanayaka Thera will be carried from the Sri Chandrasekeraramaya at
Maharagama to the Ananda Maitreya Bhikkhu Centre in New Town, Ratnapura,
today at 3 pm. On Tuesday morning [21 July] the body will be conveyed
from there to the prelate's temple, the Nandaramaya, Udumulla, Balangoda,
and on Thursday morning to the Sri Dhammananda Pirivena, Miriswatta,
Balangoda, and cremated at the National School premises in Balangoda.
Large crowds, including bhikkhus and members of other clergy, paid their
last respects to the late Nayaka Thera at the Chandrasekeraramaya,
Maharagama, yesterday.
Cabinet members and representatives from Myanmar, Thailand, India,
Japan, Britain, Canada, Switzerland, America, France, Australia, and
from several other countries are expected to participate in the funeral
on Thursday.
Ven. Ananda Maitreya was born in Kirindigala, Balangoda, on August 24,
1896, and entered the Bhikkhu Sangha [Order of Monks] at the age of 15
[as a novice, not a bhikkhu or fully ordained monk]. He held the post of
Vice Chancellor of Vidyodaya University and was appointed as the first
President of the Sri Lanka Amarapura Mahasangha Sabha in 1969. In
recognition of his laudable service at the Chattha Sangayana, the
[Sixth] Great Council held in Myanmar in 1954, Myanmar conferred on him
the title "Agga Mahapandita" [Chief Great Scholar]. Last year, Myanmar
conferred on him the highest Sangha title, Abhidhaja Maharatthaguru
[roughly, Most Eminent Great Spiritual Teacher of the Nation], which is
equivalent to Sangharaja [King of the Monastic Order] in honour of his
unique service to the Sasana [the Buddhist religion].
Ven. Ananda Maitreya visited Yangon to receive the ecclesiastical title
in March last year.
A disciplined Buddhaputra [son of the Buddha, i.e. monk], he was well
versed in the doctrine and discipline. He has written nearly 50 books on
Sutra, Vinaya, and Abhidhamma, and on Pali and Sanskrit grammar. His
book "Sakyasimhavadanaya hevat Buddha Carita" [The Life of the Buddha],
is considered a textbook on the subject.
-ooOoo-
Source:
http://world.std.com/~metta/lib/modern/bam.html