Kutis in Alawwa for Meditators

At the very outset of my article I must mention why I write about the meditation retreat started, developed and now continuing very successfully under Most Ven Thalallale Chandakitthi Thera’s guidance.

My purpose is two pronged. One: to introduce a place for meditation which is different in several features from other known places. Firstly, its serene surroundings are well within nature and absolutely garden like with huge trees retained from the jungle that covered this plot of land. Secondly it has no steps to climb while many other meditation centres are on the summit of hills or need some amount of ascending and descending ability.

The second purpose of this Poya day article is to remind people that in Sri Lanka live so many pious monks strictly observing vinaya rules and helping much to propagate the unadulterated word of the Buddha. This fidelity to the pure Dhamma is needed as it is known that some monks sometimes go extraneous to what the Buddha said, in their preaching. Also high ranked Prelates turn blind eyes to conditions and actions that are detrimental to true Theravada Buddhism and remain ineffectual. A few young monks are seen with unshaven heads and faces, physically and verbally battling in public protests. To say it plainly, such yellow robed persons are a disgrace to the religion and society.

The meditation centre

Situated in Keppetiwalana, Alawwa, and named Panasiha Senasuna Jatiyantara Bhavana Madyasthana, it has ten kutis for single occupation open to men and women. The number would very soon be 14. The land, four acres in extent, was gifted to Ven Chandakitthi by M A Wijepala and his wife Sunitha about three years ago. It was originally an overgrown jungle harbouring reptiles. The Ven Monk with his usual enthusiasm and dedication harnessed ready and willing help and in no time the land was cleared except for the trees, landscaped beautifully and kutis build with all conveniences, each having a stretch of path for walking meditation. Meditation under trees is facilitated by boulders being placed in their shade for sitting on.

Meditation retreats of three days and more are supervised and conducted by Ven Chandakitthi. To benefit, one has to contact the Ven. Bhikkhu residing at the Narada Dharmayathana, Sarana Road, Colombo 7. Two meditators I spoke to were full of praise for the place; its picturesqueness, its ambience conducive to meditation and convenience in getting to it. The greatest plus point is that Ven Chandakitthi himself conducts the group bhavana sessions.

Ven Thalalle Chandakitthi Thera

I am certain most Buddhists in this country have listened to his preaching which is erudite and excellent in the manner of preaching , conveying recognition of his humaneness and concern for others. Usually at the end of a sermon, he ‘revises’ his explanation of a sutta. Ven Chandakitthi entered monkhood at the tender age of 12-years in 1988. It was his desire to become a monk so his maternal grandfather, Thalalle Seelaratana Thera, left him in a temple in Matara, two years previous. His mother called over several times to take him home but he refused as he was very happy in the temple. As a samanera he came under the influence of the present Mahanayaka of the Amarapura Nikaya – Thirukunamale Ananda Thera. Being moved to the Maharagama Vajiragna Dharmayathana, he came under the tutelage of the Most Ven Madihe Pannaseeha Mahanayaka Thera and Ven Ampitiya Rahula Thera.

When I interviewed him in 2013 to write about his 25th year as a Bhikkhu, he narrated an endearing anecdote. Soon after taking residence at the Maharagama training centre as a very young teenager, he was curious about the outside world. He would stand on a tree stump and look out with only his face upwards of his nose above the boundary wall. He added it was not being homesick that prompted the glances.

He is a scholar monk having passed the Rajakeeya Pandit exam – BA – at age 19, from the Buddhist and Pali University – an age-wise record. He then succeeded in his Master’s Degree in Buddhist studies at 21. He said he was too involved in propagating the Dhamma and being head of the then named Narada Centre to research for his PhD. He is now managing more than one institution and helped reconstruct and maintain two schools in Jaffna which Ven Madihe Pannaseeha Thera initiated for Buddhists living in the Northern Peninsula. When he needs to spend more time in meditation he moves to a small residence in Anuradhapura.

To celebrate his silver jubilee as a monk, his devotees carried out a unique pooja, practiced in the time of ancient kings. Named Thulabhara Mahadané where 25 expectant women and 25 young monks were each weighed in a huge pair of scales made for the purpose, with the other scale heaped with goods needed by such women and student monks, these being gifted to them.

Ven Chandakitthi is most certainly a doer. He is very actively engaged in temple work; in social service; teaching and guiding people in sutta studies, involving young persons, and going all over the Island to deliver sermons. He is requested by overseas residents to travel to their countries – the US, Dubai, India being three among others he preaches in. He has a style of preaching that immediately catches the listener’s attention, targeting his intellect and creating informality with his wide smile and humorous remarks and anecdotes. He is very calm and seems happy. He told me when I interviewed him in 2013: “I have not for a single moment regretted my becoming a monk; never have I thought I was ordained too early in life. My life as a Buddhist monk has given me complete satisfaction.”

On a poya day like today, it is merciful and restful to know that monks like Ven Thalalle Chandakitthi are present and approachable, genuinely doing much to preserve Buddhism in its purity, and helping very many who seek peace and calm, especially when lives are so full of turmoil.

Nanda Pethiyagoda