Wayward journey of middle class: Some reflections

by Gunadasa Amarasekera
(A talk given by Gunadasa Amarasekera at the Royal Asiatic Society
(Continued from yesterday)

The net result of these debates was the production of a long essay by Piyadasa, to justify his view especially the existence of a civilisational consciousness in the people. In the first part of the essay, he tried to show how he acquired this civilisational consciousness in his childhood. How the Renaissance brought about by Weliwitiye Sangaraja Saranankara in the 18th century had filtered down to the South of the country resulting in the establishment of the two great institutes Vidyodaya and Vidyalankara and how it produced the national hero- Anagarika Dharmapala who had influenced his father.

The essay was published in the university journal which had attracted the attention of Prof. Peter Wolseley of the University of London who was in charge of a Centre devoted to the study of South Asian religious and nationalist movements taking place at the moment.

When Professor Wolsely contacted Piyadasa and invited him to come over and work at his Centre Piyadasa could not believe himself. It was the beginning of the period in his life which is depicted in the volume Dururataka Dukata Kiriyaka .

Living in London in a dingy hole on the fifth floor of a dilapidated house, huddled together with the Winter eating into their bones, rushing to the doctor with his sickly son, managing on a pittance given by the Centre, Piyadasa was reminded of the agonising struggle of the Buddha to attain enlightenment. Am I not in a similar situation? Can there be some sort of enlightenment in sight for me too? Piyadasa deliberated. Hence the title of this volume – Dukata Kiriyaka

In due course Piyadasa achieved something akin to enlightenment.

Piyadasa’s stay in London brought about a radical change in his outlook. It confirmed what he had felt for a long time but was not able to articulate. How we had become a nation of imitators-our life style, the values, the culture were products of a civilisation that is alien and far removed from us. Even the knowledge we were made to acquire was a product of that civilisation. We have tried to transplant those ideologies and the knowledge in an entirely different soil. If we are to solve our problems, and go forward, get out of the present predicament and go ahead it is essential to rediscover our civilisation and go back to it.

Apart from supplying the information that Wolseley wanted Piyadasa was to revise his essay to cover many unsolved aspects.

In the process of revision Piyadasa realised that he has missed out on a vital factor on which his thesis had been based. If the Theravada Buddhism in his country has no societal dimension as made out by the leading thinkers of the West, how could one present a model based on Buddhist Civilisational values? Authorities such as Max Weber, Durkheim, Toynbee have all claimed Buddhism as a way of individual liberation with no societal dimension.

The only evidence to support Piyadasa’s thesis was Trevor Ling’s book – Buddhist Ciivlization in India– where the author has spoken of an unbroken Buddhist civilisation existing up to the British Conquest of Ceylon. There was no other evidence available. Piyadasa had to look deeper to substantialise his thesis. Was Buddhism introduced into a vacuum in my country?

Wasn’t there a hydraulic civilisation with a powerful societal dimension in the country? Is it the confluence of these two civilisations and the influence of the hydro civilization that may have provided the societal dimension, if Theravada Buddhism itself has no such dimension as claimed by these authorities. Piyadasa was jubilant with his discovery.

But Peter Wolseley was not convinced much with it. He seemed clueless. When Piyadasa asked him to comment on his work he suggested sending it to Professor Richardson in US. Richardson was the head of his department and was in charge of all the centers in Asia and the Middle East.

It was when Piyadasa was getting ready to come back home, that he got a call from Professor Richarson asking him to visit his centre before going home.

Piyadasa’s first reaction was to refuse it. By then he had his own suspicions about the ‘bona fides’ of these centres. These suspicions were confirmed by the email he received from his friend Siripala in the US; ’do not lend your support to this treacherous campaign. These centres are there to provide the ammunition needed to destroy their new enemy- Nationalism as stated by the Israeli Prime Minister recently- Marxism is no longer our enemy. It is Nationalism’.

Piyadasa’s wife Sujatha prevailed upon him to accept the offer pointing out the realities they would have to face when they go back penniless. This period faced by Piyadasa is covered in the volume-Athara Maga.

Working in Richarson’s center, suffering from pangs of conscience- Fortune came in Piyadasa’s way most unexpectedly. Though unexpected it was the most desired thing for Piyadasa.Rupak Sirikansa had come to US for a series of lectures and visited Richardson’s center. Piyadasa was introduced to him.

Piyadasa had heard of Rupak Sirikansa. He was one of the leaders of the Buddhist Socialist Movement initiated by Ajan Buddhadasa. Recently Piyadasa had received a lot of literature about this movement and was yearning to be there as it had a great relevance to his own endeavour. Piyadasa gave Rupak his essay which was with Richardson.

About two days later Rupak invited Piyadasa to come over to his flat.

Piyadasa was overjoyed when Rupak invited him to come to their Centre in Bangkok on their way home. Rupak had been on the look- out for a Buddhist to translate Ajan Buddhadeva’s works into English

Sujatha too readily approved of Piyadasa’s proposal to visit Ajan Buddhadasa’s Centre in Bangkok. She has recently developed an interest in meditation after the traumatic experience she underwent.On arriving at the Buddhist Centre, they decided to stay on for a week or two. Ajan Buddhadeva was very happy to meet them and showed great interest in Piyadasa’s project.

After a month or two when Rupak Sirikansa suggested that the two of them stay in the experimental village run on Buddhist economics they readily agreed. Piyadasa thoroughly enjoyed the task of translating Ajan’s works into English. He found many insights derived from the Tripitaka, emphasising the societal dimensions of Theravada Buddhism which had escaped him. It is these insights that had stimulated Ajan Buddhadasa to initiate the Buddhist Socialist movement.

The small house on a hillock which was allocated to them was meant for foreigners visiting the Centre. It had no furniture other than the table and chair in the study. There were no beds. They had to eat and sleep on mats. The only communication with the outside world was the telephone.

After about three months both Sujatha and Piyadasa agreed that this was the happiest days of their married life.

But that happiness was short lived. These events are described in the last volume of Gamanaka Aga.

Sujatha had developed a breast cancer with deposits in the liver. She was aware that her death warrant has come and was keen to get back home to die. But Piyadasa insisted on going to Australia for further treatment and to be with the son. A nephew of Sujatha was a consultant surgeon working there.

After about two weeks of suffering Sujatha passed away.Piyadasa stayed on, on the insistence of the son. He was feeling that his mission too had come to an end. There was nothing to look forward to. His son Prasanna seeing the depressed state of his father suggested to his friend Sarath at the Australian High Commission to get him interested in the final days of the war against Prabhakaran. Sarath was jubilant about what was happening at home and looked forward

to getting Piyadasa interested in the final battles. Piyadasa who never believed in such a remedy did not show much interest. But wiping out terrorism, he realised, was a prerequisite for any economic or political change in the country.

After about three months Piyadasa and Prasanna decided to come back to the country. Piyadasa was rather interested in seeing the mood of the country after the eradication of terrorism.

The final chapter of the narrative Gamananthaya -the end of the journey- describes what Piyadasa witnessed on coming home.Piyadasa felt very dejected with what he saw. Nothing had changed. It was the same country that he had left.

If at all the neo-liberal gang seems to have got a new lease of life. He saw new models of limousines which he had not seen even in Australia plying the streets. Colombo was a concrete jungle with sky scrapers pointing to the skies.

The middle class seemed to have vanished with a handful going up the ladder and the vast majority falling off the ladder ending up in abject poverty. His nephew with whom he was staying was a good example. He could recall how his sister brought them up, living in poverty. He, now a Consultant Surgeon was living in a flat in Colombo 7 the like of which Piyadasa had not seen even in New York. He was quite jubilant about what had happened. Most others Piyadasa met were in the same mood.

In sheer desperation Piyadasa decided to meet his comrade in arms, Thilakasena to find out his views. It was with difficulty that Piyadasa found his where abouts.Thilakasena was living in Kadawatha. It was late evening when Piyadasa reached his house. Thilakasena was living alone. His wife had gone off to Nigeria to live with their daughter.

“I knew you had come but could not find out where you were staying. Otherwise, I would have come to see you,” said Thilakasena embracing Piyadasa.

“I came in sheer desperation”, Piyadasa replied. “Haven’t all our dreams got shattered? I felt like going back to Australia.”

“I am in the same position. I am of the same mind. I neither read the newspapers nor watch the television. Confined to the house I go through those episodes we went through together in those days”.

“Don’t you think this is the end of the Sinhala nation as well as the country?” Piyadasa asked.

“I too often think so. But I don’t think we should be so pessimistic. Our nation I believe, had gone through many a crisis of this type, in its long history”

“But the world had changed. We are no longer a sovereign nation. Our destiny is decided by foreign powers and not by us, this country will soon become a colony of india or America or of both!” Piyadasa replied.

“It may be so. But as long as Buddhism and the Buddhist Civilisation lasts in this country, our nation will remain intact”, Thilakasena replied.

“But do you think this is a Buddhist country any longer? I thought of going back to my ancestral home to spend the rest of my life. But that house has been sold to a foreigner who has made it into an Assembly of God belonging to the ‘Born Again’ sect. I see no Buddhist civilizational values any longer.”

“I agree. It is one of the great threats we are facing. If as you say, we are no longer a Buddhist country, this may very well be the end of our nation”.

It was almost midnight when Piyadasa left. He felt as depressed as when he came.

* * * *

I have made this feeble attempt to convey to you the gist of that long narration- the wayward journey of the Sinhala middle class.In doing so I have taken the liberty to leave out many a section covered by the narrative, introduced new material here and there by way of reflection, changed the sequence of events for the sake of making the narrative more intelligible and palatable to you.

I hope I have succeeded to some extent. It is a difficult task for a writer to elucidate his view objectively and comment and reflect on them.I am very much conscious of, and grateful for the honour bestowed on me by inviting me to this august institution, coming down from colonial times, and address this scholarly gathering.