Miracle, Buddhism survives despite 500 year suppression
The Island,  12 September 2003
by Rohan Mathes 

Colombo - In spite of 500 years of powerful suppression by three foreign powers, Buddhism still could not be destroyed due to the reverence paid to the Buddha chivara, the presence of Buddhist temples and monks and the love of poetry, observed Deshamanya Dr. P. R. Anthonis in his address at the second E. A. Wijesooriya Memorial Oration organised by the Mahinda College O.B.A (Colombo Branch) at the SLFI auditorium on Tuesday.

Speaking on the theme "Miracle of the Survival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka under 500 Years of Suppression", Anthonis said that in the era in which the society was primarily agricultural and in which there were no Sinhalese songs, poetry came naturally to the lips of the people of the orient. The moment feeling touched the fringe of passion, it broke into metrical strains.

Even medicine was taught in the form of poetry in Sri Lanka and India. All types of sentiments could be expressed in poetry.

The necessity for all civil servants to pass an examination in Sinhalese and Pali to understand the religion and customs brought a close relationship with scholar monks who were masters of Sinhalese, Pali and Sanskrit. This was a significant factor in the spread of Buddhism in the West.

Teachers who evoked great admiration not only for their erudition and scholarship but also for their Buddhist monastic disciplines and purity of their lives also contributed to the spread of Buddhism in the West.

Although the Colebrooke Commission in 1932 stopped all Sinhalese schools of the island run by temples to break the connection of the Sinhalese with the temples, the Deepaduttaramaya of Kotahena started classes as Dhamma schools by the Ven. Seenigama Deerakkhanda Thero. Migettuwatte Gunananda Thero got his training here. The same year of 1932, a child who was later Sir Edwin Arnold was born in England and in the USA another child by the name of Henry Steele Olcott was born.

When the missionnaries produced pamphlets in schools against Buddhism, the Buddhists too retaliated with pamphlets which later took the form of booklets such as "Kanni Mariyage Heti".

Then came the personal contacts in the form of debate starting from Ganegama followed by Waragoda, Udanwita, Gampola and finally Panadura.

The arrival of Col. Olcott bestowed on us the Buddhist Marriage Registrars, the Vesak holiday, the lost rights and the big schools like Woodward’s Mahinda and Higgins’ Musaeus.

A nation as a whole must take a keen interest in the lives and achievements of its great men and women, as it is not merely an act of gratitude but also an investment of a priceless character. "Apadana Sobhini Panna", Dr. Anthonis said.