
By Sarath de Alwis –
When a wise man, established well in morality
Develops consciousness and wisdom,
Then as a bhikkhu ardent and sagacious
He succeeds in disentangling this tangle. ~ Visuddhimagga – Path to purification
The prelude:
It was called a ‘Fast unto death. It turned out to be a feast of fools. Feast of fools was a quasi-religious yearly event in medieval Europe. The purpose was to mock overbearing church dignitaries.
Victor Hugo made it consequential in literature. In his ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame,’ Quasimodo is crowned King of Fools in festivities of a feast of fools.
The organized Buddhist church has now started issuing ‘Fatwas’ in the form of ‘Sangha Agnnas’ or edicts. It is time to take the bull by its horns.
Hence this essay on the ‘Four day fast unto death by Bhikkhu Parliamentarian Athuraliye Rathana thera. I undertake this voyage in the clear belief that conscience is not proprietary to the priestly vocation.
There is something that our ‘Mahanayakes’ will not talk about and our ‘Jananayakes’ will not think about.
That is the spirit of free inquiry as contained in the instructions given by the master to the ‘Kalama community in the Kalama Sutta. It is the Buddhas finest discourse to lay followers. It rejects fanaticism, bigotry, dogmatism, and intolerance. Qualities that are plentiful in those who constitute the core subject of this essay.
Time has come for us to seriously ponder on what the Buddha taught then and what the Sangha preach now. The sooner we undertake the task, the faster this nation will revert to sanity.

This picture of the Dharmic Drama in Kandy digitally recorded on an iphone by a young bhikkhu conveys a uniquely contemporaneous narrative. Canonical caprice has replaced Buddha’s Renunciation and Nonattachment with Parochial Prejudice.
The muddle:
Sinhala Buddhism is intransigent dogmatism. Mangala Samaraweera has read the ‘Kalama Sutta’. He quotes it fearlessly. Why? Because he has no plans to be President or Prime minster. On this subject Ranil Wickremesinghe is either tongue tied or has swallowed a dumpling whole. Mahinda Rajapaksa is unconcerned. He is the patron of the clerical outfit. He won the war. So, he alone has the formula that allows his kids to hold formula 1 grand prix races around the Kandy lake.
Plain, naked, hard truth
“Siddhartha’ in Sanskrit means he who achieves his goal. Prince Siddhartha after his renunciation, found the ultimate truth. He discovered the ‘Sea of Samsara’ and how it can be traversed.
As Buddhists, we are familiar with the analogy of the ‘Sea of Samsara’. It is the endless ocean we must cross, lifetime after lifetime to reach the distant shore of ‘Nirvana’.
According to conventional wisdom, the saffron robe marks a tranquil mind. The wearer has renounced worldly concerns. The ‘Saffron wearer is engaged in constructing the ‘raft’ that will take him across the sea of ‘Samsara’.
We learnt the story when we were quite young. A man trekking through the misery of suffering arrives at an enormous expanse of water.
Danger, Discomfort and Drudgery surround him. Across the great expanse of water is the other shore safe, secure and inviting.
There is no boat or bridge in sight. With assiduous application he gathers grass twigs and branches. He ties them all together to make a simple raft. Relying on the raft to keep himself afloat, the man paddles with his hands and feet to reach the safety of the other shore. Once over there, he continues his journey on dry land.
Buddha’s parable of the raft is virtually a ‘do it yourself’ (DIY) manual on how the raft is made and how it is paddled across the sea of samsara. What is important is that the user must discard it after use.
An enlightened person, when safely across must know the difference between good and evil. Morality is still the main compass. That means holding on to any set of rules or teachings after they have served their purpose is futile.
The cause célèbre:
Venerable Rathana thera does not intend to construct his raft any time soon. He does not intend to paddle across the sea of samsara either.
To him the ‘Saffron Robe” is something of an Aqualung for diving into the deep waters of murky, tribal politics of prejudice. Rathana Thera seems hell bent in frolicking in the turbulent sea of Samsara!
Misinterpreting scripture, doctoring the doctrine are not the exclusive preserve of Abu Bakr el Baghdadi.
The ‘fast unto death’ operation, that also was a rare display of rowdy piety and wooly headed patriotism was called off after four days of sacrilegious suspense.
The analysis
The venue chosen for the ‘fast unto death’ is significant. The majestic repository of the sacred tooth relic is no ordinary shrine. It is the symbol of Sinhala Buddhist sovereignty.
In the uncertain times of the besieged kingdom of Kandy, with ‘Nayakkars’ on the throne, invaders entrenched in the littoral, the ‘Dalada Maligawa’ was the suzerain around which governance revolved.
Even in the present day in the Sinhala Buddhist majoritarian state, the sanctity of the preeminent Buddhist shrine of the ‘Theravada’ Buddhist world serves as an instrument that can confer political legitimacy. Rathana thero chose his venue for politics of piety and protest wisely and judiciously.
Despite my unconditional solidarity with Mangala Samaraweera on his no holds barred secular political values and multicultural social norms, I think he was hasty in faulting his eminence Malcom cardinal Ranjith for his visit to the site of the fast and for his exchange of views with the fasting prelate. He discharged his duty as a prince of the church. “Then render to Caesar what is Caesar but give to God what is God’s.” (Mat 22:15-21).
Historical context
The eminent Sri Lankan Social Anthropologist H.L. Seneviratne has written a comprehensive ethnography of rituals observed in temple of the sacred tooth relic perceived as the shrine that bestows bounteous benefits to the Sinhala Buddhist realm.
A few revelatory passages from his ‘Rituals of the Kandyan Sate’ will help us to understand the predicament we are in and how we got there.
“..in Kandyan times the ‘Dalada ‘ was a legitimizer of political power. ..today there is no belief in the Dalada as a direct legitimizer of political power :but indirectly the Dalada has clear political meanings.
Thus, when a new government is sworn in, their first act is to visit the temple from where the mass media broadcast the ceremonial proceedings. The function of this act is twofold. Firs, it identifies the rulers with the religion and in this sense gives them a kind of legitimacy. Second it identifies the government with the culture of the past, the revival of which is promised by all parties. “
“The Asgiriya and Malvatta monasteries have traditionally and jealously guarded their exclusive right to the custodianship of the Tooth Relic and the rights of residence in, and special association with the Temple accruing to them thereby.”
“Conflicting ideologies and attitudes such as that broadly termed conservative and radical as well as social forms that can be called archaic and modern, all seem to find both a place and legitimacy in the Temple and its rituals. The Temple cannot but be considered a cherished symbol meaningful to diverse and conflicting groups.”
Professor H.L. Seneviratne wrote these passages in 1978. Nothing has changed. The time warp of Sinhala Buddhism is intact and safe.
We, ordinarily folk worship the sacred relics from a distance. Only the powerful and the privileged can worship in the ‘sanctum sanctorum’. That too by the grace of the two monastic orders who claim the prerogative of its custodial care.
Lest you forget, that is from the time that the British voluntarily vested them with the task. It was the royal obligation of the dethroned king whom the other acclaimed social anthropologist Gananath Obeyesekere calls the ‘doomed king’.
Contemporary conundrum
The visit to the site by his eminence Malcom cardinal Ranjith is portentous. The collective resignation of all nine Muslim ministers is menacingly momentous.
In the aftermath of the carnage on Easter Sunday, two perilous consequences have surfaced. There is an overpowering rise of zealotry. There is a decisive decline of civility in the political debate.
The fasting monk targeted two Governors and one Cabinet Minster. The other eight holders of ministerial office resigned not so much as an act of solidarity with the three who were specified by Rathna thero but in simple recognition of the polarization that the ‘Fast unto death precipitated with several supportive demonstrations staged in Colombo and in some provincial towns.
What Athuraliye Rathana thero did with his ‘Fast unto death’ at this critical hour must be recognized for what it is. He removed moderation from our political discourse. I leave it to the reader to compare the strategy of the monk with that of the Salafist Jihadists.
Exposing apostasy:
Indologist and Buddhist Scholar Richard Gombrich explains the essence of Buddha’s teaching in luminous clarity. Nirvana is the abolition of passion. Passion means wanting something very much. It is the opposite of hatred and confusion. The two factors that influenced the staging of the ‘Fast unto death.”
Unburdened by a manufactured past the Buddhist scholar explains the concept of the ‘three jewels’- the ‘Thrivida Rathnaya’ “Buddha is the physician. Dharma is the medicine. Sangha is the nurse. In Sinhala Buddhism the nurse is also the proxy physician.”
Moderation is the political temperament that values self-restraint. Self-restraint is normally a personality trait. But in the case of a ‘Buddha Srawaka’ who answered the great master’s call to spread the message of compassion for the benefit of the many it must be more than a personal trait. It is the existential meaning of the saffron robe.
Religious passion in any form enslaves the human mind. It is incompatible with either reason or ethical conduct. Events in Kandy will be stark reminder of how easy it is to slide from expedient politics to unbridled fanaticism.
The painful truth
Politics, by its very nature thrives on divisions and disagreements. A Buddhist Bhikkhu in politics can wield a greater influence by injecting an element of moderation through a higher commitment to dialogue and compromise.
Rathana Thero is a Buddhist Bhikkhu. That is undisputed. But is he a Buddhist who practices compassion for the world ?
Tami land / June 9, 2019
laws of monks in Sri Lanka. Monks can buy anything in Sri Lanka. what a joke. Shame on Sri Lankan judiciary: judges have no respect in Sri Lanka. because, Politicians are above all laws. Shame on judges and Sri Lankan politicians.. All this Easter Sunday attacks are done with Support of Mahinda and Goata to get votes and catch fishes in trouble waters. How long Sinhalese could keep cheating minorities.
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Nimal Fernando / June 9, 2019
Hats off to Sarath de Alwis for reveling the facts as a true Buddhist. Only a very few people are bold enough to write the truth.
Are we going to be silent observers/bystanders to all the anti-Buddhist acts committed by men wearing saffron robes and calling themselves Buddhist monks? Buddhism needs protection from these so called ‘Sinhala-Buddhist bhikkhus’ who are betraying Buddhism and insulting the Buddha.
Take this fasting unto death monk as an example, he does not seem to even follow the 5 basic moral principles (Pancha sila) what Buddha has preached. Taking someone’s life (his own or any other) is one of the basic moral principle. This monk as a politician sold his car permit (public money).
Today, Sri Lanka has become a strong hold of Buddhist extremism and aggression and such acts are spurred by hardline Sinhala Buddhist bhikkhus. The terror attacks against the minorities were also motivated by Buddhist bhikkhus.
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Rev Medalankara de Choppe / June 11, 2019
It is high iome that the 300,000 crooks in sron is brought doen to about 50,000. let us do a Mao Se Tung on tghese bugger.
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Douglas / June 9, 2019
Sarath de Alwis: You said: Venerable Rathana thera does not intend to construct his “RAFT” any time soon”. No, not at all. Why should he construct his “RAFT”. He was given a “PERMIT” to “IMPORT” it “DUTY FREE” , mind you that is “Public Money, and was permitted to “SELL” (RAFT) and make a clean profit of about Rs. 3 million , the least. Clean and Tidy living as per the “Interpreted” Buddha’s teachings by the “Sangaha” of Sri Lanka.
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Native Vedda / June 9, 2019
Douglas
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“Clean and Tidy living as per the “Interpreted” Buddha’s teachings by the “Sangaha” of Sri Lanka.”
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You need to consider the entire transaction as being legitimate. It is not a crooked deal nor a loot, but a legitimate allowance available to all MPs and some functionaries, justifiably a middle path.
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K A Sumanasekera / June 9, 2019
Who Bombed Kochikade , St Sebastian and and St Zion killing 300 and injuring 500 ?…..
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I am totally confused..
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Were they the Suicide Bombers from the Bodubala Sena or the Suicide Boys from the Mahason Balakaya?…
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What is our most Reverend his Highness Cardinal Dr Malcolm Rajith doing there sitting in the front of the Paththirippuwa, beside a dying Monk?..
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Wonder what Nikaya Temple this talented Writer who seems to be an expert on “Kalama Sutta” just like our likable Finance Minister goes to worship Siddartha ….
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D.P. / June 9, 2019
Just b’cos misguided Jihadi terrorists carried out bombing attack killing many innocents, does it mean that persons who have taken oaths to follow Buddha’s teachings should follow a similar path to contain the terror? I don’t know whether you ever read my response to one of your comment on a similar topic. Here it is once more in case you didn’t.
First, I must start with a correction to Sarath’s definition of Sinhala Buddhism. It should be corrected to read: “Modern Buddhism is an intransigent dogmatism”. This is not unique to Buddhism; all religions are, by definition, intransigent. That is why they are called religions; not science. According to the philosopher Carl Popper, refutability must be the fundamental nature of scientific theories. This is the opposite pole from any religion! However, in the face of modern discoveries that challenge existing myths, religions no longer have the luxury to ban at least some refutations of certain parts of religions, if not all. One good example is Pope Francis’ declaration that the Creationism doesn’t contradicts science b’cos God only created physical laws of universe; not the the universe as we see it.
But, Buddhism is not faith based religion; it is intelligence based religion. Therefore, it shouldn’t feel threaten by faith based religions, particularly in the knowledge based modern world. But, since Buddhism has been turned into intransigent dogmatism, modern day Buddhist behave as if it is threaten. That is why monks behave like Roman worriers against other faiths. Instead the real challenge for Buddhism is how to merge with the philosophy of modern science; in other words, how to live with Popperian definition of theories. Unlike for Pope Francis who still faces the challenge of explaining where does God exist if He created only the laws of universe, Buddhism, being an atheistic religion from the outset, should not face such a challenge.
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Native Vedda / June 9, 2019
KASmaalam K A Sumanasekera
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“Wonder what Nikaya Temple this talented Writer who seems to be an expert on “Kalama Sutta” just like our likable Finance Minister goes to worship Siddartha ….”
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Do you worship the Awakened one as being a God?
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And the state gifts the Mahanayake Poosaries with the most expensive motor vehicles to perform rituals, ie. regularly objecting to all progressive measures including constitutional changes, blessing crooks, criminals, war criminals, ….. turning a blind eye on illegal activities of saffron clad thugs banned by Vinaya the rule book, honouring bestowing royal names on crooks, criminals and war criminals, ………….. being spoilers they played a key role in the destruction of this island since 1950s, ………………. enforcers of “Sunday Sil Monday Kill” policy, …..
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If I were you I would have gone to Dharamshala, spent some time learning, meditating and contemplating where they teach you peaceful Buddhism unlike here in this island. What we learn is Sinhala/Buddhist Fascism both theory and practice.
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John Silva / June 10, 2019
Native Vedda, you coming from TN, occupying our land and trying to grab more land has put us in this situation. And the blood thirsty Wahibis posing another danger to the very existence of this nation. The treacherous leaders do not take action against the extremists for their own survival. That is the reason these monks have to come out and take this type of action to get these so called leaders to wake up. These writers, foreign funded NGOs, et al are waiting to attack the Sinhala Buddhists, whereas they are the real victims.
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Jay Chambers / June 9, 2019
Alwis states that he wants to take the bull by the horns. I assume it is the Buddhist bull that he is talking about (i.e. the whole thing with Buddhist sensibilities and sensitivities around the current situation in Lanka).
That should be no prodigal task. There will be some weak squeaking from monks, timid utterings from a few members of the public and maybe even loud protests from politicians. The politicians can be paid off pretty easily, a few thousand dollars will do the trick. In fact Alwis should be able to take that bull to the abattoir, slay it, and maybe enjoy a delicious steak with a side of “bullshit” chatter coming from inept politicians to make it even more palatable.
Can Alwis similarly take the Jihadi Moslem Devil by the horns? Try that, if you are a man. Tell the truth about Islam in Lanka, about the imbecility of politicians on pay from Moslem fanatics, of forced sterilization, of poisoning of Kaffir Buddhist, Hindus and Christians and if he is a really brave man, talk about the Kaffir massacre of Easter Sunday. Tell us the TRUTH old man, if you can bring yourself to it. Do you think Lanka is under the Jihadi watch, earmarked for a Moslem Republic by 2030 or earlier. With Kaffirs to be slaughtered by the tens of thousands using nerve gas, biological weapons, as the natural progression from the most destructive explosives used on Easter Sunday. Explosives that the politicians knew about, but did not care and similarly for the nerve gas agents now hidden in Eastern Lanka.
Alwis you who say you are not fearful of consequences when talking about Buddhist misdeeds and bias towards Moslems by Kaffir Lankans, tell us your thoughts if you dare.
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Manel Fonseka / June 9, 2019
CT
How can you continue to broadcast the hatred & encouragement to violence of Jay Chambers? Each time he adds fuel to the fire, now including the alleged (cleverly nuanced) sterilization charge in his posting?
Surely, he must be breaching CT’s policy with every post he makes.
Please dont let the possible ‘entertainment’ value of his contributions outweigh the dangerous influence of his persistent accusations. He really seems to b a man with a mission.
Of course, one can point out & warn against the criminal dangers of fanatics, & investigate & take action against them, but not write off a whole community as he is urging SLs to do.
SL has enough hate-mongers of its own to contend with.
Ranting encouragement of this nature from a “white” outsider reminds me of Trump’s telling Britain what to do. Which has provoked South African comedian, Trevor Noah to say he had a good laugh seeing how the Brits felt when a white outsider came to tell them how they should run their country, “in a language they couldnt understand” — harking back to colonialism.
(Many) Sri Lankans can, of course, understand what JC (unhappy abbreviation, that) says but they do not need him screaming at them every day to do his bidding. Which he wont stop until SL has interned hundreds of thousands of Muslims & set back the country for another couple of decades.
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sarath de alwis / June 9, 2019
Would you care to dare reveal your identity ?
If not remain the coward you are and desist from daring others.
You have obviously not read my first essay following the tragedy of Easter Sunday.
The Editor of CT should revisit the guidelines when allowing anonymous comments .
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Jay Chambers / June 9, 2019
Why do you want the identity of anyone? Forget about my identity and if you are a wise man, which is what you want CT readers to believe, answer my questions, criticize my thoughts. Let’ s have a debate.
Let’s fight a battle of ideas, and you don’t have to know my identify for that. I can tell you this much. I am a FULL Kaffir, a lover of Lanka. And I know all about senile “intrepid” writers with selective warriors mentality who take on soft targets like Lankan Sinhalese and Buddhists. They are extremely careful not to use the same critical analysis on the Moslems.
And Manel Fonseka, who claims to have outlived Nazi bombings (readers will have to read previous articles to learn about the hilariously incredible saga of this 85 year old survivor of Nazi bombings), who does not know the difference between race and barbaric ideology (Fonseka calls me racist because I criticize cannibalistic Lankan Moslem terrorists, i.e. religion made them a racial group!!) jumps into again call on CT to ban me. How wonderful these people are? Run out of arguments, utter mumbo jumbo, total lies and when all else fails insist that I am banned!!
I dip my hat to CT for protecting freedom of speech. Also, for the new reader, I alone predicted the rise of Moslem terror on CT and the coming apocalypse of massacre of Kaffirs 4 years before Easter Sunday.
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J. Chambers / June 9, 2019
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sarath de alwis / June 9, 2019
Jay Chambers.
Obviously your brain is chamberpot full to its brim. You are also capable of framing an argument in a style that hints at a degree of reasonable literacy.
So I shall engage you up to a reasonable limit by disregarding my policy of avoiding debate with those who seek refuge in anonymity.
Ideas emanate from people who are ready to defend idea. The Anonymous dont produce ideas. Why are Sinhalese Buddhists soft targets? Why do people enter the Sinhala Sangha order? Is it a vocation, an avenue of of social mobility , a path to power, pursuit of truth, spiritual journey etc
Obviously you have not read my previous essay- Appointment in Kathankudy.
I respect the CT policy of encouraging free inquiry by permitting the likes of you in its space. Free inquiry is the precise principle that is anathema to the Sinhala Sangha.
My next response depends on the substance and the civility of your reply.
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mike / June 9, 2019
Sarath de Alwis – You have to ignore this I G N O R A M U S “Gas Chambers”. Unfortunately, his brain is embedded elsewhere.
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Tourist / June 10, 2019
Alwis, the Moslem apologist and bearer of the highest level of Doctorate in Taqqia, is at it again, trying to spin the whole matter of radical, Jihadi, ISIS inspired Moslem terror in Lanka as the victim and somehow make the tolerant, patient Lankan Kaffirs (who will eventually pay the price for their tolerance) as the aggressor.
I personally have suffered discrimination at the hands of these Moslems. They prevent my association with their young people on the grounds that I am of indeterminate sex. In my own country, I may freely engage in any relationship.
If Lankans Kaffirs do not fight the Moslems on all fronts, economical, political , global and personal with the same venom and same aggression as the Moslems, Lankan Kaffirs Sinhalese and Tamils will lose. This is a batter with a decision. Either Islam reigns supreme over Lanka or Kaffirs fight back and preserve their sexual dignity and their country. So far the Moslems are winning the battle. WIth exploding Moslem population growth, within 10-15 years Lanka will be a hellhole like Kuwait ,Dubai, or Turkey.
Lankan buffaloes, fight back, do not let the Jihadis intimidate you. Fight unto death, death is better than living in a Moslem hellhole like Malaysia, Brunei or UAE, which will be your fate if you stay docile and try to answer terror with soft Buddhist and Hindu tolerance. That batter was fought in Nalanda and many places in ancient India and Buddhist and Hindus were massacred like rabbits. Do you want to become the blood sacrifice?
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Jay Chambers / June 10, 2019
Mr. De Alwis,
Thank you for your kind words. Indeed, if one were to consider graduation from what is widely known as a top European University followed by a Masters from another so called top American university then I would be considered a man with a reasonable degree of literacy as you opined.
Refuge in anonymity is very important in a world where Jihadi fanatics are lusting after the blood of Kaffirs like you and me. Today even Western Europe and all other Western lands, through years of accommodating Jihadi apologists, PC (politically correct) culture, a sense of guilt for past history of colonialism, etc. are in no position to provide safety to even eminent individual citizens who are critical of fanatic Islam. Just look at what happened to Theo Van Gogh, who was killed in broad daylight in Netherlands, by a Moslem fanatic for the sin of producing a simple movie about Islam’s excesses. Now I may not be a descendant of a man as famous as Vincent Van Gogh, nor a movie producer of eminence, but your Lankan Moslem fanatics on CT are fully capable of sending my name to Zaran’s crazy buddies all over the world, who will take action to have me murdered. Hence my anonymity.
So, this is the world where we live in. An international terror network called Islam, which operates openly and also in stealth controls the “free” world. Western media, while pouncing on anyone at the least sign of nationalism and destroying the characters of leaders of native movements in Britain and Europe, allow Moslems to operate with the least resistance.
(Continued below)
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Manel Fonseka / June 9, 2019
Mr De Alwis,
I was trying 2 recall your earliest article post 21/4 but when I looked it up I found it was about Hemasiri Fernando & cdnt quite understand why u mentioned it to JC. Except, perhaps, for your admonition that “it is not killing the worker bees that matters — get at the queen bee.”
Is that what you are telling JC?
Btw what he refers to as my “hilariously incredible saga” happens to b absolutely true, tho I am a good bit younger than he suggests. Being bombed from before & for some years after birth, & growing up with many related personal accounts of it (apart from surviving the shattering of our windows by bombs falling in our street) I have always dreaded the approach of violence & the hatred that unvariably precedes it. 1956 was another time when it was feared Britain would be engulfed in war again, over Suez.
I desperately hope that SL will be able to tackle this frightening situation without alienating yet another of its minorities.
Perhaps I could suggest Latheef Farook’s book of 2009, “Nobody’s People: The Forgotten Plight of Sri Lanka’s Muslims” which may explain something of the alienation that contributed to embracing Wahabism. (Unfortunately, it lacks proper referencing/citations. A pity he did not get scholarly editing.)
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Manel Fonseka / June 9, 2019
Mr de Alwis
So sorry, I forgot to tell u that JC has said he is partly Britush, partly German, & has been visiting SL since the 1970s at least. And it is from that time that he noticed the changing appearance etc of the Muslims.
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A.N. Other / June 9, 2019
Manel,
I don’t believe JC is any sort of foreigner. He has two other handles at least, where does not claim to be a tourist.
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sarath de alwis / June 9, 2019
Ms. Manel Fonseka
No I referred the Potty Chamber to my article Appointment in Kattankudy . In it I explained how Ethno Religious identity politics post the 13th amendment and proportional representation created the conditions for Salafist Jihadists to build its network. I was hoping to write a few more pieces on my reading of the unfolding events. Then the Feast of Fools intervened. Hopefully I shall return to it.
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Jay Chambers / June 10, 2019
Hence you have the massacres of Paris, elsewhere in France, Belgium, UK, etc. In this reality unless you are a retard you want to be able to continue to criticize Moslem fanaticism from an anonymous position ensuring your safety. Otherwise, the Western media in cahoots with radical Islam will destroy you, call you out as an Islamaphobe, and in fact will happily become the executor of Kaffirs for their Islamic master.
This is a world where the media selectively attacks perpetrators of crime, never exposing radical Jihadi Islam. A world where slavery, barbarism of the most degenerate, medieval type is allowed in Saudi Arabia and most of the Moslem world, while even the most sanguine criticism of Islam is immediately attacked, tackled, not by debate or inquiry, but by personality assassination or by harm to the author, including death. This is what the Western apologists, do-gooders, Social Justice warriors created. Its toxic, its barbaric, its borderline cannibalistic towards the Kaffirs. But if you are Moslem, then you are free, any slight criticism of your medieval horror story called Islam is immediately named Islamophbia, and you are supported by a global terror network and their assassins and minions on pay.
You have chosen to be critical of the Buddhist monks of Lanka and expose their shenanigans, including their dependence on the temples for survival and for a way of life. Wonderful, but I hope you don’t think this is a whole lot different from any organized religion anywhere else. All Christian denominations practice the same kind of thing. There are for example the many mega churches in the US, run by men who seamlessly pass on the baton to their sons or family members as they age.
(Continued below)
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R. Manawadu / June 9, 2019
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Roman Leslie / June 10, 2019
What’s your matter with Muslims and Kaffir Lankans. If you are partly British it tells me you are lamenting the Brexit didn’t work and trying to spew hate on Sri Lanka. If you are partly German then you surely has the NAZI in you as evident by your writings of hate trying to prove the ARYAN races greatness as did your forefathers in Germany.
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Rev Medalankara de Choppe / June 11, 2019
Jay are you refering to Muslim jighaists ot Jihadists in safron
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RBH / June 9, 2019
The Father of the Nation in India, undertook many fasts during India’s freedom movement. for the country\, demands from british. not for to get rid of one person
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chiv / June 9, 2019
Sarath, it is country full of clowns. From the time of independence we have seen monks and politicians marching and fasting. There was ,Kandy march, Colombo march,antics of Cardinal, MS temper tantrum/acting outs, constitutional coup, overnight ouster of CJ, dragging SF to prison, MS taking out sword, gall face protest and assault, Wimals infamous fast to death, Ganasaras march —–etc. Even after all the fast and marching no politicians seems to have lost an inch in their abdominal girth.. How come ???All are morbidly obese and soon will marching to hospitals or their final resting places. I hear HEALTH minister and ex DEFENCE sec GR (irony???health and valor) have clogged hearts . Rest to follow soon.
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Hela / June 9, 2019
Suddenly the fellow has become an ardent and pious Buddhist and decided to preach us, the ignorant………He and everybody else now want us to forget the massacre on the Easter. He wants us to forget the extremist Islamic jihadist ideology that caused the carnage. He wants us to forget those who provided political cover for that extremist jihadist ideology to grow in SL. In fact he is determined to hide the political godfathers of Wahabist jihadism under his bogus Buddhist piety. To him Rathana thera is the ultimate extremist, not the jihadists.
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nalmen / June 9, 2019
the cardinal is a catholic
unfortunately by his close association with mahinda he has mixed religion with politics and his statement after the meeting is different from rathanas limited objective
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Manel Fonseka / June 9, 2019
I’d like to make an observation which, though not strictly applicable to the theme of this this article, relates to the authencity of the fast.
Two or three days into the fast I saw a photo in the press which revealed the venerable monk raising what looked like a glass of some liquid. The camera caught him head on but he was partly concealed — though not sufficiently — by someone standing in front of him.
Does this kind of fasting permit the imbibing of liquids?
I wish i had saved that photo. I wonder if anyone else noticed it.
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Deva / June 9, 2019
Yes, someone said he was allowed to drink thembili (king coconut water). His fast was nothing but a farce. It was definitely a feast for the fools…
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chiv / June 9, 2019
Lankans have changed the terminology of FAST to FARCE.(just like the rest ). I heard of Gandhi using it as a non violent weapon against British, Then there was one in Ireland and Jaffna. But now the monks and the politicians are fasting to make a statement and not for any real cause. Rajeewa says it is to hold country to ransom . Is that true ????
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chiv / June 9, 2019
Hilarious to see the guy (look at his expression) behind taking pictures, selfies and recording for social Media,( Wimal and Ganasara must be kicking them self for not being in such limelight). Sarath, remember the recent fast which really made an impact when Hazare took it up for social justice. That too the politicians and Ramdev so called saint (today,s worth more than a Billion $ not Rs) joined Hazare in support , to see later exploiting for there self gain. I doubt Hazare will ever think of fasting again.
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chiv / June 9, 2019
Did the cardinal visit the victims , all the way going the distance, spending time, showing great concerns like what we see hear in picture. I do not remember seeing such picture with one single victim. In the mean time Cardinal also had enough time to hobnob with politicians and foreign diplomats meet the press and attend social media. Way to go cardinal, you are almost there at the gates of HELL??
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Roman Leslie / June 10, 2019
Is it true that Cardinal never went to Batticaloa to visit the church that was attacked
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K.Pillai / June 9, 2019
Sarath de Alwis: there is a silver lining in the {“Fast In Kandy”}
The mission of Buddhist monks is propagating the message of peace and non-violence.
Food is secondary, and nowhere is bullet proof limousines and the like.
Bhikkhu Parliamentarian Athuraliye Rathana Thera knows that thousands go without meals. He has felt the pangs of hunger. He may choose to be Mr Ratana and wear three-piece suits.
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Other Buddhist monks, other religious clergy, the BBS-Buddhist Gnanasara arrived with entourage/body-guards.
Indeed the fast was {“….A Feast For Fools”}
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edwin rodrigo / June 9, 2019
Sarath, you are wading in to unfamiliar territory when you say, Time has come for us to seriously ponder on what the Buddha taught then and what the Sangha preach now. The sooner we undertake the task, the faster this nation will revert to sanity. You have also put the wrong foot in front by quoting from “Visuddhimagga” right at ethe start of the article. That is not Buddha’s words. If you really want to find out what Buddha taught, then you have to read Sutta Pitaka. With so much material to read there, why do you want to quote from Visuddhimagga, which is by Buddhaghosha.
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Stick to Buddha’s words in Sutta Pitaka, that has no contradictions anywhere.
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J. Chambers / June 9, 2019
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Yogeswaran Thuraisingham / June 10, 2019
Why is it that the Govt. is so scared of these monks. The clergy should be in the temples and not participating in politics. Have we seen a Hindu priest or for that matter any priest belonging to other religions lead a strike or taking part in a strike. I am afraid that the Govts. have no back bone to strongly condemn these monks. Why are the so called Mahanayakas do not say anything against these monks. The Govt. is more worried about antagonising the Sinhala buddhists. They are worried about their survival as parliamentarians. Is Sri-Lanka the only country, where the politicians take the
blessings from the clergy and ask for advice from them on how to run the country.
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Fred / June 10, 2019
I have often questioned the sincerity of these fasters and the depth of their commitment to their professed causes. Do they really mean to see their fasts to a finish or these cynical but effective political propaganda tools? Bobby Sands from the IRA was perhaps the lone faster in recent times to actually fast to the death. And he fasted behind prison walls in Northern Ireland, away from the public eye. That famous faster of all, Mahatma Gandhi reportedly undertook 17 pubic fasts. That tells us there were 17 causes for which he was ostensibly prepared to die. But we also know that on all those 17 occasions they were able to persuade him to give up his fasts. So, are these fasts for real or just an elaborate farce? In Kandy we also saw Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith put in a ‘guest appearance’. No doubt he had his own reasons for doing so but it would seem to me that his visit was ill advised as was his reported statement on the lines that ‘the country belonged to the people and not to the leaders’ – a political statement befitting a politician rather than a man of the cloth.
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Lal Warnakula / June 10, 2019
Mr De Alwix seems to be blind to an aspect of the current formula. The role Evangelical/Pentacostal cults are playing in the current dispute.
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The Christian Zionism these cults believe in is totally against the true Christian belief based on the New Testment. These myth believers seem to believe in the Hebrew Bible Jesus Christ discarded as textxs of the Pharisees equialent to the Blind leading the Blind (Luke 6:39).
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Would Mr Alwix care to comment?
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