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The ignorant, foolish folk indulge in heedlessness; the wise man guards earnestness as the greatest treasure.Dhammapada (Appamadaragga)

Learn well in your mother tongue' advises the Buddha

by A.G.S.Kariyawasam

Once a couple of bhikkhus suggested to the Buddha that his teaching be written down in a rigid language wherein even a dot cannot be altered as in Vedic Sanskrit. The Buddha categorically disapproved the suggestion stating that it would be an offence to do so and laid it down as a directive that each person or a group of persons should master his teaching in their own mother tongue (sakaya niruttiya).

Here the Buddha did so because he knew that it is in one's mother tongue that one can both comprehend and express oneself most easily and correctly any subtle teaching.

This is firstly because the additional strain of mastering a new language does not hinder one's power of comprehension through spending time and energy on it. Also, it is in one's own mother tongue that one's originality and creative talents blossom forth in their maximum worth.

Always one's mother tongue takes precedence over acquired languages in these matters, because such talents are genetically inherited from one's past. When an acquired language begins to dominate in a person's thinking such talents naturally become blunted, dwarfed and impoverished. Instead, acquired languages should nourish and foster the flow of talent that naturally emerges through the mother tongue.

Additional languages should and must play their role by enriching the core through the sustenance they derive from other literatures. Proficiency in as many languages as possible should be the desideratum here.

Also for the emergence of a rich national identity, the mother tongue should remain as the nation's medium of instruction, as the Buddha has advised. Such a policy would certainly help the growth of strong and resourceful personalities, which are fast becoming rarity today in our country, mainly owing to the nation's becoming enfeebled through centuries of foreign domination. It spill overs have made us yet to struggle in locating and experiencing our self-realisation as a nation.

Considered in this background the demand coming from certain quarters for some time now that English be re-introduced as the medium of instruction is absolutely not in the best interests of the gigantic task of rebuilding our long-lost national identity. When Sinhala and Tamil replaced English as the official languages and the media of instruction, most of us expected our nation to shake off whatever vestiges of colonialism that were left over and emerge itself with vibrant nationhood.

But this dream has been denied realisation due to our own petty thinking and the absence of unity as a nation.

Those who demand the come-back of English do so as a remedy for the low standard of English learning in the country today. But let them not forget that even the standard of Sinhala has gone down despite it being the official language and the medium of instruction for more than four decades now: (I am not competent to write about Tamil in this regard).

Even university dons and pracheena pandits cannot write correct Sinhala today (most of them). The apparent tragedy is that Sinhala writing seems to be setting down with these drawbacks because the teacher-pupil vicious circle with this weakness is continuing helplessly.

Thus it is the general standard of education that has to be upgraded. Bringing back English instead amounts to suggesting a treatment worse than the illness itself. What is intended in this article is to highlight the position of the use of languages in relation to the Buddha's thinking. From the facts available two important conclusions emerge here.

First, the Buddha has recognised the value of using the mother tongue as the medium of learning as clarified in the above comments made on the Buddha's advice offered to the two monks.

Secondly, regarding the study of other languages, the Buddha is quite clear in recommending the learning of as many languages as possible, without making any prejudice to the main position accorded to the mother tongue. In the Mahaparinibbana Sutta He claims to have visited and preached to hundreds of assemblies of varying compositions in all of which He preached and discussed the Dhamma in the language of each of such gatherings.

This shows that the Buddha knew about seven or eight dialects prevalent at the time. Today in European countries children over the age of ten years have usually learnt more than one language without the loss of national identity. There is a well-known French dictum "on dit chaq' un a deux pays" meaning "everyone has two countries.

Unless we adopt this policy of "mother tongue with English and other languages" we cannot expect to have a Gurulugomi, a Vidyachakravarti, a Sri Rahula et.el or even a Martin Wickramasinghe in the future.

Let me conclude this article by quoting a very informative line regarding this problem from Alagiyawanna Mukawetti, the 16th century Sinhala poet, who claims to write his Subhashitaya for those "ignorant Sinhala people who are not proficient in Tamil, Sanskrit and Pali":-

Demala saku magada nohasala satata dada

Doi Suthep Golden Buddhist temple in Chiang Maim

by Christie Fernando

Doi Suthep temple with its golden spire, nestling on the hilltop of Suthep Mountain, 700 kms north of Bangkok, in the fertile Chiang Mai valley, surely enthral and fascinate you - and the genial and warm-hearted people there, will doubtless, welcome you with their traditional charm and hospitality. It is one of the four royal temples in Chaing Mai ("New City").

It took more than eight hours to reach Chiang Mai from Bangkok.

The temple is draped in pure gold - and the pinnacle of the Chaitiya too is gilded with five and half kilos of pure and unalloyed gold - an incumbent Buddhist priest told me.

The temple looks gorgeous, and one can see the cloisters painted with bright murals depicting the previous lives of the Buddha. The precincts of this ancient, but renovated and modernistic temple are galore with a host of Buddha statues, and the Chaitiya is surrounded with a railing; and at four points of the compass, people were seen offering flowers, lighting joss sticks and paying homage to the gilded Buddha statues.

The temple contains a holy relic of the Buddha brought from Pang Cha, an ancient town of Sukhothai by Ven. Phara Mahaswami, a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, formerly called Sumanathera, who travelled to Siam or Thailand to spread Theravada Buddhism in Sukhothai. He was instrumental in bringing the holy relic of the Buddha. Legend has it that the holy relic was brought to Chiang Mai in 1371, and later enshrined in this imposing shrine.

It's true the outer overlay of the temple is embedded and bedecked with gold - you cannot believe your eyes - and you keep gazing up, all the time, it's all brilliant and resplendent as it adorned with an aureate golden canopy of the heavens! There are about three hundred temples in this city and on its outskirts.

To the west of Chiang Mai is Myanmar (Burma). Its culture is akin to Burmese, Sri Lankan and Mon influences. We also visited the mansions of a royal palace and garden. However, we were not allowed to go and see the interior.

This historic temple built on the hilltop of Suthep Mountain, in the west of Chiang Mai city is 14 kilometres away from the city. It's 1,027 feet above sea level, which accounts for the slightly dry and cooler climate than most other parts of the country. The population in Chiang Mai is estimated to be about 250,000 people. The province itself is large and extensive, measuring 130 kms from east to west and 320 km from north to south.

The panoramic view from the top, across the Chiang Mai City is gorgeous though the climb on the steps is exhausting. To reach the temple from down below, an ordinary pilgrim has to cautiously climb up nearly three hundred steps. For the astounded and curious tourist, it's both exhilarating and daunting.

But we preferred to go up by the automatic cable car available there for the weary traveller, by paying a nominal fee. Northern Thailand has one of the finest cuisines in the world, judging by the number of restaurants there. Any gourmet, who is imaginative in the selection of food , knows what to plump for and choose in any presentation of food on a platter, in a restaurant. For most Thais and tourists, dining out has been a special charm and delight. Most tourists are surprised by the variety and amount of food sold by local hotel owners in Thailand.

The aroma of food is in the air, and the vivacity of the exotic night bazaar, which is open every night of the year, gives the visitors in town, what they can passionately expect - and they have also ample time to do their shopping and enjoy the fun and frolic plentifully within reach - and to spend the evening blithely and spritely.

This litup city is indeed eloquent testimony of the popularity of products with locals as well as visitors who converge in large number to see the beauty of the country. It's a common practice, especially in the evenings to serve daintily prepared delicacies such as barbecued chicken, pork, fish, crab and squid to a cursory visitor, in open restaurants.

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