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One should utter the truth. One should not be angry. One should give even from a scanty store to him who asks. Along these three paths one may go to the presence of the gods. (Kodha Vagga - The Dhammapada)

The dhamma of natural disasters

by Kingsley Heendeniya

A Buddha statue sits unscathed among the rubble with skeletons which were washed up from a nearby graveyard by the deadly tsunamis in the southern coastal town of Kahawa.

What has all of this got to do with the tsunami? Why did it cause so much sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair? Why did it produce dukkha in those directly affected and evoke dukkha in those not directly affected? The Buddha gives the answer but it is very difficult to understand and accept

Many natural disasters have affected the world from the time dinosaurs became extinct millions of years ago. They include drought, desertification, floods, tidal waves, tsunamis, landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, cyclones, tornados, avalanches, famine, pestilence, and epidemics.

Events such as wars, genocide, terrorism and economic disasters are also natural since they arise from the underlying tendency and obsession to greed, hate and views.

They are the nature or dhammata of the structure of the world, within and external, affecting most of us from ignorance (avijja) of the fundamental structure of dependent arising and cessation or paticcasamuppada, the seminal discovery of the Buddha.

Let me quote from the Mahahattipadopama Sutta - The Greater Discourse on the Simile of the Elephants Footprint delivered by the venerable Sariputta. What, friends, is the earth element? The earth element may be internal or external.

Whatever internally, belonging to oneself is solid, solidified and clung-to that is, head hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, heart, liver or whatever and clung-to, this is called the internal earth element.

Now both the internal earth element and the external earth element are simply earth element. And this should be seen as it actually is with proper understanding thus: Not, this is mine, not, this am I, not, this is my self.

When one sees it thus as it actually is with proper understanding, one becomes disenchanted with the earth element and makes the mind dispassionate toward the earth element.

Now there comes a time when the water element is disturbed and then the external earth element vanishes. When even this external earth element, great as it is, is seen to be impermanent, subject to destruction, disappearance and change, what of this body, which is clung-to by craving and lasts but a while? There can be no considering that as I or mine or I am.

This is at the deep end of the Dhamma. Everything in the internal and external world is matter carbon, sodium, potassium etc or simply, electrons. And its behavior profoundly affects us. Why? Matter cannot be said to exist until it appears even for a short time.

The Buddha described this appearance of matter as having five characters: vedana (feeling), sanna (perception), cetana (intention), phassa (contact) and manasikara (attention). Collectively, they are called nama or name, or appearance of the behaviour of matter (mahabhuta).

This fathom long body and mind is simply namarupa and consciousness (vinnana) or, as a duality with the external world, it is the body and namarupa externally.

Everything internal and external is namarupa where matter as such is bereft of consciousness. Matter (mahabhuta) gets a footing in existence only when there is consciousness.

When consciousness ceases with Nibbana it is the end of namarupa. Thus namarupa is dependent on vinnana and vinnana is dependent on namarupa. This is the teaching of the Buddha.

What has all of this got to do with the tsunami? Why did it cause so much sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair? Why did it produce dukkha in those directly affected and evoke dukkha in those not directly affected? The Buddha gives the answer but it is very difficult to understand and accept.

The uncompromising truth is given in four summaries the venerable Rathanapala, the only son of a very rich merchant taught a king.

Great king, there are four summaries of the Dhamma that have been taught by the Blessed One who knows and sees, accomplished and fully enlightened. Knowing and seeing and hearing them,

I went forth from the home life into homelessness. What four? 1. Any world is unstable. It is swept away. 2. Any world has no shelter and no protector. 3. Any world has nothing of its own. One has to leave all and pass on. 4. Any world is incomplete, insatiate, the slave of craving.

In short, there is no escape from dukkha other than from existence. Go to the beach now and look the sea is calm, nonchalant and indifferent. Why? Because that is how it actually is. When nama is detached from rupa (matter), there is no dukkha.

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Loss of a Buddhist scholar:

Buddhist Mirror writer is no more

We inform our readers of Buddhist Spectrum page with profound sadness that the hand that penned the column Buddhist Mirror stilled on last 27th of December.

With A. G. S. Kariyawasam's passing away, the country has lost a Buddhist scholar, a Buddhist writer of rare calibre an editor and most of all an exemplary human being.

He was 71 years at the time of his death.

An old boy of Mahinda College, Galle, Siri Kariyawasam passed out from the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya with Second Class Honours in Sanskrit with Sinhalese. Then he joined the teaching staff of St. Anthony's College, Baddegama - for two years.

Thereafter his whole career was mainly devoted to Buddhist writings and Buddhist publication activities until his very last days. For 26 years since 1960, he was the assistant editor in Buddhist Encyclopedia and later Deputy Editor in Chief until retirement in 1989.

In the sixteen fascicles of the Buddhist Encyclopedia so far published. Sixty six articles have been written by the late writer.

Under the Buddhist programs of Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) he gave a series of talks under the titles of 'The word of the Buddha', and 'In the steps of the Sakyamuni".

Associating closely with Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi during 1991-1998 he edited the Ven. Bhikkhu's publications. Then since the passing away of Ven. Piyadassi Maha Thera, who was the editor of Sinhala Buddhist publications of the Buddhist Publication Society he undertook editing both Sinhala and English publications of the Society.

He was the translator of several valuable books from English to Sinhala. He translated the Second and Third volumes of 'Hinduism and Buddhism by Charles Eliot and volume III of A History of Indian Literature by Winternitz.

He translated and authored Sath Anupassana - a Sinhala book on Buddhist meditation authored by Matara Nanarama Maha Thera as Seven Contemplations of Insight. This was published by the Buddhist publication society, Kandy in 1997.

Buddhist ceremonies and Rituals of Sri Lanka published by the Society in the same year - is an original piece of writing by him. It was our writer who edited 'The Buddhist' during the years between 1978-1986, which is published by Colombo YMBA.

In addition, the number of Buddhist articles he has written to many journals and magazines exceed one hundred and fifty in number.

Until his passing away in Kandy he was a dedicated worker for Buddhist Publication Society. While being engaged in his scholarly Dhamma activities, he was mindful of the sound upbringing of the young minds. Until his last days he taught at Kandy, English medium Dhamma school, Samadhi.

A dear father to his two daughters Vasundhara and Ashvinee, he was the dutiful husband to his wife Daya Swarnalatha.

May he attain Nibbana!

- Malini.

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