– The Novices

Novices' room

Shantha Sanjeva, Nalaka Buddika and Nanda Jagathe are the three novices at the temple. They have all been here two and a half years. In fact, they all came on the same day. Nanda and Shantha are cousins from the Polonnaruwa area up north. Nanda’s father worked as a mason here in Godagama during the village reconstruction and he grew to respect Bhante Piyananda’s kindness and dedication. Nanda had hung around his home temple as a small boy and had expressed a strong interest in becoming a monk. His father asked Bhante Piyananda if he would accept him. Shantha also had an interest because he knew he would get a better education in the sangha (community of monks) than his family could otherwise afford. When his mother found out her brother’s son, Nanda, was coming here she asked if Shantha could as well.

Pigeon coop

Nalika comes from a troubled family and his mother thought he would be safer here, Nalika agreed and his aunt who knew of Bhante Piyananda made the arrangements. He was born not too far from here in a village further inland. Shantha is 17 and Nalika and Nanda are both 13. All say they are happy to be here and that they chose this path of their own accord. All 3 say they plan to ordain when they are 21. But that’s a long way off for teenage boys.

I wish I had been here for the ceremony for the 3 novices. I have observed it in Thailand and at temples in the U.S. They spend a day or two preparing and learning the proper form of response to the questions their preceptor will ask them. Just before the ceremony their heads would have been shaved. They would have been given the first locks of hair to hold while contemplating the journey and responsibilities that they were about to undertake. At the end of the ceremony their family and friends presented them with their first robes, a metal bowl to collect their food in during alms rounds, an umbrella, a bit of soap, a sewing kit, and very little else. These would be the only things they would truly own for the rest of their time in the sangha. From that point on they would not be allowed to hug or touch their mother or any other woman. Even their mothers and fathers would have to bow at their feet when greeting and leaving them.

But not to worry about them getting too full of themselves for they will be the most junior in a long hierarchy of monks with seniority based on the date they first entered the sangha. They’ll be the last in line for everything for quite awhile.

Leaving for the pirivena

Sweeping the compound

They get up at 4:30 to start their morning meditation and chanting. Then a small breakfast and chores until lunch which they must eat before noon. They leave around 12:30 every week day and walk about a mile to school. They are back by 5:30 (in time for computer classes now). More chores and religious activities until they go to bed at 9:30. They stop about 8:00 and prepare their dinner. Because they are still growing they are excepted from the rule about not eating after noon. If anything is left over from the midday meal they’ll take that from the fridge.

Cooking dinner

Scraping coconut

If not, they’ll cook some rice, take few vegetables from the bin and boil them (all over their wood fire) and find some fruit (usually bananas). During all of this they find time to try and get my attention by teasing me or each other, always keep a cup of hot tea close to me, argue about who will set my dinnerware on the table and stand around trying out English phrases on me until I am finished eating.

Shantha has matured quite a bit since last year and is adroitly stepping into his future role as an ordained monk. He has developed a well practiced and strong chanting practice. He often leads services for families that come for small memorial services and regularly leads the chanting for the anagarikas on Poya day. He also teaches one of the Sunday School classes each week.

Readying the classroom

The pirivena

Some of these boys come from very poor families and this is the only prospect they have for an education. Some will leave the sangha by the age of 18, some will run away if they find the life too difficult or they are treated harshly by older monks. Most will take higher ordination when they reach 21. Then again some may disrobe after 2 or 3 years if they find the 200 plus vows too difficult to live by each day.

Monks (the correct term is bhikkhu) generally migrate into one or a mix of several life endeavors. A few will seek to reach spiritual enlightenment and devote themselves to near constant meditation, isolation in remote monasteries or even caves, and depravation of anything sensual , eating only the most basic food. These true ascetics are rare these days. I would venture that the majority would be western convert monks.

Studying

Showing respect

Another group will become scholars not only of Buddhist history, culture, and philosophy but even more traditional academics. Many go on earn Doctorates in Philosophy, Literature, etc. and publish scholarly books. Some like Bhante Wimalaratana even become chancellors of universities. Teachers at all levels in the education system often come from this group.

Others become business administrators, managing the affairs of large temples and community development centers. In this case, the Buddha’s proscription against monks handling money has to be waived. Senior monks from this and the previous group serve as advisors to government officials and serve on government committees.

One radical group of monks here in Sri Lanka actually formed a political party and got members elected to parliament.

Others may devote themselves to social service. In a city temple they will work in a community development center running vocational schools or support centers for the aged. In small, remote rural village temples they will try to muster support from local governments, NGOs and the villagers themselves to develop irrigation works, or flood control projects. They obviously serve as spiritual advisers but also in roles similar to marriage counselors, small claims court judges, and general peace makers.

Sometimes, whether they were born in the big cities (Colombo, Galle, and Kandy) or the rural countryside will determine their path. And of course there are many combinations of these roles.

There are 3 major divisions amongst the sangha in Sri Lanka. Fortunately, the Buddhist teachings had been well established in Sri Lanka before it was practically destroyed in India. This southern tradition then made its way to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Burma. A northern tradition had also taken the route through Tibet to China, Japan and Korea before the Indian collapse.

But after centuries of colonial rule by the Portuguese and Dutch, the sangha in Sri Lanka had fallen on hard times and the direct lineage of ordination back to the Buddha had been lost. In 1753, a delegation of reformers went to Thailand (Siam) to seek help in reestablishing the lineage. This was done and it subsequently became known as the Siam Nikaya. However, most of the monks came from the higher caste Govigama families originating chiefly in the mountain capital of Kandy. They kept membership exclusive to their own caste for many decades.

As a result another group from a lower caste went to Burma to reestablish their own line of ordination. And later another group from the then remote rural south formed another line. I often liken it to the many church groups within the Protestant religion although I’m not sure this is an appropriate analogy.

Bhante Wimalaratana in Colombo and his older brother, Bhante Dhammaratana in Singapore are both senior leaders in the Siam Nikaya. Rev. Piyananda here in Godagama was also trained in this nikaya.

I find it interesting that the monks who practice the strictest discipline are often western convert monks. Many of them served in the Peace Corp in Southeast Asia and stayed on for many years thereafter to study under such famous teachers as Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Buddhadasa in Thailand or similar famous teachers in Burma. A few of have stayed in the jungle but many more have gone on to establish monasteries and meditation centers in the U.S., Australia, Canada, the U.K. and Europe. I even correspond with a Ugandan monk who studied under the inspiring and often published Sri Lankan monk, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, who now resides in West Virginia at his Bhavana Society forest meditation center. Bhante Buddharakita is now establishing a meditation center near Kampala in Uganda. Many of these centers are supported by expatriate cultural Buddhist communities (Thai, Sri Lankan, Cambodian, etc). But the western monks are not that involved with the cultural necessities that would be expected of a native monk. So they have a certain freedom to pursue their ascetic practice.