Rev. Dr. Sumanasiri of Singapore
Hailing from a devout Buddhist Sinhala family that settled down in Singapore 100 years ago, Ven. Dr. Sumanasiri Thero became a Buddhist monk at the age of 11 and went to Sri Lanka to study. Fluent in 11 languages, his most astounding achievement was becoming the first man to walk the Chinese Great Wall’s entire length of 6000 miles in nine months. He is the Sangha Nayake for Singapore, Malaysia and Europe representing the Amarapura Sect. He is the founder of the University of Kelaniya Alumni Association of Canada and also its patron. On a recent visit to Canada, he talked to Sunimal Balasuriya of Sawana Web Radio.
Sunimal Balasuriya: You can speak 11 languages and can understand five more. How did you become such a linguist and a Buddhist monk?
Rev. Sumanasiri: My grandfather settled down in Singapore about a century ago. We spoke English as kids. Malay is our national language as Singapore was earlier a part of Malaysia. We learnt Chinese from our village friends. Anybody in Singapore speaks those three languages. In addition to that, I can converse in Sinhalese, my parents’ mother tongue.
Sunimal: What made you become a Buddhist monk at a tender age?
My family was a significant influence. Our parents taught us Buddhist worship from the ages of five or six. We learnt Buddhism at the Sunday religious school, where my mother was the principal. Every Sunday, the school hired two lorries – there were no buses at that time – and collected about 200 children in the city and drove them to the school. Some were Christians, while there were Chinese boys. The temple also became our Sunday playground. At that time, Mr. Lee Kwan Yew had become the prime minister and was developing Singapore after the British left. About 50 years ago, our high priest, Moratuwe Sumana Thero, invited him to the temple for a visit. Ven. Sumana, under whom I renounced my worldly life, was a Christian by birth and worked as a Chartered Accountant and one time the Mayor of Moratuwa. Amarapura Nikaya Maha Sangha Nayake Ven. Narada Thero of Vajiraramaya taught in the Sunday school. He started our temple, Srilankaramaya. There was also a priest called Mahaveera who resided in the temple during the time of the British. A monk named Ananda Mangala was another teacher. He was the last disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. Those scholarly monks were an early part of my inspiration.
Sunimal: When did you go to Sri Lanka?
Rev. Sumanasiri: I went there at the age of 11, 54 years ago. At that time, roads and other infrastructure facilities in Singapore were better than in Sri Lanka. Some believed that Singapore was following Sri Lanka, but my native country was supported by the Colombo Plan Commission, which included several Third World countries like Sri Lanka. That was the only connection with Sri Lanka.
Sunimal: I have heard that you are passionate about art. How did you become involved in that field despite being a Buddhist monk?
Rev. Sumanasiri: Life is an art, and even the priesthood is art if we look it that way. I have inherited art in my blood as my ancestors were involved in designing jewellery. The late great Sri Lankan singer and musician P.L.A. Somapala was my father’s eldest sister’s son. His younger brother P.L.A. Gunapala was a violinist. Reputed Sinhala classical singer Amaradeva played the violin in P.L.A. Somapala’s orchestra in the early part of his career. PLA used to send his records to our home, and though we did not know Sinhala as kids, we used to sing his songs. I liked his melody Sarasamu Lanka. (Rev. Sumanasiri beautifully sang a few lines from the song during the interview). I wanted to learn music properly and in 1980 entered Hindu University of India and leant the sitar under maestro Takur Raj Bahn Singh. Singer Amara Ranatunga was one of my contemporaries there. She was studying for a Ph.D. in music. As a kid I used to see Bollywood films, and I could sing melodies from movies like Madhumati, Jab Pyar Kisise Hotha Hai, Aradhana and Junglee. My younger brother, a musician and singer, is known as the Mohammed Rafi of Singapore.
Sunimal: What do you think of our modern music?
Rev. Sumanasiri: Today noise has taken a prominent place in music, ruining the beauty of our songs. If you listen to P.L.A. and his wife Chitra’s songs, you can hear how they created aesthetic appeal in their melodies, turning them into evergreen hits by any standard. Loud noise is not art. We still remember PLA and Chitra because they preserve the artistic value of music. (Rev. Sumanasiri sang few lines from the song Isurumuniyehi)
Sunimal: When I hear a Buddhist priest singing songs, there is some strange feeling because I don’t often hear they sing.
Rev. Sumansiri: Isurumuniya is a Buddhist place of worship. See how beautiful is Piyasena Costa’s lyrics immortalizing in words a little sculpture on a stone. Costa is from Tirangama and died recently of old age. He also wrote Sarasamu Lanka.
Sunimal: You speak perfect Sinhala in addition to conversing in 11 languages. What is the secret? Many people in Sri Lanka say it is difficult to even learn English.
Rev. Sumanasiri: Singapore gives a prominent place for multi-ethnicity. Therefore, most Singapore citizens are tri-lingual, and when the language of parents adds, we speak four languages. In Sri Lanka, I learnt Sinhalese, Pali and Sanskrit. I have seen a lot of stage plays by prominent artists like Simon Nawagaththegama and Lalitha Sarachchandra. When you are also close to a culture, you automatically learn the language. Some Sinhalese speak English with a profound dislike for the west. That is why English has taken a back seat in Sri Lanka.
Sunimal: You are engaged in writing?
Rev Sumanasiri: Yes. I read all the hundred-odd books written by Mr. Munidasa Kumaratunga. At the age of 16, I wrote a critical essay about his writing in my handwriting only four years after learning English. Everyone was surprised. I have not seen the great writer, but his books have left a lasting impression on my life. I also write a lot of research papers for global symposiums on various subjects.
Sunimal: Most priests study subjects like Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy. What did you learn?
Rev. Sumanasiri: I have studied various subjects. While studying Tripitaka and Buddhist philosophy, I also learnt sciences like biology, chemistry, physics and maths. I entered the Papiliyana Pirivena and studied these subjects for four years. Later I joined the Hahnemann medical school in the UK to study medicine. I leant English, Western philosophy and Greek classics for my A-Levels at the Wesley College during the weekends. At the University of Kelaniya I studied for seven years under Dr. W.S. Karunarathne, an internationally-known Buddhist scholar. My major was Buddhist philosophy for my honours degree, and my subsidiary subject was western philosophy.
Sunimal: You have studied a lot and earned three post-graduate degrees. How did you manage time?
Rev. Sumanasiri: In Singapore, 24 hours a day is not enough. These days I work 18 hours a day. Otherwise, I am unable to complete my workload. In Singapore, most people work for about 12 or 13 hours a day.
Sunimal: You have obtained three PhDs.
Rev. Sumanasiri: I studied at five universities. At Kelaniya University, I studied Buddhist and Western philosophies. I was the first Buddhist monk to study these subjects in English medium there. Before that, I studied for a diploma in Buddhist studies at the same university. The two-year course included one-year of Theravada studies and one-year for Mahayana. I have also studied French, German and Hindi there.
Sunimal: Can you give details of some of your post-graduate studies?
Rev. Sumanasiri: I have a post-graduate degree from the Oxford University and two doctorates from the medical college. The Vietnam university offered me a doctorate taking into consideration my services to humanity. I am with the Malaysian opposition party fighting to protect human rights for more than 20 years. At Oxford, I studied Christian Applied Theology. If you want to propagate Buddhism, you should have a solid knowledge of other religions as well. We have to understand how the believers of other faiths think. It is important to me as I live and work in several European countries. I have forwarded about 60 research papers in many countries. Considering my services, Amarapura Nikaya offered me a title called Darshana Chakravarthi.
Sunimal: I am a little confused that you have earned a Sri Lankan honour called Dasha Basha Visharada (proficient in ten languages) while speaking 11 languages fluently.
Rev. Sumanasiri: The monks who offered me the title were unaware of my Sinhala proficiency because I mostly spoke and wrote English. That was the reason. It is sad to say that I did not go to Sri Lanka for 27 years, though I got invited 11 times with free air fare to travel there. The reason is I am not happy about the incidents that happened in 1983.
Sunimal: I have heard that you addressed 250,000 Buddhist devotees in an Indian event.
Rev. Sumanasiri: Yes, I delivered a lecture in the Indian state of Maharasthra. The province organizes an annual event running for three days with sermons delivered by monks in various languages 24 hours a day. The largest majority of Indian Buddhists amounting to several million, live in Maharasthra. The Indian government gives a sizeable donation to the event.
Sunimal: I also know that you have earned the honorary title of Glory of India. As I understand, the award is offered only to Indian citizens.
Rev. Sumanasiri: Yes, it is offered by the New Delhi Indian Friendship Association only to Indian nationals. I was the first non-Indian to receive this award. What happened was my name appeared in a Whose Who list of Indians in the UK. When the association proposed my name, I told them that I am not an Indian, but I have studied, worked and had many links with the country visiting more than 50 times. Since I am a Buddhist priest, I consider the land where my father, the Lord Buddha, was born as my Fatherland. They finally decided that I was an ideal person to receive it.
Sunimal: I also heard that you walked the entire length of the Chinese Great Wall. How did you achieve that unbelievable physically-taxing feat?
Rev. Sumanasiri: I engaged in Dushkarak Kriya to establish the world record. Four other famous scholars from four different countries joined me in this gigantic task. Two people stopped halfway, and two more completed after me. We intended to establish the world record by walking all the 6000 miles of the wall to deliver a message to the world that we are of different ethnicities, but we are one as human beings. Monks should not be confined to temples. They should do something for the good of the world. About eight leading papers in the world featured our story. Chinese were also surprised as a foreigner and a Buddhist monk I had done such a feat. I met the Chairman of the Great Wall Association, who congratulated me. We organized exhibitions of our pictures in several countries.
Sunimal: Did the Chinese government officially help and appreciate your efforts?
No. I did not seek any government help, as I am a Buddhist priest. The Chinese constitution describes religion as superstition. There were many administrative and natural obstructions during our arduous walk, but we continued. My knowledge of several Chinese dialects was a great help. We had to pass through jungles, deserts, arid areas and completely isolated stretches with no shops to buy food and other necessities. (At this point, Rev, Sumanasiri sang a Chinese Buddhist devotional song).
Sunimal: Can you tell us of any other achievements?
Rev. Sumanasiri: I have studied homeopathy, allopathy and naturopathy.
To be a complete doctor, you have to know other methods too. In 1997 at a Geneva convention, I presented an 18-page research paper about genetic engineering – new theories and the recent development – highlighting that man can achieve higher stages of life like enlightenment, which will take us back to basic natural life. The ‘wisdemization’ is what we call naturalization, I argued. When we become natural, we can attain enlightenment. This is a new theory of genetics. I also presented my paper at a symposium at the Toronto University School of Theology. It was highly appreciated. My considerable knowledge of Buddhist philosophy and medicine helped me to formulate this theory.
There are interesting Facebook comments in response to Dr. Sumanasiri’s interviews. Internationally-known Sri Lankan singer Chitral Chitty Somapala says. He is my father’s (P.L.A. Somapala’s) cousin. Thilini Ariyarathna Kaluarachchi says Rev. Sumanasiri is my uncle, and he is a repository of wisdom.
I know Rev. Dr. Sumansiri Thero from my A-Level days and entered the university with him in the late 70s. Since then, we have been friends. I thank Vasantha Lankatilleke of Sawana Web Radio for permission to translate the Sinhala interview. — Somasiri Munasinghe
