Ven. Ahangama Rathanasiri Thero (Internet Picture: Courtesy Mahesh Abeyewardene)
As a young boy under the care of his parents, Ven. Ahangama Rathanasiri Nayake Thero, was just like any other village lad, spending the evenings playing with friends, paying scant attention to studies.
His family was very close to the village temple, and he remembers one particular question his father asked him at a Buddhist festival in the temple.
In an interview with Sunimal Balasuriya of the Sakman Maluwa radio programme, the Chief Abbot of the Toronto Maha Vihara said that his father asked him whether he wanted to be a priest like Ven. Madihe Pagnaseeha Maya Nayake Thero who came to deliver a religious sermon at the village temple.
“Soon, I forgot all about my father’s question, but when a close friend of mine, a boy of my same age, wanted to become a monk, I developed a secret liking to follow him,” Ven. Rathanasiri Thero said.
His mother was against the 13-year-old’s decision. He stopped going to school in a silent protest and stayed at home. “When I continued to insist that I wanted to enter the priesthood, my mother had no choice. One fine day she took me to the village temple and asked the high priest to teach me the religious books in preparation for my life as a bhikkhu.”
Ven. Madihe Pagnaseeha Nayake Thero revisited the temple to attend a Vinaya Karma festival. It was also on that day young Wengappuli Arachchige Sarath renounced his worldly life to become a monk.
Ven. Rathanasiri Thero said he was not very studious at school but became fully involved with studies after becoming a bhikkhu. Higher studies led him to Kelaniya University from where he graduated majoring in Buddhist Philosophy with German as his minor subject.
After graduation, he was appointed as the principal of Weliweriya Sri Naga Pirivena and later took up another appointment as the principal of Mount Lavinia Nalanda Pirivena.
“While teaching at Weliweriya I decided to improve Pali education as it was essential for Buddhist priests to further study the religion. I also noticed a widespread lethargy to study the language. My efforts to develop Pali education were highly successful. A student of mine achieved the best results for Pali in the Gampaha District,” he said, emphasizing the value of the ancient language to Buddhist scholars.
“When I entered the Kelaniya University, I selected Buddhist Philosophy, Archeology and Sanskrit. When I was reading for my Honours degree, I dropped Sanskrit as I was already fluent in the language and selected German as my minor,” said the monk who has been serving the Buddhist community in Canada for more than two decades.
He described the participation at the 50th-anniversary celebrations of the Indian untouchable community’s embrace of Buddhism as the most important experience of his life. He attended as the chief guest representing both his native country Sri Lanka and Canada. “The occasion celebrated the Dalits embracing Buddhism to escape the repression of the majority Hindu community, and the mass conversion was initiated by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, a social reformer, jurist and politician.”
Dr. Ambedkar embraced Buddhism along with 500,000 of his community on 14 October 1956. The fiftieth anniversary of the event, known as Conversion Day, was celebrated in 2006 in Nagpur, with more than two million community members in attendance.
The Nayake Thero described his role in assisting the Prince Edward Island education department to include chapters on Buddhism in school textbooks as another significant achievement of his life.
“A Buddhist gentleman passed away in PEI about 15 years ago. All his family members were Christian, and they invited me to conduct the final rites according to their relative’s last wishes. I was invited as there were no Buddhist temples in the area. I rushed there in time for the funeral and performed the rituals delivering a sermon based on the story of Kisa Gothami,” said Ven. Rathanasiri Thero, adding that the majority who attended the funeral were Canadians who had never seen a Buddhist funeral ceremony earlier.
“Many people came and spoke to me and wanted to know more about Buddhism. After a few weeks, I received a telephone call from an official who worked in the PEI education department asking whether I could help edit the chapters relating to Buddhism in school textbooks in the region. I happily obliged.”
Responding to a question about the connection between the Canadian Buddhist community and the temple, he said the devotees consider paying a visit to the temple, like coming to an oasis of spirituality. “Immigrants take a long time to adjust to the way of life here. We build religious and cultural bridges into the community, becoming a vital part of their lives. The people look up to the temple as a place to rejuvenate their spiritual existence.”
Sakman Maluwa played a song composed by Ven. Rathnasiri Thero. Explaining the significance of the melody, he said he wrote the song on a request by the late Mr. Nimal Perera, the creator of the Toronto-based Kala Kavaya TV programme. “Mr. Perera was planning to produce Sinhala films in Canada, and my song was to be used in one. Late musician Mr. Patrick Denipitiya directed the music.”
Sawana.ca is a web radio based in Toronto. It was launched by former SLBC producer Vasantha Lankatilake in 2017. (www.newstrails.com)
