Day 80: Sri Lanka - Buddhism And Meditation

 

Today, we hit Sri Lanka - for the geographically challenged, that's the small teardrop-shaped island off the south-eastern coast of India - formerly known as Ceylon. It's an island of 22 million people and many cultures. The main group is the Sinhalese, who comprise about 70% of the population, the Tamils (just over 20%), and then everyone else! Between 1987 and 2009, a civil war raged between the Tamils in the North of the island and the mainstream Sinhalese in the South. Now, society has been mostly integrated, and you see street signs in THREE languages - Sinhalese, Tamil, and English.

About 3,000 years ago, Sri Lanka was culturally and physically united with India,
and ancient scriptures tell of a land bridge that existed between the two areas up until 1480 when a couple of cyclones deepened The Gulf Of Mannar and destroyed the limestone shoals that made up the bridge. There are still areas which are only 3-4 feet deep. European history involving SL starts with the Portuguese in 1505, who later, in 1517, built a fort on what is now Colombo - the capital city. The natives weren't too happy about that and remained at war for the next 100 years. The King signed a treaty with the Dutch in 1638 to beat up the Portuguese. The Dutch won and then reneged on their deal and stayed as occupiers. The Brits arrived in 1796, worried that Napolean would do bad things, and by 1833, had created quite a progressive infrastructure and society based on exporting coffee and later, rubber. In 1948, as part of the British "East Of India" divestiture, the country gained independence. 

Enough geology and history—what did we do? There weren't too many tours offered, and Colombo is not exactly an exciting place, but Allison took a highlights tour. Above, you can see one of the local tuk-tuk taxis. I took a meditation session with a Buddhist monk, which was absolutely fascinating. We traveled to a temple on the city's outskirts and started with a delightful light (and spicy) vegetarian meal. We (only 11 of us) then entered the temple and were introduced to the monk, Thera Kotto Dhammadinna Bhikkuni. Thera is an honorific title for very senior female monks. 

The session was structured as two-by-one-hour sessions. It was classic teaching, applying the learning, discussing, and improving format. Initially, the Thera explained the five precepts of Buddhism - restrain from killing, refrain from taking what is not freely given, do not commit sexual misconduct, abstain from alcohol, and do not use harmful speech. We then discussed meditation, and she walked us through a mind-clearing exercise. I was skeptical at first, but it worked, and I have been using it to sleep at night. We took a break, walked through the grounds, and then resumed with a second session. This one focused more on inner peace and relaxation. Now, even though we were sitting on a comfy cushion, it was a struggle. I learnt at an early age (like 3) that my body is not built to keep still for extended periods. I endured years of Care, sit still at school.

I left the session quite impressed and felt I had learnt something about my inner self. Over the past weeks, I have come to appreciate Buddhism as a religion and love its openness. I'm not converting, but the mediation and mindfulness aspect could benefit most people. It's certainly helping me.