What Fa Hsien saw and did

By Upali Salgado

In the fifth century AD three Buddhaputras vis ited Sri Lanka. Their visits are considered important because each in his own way has given us valuable Buddhist literature and also left for posterity records of the status and popularity of Buddhism during that time.

Bhadantachariya Buddhaghosa, a Pali scholar commentator and author of Vissuddhi-Magga (a classic manual of the Buddhist doctrine and meditation) hailed from a township near Buddha Gaya. He arrived in this island between 412-434 BC, and lived at the Brazen Palace Anuradhapura. Previously he had lived in South India at Conjevaram (near Madras) with the Elder Jothipala. He had also spent considerable time studying Buddhist texts at Mayura-Suttapatana - now identified as Mylapore in South India, where no doubt Buddhism flourished independently alongside the Vedantha-Brahminic teachings.

Buddhadasa was another scholar monk who hailed from Pradesh. The third was the Chinese scholar-monk Fa Hsien who like Marco Polo proved to be a tireless wanderer in strange lands. Accompanied by three countrymen, Ifsung and Hiuen Tsang, Fa Hsien left his native Chang-in in North China, determined to carry home a complete collection of the Buddhist Tripitaka and associated commentaries, which were not available in China. He also sought information about the status of Buddhism in neighbouring lands.

Fa Hsien travelled on foot and by caravan through Central Asia (now known as Mongolia) into Afghanistan. He also crossed the West Himalayan region into Tibet where he says the "land was rugged and barren. It was frightfully cold; gales lashed on the mountain sides and deadly reptiles roamed all over".

His records indicate that at Rohi in Afghanistan, there were more than 3000 Buddhist monks of both the Hinayana and Mahayana schools. At Ghandara (West Kashmir) he had seen a large number of monks follow the Theravada Buddhist tradition, and also a stupa probably built by King Kanishka.

The monastery walls were adorned with friezes depicting the Jatakas, but due to Greek - Bactrian influence, the art (sculpture) of the Buddha image was being developed. Madhura on the river Ganges was yet another flourishing Buddhist Centre with several large monasteries.

The Vaishyas had endowed these monasteries with vast fields which were cultivated by the monks themselves. Fa Hsien lived for three years at Palatiputra (modern Patna) to learn Sanskrit and copy the Vinaya manuscripts - the Maha Sanghika Vinaya, the Sarasvastivada Vinaya and the Maha Sanghika Abludharma.

Having trod the path Gotama Buddha followed (except Isipathana, modern Sarnath) after his two companions had parted company, Fa Hsien sailed from the mouth of the Hoogli river in Calcutta bound for the "Land of the Lion". The journey had lasted 14 days.

In 411 AD he reached the great capital city of the Sinhala Kings to see the majestic looking Abhayagiri Pagoda (stupa) 400 ft. tall, built by Vatta Gamini, soon after 29 BC. Of the Abhayagiri stupa he says: "Is located north of the great city where over 5000 monks chanted Paritta each day and the stupa was decorated with gold, silver and precious stones combined. This mountain looking pagoda was called, Abhayagiri - which literally means 'no fears for mountain - The mount of Safety."

King Vattagamini had also to the north of the city founded a Chetiya called Silasobba Kanda now identified as Lankarama stupa.

Whilst at Anuradhapura, Fa Hsien obtained a copy of the Disciplines and Long Agamas". He then vowed to climb the sacred mountain in the south - Adam's Peak and pay homage to the Buddha's footprint. His pilgrimage to the Peak lasted several months. Fa Hsien's route to Adam's Peak was via Bulathsinghala, Kalawana, Nivitigala, Ratnapura and Gileemale.

When on this arduous journey, he is known to have lived for several months in a large granite cave at Bulathsinghala. The cave, 175 ft. wide x 150 ft. high now called Pahiyangala Cave, is at an elevation of 400 ft. above sea level. Excavations carried out by scientists and archaeologists have yielded a wealth of artifacts and fossils including human skulls and skeletal remains of scientific interest, relating to Mesolithic times (i.e., about 3400 years).

After several years in Lanka, laden with rare Buddhist manuscripts and a collection of Buddha images of different mudras, this pilgrim- monk was perhaps homesick and finally sailed home via Java on a large vessel which had over 200 passengers.

The journey was a perilous one, as gale after gale lashed the vessel with great force. He finally reached China, to be received with great honour.

Fa Hsien's celebrated book Records of Buddhist Kingdoms has given us a historical insight to the status of Buddhism before the Chola invasions of the 7 to 9th centuries.

A doorway to many paths

By Anne Abayasekara

Vocational Training is one of the "in" phrases in today's educational world. It has opened windows - and doors - for many school-leavers whose focus is not on academic studies. Mature students - even housewives - have also benefited from the wide range of courses offered in some places. Ladies' College is, I think, the only school that has a Department of Vocational Studies (DVS). Launched by a farsighted Principal in 1981, it caters largely to girls and women, but is open to men as well.

As I walked into the place I was struck by the tranquil beauty of its surroundings.

Designed by Geoffrey Bawa, the open rooms and verandahs blend in with the landscaped garden, obviously laid by someone with an eye for beauty. You can't possibly fail to notice the flowering plants, carefully positioned colourful foliage, green grass, a pond bearing water lilies and greenery all round it. It refreshes the spirit and delights the eye and must surely exert a beneficial effect on those who enter the gates to study here.

The centre's enthusiastic Director, Mr. Sita Pieris told me that they have 35 ongoing courses just now, ranging from secretarial and book-keeping courses to various English courses (basic, spoken, business etc.), computer training courses, TOEFL, and shorter, innovative lessons in skills like pottery painting jewellery designing, costume jewellery making, flower arranging, paper tole pictures, Indian hand embroidery, interior designing and table decor, fabric and emboss painting, patchwork and applique. A recent addition has been Yoga.

One of the most sought-after courses has always been the 'Diploma in Pre-School Teacher Training' of one year's duration. It has a dual objective - training in the principles of Early Learning and disseminating such ideas to parents so that the home could complement the experiences in school. Several leading schools and International Schools accommodate the trainees three days a week to give them the practical experience that also stimulates classroom discussion.

Mrs. Pieris described the Course Director, Mrs. Maureen Wickremasinghe, as "brimming with ideas and an infectious enthusiasm - one who makes learning fun." Teachers need to be creative and innovative and this is nurtured throughout the year by several hours spent each week in making equipment and in expressing themselves through various forms of art work. Maureen conducts seminars for teachers, parents and child-minders. One on Maths and Language Development was attended by 89 participants. The other, on Teaching Techniques in Reading and Writing, conducted jointly by Maureen and Dayanthi Aluwihare, had to be repeated due to limited accommodation - a total of 155 participants attended.

Mrs. Pieris emphasised that the Ladies' College DVS offers training rather than teaching programmes. "We see whether students can cope with the courses they choose and we give additional help where necessary. We try to make students think for themselves, not learn by heart. We encourage a new attitude of mind. Our 'Enhancement Programme' has done much to achieve this desired end. I pricked up my ears and asked what the 'Enhancement Programme' was all about. She put me on to Sheena Hewagama who conducts this programme for the Secretarial Diploma students at the DVS.

Mrs. Hewagama explained that many of the students hardly read a newspaper and their general knowledge is poor. They are given quizzes on general knowledge and spelling, a reading log, shown films and documentaries. Some of the guest lecturers inform students of work in an office environment such as 'being a secretary', 'relevance of computers to the secretary', 'telephone techniques', 'mock job interviews' and 'the use of dictionaries'. They are also given an understanding of 'sexual harassment' in offices and how to handle it. An illustrated lecture on 'Sex Education' is also given by Dr. Sriani Basnayake.

A lecture and slide shown by an architect explained how buildings and interiors are designed and students learned how to read a plan of a building. A module on conservation and environment is also included in the programme. "Basically, we try to make them more aware of and interested in 'the world around them'." Students are also taken to exhibitions and places of interest.

They are fortunate in having dedicated and committed teachers at the DVS. I spoke with some of them - Mrs. Dayanthi Aluwihare who has been there for 14 years and Mrs. Saumya Punchinilame who has taught Stenography for l3 years. Mrs. E.S. Dawson who takes the Weekend Secretarial Course and is a comparative newcomer of three years standing, said: "The environment here is so different. It makes both teaching and learning more pleasurable."

Mrs. Irangani Senaratne who handles Basic English (for beginners), said: "It's not just academic ability that is promoted here - the students are helped to grow as persons." The teachers told me they felt their efforts had paid off when the students, on their own initiative, organised visits to the Pettah Museum, Sigiriya, Galle, Kandy and also held Avurudu celebrations and Christmas parties. Moreover, they raised funds to buy equipment for the DVS by having a car-wash. They also raised funds to buy paints and brushes - which they used to redecorate the canteen and staff room - all this within the one year period of their course. They even sold ice cream and used the money to make packs for the Forces.

I must mention that this Enhancement Programme begins with a session on Personal Growth conducted by a well-known counsellor, Priya Kodipilly, who is also available on an ongoing basis to students who might need counselling. They even receive instructions from an expert on how to apply make-up. Mrs. Pieris said that students who are diffident when they come in, leave the course feeling self-confident. "We are very particular about attendance. If they miss a class they must inform the Director and also send a letter of excuse. And punctuality is a "must'. We give a very composite final grade, taking in how students interact with one another and the staff. An 80% attendance requirement for a certificate disciplines the students to acquire good working habits," said Mrs. Pieris.

Course co-ordinators keep track of attendance and performance and also counsel students. "Only a small percentage of our students are from Colombo schools, so they require extra help to enable them to reach the level of proficiency in English required by employers. I am happy to tell you that employers often contact us before they advertise vacancies. We receive as many as 25 job offers per month for office staff and all our students find employment after completion of the course."

The fact that financial assistance from a Scholarship Fund is available to students has minimised the dropouts from the course due to unforseen circumstances.

Mrs. Pieris said that attention is also given to the development of the teachers who are regularly encouraged to participate in workshops and seminars both within the DVS and outside. At present there are 40 teachers, eight office staffers and three minor staff.

An article by Prof. Swarna Jayaweera in the Jubilee volume, "Education in Sri Lanka - Fifty Years of Independence", gives some pertinent comments in a section headed "Trends in Vocational Education". Says Prof. Jayaweera: "It is interesting to note that attempts in the post independence decades to 'diversify' general education by channelling the poor and less able to 'Practical Schools' operated almost in a vacuum and largely independently of programmes to develop vocational training institutions for school leavers and early leavers.....There is, however, no comprehensive inventory of Vocational training institutes.... Vocational training programmes appear to have been organised in isolation from the labour market... The unplanned proliferation of training programmes in recent years, multiplicity of Ministries involved, lack of co-ordination, duplication of resources and absence of linkages with the school system and with employers are consequences of the lack of long-term planning and action.... It is unfortunate that the Vocational education subsector does not yet receive the priority and support it needs to function effectively as a link between general eduction and the labour market".

The Ladies' College Department of Vocational Studies might well serve as a model of Vocational training at its best.

A view from the hills

Water only once a week

In a home for the aged in Nattarampota, twelve old ladies are in deep distress. All they ask of the occasional visitor is a bottle of water! One of them, who is fortunately more spry than the rest, comes to Kandy as often as she can to carry back her water. It is pitiful, actually, because the Home only gets water on tap once a week, and that, too, for a few hours after midnight!

The Home, run by a religious institution, is being really hung out to dry. The only water they can use is drawn from a dirty pond. It's like treacle and smells like the devil. Even boiling does not make it anything close to water! The taps remain dry six days a week and the Home had pleaded that Menikhinna gives them a decent quota. "Why after midnight and only for a few hours?" they ask, and have been told with a superior sniff, "Because if we give water during the day, people will bathe and wash clothes and waste the water."

It's pathetic, really. One inmate, an old dear in her eighties, said that on Thursday nights they all lie in bed, waiting to hear the trickle of the tap. "No one sleeps. We want to hear the water." Then they scramble to fill containers. What is more, a tap not fed for a week does bring in some strange-looking water for the first ten minutes!

The old ladies are really not fit or healthy enough to run this particular gauntlet. One is in her nineties. Others range from 65 to 85. The thing is that each time they go to the authorities, promises are fervently made -piecrust promises.

Shall we sing? "Oh dear, what can the matter be, Twelve old ladiesparched in adversity."

'Don't talk shop'

If the complaints of shop workers are anything to go by, Kandy is fast becoming a vast sweatshop!

The problem is that despite laws, shop acts and other instruments in place to ensure that workers have at least their one day off each week, a walk through Kandy on a Sunday will tell you that it's business as usual here, there and everywhere.

Checked with the authorities. Of course, pharmacies and food outlets are in full swing on Sundays. Stands to reason. Pharmacies need to dispense much-needed pills and potions. Food outlets need to fatten the land, the plea is, what'll tourists do if the restaurants put up their shutters on Sundays.

But, shop workers tell me, this "open on Sundays" business seems to be the rule, not the exception. Plenty of jewellery shops, hardware stores, bookshops, groceries, garages, and shoe emporiums and even toy shops remain open. The thing is that shop workers are compelled to work seven days a week. They have no way of getting off the treadmill. What I would like to know is, is it within the law that all these establishments make their staff work seven days a week?

Asked a certain hardware shop in town. The man at the desk, surrounded by PVC and iron rods and galvanised buckets, scowled. "If they don't come to work they can stay at home for good!" He seems to operate on the principle that if he can give up his Sunday to keep his shop open his staff must be present too.

"So why do you open on Sundays?"

"Why not? Who says I can't"?

Are shop workers compensated for this Sunday work? Apparently not.

Then who enforces the law? Apparently nobody. A certain ceramic tile shop insists on keeping its doors open on Sundays. And what about Saturdays? 'Oh that is a full working day too.'

Isn't it time the authorities stepped in on the side of the shop workers?

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