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The Sitawake kings

Gamini de S.G. Punchihewa's latest book, A Lost Medieval Kingdom of The Lion King (a Sarvodaya Vishva Lekha publication) deals with the Sitawake kingdom and the life and times of King Mayadunne and his son King Rajasinghe I.

Like his four previous publications this monograph too, is a compilation of the feature articles Gamini G. Punchihewa contributed to the 'Island' and 'The Sunday Island' during his short stint at Upali Newspapers Limited, Colombo.

The book is based on his on-the-spot observations and is enriched with folklore, the legends and traditions of Sitawake. The narrative captivates the reader.

A review of the anthology of Sinhala poems titled ‘Sitawake Hatana’ edited by Professor (Mrs.) Rohini Paranavithana is also annexed as an addendum in the final chapter of the book.

K.G.H. Munidasa

Impersonality of existence

The 'Findings of Gautama Buddha on the Fundamental Realities of Existence' is an excellent publication by the late Dr. Ernest Abeyratne. Part I of the book covers 'Contribution to Knowledge of Natural Phenomena' while Part II gives the 'Implications of Gautama Buddha's Findings to Modern Life'.

The book is a personal interpretation of what Dr. Abeyratne has gathered from books, his teachers and from his practice of Vipassana meditation and contains many fascinating viewpoints.

Dr. Abeyratne explains the ‘Three Characteristics of Existence’ (tilakkhana) the Impermanence (anicca), Suffering (dukkha), and Impersonality (anatta); and two ‘Fundamental Laws of Nature’ namely the ‘Law of Moral Causation’ (karma and karma vipaka) and the ‘Law of General Conditonality’ (paticca samuppada) or re-birth along with the ‘Four Noble Truths’ in this book.

As implied by "sabbe sankhara anicca” all formations in this world are impermanent and transient.

Everything is subject to change.

All formations whether they are mental or physical, arise and pass away.

This is a universal characteristic of all existence.

As described by “sabbe sankhara dukkha” all formations are subject to suffering, and it is a universal and an inherent characteristic of all lives in this sensual world.

As stated by “sabbe Dhamma anatta”, all things are impersonal in this world irrespective of whether they are living forms or inanimate things.

This concept of ‘impersonality’ (an-atta) is a vital essence of Gautama Buddha’s teachings.

Dr. Abeyratne explains that a human being who has discovered for himself the conditioned and autonomous functioning of the five groups of existence (panca skanda) knows the meaning of ‘impersonality’ (anatta), which could be described as ‘soul-lessness”.

Of the two ‘Fundamental Laws of Nature’, the first is the Law of Moral Causation (karma and karma vipaka) where all the good and the bad karmas which a person has done will have its natural and automatic karmic results (karma vipaka).

As stated in “Cetana Ahan Bhikkhave Kammang Vadami” meaning ‘Dear Monks, karma is essentially the volitional formations (cetana),’ and these karma forming thoughts of the previous life are the root cause for re-birth in the subsequent lives.

Dr. Abeyratne describes this process of re-birth or ‘Dependent Origination’ (paticca samuppada) clearly and convincingly.

I was delighted to read his simple explanation and understand the logic involved in this complex aspect of Buddha Dhamma.

The Four Noble Truths arose out of Gautama Buddha’s discovery of ‘Impermanence’ (anicca), ‘Suffering’ (dukkha), ‘Impersonality’ (anatta), the ‘Law of Moral Causation’ (karma) and the ‘law of General Conditionality’ or the ‘Dependent Origination’ (paticca samuppada).

Dr. Abeyratne has illustrated the ‘Four Noble Truths’ as analogous to how a medical doctor would look for facts and symptoms of a disease, identify its causes, discover the cure, and prescribe the medicine to the patient.

Dr. Abeyratne describes the ‘Right Understanding’ (samma ditti) of the ‘Noble Eight Fold Path’ as the understanding of the ‘Three Fundamental Characteristics of Existence’ (anicca, dukkha, anatta), and the two ‘Fundamental Laws of Nature’ (karma and paticca samuppada) along with the ‘Four Noble Truths’.

In Part 2 of this book, Dr. Abeyratne deals with the implications of Gautama Buddha’s findings for modern life.

Success in the modern world is judged by the ‘quality of life’ that a person enjoys, and a wealthier person would enjoy the benefits of modern technology more and would sink deeper into the realm of sensual pleasures.

Dr. Abeyratne points out that the success of the modern world and success in the spiritual world are poles part.

While modern scientists believe that man is a personalized being with a self or an ego-entity, the Buddha’s findings say the world is an impersonal one and man is an impersonal being emphasizing the concept of impersonality (anatta).

Dr. Abeyratne writes “the Gautama Buddha saw the world as an endless flow of impersonal, conditioned, energy derived processes, forces and phenomena, governed by impersonal moral and physical laws”.

Dr. Abeyratne concludes by expressing the hope that if scientific research can confirm the findings of Gautama Buddha and establish the impersonality of existence, it will open up an entirely new dimension in human thought and behaviour.