APPRECIATIONS
View(s):The unique “Dhamma Duta” of the 20th Century
Alec Robertson
Deshabandu Alec Robertson (1928 – 2002), will be long remembered among the English-speaking Buddhists of Sri Lanka, as an orator who used his excellent skills in the art of communication, his mastery of the English language and his encyclopaedic knowledge of the Buddha Dhamma, to impart the words of the Buddha, to audiences across Sri Lanka and abroad. He was indeed a Dhamma Duta par excellence (an exemplary disseminator of the teachings of the Buddha).
He may be regarded as one of the great pillars of the Servants of the Buddha, an organisation that delivers the message of the Buddha in English. The English-speaking Buddhists of Colombo headed by Dr. Cassius Pereira, later Venerable Kassapa, started this organisation during colonial times and Alec Robertson dedicated himself to its work from a very early age.
Having developed a flair for public speaking in his youth, he started giving Buddhist talks at Maitriya Hall, a Dhamma preaching hall constructed in 1903.
Alec Robertson’s profound knowledge of the Dhamma, his monumental memory and exceptional public speaking skills made him one of the most outstanding Dhamma teachers of his era. He was able to explain the most subtle and abstruse aspects of the Dhamma in such simple everyday terms, that even a child could comprehend. He held his audiences spellbound with his wit and humour plus his ability to quote from the Thripitaka, the Dhammapada, English literature and the Bible, with equal ease. He strikingly demonstrated through his talks, the fusion of the East and West. One of his favourite stanzas from English literature, illustrating the concept of impermanence, anicca was:
“The boasts of heraldry, the pomp of power,
and all that beauty, all that wealth ever gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour,
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.”
- Thomas Grey, “Elegy written in a Country Churchyard” –
Likewise, he would quote from Shakespeare to illustrate many Buddhist concepts. When explaining “non-self,” anatta, he would recount the following lines from Shakespeare:
“For tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow,
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot,
Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
(“Macbeth” William Shakespeare)
One of his favourite quotes from the Dhammapada was:
“Whosoever controls this
Wretched unruly craving,
So difficult to overcome,
From him sorrow falls away, like
Water drops from a lotus leaf”
(Dhammapada v 336)
As Secretary of the Servants of the Buddha (from 1985 to 1997), I took notes and prepared the Minutes of almost all of the talks given during that time, which included Alec Robertson’s talks given on the first Saturday of every month. In that entire time, I never once saw him using any notes. He was also a popular Dhamma speaker in Sinhala, as he laced his talks with local humour and anecdotes and explained the Dhamma in a manner that had widespread appeal. He would always say that “an ounce of practice is worth more than a ton of theory” and remark that many Buddhists remained at the theoretical level, which was like buying a bus ticket and studying all its details and arguing about its wording, colour and details and never getting on the bus to reach one’s destination.
In the nineties, a sil programme was conducted every Poya day at Maitriya Hall. He himself observed sil and travelled from temple to Dhamma hall giving talks in Sinhala. Then he would quickly return to Maitriya Hall to deliver a talk in English. Embracing a simple lifestyle, he was an easygoing, friendly and approachable person, who travelled by bus, mingled with the people, practised humility and maintained a low profile.
As President of the Servants of the Buddha, he maintained a relentless and strict insistence that speakers keep to the authentic word of the Buddha, as expounded in the Pali Canon. If an invited speaker was absent on a Saturday afternoon, he would step in with no hesitation, and deliver a talk on the very same subject, perhaps better than what the speaker could have done.
His voice rang with equal fervour in the Maitriya Hall as well as over the air-waves of Radio Ceylon (later Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation) where he chaired the weekly programme “The Buddhist Forum” for decades. It was a popular medium through which English-speaking audiences were able to hear the Dhamma. The message of the Buddha was carried by him to Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and the Maldives, where he was invited to deliver Dhamma talks.
He served as the President of the Servants of the Buddha for 30 years – its longest serving President.
The devoted honorary selfless service of Alec Robertson to the Buddha Sasana was recognised by the President of Sri Lanka, who bestowed on him the title of Deshabandu in 1987. The following year, he was also appointed as a Member of Parliament on the National List, to represent the Eurasian community.
The message that Alec Robertson leaves behind are his oft-quoted words extolling “Simple living and high thinking” and the importance of practising Buddhist virtues and the teachings of the Buddha, in daily life and with every single thought, word and deed.
Anoja Wijeyesekera
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