To anyone who has delved into its history,it may appear that Buddhism in sri lanka has always been as strong and unshakeable in its past as it is now. it was almost eradicated by foreign invaders and hostile king in its early history. it survived and prospered for a time, and then faced enormous pressure from the colonial rule of the christian superpowers.close to extinction more than once it was able to recover each time these recoveries were made through the efforts of several truly noteworthy individuals sometime with the help of the Buddhists from Burma and Thailand and during the 19th century Buddhist the west.
Because it survived and flourished in srilanka sinhales monks in turn Burma and Thailand to revive and strengthen Buddhism in their own countries, when it underwent periods of corruption and decline all these factors subsequently resulted in Theravada Buddhism spreading from these three countries to the rest of the world, including the neighboring countries of Malaysia and Singapore.
Sri lanka is the bedrock of Theravada Buddhism the tradition closest to the original teaching of the Buddha. if not for its survival and growth in this country, much of the early teaching would have been lost and Theravada Buddhism would be far less prominent and widespread than it is now.
I have summarized the main points of these historical events in Part One of this book, ending with some of the more recent developments of Buddhism on the island.
Part Two is a record of a journey I took with a group of like-minded friends, to visit its ancient Buddhist sites. I came away utterly impressed with the beauty and sometimes sheer scale of many of these places. The locations are in the order of our visits and apart from short descriptions of these sites, I have let our photographs speak for themselves.
Although nothing can take the place of seeing these magnificent places and sensing their historical importance in person, I hope to convey some feeling of this experience through the descriptions and photographs in this book. Hopefully, more people will be inspired to make a pilgrimage to Sri Lanka to enjoy these ancient and often breathtaking sites, and experience for themselves the sacred atmosphere in many of these places.In the traditional legends of Sri Lanka, the Buddha made three visits to the island in the course of his life. The Pali canonical texts however, make no mention of these visits. According to the legends, the Buddha made these visits because he foresaw the decline of his teachings in India and wished to see it survive and flourish in Sri Lanka.
The Buddha made his first trip nine months after his enlightenment, arriving in a place called Mahiyangana. During this visit, the supernatural beings inhabiting the island known as the Yaksas, Raksas and Nagas, embraced Buddhism after witnessing the psychic powers of the Buddha. He thus prepared Sri Lanka to receive the Dhamma and eventually become its protector. Five years later, the Buddha saw that a war between two Naga kings called Culodara and Mahodara was imminent because of their quarrel over a jewelled throne. The Buddha traveled again to the island to mediate in this dispute. Out of respect and devotion for the Buddha, the two kings gave up the throne to a third Naga king called Maniakkhika of Kelaniya.
The Buddha visited for the third time three years later, on the invitation of Maniakkhika and preached the Dhamma in Kelaniya. He then went on to visit the mountain called Sri Pada where he left an imprint of his left foot at its peak. Before returning to India, he stopped by at Dighavapi, Anuradhapura and various other places on the island. Sri Lanka has several rich and detailed sources of its early history, known collectively as the Vamsas, and these are traditionally regarded as historically accurate by its people. However, they have a religious bias because they were written by members of the Buddhist Order and also contain some legends and imagery intertwined with historical fact.There are eight important Vamsas, the main ones being the Dipavamsa, the Mahavamsa and the Culavamsa. Other Vamsas include the Mahabodhivamsa or history of the Bodhi Tree, the Duthavamsa or history of the Tooth Relic, and the Thupavamsa or history of the stupas.
Part One this blog, ending with some of the more recent development of Buddhism on the my country
Part Two is a record of a journey i took with a group of like minded friends to visit its ancient Buddhist sites.
