By Bhikkhu Devamitta Dhammapala
According to my horoscope I was born on Saturday the 17th in the month of September, in the year 2408 of Buddha’s parinirvana cor- responding to the Christian era 1864, in Colombo, in a prominent Buddhist family. At the time of my birth there were no Buddhist places of worship in the city and on full moon days pious Buddhists had to go to Kelaniya (10 miles from Colombo) to observe the Upostha- the Buddhist sabbath. Seven miles south of Colombo there was a Vihara at Ratmalana also famous as the residence of the learned Valana Hamuduruvo. Children of Buddhist parents born in Colombo had to be taken to a Church where the minister would record the names of the parents and the date of birth of the child, and the Christian minister would give a biblical name to the infant. That was the law existing in British territory. The religion of the Lord Buddha was taboo. During the Dutch period when the maritime provinces of Ceylon were under Dutch rule Buddhists were compelled to declare themselves as Christians, and this custom was maintained under British rule. It was abrogated in the year 1884 by representations made to the Secretary of State for the Colonies on behalf of the Buddhists by Colonel Olcott when he went on a mission to London to represent Buddhist interests. As an infant I was sent to a Girls school in the Pettah where Dutch Burgher girls were taught English. When I was six years old I was sent to the Pettah Catholic school, now known as the St. Mary’s school. The Pettah was then the residential quarter of the Dutch Burgher families as well as of well-to-do Sinhalese Buddhist families. Then there were no aliens in Colombo as they are found in abundance to-day. The burgher families have migrated to the suburbs of the city, and the Sinhalese have followed suit. Colombo is now a city full of South Indian Tamils, Moslems, Ma- layalees, and is now more an Indian city. The aesthetic aspect has now entirely vanished; the beautiful lake is now gone, the lovely park in the Pettah which was full of flowers and shady trees has been converted into rice godowns. The British traders who come to Ceylon to make money are indifferent to the natural beauty of the place where they live. They are different from the Dutch.
School days
In the suburb of Kotahena were two temples, one called the Paramananda Vihara, the other is known as the Dipaduttama Vihara. Each vihara had only one Samanera incumbent. Till my tenth year I was in the Pettah, and then went to Kotahena where my father had a beautiful garden house. From my eighth to the tenth year I was made to go to a private Sinhalese school where I had to go through the Sinhalese text books as were taught in the Buddhist temples in Ceylon. My Sinhalese teacher was a strict disciplinarian who impressed in my tender mind the necessity of keeping everything clean and using plenty of water to keep the body in physical purity. When I was in the Pettah it was a rare sight to see a yellow robed Buddhist monk and in the infant School the teachers were Dutch Burgher ladies, and in St. Mary’s my teacher was one Moore, a Roman Catholic. I remember the Catholic bishop Hilarion Sillani visiting the school, and I was asked to kiss the ring which he wore on his finger, which I had to do by kneeling before him. I do not know why I was asked to do so, and in obedience to the order I bent my knee when the bishop offered his hand to be kissed. Soon after I left St. Mary’s and went to the Sinhalese school and the first lesson was taught according to the old Sinhalese custom by offering betel to the teacher and b making obeisance to him. What I had learnt during the two years was all solid. I attend the morning sessions at 8 and come home to make my noonday meal at 11, and then return at 1 p.m. and remain in school till 5. No other lesson was taught except the one subject of Sinhalese, and what I had then learnt had been helpful to me later on. Leaving the Sinhalese school I attended the St. Benedict’s Institute where I was put in the lowest form. The teacher was a Sinhalese Catholic and some months. later I was promoted to a higher class whose teacher was a reverend Brother. Every half hour the class had to repeat a short prayer in praise of Virgin Mary, and I got accustomed to Catholic ways, although I was daily worshipping my Lord Buddha. On Thursdays I had to attend a special class conducted by a Brother because I was a Buddhist. I had as my teachers Brothers. August, Daniel, Joshua, Cassion, and I knew personally several of the Brothers during the two years I was in the school. In my father’s garden were lots of sweet smelling flower- bearing plants, which I used to take to the school on feast days.
The influence
One day a reverend father asked me why I should not become a Catholic. The strange thing was when the Catholic religion was so strong in Colombo, why didn’t I become one. The influence of my parents and grandparents was strong in keeping me within Buddhistic environments. In my ninth year I was initiated in the Brahmachariya vow by my father at the Temple, and on that day he advised me that a Brahmachari should be contented with what he is given to eat, and that he is expected to sleep little. The vow was taken only for 24 hours; but in my case it had made a permanent impression on my tender mind. In May 1886 I was asked to leave the Catholic School and was taken to the Christian Boarding school at Kotte, six miles from Colombo. It was a C.M.S. school, and daily I had to recite prayers, learn the scripture texts, and sing missionary songs. For two and half years I moved in the missionary atmosphere where I had to experience assaults on Buddhism by the pastors and catechists who made it a point to attack the Dhamma. Daily I had to attend service at 6.30 a.m. in the Church where the Rev. R.T. Dowbiggin read the prayers and a text from the Bible. Then at 8 attend school where I had to recite a portion of the text either from Genesis or from Matthew, Exodus, Num- bers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, the four gospels and Acts had learnt by heart during the period of my pupil-age. The boarding master was given to taking intoxicants, and was fond of shooting innocent birds that came to rest in the trees. He would not let me read any kind of Buddhist publication, and I remember on a certain Sunday, I was reading a Buddhist pamphlet on the Four Noble Truths, when he came to me and demanded the pamphlet from me, and had it thrown out of the room. Continu- ous reading of the Bible, and the daily attendance at the church made me fond of Bible, and I would neglect my class lessons to read the Bible unconnected with the lessons that I was expected to learn by heart. In my twelfth year I could not reconcile myself to Psalm 19 verse 5, where I read that the sun as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
Meeting the priest
I became a Biblical critic in the boarding school, and I was threatened with expulsion if I continued to attack Jesus Christ. The food that we had to eat was horrible, and my father had to remove me when he saw how lean I had become. I left the school in 1878, and after two months’ rest at home I was put in the St. Thomas’s Collegiate school in the month of September. Daily when attending the St.. Thomas School I had to pass the Temple known as Megettuvatte’s Hamuduruvos temple, and in the afternoon of Saturdays I began at- tending the Temple. It was there that I came to hear of the Theosophical Society and Colonel Olcott and Madame Blavatsky. The monk had received as gift the two volumes of the Isis Unveiled from Madame Blavatsky with a cov- ering letter from Colonel Olcott that they are Buddhists and expect to visit Ceylon on their way to India, that they had heard of the Panadure Controversy, a pamphlet of which had been republished by Dr. J.M. Peebles, and they conveyed their sentiments of pleasure in the expectation of standing shoulder to shoulder to fight against Christianity in Ceylon. The Buddhist monk soon began to give public lec- tures on Buddhism and Christianity and trans- lated extracts into Sinhalese from Isis Unveiled, and also from the Adepts of Tibet. My delight in hearing the news of Olcott and Blavatsky was great, and from that time onwards I began to take interest in the T.S., although I was then only 14 years old. The founders had arrived in Bombay in 1879 and the first issue of the Theosophist was published a copy of which had been sent to Migettuwatte Unnanse.
From my boyhood was inclined towards the mystic ascetic life, and was on the look out for news about Arhats and the science of Abhinna. Bhikkhus in Ceylon are sceptics re- garding the realization of Arhatship. They say that the Arhatship is passed, and that it is not possible in this age to realize Arhatship by psy- chic training. From this time onwards I became a regular reader of the Theosophist.
The Visits
The monk Migettuwatte opened correspon- dence with Colonel Olcott and when the former came to know that they were making arrange- ments to visit Ceylon, he began to pave the way for their reception. Week after week he was delivering lectures about the T.S. and about the two Founders. There was a wave of enthusiasm throughout Ceylon about the proposed visit of the Founders who were coming to preach the sublime Dhamma. Never before had there been any such visit to Ceylon from European Buddhists, and every European who had visited Ceylon knew only to attack Buddhism. Since 1515 Ceylon had been the hunting ground of the buccaneering pirates of Portugal, Holland, and the British Isles. Since 1818 C.M.S. missionaries have been working in Ceylon with the object of destroying Buddhism. Thousands of Sinhalese after learning English had become Christians in order to gain their livelihood. It was the belly religion of the Sinhalese Christian. A Sinhalese villager could be trained to attack Buddhism within a year, and in those days a salary of Rupees twenty a month was enough to make him offer his services as a Catechist to gopreaching in the village against the venerable religion of the Sinhalese people. A band of English C.M.S. missionaries was at work in different places in the island trying to convert the ignorant unsophisticated Sinhalese to the Arab religion which had its origin in the back parts of Horeb. The merciless attacks of missionaries were the cause that brought the great orator Migettuvatte Unnanse to challenge the Christians, and he began his sledge hammer attacks against the pagan doctrines of Arabian Christianity. In 1872 at Panadure the great his- toric controversy between the Christian mis- sionaries and the Buddhist yellow-robed monks took place, and in the arena the Christian party was ignominiously defeated. That was the first moral conquest which the Buddhists had gained against the Christians since the latter came to Ceylon, first as plundering pirates and buccaneering brigands and later on as con- quistadors, who destroyed the ancient aesthetic Aryan civilization which had existed for so many centuries.
The advent of the Theosophical party in Ceylon in May 1880 was the second awakening which the Buddhists had received since the Panadure Controversy of 1880. Col. Olcott and Mme. H.P. Blavatsky received a royal welcome when they landed in Galle. The Theosophist of June gave a fine description of scenes the Theo- sophical party witnessed during the triumphant tour from Galle to Colombo. When they arrived in Colombo in June, I walked all the way from school to the place where the first lecture was to be delivered by Col. Olcott. When all had left, only my uncle and father remained behind, and I was with them. My uncle had already become a favourite with me. Blavatsky, and I still remember the delight I felt when I along with them, shook their hands when we said good bye to them. I was drawn to Madame Blavatsky in- tuitionally never expecting that four years later she would forcibly take me with her to Adyar in spite of protests of my father, grandfather, the High priest Sumangala and of Col. Olcott.
Leaving school
Ever since June 1880 felt myself drawn towards the Founders, and I would never miss reading the Theosophist when it arrived at the address of the Agent, Mr. J.R. de Silva. From school I would walk about a mile to the house of the Agent to get a loan of the copy. The Warden of the College was Revd. E.F. Miller, who loved me affectionately, because he said. one day that he admired my truthfulness. He once told me that “we don’t come to Ceylon to teach you English, but we come to Ceylon to. convert you,” and in reply I said that I couldn’t believe the Old Testament although I liked the New. He liked me much and when I left school in April 1883, gave me an excellent certificate. Ihad to leave school without even passing the Matric examination because my father, being a rigid Buddhist, objected to my going to a Christian school after the Catholic riots of March 1883 when the Catholics mercilessly attacked a Buddhist procession which was passing by St. Lucia’s Church in Kotahena to the Temple of the Priest Migettuvatte. I was a member of the Pettah Library and there I read Sinnett’s Occult World, with a thrill of joy. I decided that I would write to Madame Blavatsky a letter seeking admission to the Himalayan school of Adepts and a month before that I read the article on the “Chelas and Lay Chelas” giving the qualifications required of a Chela.
A letter
I then thought having all the qualifica- tions why should I not that communicate my desire to the “Unknown Brother” through Mme. Blavatsky, and in November 18831 addressed a letter to the Himalayan Adept and enclosed in it another letter to Madame Blavatsky to her Adyar address. In January 1884 Colonel Olcott arrived in Colombo at the request of the Colombo Theosophists to take lega! measures against the Catholics for their unprovoked murderous assault on a peaceful procession organized by the Buddhists. I went to see him soon after his arrival and expressed my desire to join the T.S. whereupon he said that they had received my letter, and although I was under age he said he would admit me, and I was initiated by him at the temporary headquarters of the T.S. in Maliban street. Along with me Mr. Peter D’Abrew and Mr. de Silva were initiated. My grandfather was then the President of the and he paid my initiation fee of Rs. 10/ – at the time of my initiation. In December of the same year I was to have accompanied the Theosophical members to Adyar, and my father had given permission for me to accompany Col. Olcott. Mme. Blavatsky, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper-Oakley and C.W. Leadbeater who had arrived from London, and Col. Olcott with Dr. Franz Hartmann came from Madras to escort the party to Adyar. I had made all arrangements to leave Colombo. Early in the morning my father told me that I must not go as he had an unlucky dream. I said that it was not right that I should be prevented from going to Adyar, and nothing would happen as Col. Olcott was taking me to Adyar : but he was not satisfied with my answer, and he took me to my grandfather, and then the latter too said that I must not go: and both of them got into a carriage and went with me to see the High Priest Sumangala, who also advised me not to go. But I expressed my grief, and asked why they should interfere in karma whereupon he his Assistant, Revd. Amaramoly to go with the party to meet Col. Olcott and decide the matter. We all went and Col. Olcott forthwith
declined to take me against the wishes of my father and others. Then in rushed Mme. Blavatsky and said that if my father would not let me go I would surely die; but there was no fear in my going to Adyar, because she herself would be responsible for my safe return. My father was frightened, and I was handed over to Mme Blavatsky, and she took me with her to Adyar, where I stayed several days. One day calling me to her room, she made me sit by her and said that I need not take up the study of occultism, but that I should study Pali where all that is needed is found, and that I should work for the good of Humanity, and gave me her blessings. There and then I decided that henceforth my life should be devoted to the good of Humanity. In those days the theosophic atmosphere was saturated with the aroma of the devotion of the Himalayan Masters to the Lord Buddha as is seen in the articles in the Theosophist of the Adepts showing their devotion to the Buddha Gautama. I returned to Colombo faithfully carrying out my pledge.
When in 1885, soon after the Convention, Madame Blavatsky left Adyar for Europe the steamer that was taking her to Europe docked at Colombo and’I went on board to see her. In November of the same year! got the permission of my parents to leave them and to take up my residence at the Theosophical headquarters, Colombo. My mother blessed me, and said that she herself would join me but for the two young brothers who needed her care. Myself being the eldest of the family my father said that if I left him who would take care of the young children, to which I replied that each one has his own karma to protect him. I wrote him a letter asking his permission to leave home to lead the brahmachari life as I wished to devote all my time to the welfare of the Sasana, and that as the Theosophical Society was working for the good of Buddhism, I would stay at their headquarters, but I should like if he would give me an allowance at the rate of five rupees a month. I left the family and ever since I have worked with sincere devotion sacrificing all selfish interests for the welfare of humanity. Day and night I worked hard for the welfare of the Theosophical Society and Buddhism. In February 1886 Col. Olcott with Mr.
C.W. Leadbeater arrived in Colombo to collect funds for the Buddhist Educational Fund. I was then working as a junior clerk in the Department of Education, and my meals were sent from home to the headquarters daily. Col. Olcott found no one to accompany him on his tour, and he said it was useless wasting his time if no Buddhist would care to go with him on his tour. There was no one in the society able to leave his family and accompany him, and I thought that here was an opportunity for me to make further sacrifice by resigning my post. I told Col. Olcott that I was prepared to go with him and immediately sent a letter to the Director asking for three months’ leave, and leave was granted forthwith. Previous to that I had appeared in the Clerical examination pledging myself that if I came off successful, I would not join government service but would work whole heartedly for the good of Humanity. I was then a devoted follower of the Master K.H. and I loved to do work in his name.
Col. Olcott and Leadbeater and myself went on tour using his travelling cart, which had two storeys. On the top storey the two slept and I slept in the lower berth. We led a gypsy life for nearly two months, and the letter that he had written to H.P.B. about Leadbeater appears in Blavatsky Letters to A.P. Sinnett. Col. Olcott left Ceylon for Madras and Leadbeater and myself continued the lecturing tour. In the interior I received a letter from the Colonial Secretary stating that I was appointed to a post and that had passed my examination but I did not wait for a minute to reply saying that I was going to work for my religion and asking to accept my resignation from Government serv- ice. After we returned to Colombo my father said that I had better accept the post and give over the whole of my salary to the Theosophical Society. He took me to the Colonial Secretary who asked me to withdraw my letter of resignation but I declined. With delight I left.
Assistance
In those days the Himalayan Adepts were a reality. H.P.B. was working in Europe, and at Adyar, T. Subba Row was considered by the coterie headed by Cooper-Oakley as more efficient in occult affairs than H.P.B. Gradually the Buddha was losing His place at Adyar to Sankaracharya and his Advaitism. The occult room at Adyar was dismantled, and the masters had left the place. H.P.B. had started her School of Esoteric Theosophy in London. Subba Row was dead and Adyar had become a place of business and the nucleus of the library had been formed. I was working hard to make the T.S. in Ceylon a success and I was greatly assisted by C.P. Goonewardana, Williams Abrew, Don Carolis and a few others. My grandfather was the President who helped the movement financially. Leadbeater was asked by Olcott to prepare a shorter Catechism, which he compiled from the bigger one, and the Col. asked me to translate it into Sinhalese, which I did with the help of the High priest Sumangala. The second part compiled by Leadbeater was translated by the teachers of the Buddhist English school, James Perera and Wimalasuriya. Both editions were printed at the Buddhist Press which had been established by the Colonel from the money raised by issuing debentures. My grandfather had 50 shares and the others less, and I went to each of them and asked them to present their shares to the Society. First, I went to my grandfather and got him to present his shares, and it was easy work after I got his shares gifted to the Society. Everyone with the exception of one gladly presented his shares, and the Press became the property of the Buddhist Theo- sophical society. I worked hard and liquidated the debts of the Sandaresa and established it on a firm foundation. I travelled in the Colonel’s cart from village to village in the Western prov- ince, lecturing and popularising the educational movement. Mr. Leadbeater had started his Sunday school in Colombo, and later on established the English School to teach his few pupils, one of whom was the now famous Jinarajadasa. He was very fond of Jinarajadasa, and he wished the latter to go with him to London, but his father would not let him go, but Mr. Leadbeater eventually succeeded in getting young Jinarajadasa to go with him. Leadbeater entered into an agreement with the High priest that he would bring the lad seven years later back to Ceylon and both of them would enter the Bhikkhu Sangha. Seven years in London made Jinarajadasa forget Ceylon and he declined to return to Ceylon at the end of the period.
In 1889 the Buddhists of Japan having heard of the successful work in Ceylon of Col. Olcott sent a delegate to escort the Colonel to Japan. He came to Colombo in December 1888 and I entertained him till his departure. He was so pleased with me that he asked me to accompany him to Japan. He persuaded the Colonel to take me and the three of us went to Japan, and Col. Olcott had a triumphant tour in that land of the Rising Sun. In 1887 I felt inclined to visit Japan after having read an article in an issue of the Fortnightly Review, and my desire was fulfilled in 1889. In 1888 the Buddhists of Chittagong started an English monthly under the name the Bauddha Bandhu, and I thought it was high time that the Buddhists of Ceylon had also an English weekly. I wrote to my friends asking each of them to contribute rupees ten, and when I got the sum of Rs. 300/ – English type was obtained from Madras, and “The Buddhist” was started in 1888 December with Mr. Leadbeater as Editor. It was issued as a supplement to the Sinhalese paper the Sandaresa. In Ceylon I worked with Col. Olcott, Mr. Leadbeater, Mr. C.F. Powell, and Dr. J. Bowles Daly, and in Dec. 1890 I left Ceylon to attend the Adyar Convention with the Japanese Buddhist Priest Kozen Gunaratna. After the convention we both made a pilgrimage to Isipatana, Benares and Buddhagaya, where we reached in January 1891. Here ended the first portion of my career.
(It is with great sorrow that we inform the readers of “Maha Bodhi” that after having completed the writing of the First Chapter of his eventful career Sri Devamitta passed away at 3 p.m. Saturday, 29th April, 1933, at Maha Bodhi buildings facing the Mulagandhakuti Vihara, Sarnath, Benares.)
(Maha Bodhi Journal May-June 1933)
