Commercial religions

Buddhist temples have become so commercialized that the poor find it difficult to engage in usual religious practices due to the costs involved. It was alleged that there are some ‘Dhaham Pasals’ which levy school fees.

At a time when we endeavour to get more children to attend Dhaham pasal by discouraging private tuition, this is not acceptable. Some parents may not send their children to Dhaham pasal because they cannot afford to.

Recently I heard of an instance where the high priest of a temple demanded that yellow robes be provided to all ten participants at an alms giving in view of this period being the rainy season [Wassana Kalaya] and went on to dictate from where to buy the robes. Obviously the monk must be having some ‘arrangement’ with the vendor.

The lowest price of a robe being around Rs.800 and the alms giving will cost an additional sum of Rs.8,000. This reminds me of the last meal of Gautama Buddha where He accepted what was offered, although He knew the the meal would cause his passing away. Times have changed and everything in life is measured in terms of money and so are the places of worship. It is time that Mahanayakas take stock of the changing circumstances and revise the rules [Vinaya] to suit the modern day world.

We should not be surprised to see alms givings taking place at five star hotels in the near future if we allow the matters to drift from the way they are.’’

-A. G. WEERASINGHE