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Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya
A Personal Tribute
by
VEN. DR. BHIKKHU BODHI
The Venerable BalangodaAnandaMaitreya is one of the great
prersonalities of Theravada Budhism in the twentieth century, and it is
testimony to his vast store of past metrits that his life span stretches
clear across this century from its beginning almost to its end. In the
course of his exemplary life, this outstanding Elder of the Sangha has
held some of the most prestigious academic and ecclesiastical titles in
the country, yet he hasalways remained at hearta simple monk whose
greatest joy is quit study and meditation at his village temple near to
town of Balangoda. For me it is a psersonalhonour to be able to name
the Venerable AnandaMaitreya as my own ordination teacher, as the one
who brough me into the Sangha and guided my first steps in the life of a
bhikkhu.
 The
background story to my meeting with the Venerable goes back to the year
1971. At that time I was living at a Vietnamese Buddhist meditation
centure in Los Angeles. I had been ordained as a novice –monk in the
Vitenamese Mahayana Order and was lecturing in world religions at a
local university. By a stroke of good fortune, VenPiyadassiMahathera of
Vajirarama came to Los Angeles and gave a series of lectures at our
centure. Iserved as Ven. PIyadassi's host during his stay with us, and
when he departed he suggested to me thtsome day I should come come to
Sri Lanka. where he could arrange for me to stay at a Buddhism
monastery.
The next year I decided that I wanted to go
to Asia to take ordination as a Therevadabhikkhu. I wrote to Ven.
Piyadassi to remind him of his invitation. and he wrote back giving me
the name of a senior prelate who he said, had previously given
ordination to Westerners. The name was that of Ven, BalangodaAnanda
Maitreya. I wrote to the Mahanayaka There, telling him about my
backgroung and about my desire to come to Sri Lanka to ordain as a
bhikkhu and to study Pali and Dhamma. The Venerable promptely replied,
extending me a welcome and assuring me that he would oversee my
ordination and instruction in the Dhamma.
It was at the end of October 1972 that, at
last, I arrived in Sri Lanka, and a week later I made the trip to
Balangoda. Along the way I felt somewhat nervous about going to meet an
Elder of such high standing in the Sangha, but at our first meeting my
fears were immediately set to rest. At this first meeting I was deeply
impressed by the MahanayakaThera's simplicity of manner , his great
kindness, and his natural humility – qualities which existed alongside
an inexhaustible wealth of learning and a masterly knowlege of the
Dhamma.
For the next three years (1972 -75) I lived
with the Mahanayaka There at his temple in Udumulla, a two-mile walk
from Balangoda. He proviided me with a simple but comfortable kuti on
the hillside, a short distance below his own kuti. During this happy
period I received regualar instruction from the Venerable in Pali,
Suttanta, and abhidamma. The guidance he gaveme so generously at that
time has continued to benefit me right up to the present. In this early
stage of my monk's life, I faced considerable confusion trying to find
the proper key to understand the Dhamma correctly. Western interpreters
of Buddhism often invent their own versions of the Buddha's teaching,
and without a reliable guide it is easy to get lost in the wild jungles
of speculation and personal opinion. During this period the Venerable
MahanayakaThera always reminded me of the importance of relying on the
orthodox Theravada tradition in order to understand the Dhamma
correctly. He implanted in my mind a profound respect for the
Atthakathas and Tikas and this attitude inspried me to study the Suttas
along fruit years later, when I translated four major PaliSuttas along
with their commentaries.
 My
meeting with the Mahanayaka There in those days were not all devoted to
religious instruction. The Venerable had a rich store of experience and
was a prolific thinker and writer. Thus often we would put the books
aside and he would elaborate on his theories ranging from the origins of
Christianity to the scientific basis for extra-sensory perception. I
also discoveredone of the secretsto the Venerable's health and vigour :
long walk from his temple to the Balangodaprivena, with another
three-mile walk back to the temple after a short break at the pirivena. I
my self fifty years his junior, but I had to hasten to keep with him
along theses walks!
In recent years I have not had frequent
personal contact with the Venerable. He has spent long periods abroad,
and when he is in Sri Lanka he resides in Balanoda. While I have been in
Kandy, looking after the late Venerable NyanaponikaMahathera and
supervising the publications programme of the Buddhist Publication
Society. But from the newspapers and reports from friends, I often hear
of the success of the Venerable'sDhamma-duta missions overseas. I have
been gladdened to know that he has made such an important contribution
to the cause of Theravada Buddhism all over the world, especially as one
of the "Sangha fathers" to the Western BhikkuSangha based at the
Amaravati and Chithurst monasteries in England.
It gives me great pleasure to felicitate
the Venerable AnandaMaitreya on reaching his 100th birthday. Such a high
age surely proves the truth of the Dhamma.I hope that by the blessings
of the Holy Triple Gem, the Venerable will enjoy good health right up
to the very end of his life, andthat he will continue to extend his
wisdom and vask knowledge to all who seek the true Dhamma, whether in
Sri Lanka or abroad.
The Venerable Ananda
MaitreyaMahaNayakaThera
by
NEMSIRI MUTUKUMARA
The Venerable Agga maha Pandita Balangoda MaitreyaMaha
Nayaka There completes one hundred years on August 24, this year (1996)
Born in the rural setting of the village of Kirindigala
inBalangoda in the Sabaragamuwa Province, in 1896, his
parents,NarangodaaraccigeMetiasAppuhamy and BentaraAraccigeHeenMenike
named him PunchiMahattaya. His full name was
NarangodaAraccigePunciMahattaya,
According to the birth certificate his name was William.
When the baby was fifteen days old, he lost his mother
unfortunately. The infant's father's brother – his Lokutatta,
DinggirihamyMudalali and LokuAMmaYasohamy had no children.
Father grieved incessantly over the sudden demise of his
beloved wife after the birth of the soon , placed the infant in his
beloved wife after the birth of the son, placed infant in his brother's
care and left the village.
Recounting an anecdote he has heard in
later lefe, the MahaNayaka There recalls, how his childless Lokuamma had
once approached his mother during pregnancy and whispered in a
melancholy tone to her sister-in-law. Nangiye mage Karmeta, mataya
kiyala darvek nehene. Ehinda. umbalala bennainnapatiya mata diyan hada
ganna. "Sister.unfortunately for me, I haven't child of my own.
Therefore, give me your small one when he's born, so that I may adopt
him as my own.
 My
mother has told her. "Mama akke, ape gelangatiyenaBodhiyata mal puja
karanava, Prarthana vakut karanawa mata putek upadinna kiyala. Upadina
daruva pute kwnot, matalokuasavaktiyenavaputamahanakaranna. Itinakka
mage patumaisthakaranavanam, putekupannothdennamko." My Dear sister, you
know, I offer flowers to the Bodhitree standing near our house, give
alms to the bhikkhu coming on alma round and make an aspiration for the
baby to be born a son. If the child happens to be a son, I have a great
desire to admit him to the order of the Sangha. So if you can fulfil
this wish of mine, I'll let you have him.
Under the benign and loving care of the Lokutatta and
Lokuamma, the infant son was brought up as their own charge without
giving even a hint that they were adopted parents.
At thd proper time, PunchiMahattaya was sent to Kumara
Vidyalaya, Balangoda. When he completed his primary and secondary
education at this school a yearning arose in him to enter the Order of
BhikkhuSangha.
By that time, the LokuTatta's family grew with two sons and
two daughters of their own.
Lokutatta desired to offer one his sons to
the Sasana. He refused permission to me to become a bhikkhu. I became
furious at his attitude and told him, if I am not allowed to be a
bhikkhu, I will leave the home without informing anybody. Then only, he
consented and that too with great reluctance.reluctance.
As a teenger of just fifteen years, PunchiMahattaya was
ordained a Samaner by the Venerable AbhidhammikaDenihena Sinhala
NayakaThera, VIharadhipati Sri NadaramaViharaya, Udumulla, Bulatgama on
March 3, 1911.
He was given thhe ecclesiastical name SaranaGavesi, but
later he came to be known as AnandaMaitreya. Since he hailed from
Balangoda his full name became bhikkhuBalangodaAnandaMaitreya.
Within nine short years, young
BhikkhuAnandaMaitreyalearnt the dhamma, vinaya, the doctrine and
discipline from his guru, the Nayaka There Silananda who was himself an
embodiment of discipline, and an erudite Aghidhamma scholar.
BhikkhuAnandaMaitreya was promising pupils. His skill of
learning was unsurpassable his memory was admirable.
Besides all departments of the Tipitaka teaching both the
text and the commentary, he acquired a high proficiency in Sanskrit.
Pali and Sinhala equally well.
Satisfied with the pupils accomplishments in oriental
language the teacher advised him to join the Ananda College, Colombo for
further studies, particularly in English.
Bhikkhu student AnandaMaitreya was above average. He was
admitted to a higher form at Ananda by Principal Patrick de Silva
Kularatne, one of Sri Lanka's finest educationists of modern times.
After passing the London Matriculation Examination with distinction,
student BhikkhuAnandaMaitreya was invited to join the staff as a
teacher.
Ananda, at that time moulded the character
of all children who came under her wings with admirable qualities of
partriotism.
Stalwarts of men, geniuses of leaders, patriotic
policiticans, legal luminaries, showed their charges the urgent need of
the country. They imparted an education to produce leaders to fulfil
that need.
Most of those students who later shone in those fields which
they chose to serve the motherland passed through Venerable
AnandaMaitreya – who taught them, Buddha DHamma, Sinhala, Pali and
Sanskrit.
Among his bright stars, the Techer-monk
counts unforgettable names of N.M. Perera. D.E.Hetiarachchi, Nanda Deva
Wijesekera, RanapalaBodinagoda, I.M.R.A. Iriyagolle, AnandaTissa de
Alwis, Robert Gunawadana, E.W. Adikaram and M.M.Thowfeeq who also learnt
Sinhala and Buddha Dhamma.
Ananda'sPali and Buddhism teachers he was, he imparted the
Buddha's teaching to Hindus and Muslims, as a moral and ethical way of
life which should not only be learnt and studied but adhered to as a way
of life practised daily for their social and economic advancement.
 When
Ananda was full to the brim, another school had to be opened to
accommodate the overflowing children seeking admission to Ananda.
The new institution was Nalanda and College, just across
the road in Maradana. Ven. Ananda Maitreya who taught there too, briefly
gave Nalanda its motto – "Apadana Sobhini Panna" Wisdom illumines
character.
After his teaching career at Ananda and Nalanda he
returned home to Balangoda to establish a Privena.
Barnes Ratwatte pioneered the idea to set up an
educational institutation in Balangoda to serve the growing needs of the
people and produce educated and erudite bhikkus for sasana service at
home.
That advice gave birth to the opening of Sri Dhammananda
Privena in Balangoda under the guidance of his teacher with him as the
Parivenadhipati, the Principal.
His managnificent role at the Privena is
legendary. Sri Dhammanda Pirivenadhipati, Pirivena became a beacon in
Sabaragamuwa.
When the Buddhist, particularly the Sinhala Budhists were
continued to be denied their rightful position they had enjoyed for over
two thousand years, the Buddhist leaders took up the issue with the
D.S. Senanayake government. Having failed to obtain due redress, the
Buddhist leadership rallied round the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress under
the guidance of the Maha Sangha appointed a Buddhist Commission of
Inquiry in 1954. At the time the Buddhist Congress ws led by Dr.
Gunapala Malalasekar
Maha Nayaka Ananda Maitreya was one of the Bhikkhus who
formedn the Commmission. The Commission went round the country and met
people of all walks of life ; societies and institution.
Within one and half years the report was
written. But the prevailing circumstances made the report to be printed
in a place outside of Colombo.
Maha Nayaka Ananda Maitreya took up the challenge and took
the manuscript to Balangoda where the Buddhist Commission Report
comprising over four hundred pages was printed in time to release to the
people on February , 4, 1956 at a public meeting held at Ananda
College, Colombo.
In 1959, the two leading Pirivenas – the Vidyodaya and
Vidyalankara were conferred University status by the S.W.R.D.
Bandaranaike government.
Leading scholoars and linguists of India and Lanka, among
them highly renowned bhikkus were brought into the service of the two
University.
Vidyodaya University was looking for a professor in
Mahanayana Buddha Dhamma. Naturally, the choice was Venerable Ananda
Maitreya who came from Balangoda to Gandovita.
Besides his knowledge of the dhamma. vinaya, the sasana
history contemporary he was proficient in Sinhala, Pali Sanskrit, Hindhi
and Bengali, Latin, Greek, German and English.
At the Vidyodaya University, he succeeded
the Venerable Palannorue VImaladhamma Nayake There as the Dean of the
Faculty of Buddhism, when the latter became the Vice Chancellor.
Later, Venerable Ananda Maitreya was appointed the Vice
Chancellor by Education Minister I.M.A. Iriyagolle. But the position
failed to attract him nor was he impressed by the title. He was more a
scholar and teacher than University administrator. Hance administrative
matters found no place in his life.
His reluctance to continue as Vice Chancellor made him
send his resignation recommending the Venerable Dr. Walpola Rahula who
was then teaching at sorbonne University in France.
The Maha Nayaka There left the University to serve a greater
cause, free and freely. He devoted his and time for the progress of the
sasana, spreading the Buddha word wherever he goes.
He prefers pada-yatra, Buddha prescibed his
discipled for the Greater benefit of gods and men "bahujana hitaya,
bahujana sukkaya, atthaya hitaya, devamanussanam."
All over the world people revere him in high esteem and
devotion as one who preaches what he practices and practices what he
preaches.
On his first dhammaduta carika in the West, he swept the
British off their feet with his lucid, simple, frank exposition of the
Noble Truth and the true meaning of spiriual life.
The Maha Nayaka Thera was in his sixties at that time.
That was the begnning of his world dhamma tourswhich he carried out eve
at the ripe age of 99.
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