OLCOTT BUDDHISTS
Mr. Tissa Devendra has referred to the concept of Olcott Buddhists and unfortunately he is still under the assumption that an Olcott Buddhist is one who has studied in schools apparently established by Colonel Olcott, such as Ananda Vidyalaya. The word apparently has been used, as there is a school of thought which gives credit to Mr. Ledbeeter for the establishment of Ananda Vidyalaya. Irrespective of the person who established these schools there is a general impression that Colonel Olcott was chiefly responsible for the setting up the early Buddhist schools under the auspicious of the Buddhist Theosophical Society (BTS). Mr. Devendra, who jumped to the conclusion that an Olcott Buddhist is one who has had his education in these schools associated with the name of Colonel Olcott, is not prepared to change his views in spite of my statements to the effect that there is no correlation between Olcott Buddhists and the schools where they had their education. There are Olcott Buddhists who have studied at Ananda Vidyalaya as well as at Royal College and at any Central School.
The concept Olcott Buddhist has been used mainly in opposition to the concept of Sinhala Buddhist. We have used the term Sinhala Buddhism with a meaning different from that is given to it by the western Sociologists in Sri Lanka and abroad. Sinhala Buddhism as far as we are concerned is the Buddhism that has been practised in this country from the time of King Devanampiya Tissa. I am inclined to think that not only the king Devanampiya Tissa, but Mr. Tissa Devendra is also a Sinhala Buddhist. While the king could not have been an Olcott Buddhist, from the writings of Mr. Tissa Devendra it could be inferred that he too is not an Olcott Buddhist. Sinhala Buddhism was introduced to this country by none other than Arhat Mahinda Thero. The tree worshipping that was practised by the ancient Sinhala people was not discarded by Arhat Mahinda Thero who gave it a different form by introducing worshipping of Bodhi. It is also clear that Arhat Mahinda Thero had studied Sinhala before the Thero came to Sri Lanka. It is in agreement with what Buddha had taught the Bhikkus that they should use janapada nirukthi (local language) in teaching the people. However, I have my doubts as to whether the Buddha would have advised a Bhikku to teach in the janapada nirukthi of a European locality. Whether Buddhism taught in a European language (or even Sanskrit) with the latter's logic inbuilt into the language conveys what Buddhism taught in Pali or Sinhala or any language derived from a Prakrit conveys is something that has to be discussed separately. Sinhala Buddhism is nothing but Buddhism of the third Sangayana (council) absorbed into the Sinhala culture. The Sinhala Buddhists would not have given up their devas (gods) even after becoming Buddhists, as evinced by King (Dutu) Gemunu making a vow before Mahasen Devi at Kataragama.
Incidentally though there would not have been Olcott Buddhists then there were probably NGO types and kinds of Sociologists who did not want either the King Kavantissa or Prince Gemunu to go to war with Elara who has no connection at all with the present day Tamils in Sri Lanka. They would have argued that either the king or the prince by going to war were certain to betray Buddhism, and it is very likely that King Kavantissa who had raised an army was frightened by these NGO and Sociologist types, and decided not to take up Elara. Perhaps Gemunu could not be scared by these sort of people and his decision to go to war earned the wrath of them who "baptised" him Dutugemunu. The prince may or may not have sent women's ornaments to the king, and even if he had actually sent them to the father that act by itself was not a crime to justify the use of the word dushta, especially when kings who had supposed to have killed their fathers were not given the epithet dutu. It is very likely that the adjective dutu was coined by those types who call Buddha Puthras (Bhikkus), Yuddha Puthras. The Buddhism of NGO types and Buddhism Betrayed Sociologists is some kind of Buddhism that could be practised only by the Arhats who have attained Nibbana. Prince Gemunu had to fight with these types, and his decision to take five hundred Bhikkus with him to war, and his declaration that his exercise was for the benefit of Buddha Sasana were replies to Buddhism Betrayed people of his time.
In any event, Sinhala Buddhism flourished in this country especially after the king Gemunu who probably made sure that in this country Sinhala could not be dissociated from Buddhism, and vice versa. The unwritten constitution of the King Gemunu was not challenged until 1829 when Colebroke Cameron Commission came to Sri Lanka (Ceylon). The commission in the name of reforms prepared the country for exploitation by the British, and in a way was the originator of most the problems we face today. The Sinhala Buddhists more than anybody else were discriminated and harassed by the British, and the "Buddhist Revival" towards the end of the nineteenth century was a reaction against the British colonialism. It was also a freedom struggle though many of the elite did not understand it that way. The Buddhist Revival was a Sinhala Buddhist revival, and Migettuwatte Gunananda Thero and others did not mince words on the fight against western Christian colonialism. It is said that Colonel Olcott came to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) after reading an account of the Panadura Vada the most famous of the six great Vadas. The Colonel had been a civil war fighter as a volunteer, and probably had an axe to grind against the British. He was a Theosophist and together with others formed what was known as the Buddhist Theosophical Society though there is a contradiction of terms here. It is not known how one could be a Buddhist and a Theosophist simultaneously.
It is said that the colonel became a Buddhist at a temple in Galle, most probably without renouncing his Theosophy. In any event he did not become a Sinhala Buddhist, unlike Ven. S. Mahinda Thero who came very much later from Sikim. Colonel Olcott was very much interested in uplifting the conditions of Buddhist and Buddhism in general but had no time for Sinhala Buddhism. It could be said that he was instrumental in separating Buddhism from Sinhala Buddhism, and as a consequence a group of people emerged who would think of themselves as Sinhalas and Buddhists separately. Of course, there are Buddhists other than Sinhala Buddhists, but since the days of King Gemunu, the Sinhalas had been thinking of themselves as Sinhala Buddhists. With the emergence of this group, a kind of rationalism also crept into Buddhism and as a result of western, mainly English, education this particular group of Buddhists wanted to know whether Buddhism was a religion or a philosophy, consulting western definitions of religion and philosophy. What they did not want to understand was in Sri Lanka, Sinhala Buddhism, though there was no God in it was a religion and a way of life. The word that described the status of Sinhala Buddhism was Sasana, and even today the Sinhala Buddhists would talk of a sasana that would last for five thousand years. Though Colonel Olcott may not have had anything to do with western rationalism through which some of these new Buddhists looked at Buddhism, a kind of rational scientific Buddhism was associated with their Buddhism. Kalama Suthra became the main Suthra for these Buddhists who wanted to show that Buddhism could be compared with western science and western rationalism, without understanding the circumstances under which the Kalamas met Buddha, and more importantly most probably without reading the Suthra in its entirety. Had they had the patience to go through the Kalama Suthra, they would have realised that Buddha had requested the Kalamas to follow the Vinnus (knowledgeable people) in life.
It is the Buddhism of those who have separated Buddhism from Sinhala Buddhism, and who have introduced a kind of non religious outlook with western rationalism and western empiricism thrown into Buddhism, that is being called Olcott Buddhism. Olcott Buddhists are those Sinhala people who follow Olcott Buddhism. The Olcott Buddhists could have studied at any school, and they are not different from the NGO types in respect of military action against the LTTE terrorists, as they also would pronounce that it is not in accordance with Buddhism to go to war. Though Olcott Buddhists could refrain from defeating the LTTE, as they think that they could live as Buddhists in UK or Elam, Sinhala Buddhists who follow the King Gemunu, and who have been taught by him that war is not forbidden in Sinhala Buddhism know that Sinhala Buddhism and Sasana would be protected only by them.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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