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held at Rockhill nersitage frosa 15-1-84 to I5»S,84

Hector &amarara4ae Peng & Lily Sunita Pharma No.2, Watapuluva Housing Scheme Lraerstraai 14 kiJO)Y APSTELVEBN S ri Lanka H o llan d T e l i 020-431355 Peter M. Proa® W upper-sir, 3 Deepal Sooriy&raefcehi 5300 I.-GKN 2 "Sooriyasirin W— Geraany LABUGAMA/ IiALTGTA via Horana M ichael MBfcitiB Sri Lanka PSrdestr* 6 H—2390 FLBNSBUKG liukaisa&d Abdullah (ChristM n Rust) V. — Germany Eckemfoerde V— Germany JieniR Hose Eosidiill 1 endta e "Shantl* (Heidi Baltaar) ”L* Oliviette” lieissliard v. Lirchbach Cherain Mas de itcbin /.I ienhof 34400 LUNEL *2330 HCtvLRKFO LliliH France w~ Germany Tela 04351 -43429 Govind Bharathan Larry Haas Cb. i t ra va th y n ^Mezzanine*' Cliittoor Road Lely lamily Convent COG,IK - 18 jfrj&JN 1 iJU Ltk V; ELtii K e rala S r i Lanka INDIA fel: B’vela 39-6 Tel: 34546 ie rtit Mrs-al Fernando e/o Yeti. LeegaLakivule Sugatbawansa Thera Chief Incumbent .arare.ela Arannya benasanaya Hat-buna ; .aliiyaii ganaya S r i .aaiikii

VOil * - » i.assapa Thera, Lc chij.il ..eruitage G -tiX-- — X .. ... end i y&den i ya via Canpolc Sri j^aiika ..Li.iuii.Lu 0 lauds *r&n< r •ioeiJ.ill , rr(. it age

aj . ouiavi L„ SalaHurieen 3 2 £ f Trinco otract a .;I Y IKTEERELIGIGUS DIALOGUE, SESSION 4 JANUARY 15 - FEBRUARY 15 1984 RocRhi11 Hermitage "Wegirikande Bondiyadeniya via Sampola SRI LANKA

January 14 preliminary talk over soup.

Peter started the Hall rolling* Or was it Michael ? Whoever it was, he wanted to knot? vliicli difference there ie between the facial expression in Asia and Europe, One Lankan said that European faces are more expressing Not in themselves, but Europeans seem to show their feelings sore readi­ ly in their face, The other Lankans seemed to agree. What is it due te in Asia, that faces shew less what the persons experience insight, the Europeans wanted to know. Are- Asians more controlled, or user subdued, f or is more peace reigning in them ?. A first impressions by those who had come to Sri Lanka for the first time had been, that specially the vill- gers see sed to be acre at ease, perhaps also at peace, Lankans pointed out, that their people can smile even when angry. It was pointed out, that during and after the/ riots of July 1983 — some at least a? those who dh&d fiit-w- A. done the damage and teamage had come with a smile thereafter, to see the Lrubble and even meet the ©victims. The newspapers had written about it. Peter endeavoured that the weather in his place, Bonn, perhaps contribute to outbursts of facial express ions After long days ®f dull weather people beam and radiate. ^ The conversation too'*'a turn when Harry said that as explanation perhaps is, that in Europe people show their inner life mainly, sometimes exclu­ sively through their faces. In Asia it is the whole body that expresses itself as veil as its soul. Not only through gestures, movements, attitu­ des postures. It ie radiation, a radiation which is easily perceived by others since they are attuned to it and radiate themselves. In the West, on the contrary, people tend to keep their sensory aerials in and to be stingy with their kjeje emission.©. The question oi the inner peace was not pursued to the end, Peter thought that what is amanating, immediately visible t© visitors to Sri Louisa, is not happiness. Whether it is peace, nobody dared affirming. Then what i® it fln»»rriiKt fs-.tt ? From the personal example® Peter gave it was clear, that there is something. But what t i - J anus ry 15— — ——— ——■——— ------—------————------— ---~ —

cosajaimicatloB at breakfast p ^ e r 7~vho~Te ^ communications man, wanted to know, how cosamunieetion in Lanka works, Ke had been struck by the way Lankans immediately get into rapport with one another. Their very first conversation seems to revolve around common acquaintances. The Europeans said that their small talk usually centre® around the weather, Bee pal explained that in Sri Lanka one like® establishing mutual relations through finding cut fission acquaint* ances. That brings warmth, security, confidence. Hector and Mlr©&l added spice to this explanation by giving example®,

opening. Bhante Xassape welcomed all participants, Be reminded them of the origin© of the Interreligious Dialogue and apologised for Reishard, the originator, who was held back in Germany because of the operation his wife had i© undergo. The oil lamp wa* lit. The pioneers of the Dialogue who could sot be present were eonnaeaerated. Those from Sri Lanka who were prevented from, attending the opening were mentioned and excused. - 2 - Anan&a gave direction to the first part of the Dialogue, also ©n behalf of Reinhard. There i k s should be no mixture of the various religious tradi­ tions, nor searching for a common denominator. Like the white of the r&inbc so the dialogue should bring harmony in diversity. Where more elements join, there is more concentration of energy. This first part of the encounter should concentrate on coming to know each other. The experiences of those who took part in the previous sessions, would be shared to start with, so that those memories would be revived and also those who now had joined for the first time could profit of them. Peter recounted whom he thought that Bh&nte, with his legs drawn up on his seat, was legless when he first saw him at Altenhof, What a shock it had been. His experience of the 2-| weeks he participated at that time, had been one of closeness. His main experience had been that there is a dialogue with oneself that develops as part of the dialogue among the participants. More than definitions, that what works is the firm belief that it works. In his experience, the second session in which he partici­ pated had been much more concentrated. Michael had, from the incidental contacts he had had with the group, kept the armeet of memories, Bhante recalled how he had anticipated Reinhard'» dream. Be had felt from the moment of his arrival that earlier vibrations had reached him and had gone out from him into that direction. Be had tried to experience the most and had gathered great strength from the experience, a power for great love, Barry added, that when he met Bhante together with Hector, wh© was supposed to join the first session rt Altenhof, in order to ask Bhante whether he could go, that Bhante had already dreamed that he was going abroad That very morning he had told the nuns that they had to be prepared to be on their own, since he was going to he away for some time. Imam recalled the saying from the Quran, that when you plan building a house, you first of all must see to your neighbours. Be relaxed how lie had been living among Sinhalese Buddhists and how they had observed his doings in the house. From the smells coming from his house they knew the Ramazan was on or ending• For the first time in their lives they had become aware of the place of this activity in the life of Muslims, When the occasion of meeting arose, he was questioned about the abultions he daily performed and it was easy to find willing listeners while explaining ifeaxs their signif­ icance. Teaching by action is what counts. There is also the rule, that when building a house, you must not prevent from the air coming to your neighbours. Being concerned about your neighbours is looking after your self' as well. He was asked about his sermons, the number of which are delivered by him is staggering. Imam explained that he never gives the same sermon, as his publics always differs, Ee adapts his preaching to his public and to the occasion. At present fee stresses very much the need of aairdty in the country. That lead to the other question about threats being published against the Muslim community. Imam was very clear in his response. The Muslim community is ready to come up for their survival and have e right for self defense. This bold statement provoked some desperate reaction, since Imam also was aware of the implications of an outright wlash between ethnic/religious communities in the country s that would be the end of it. Where could Lankan Muslims go ? They had lived in this country for more than thousand years and if their very existense is threatened, they will have to defend it themselves, It was said in this connection, that dialogue should not only he about harmony, but also about conflict. The recant violence in Sri Lanka is a sign of this necessity. afternoon Harry told the Jesus story "Why Jesus did not become a scribe" ?

Peter said that the men and the women in his story, specially the lean, were a caricature. What was consented, as tne right of the story Michael vas moved, to tears as he said, at times. In the story he had cone to see Jesus better, given the influence of non-Western culture and non-Vestern religions on Harry's story. fo him, at this staga, k© was mainly interested in non-Christian religions in order to learn mere about Jesus Christ, As such he was not yet very interested in Buddhisms •I know that I am wrong1, he said, but that is my stage1. Jesus was th® Truth to him and the vibrations of the story had made him come closer to Him.

Beepal explained his practice and theory of Acts of Truth. He drew this from Buddhist texts and Buddhist practice. He recounted a few striking events from his own life. 'If it is true that this or that is so, then may this or that happen'.

Clarification was sought by members of the group on how acts of truth function. Can one condition concrete situations that way ? Fro.® iA«x« doe3 the power come from ? Deepal explained with great clarity and subtlety that the if is crucial. There is conditioning, act deiermiaa- tion. One moves his or her full power of experience and merit into the wish. There is always a great accumulation of power. One can draw also on others of course. One must have however enough power within one*» self . Beepal reflected aloud also on bad wishes that could be materialised that way.' He had not gone that deep into the matter to give clear answers.

J anuary 16

Talk over breakfast Eating customs in e.g. Germany and Sri Lanka. Why is it that there sees® to be less talk at table in this country ? A wealth of information was offered. There is less of a formal table culture (which is rather navel in Western civilisation as well). As soon as you are served or you served yourself, you start eating. Food is also so iniriguingly absorbent that you need your full concentration. There are the different dishes, serving e.g. as rice pullers, i.e. condiments making the rice tasty, There are the different mixtures of rice with bits of one or more dishes, for which you need full concentration. There is the blending of x.he attention by the. eyes and the fingers on the food. Sating together has a different impact in Sri Lanka from doing so in the West. There is no education in formal discussions. The seal is a meal. Conversation comes before and thereafter. The concentration -a the meal enhanced the digestion and good digestion creates the ©perm®*?® to listen and talk. Women prefer serving their family and hosts at table, instead of aitti- with then. That is their pleasure. A Banish breakfaster pointed #v actually in the West women sit at xks table, but have to rush up and ?! to the kitchen, especially at warm meals, so that they do not really part in the conversation. In Sri Lanka, while serving the food that entirely ready, they hear and specially observe all and everybody and at the right occasion also can fit in their word. Boraing

Presentation of diagraiaiaes d r a m at tiie Altenhof sessions. Symbol of the Bag&ba. A relic shrine, offering a vivid image of the foundation ©f the Buddhist faith, as contrary t© a blind acceptance, being a basic trust k m r i f arid open to ir.sigli.ta«

The base ©f the dagoba represents sadcha, a trust and openness that isas not come naturally. It is a fundamental belief that there is goodness and truth of which trust and confidence arise, Following three steps, presenting the Triple Gem, the Tery precious found a tier- of Buddhism t the Buddha, the Dhastma and the Sanga, They give strength to go further, penetrate deeper, turn to one's own depth and experience,

The dome, that hse a variety of shapes in Buddhist architecture, receives different inter-relations. One is that it represents the qualities of all partners in the endevour lor truth. That includes the mon^ka, the suns, the sale am© female faithful and all mankind insa far as they are lor and practising truth. It also represents the fullness of life, its full circle of life and death, misery and liberation, the ocean of existence.

The equal*© on the top of the dome represents the. four noble truths, end the eightfold rounds above it stands lor the eightfold path, summing up the way el living well, the way oi concentration, the way of meditation. The spire points to nibbana.

This truth and these truths do exist, they are eternal, independent from whether the Buddha attained BsMgkfcauKfc Enlightenment and Mlbbana as* whether there is Buddhism ox set.

In actual practice, mothers bring up their children, from the womb- into the Buddhist faith, Children do not understand all they hear and so# and do, but they participate and gradually came to insight and to parsanal convictions As ion. as one Las not the experience of going beyond the eenc.it,losing one has undergo, there is no personal stance, Gae remains within a closed existence that is hardly worth the name.

the question arose, whether one can learn from somebody*• dee's experience, teaching, example. It stimulates surely, one needs them, but the steps have to be taken by ©neseli,

Whatever is not based on the three main evils j doing harm, thinking negati­ vely and seeking sensuous pleasure, is already living truth.

af tempos.

Reinhardts three models of dialogue were shows in diagram and explained. They were not acv to the participant®, but served aa means ef clarifieatlorn. They also lead to some good remarks« 12

1 . controversial dialogue - aggressive, self—eons*ions, selfish, erne*-- ©4 2 . tolerant dialogue - open, listening, sharing, but hardly r % %, 5 , convergent dialogue - communication without filter and barrier* Has to bo added the self dialogue, the basis of any convergence. There was a big shower. It started dripping at various place®. Peep; shifted accordingly. Everybody forgot to check their room or lcuti wr­ it was leaky, what some did faithfully* Ananda esrplaiaad the leaks.'' the meeting room. The tiles get soft because of the rain. For thaw < *e» nobody gets up for repairs. ft When the rair.y season is ever, every' d®* about the leakages. Convergence (a pet idea of Teilhard de Chardin) is what happenE to manki The global village is getting small and crowded, communication gets dens interdependence is unavoidable * This leads necessarily tc some kind of encounter, either confrontation or exchange and solidarity® Michael added to what he already had mentioned in the morning. Through M s education he finds it difficult to conceive convergence among religion* Bis mother taught him not to get into close contact with false religions aa idelogies, i.e. different from the kind of Christianity they adhered ioft Ail agreed that Christians largely followed the first model of dialogue that of controversy. They thought it to spread the message of Jesus and this was seen as absolutely the one truth, while these same Christians often knew their own tradition^ (limitations) all too little. That was the moment that lightning struck Ananda, or just not, who knows It crept along the electric wire connected with the tape recorder in frost of him. Some saw a small flash, Ananda received a mild shock. There was no panic though. Much laughter followed the brief investigation that tried making out what had happened. The wire was unplugged. The group- settled for further discussion.

t Michael went on saying that he had been educated in a mission—minded kind of Chrisiiantity, where people hoped to receive the experience of a personal encounter with Jesus Himself and then tried helping ether’s to the same experience. That still marks his life. He had such an experience and since God in Jesus is close to him, he knows that £e loves him dearly and is moved by this conviction. Ee also likes mankind and the universe. From then on he never was afraid to study other religions and ideologies, like Marxism, since he was kept free of contagiation, Eie raox-her he told that Jesus has no fear of desmans and. so he does not-. Mis conversion attemps of of bringing Christiana into this encounter with Jesus was done first aggressively, without success. This only hurt people. How he goes about- gradually. Dialogue done aggressively does not work. Ee knows this iron his own experience. Ee knows also hew much be has been influenced and conditioned by his parents and enviroment. He has also the experience that others do not feel things as he does. Asked,whether he had found in Jesus* life examples of an open attitude towards people not belonging to the Jewish nation and faith. Michael told the story of the woman at Sidon. In his encounter with the pagan woman who stubbornly pleaded to heal her daughter, according to Michael Jesus himself hue discovered that he could and and had to go beyond the borders himself. It was a revelation to Himself. It was of no use to ask who taught and he learned from the incident, the f woman of Jesus, Bhante said that he had kept awake by Michael's story. Peter e was deeply touched. Ti.fi other showed the same, Bhante said alee that living with Buddhists only was not enough challenge. There was no conflict. Ee felt very good, not knowing exactly why. Another dimension of his mind was. showing. That he tried to radiate and vibrate tc others ae well. Ee did not need coming to a conclusion. She sharing anc the good feeling on both sides was enough. Deeps 1 stated that from the beginning he appreciated not sc much the exchange of ideas, but the feelings shown. The struggle to find the right words was not an interleetual exercise only, Before people said the wore he often already rex had it in his mind. Ee felt taut* what Michael said® Be had the impression were at the same wavelength af thought. To that of course he had a story.

Hector, who usually listens intensively and shows by hie facial expression hew much he is there, now was questioned about the reputation he had among so many people, of Sri Lanka and those who visited it. He is known to live Buddhism really and also move® with, people of all religions, sharing their religious ceromonies, When he was sick in hospital some time ago, Catholic nuns case and prayed with him. His favourite religious site in Handy is kataragama Temple, served by Tamil Hindu priests. The Catholic bishop Leo Nanayakkara gave him his blessings when he was sick in hospital. All these blessings made him healthfagain. Some Buddhists would have objected objected to all this. Hector appreciated their loving heart and believed in the power of their blessings. Be does the dialogue. Asked where he finds the strength for all this and the inspirations hector did not feel going into an intellectual description of any kind* he simply repeated that m±± he did all these things because they were right to him. Some suggested than this is what is beyon£ words but what is perceived by aoving with people. Harry reminded of the fact, that he recommended Sector initially to become the representative of Buddhism to the Dialogue, exactly because of these qualities. Only because he fell sick, Bhante replaced him. This lead to a more general talk about the role of words in East and Veit. In the modern West th^ere is much stress on the intellect. If one e&a formulate adequatedly and beautifully, then words ere easily given more significance than they really contain. Asking Easterners to conceptual!s their feelings and thoughts - what they also can do adequately and beautufully - easily leads to misunderstandings. Often no further just-* fication oi explanation should be extorted. It was stressed, that women, also in the West, have this quality in great strength. They can sense people often without them saying a word, It is the whole person who emanates and radiates and women have developed the talent of gauging this - and radiating end ^ emanating themselves. Their having children in the womb an- moving with them so closely', certainly is is an important factor in this. Beepal still pointed out, that everybody's former life show® in this life. From the womb we ere conditioned for the good we do and yadiat®* There wee a practical discussion about the planned trip to Hilambe meditation centre. One can see it across the valley, but only a craw can take a short cut. Bhante seid that recently somebody said that he was capable of flying all that distance, but that he could not land at BockMll because there are too many electric wires.

Talk over breakfast The europeans had small talk about cheese and cheeses, cheese being one of the ingredients of the breakfast. The experts could not conclude whether it was Gouda or Edam but thought it was definitely Butch. Then the talk opened out to all. Since brown bread was another ingredient, information was sought about its origin. Few bakeries in Sri Lanka make it. Mostly white bread of the softish kind is consumed. When sandwiches are made, often even the crusts are removed. There is special sandwich bread as well. Specially to the Germans, where bread is a culture of lie own, like curries in Sri Lanka, it looks strange that white bread is favour­ ite, although most of the nuttrition value is removed with husking and polishing. After some discussion the Lankans agreed that it is a fashion introduces by the English at a time, that they had little food culture, Peter ini armed about modern factory bread making, where refinery only would hamper the production. People have to adapt their eating habits to mechanisation, Vhite sugar, of which such unbelieveable quantities are consumed in Sri Laukat e.g. in tea and coffee, in sweets end confectionary, in jams and fruit drinks, also proved to he e fashion. Sugar Lae no be imported in large quantity. Sri Lankan food culture has such good use made of juggary and other sweet making items.

H o m i n g Preliminary conversation. Learning by heart is & question of mind anc heart together. The oral taraditi stand for morr than just training the brain and transmitting faithfully Much confusion came into being when people started writing down words ano. sentences, since naturally mistakes were made, that at their turn were transmitted lurtner. Study of the hand written sources makes this eveident ss all over. The Islam tic revolution Chomeny in Iran thrived on taped sermons sent all over. Imam also sends tapes of his sermon out and ree— eivestaped sermons from others. With the voice the person and his convict­ ion carries along with the words. The receiver, however, has to be receptive to what others speak to her or him. Reflection only happens if the receiver is attuned to what is said or read. It is a per^ogative for consequent thinking. Nirmal showed a clear insight in how it works. Memorising alone can he futile. The Christian tradition of spititual reading, which is ready with heart and. mind, critically as well as receptively, is a witness to this widely spread cutom. In the West it vas not just the discovery of the printing press, peter said, that caused an erosion of this tradition. Connected with so many other inventions, that, carried the West away since it could not (yet) master them, this invention has contributed to an almost fatal loss of a basic reading method. Now, as Nirmal said, people are often like letters boxes, where texts are delivered and emptied, without being really read. The envelope remains unopened. It is the truth beyond words that is determining whether any oral or written tradition has any lasting effect. Tne mental state of the talker or preacher as vTell as the mental state of the listener or pupil pass on or receive understanding - or not. Nirmal quoted a v-ord of Saint Gregory the Great 'Learn to seek the heart of God in the word of the God'. Nothing can come from outside, unless it resound from what is there inside. Bhante explained that someting that is blocked in the mind, e.g. a story, can loosen it, so that there is openess. Memoring is not the same as the scholarly collecting of data. Ananda added that it is important that there is a suitable enviroment for and in the mind - what is in everyone then can come out. session Michael showed and presented a diagramme, drawn by Reinhard, on the Beatitudes. In it Eeinhard tried to make it clear, that those who have heard about Jesus Christ and those who did not, hut who had come to the real insight and attitude of life, are all blessed and not separated. That kindled a dense and lively conversation, unusually unanimous, about the state of those who do not label and are not labelled, but who know and do. As Ananda called it, the unconditioned and uncreated can he discovered. It exist. Pinning it down on one or the other historical ,f igure limits not this pontentiality, hut the understanding of those who delimitate it. Like there was Gautama Siddharta and there is the Buddhahood, so there is Jesus and there is the Christ. Without equating the two, the similar­ ity is striking, at least it was to the participants at that time. As an illustration of the point made, Harry told a story of the Latin- American Theologism,. A Protestant woman, who came to India for the first time.

Thereafter the dense conversation was resumed. The Budahist wanted to know about Christian faith in God the Father. Two Christian theologians pointed out, that since about 20 years now many Christians - not only women, think that one should speak also of God the Mother. Naturally nobody misunderstood this as a sex quarrel. The conversation focussed through an intervention by Peter, on words as mirrors of themselves. One word must be complimented by another one, sometimes seemingt opposite,. Take conditioned and unconditioned, that so easily can be misunderstood. The Fatherhood of God, the Sourc of all being, is not a definition, more a parable; that is how Jesus has made His father known. TThe questionwas raised and seriously considered, why both Buddha and Jesus have been men. There was no attempt to give historical or socialogical sola- ions, although some of such arguments were mentioned. It was strongly felt that those present have been conditioned by their own upbringing and tradition and that they would have to dialogue with people of other traditions, like Hindus and West—Africans, in order to gain further insight than they could gather among themselves. It was decided that the morning session would start at 8.30 after a hour common meditation in the meditation hall. afternoon Michael showed another diagram drawn hy Reinhard at Altenhox. It spelled on out the first of the Beatituted : Blessed are the poor in spirit. Both Peter and Harry spepti some time elaborating on it, trying to analyse underlying trends of though that are embedded in a systematisation of thought like this. Bhante with his humour spirited away this closed circle thinking. He recalled with boyish please who Reinhard once called him "poor Bhante" and how warm he himsrlf had felt. Nirmal s drew on his own Catholic devotional trea­ sure and expressed the love pouring out from the Blessed Virgin Mary and her sorrowful and immaculate heart, showing that only a spiritually emptied heart can receive love and give it. It does not surra arise from the fact whether a person as physical good or not. This emptiness refers to the ulti­ mate state, called bbautific vision, when one does not even want anymore God, so to say, as the German Mystic Meister Eckehard said. Eyes crossed at this saying. Is not Nibbana only attainable to those who do not anymore strive to attain it ?. Thus a border line, a frontier of ^which Reinhard speaks in his diagram is reached, so that the actual conditioning is seen as a barrier that can be overcome. At best one mostly wants to have and does not want to have at the same time, but there are times that the blessing of non-commissioning is per­ ceived. As long as one has no preconception of goal, the goal is heyong reach, but once reached, it is n o t more goal. The realisation of this boundary also make clear the limitations existing, and, in a wav, where for the Christian God fcjptxg begins. That is called grace and divine life. Blessed then means bliss. At some stage Michael remarked, that over and over again the recent riots and the race problems in Sri Lanka had been mentioned and discussed openly. He was very grateful for this realism. He had come with some fear, that it all would be peace and paradise that would he talked about. Harry remarked, how vital for him his conviction that Jesus had xxgxHstHHsax sense of humour and was even a joker has been and is. All thought of Bhante at that moment, who makes heavy moment light and convinced as much through his wise humour as through his profound sayings. (INTERPOLATION) - This must be added to the report on the first evening 15th.

Wish for Reinhard and Bhoddi Puja. At^tHe”'proposal” of Deepal, all joined in wishing Reinhard to come. Their ardent wish or prayer that he should come, supposing of course that his wife would be well after a good operation, was as strong as their awareness of their happy togetherness. If thei wish or prayer would be as strong as their togetherness, then they were sure that Reinhard would turn up within a few days,

That evening at 6 p.rn. a Bhodhi Puja was held for Reinhard1 s receovery and his speedy arrival at liockhill. All ggfchaeedd at the Boddb tree that is as old as Bhante 1 s presence at&tlje^meditation b b b i s i .centre. Bhante and Anarida explained the ceromony. Water ^or H e tree, portion (no food) since at the monastery the monks fast after noon) and flowers for the Buddhi were kept ready. The monks and the nuns worshipped the Buddha, lamps were lit hy each and everyone and place at the tree. Water was pourned on its stem. The offerings to the Eue.dha were taken around and touched by all, then placed before the state of the Buddha. Bh&nte preached in Sinhala and Ananda stunniaried this in English. Through the sermon the whole group, including a few women, girls, 3roung men and boys were united in a common endeavour for Reinhart and his wife. On the steps leading down to the Bo Tree platform, the old monk who lives in a kuti on the slope, first stood and then sat, watching the scene, it appeared. When all walked up the steps, he was all beam as if anointed and rejuvenated. lie must have been participating from a distance, knowing that for puja no distance counts. A series of recitations took place, in which old and pound, male and female voices harmonised. One of them, the last one, was the sutra on loving kindness. The non-Buddhist seated amongst the Buddhists, were surrounded by, immersed in, perwared by the sutras rythmic recittations. If unity of insight and purpose could reach Eeinliard and his wife at that moment, it doubtlessness did. end of the INTERPOLATION) After supper talk

Branching out on his more methodical explanation of Reinhard's diagrams Michael gave details about the echo of Reinhard's work for Interreligious Dialogue in their own church circles innthe North of Germany. Be received a rather mixed reception. Not so much his three kinds of dialogue, for it is so easy to agree on formulations. But ^his practical way of promoting the Dialogue evoked controversial even fierce reactions. This conversa­ tion was held in the German in the one corner of the table, while the others had their own topics. Now it opened out to all, since x e it was of universal interest. Michael had to preach during the service held before a leycture given by Re inha rd to collegues. Ee had Iwll^the saying by Jesus quoted in the Gospel according to Saint Mathew, stating that he sent his txsxE disciples out to aiixparis to make all people his disciples. After much hesitation he had stuck to the text, knowing that Govind had verv strong reservation about Christians i b e k i mission work, which has been basing itself on this word. The ensuing conversation left soon specific area abot which many Christians today feel rather awkward, and moved into the presentation of a solid traditional Catholic doctorine, bjr Nirmal supported by Harry, of the so called baptism of desire. Apart from the baptism by water, which is undergone freely and wilfully by anybody joining the Christian community (whatever disabuse there has been in this matter), there is the acceptance by God of all those who liive truthfully and lovingly whether they heard about Jesus Christ or not. That is very obvious about all those who lived in times before his appearance. Ananda, who stayed on during this long conversation, savr sucii resemblance with what he. called the uncreated, unconditioned truth open to all who are open to it. Michael did not know about this Christian tradition and thought hard.

JANUARY 18------PUYA BAY - Full moon. * The Buddhists follow the moon calendar and actually have four moon days, according to the four quarters, of which tthe full moon is the most important. Once the Buddha was asked by his disciples, whether he could not do something towards his follows flocking to the other places at full moon day - since he could not be present everywhere. Ee advised to gather at a place where a monk is, so that one can celebrate the day in the spirit of the Ifhamma. Devotees, mainly women, spent most of the day in the temple, where ceremonies are held anxd sermons preached. There is special food and much drumming. The monk adminsters the 5 sue 10 commandments or rules of life. At Rockhill faithful came and spend the days, some even the night. It was a moving and deeply inspiring experience to meditate, all participants od the Dialogue, together with monks and nuns and faithful, for a stretch of time, at night in the meditation hall. Harry's Birthday - Already evening before (what is also a good Catholic practTc'e's where a feast starts with evening prayers, vespers, the night before the day) 10

Harry had to light a candle at the evening meal. At breakfast there was special milk rice (kiribath) with, at his special wish, a very spicy condiment,, There were delicacies, prepared by the nuns or brought by villagers for poya, too many to be enumerated. There were wishes and there was a fruit cake, brought down from Colombo, with another candle. Harry cut the cake the way this is done in his region, with apeuial bakery. It remained on the table during the morning session and when king coconuts (thambili) were served to he drunk, their orange mingled with the brown of toe cake, the vague blue of the streamers, the red and yellow of the flowers decorating the cake. Kirmal remarked that it was a real puja t ah1e . morning Bhanie wanted to know more about the Kirchentag, which he attended when it was held in Hamburg, coming from Altenhof. Michael, Peter and Harry who have been strongly involved in the event, explained that it is a meeting of tens of thousands of Protestants and now also of Catholics, from all over West Germany, every two years. It attracts growing numbers and youth remarkably present, prom a rather academic performance it has grown into a life laboratory and market, but also into a religious festival and political event. Bhante had been there for a few days and reported how he had been ■welcomed and listened,, to.

This poya day was Buddhist story telling day at Rockhill. Bhante and Ananda gave one story after the other, with the sloka (short text) belonging to it. It taught the others also how the pedagogy of story telling and and reflection in Buddhism goes. Stores have many aspects to them and appeal to the listeners in different ways. They have their hidden mean­ ing as well. Each word in itself has a hidden meaning. Good teachers can introduce those who have reached the stage of discernment into the hidden meaning. There is no end to it. The seemingly abstract point that is accompanying stories in the Bhammapada - or that are accompanied by a story, if one likes - comes to life through the-story and helps to find the hiduen meaning. The Christians were well aware of all this through Jesus' stories and sayings, that c ome to life in the good sermon, the group discussion, the combination of theory and practise. When Kirmal, starting from one of the stories Bhante had told, related how the Veddahs, among whom he lives, undergo the rapid changes that often are imposed on them, without the emotional reaction one ^tmight expect, without putting up a resistance but not willingfully submittting either, a very good conversation sprung up into being about endurance and loving kindness. Buddhists and Christians can talk endlessly about their traditia ions in this matter. The conversation fee into extreme refinement with­ out being lost in derails. Each and every participants had their own life experience that resounded and vibrated through this subject - if it can be called a subject. More stories added to the theme. afternoon The story telling and the conversation went on. The endurance of Saint Sebastian, standing at so many cross roads in the Negombo District, camexis to the fore. Bid he smile, was he unmoved, did hr challenge or ignore the arrows shot at him and ps piercing his athletic body ? Hector smoke from his long standing acquaintance with the German Buddhist nun Upulawana, who lived for more than a generation in a cave above Kandy. When an elephant stampened at peradeniya and people hid in trains on the track, she met the fierce animal that made crowds stampede, on the road. She looked him into the eyes and recited the sutra of loving kind­ ness. The animal did not harm her and calmed down. The same happened when she met a leopard on one of her foot trips to Colombo. Bhante had another story and so they could have sat for many hours more. But he had to preach another sermon at the meditation hall at the occasion sg of Poya. 11 after supner talk The group having supper ‘together comprised four Christians and one Buddhist. Tae latter not only showed great patience when the first x n i got involved and almost entangled in a conversation about their own diiferences of faith, he also showed, a keen interest since he is accustomed to visit Christian churches and take part in their services, at various occasions, like funerals ana weadings. For the first time a conversation became e discussion of controversal points. not because until them no problematic issues had been raised, but the endeavour k® had been directed mainly to find out what helped to come to a better understanding, therefore stressing more unity - difference. The Christians among could not kspphelp bur raising age old issues that have been dividing them because they know eachother - or think doing so - i s e well enough to go in for straight talk. The crucial point was the traditional Catholic understanding of the Ileal presence ox Jesus Christ in the holy Eucharist. Only insiders can grasp what this means and know the depth of the rift existing among the Christ­ ian denominations. Therefore there is no need to report in detail about the controversy. What was important was the earnest oneness which with the different points of view were explained and listened to. Also worth mentioning is that Christians should be careful in trying to show a united front towards non-Christians, whereas they are, sometimes bitterly, disunited about the most essential issues. Unless they have zaxksrsS gained experience with Dialogue among themselves, they will miss both x the skill ana the right mentality to dialogue with non-Christians. To be honest, all Christian/ participants in the Dialogue have much experience in what is called among them ecumenism. However, they were graiefil for the occasion given to dialogue among themselves at Rockhill as well.

T January 19------— talk over breakfast What can one better talk about a day like this poya, than on the practice of dana ? Buddhist monks give dana to the people by preaching the Dhamma. Drummers provide vibrations by way of sound. The faithful enable the monks to live their lives and also preach, by feeding them. A t various occasions monks are invited to the homes and are given dana. One of them addressed the home people at the occasion. Later on Bhante added a number of interesting details about this instit­ ution of dana. He and Ananda had to leave at 11 am for a neighbouring nunnery, where the head nun was giving a dana to the nuns and a number of monks. It is not the individual monk who is invited, but the order. In that way the gift goes to the Enlightened Ones all along the line back. That is also the reason why the monk who is at the head of that particul­ ar dana, ceromony, is asked what to do with the rem inder, i.e. of that part of the food that remains. If he gives permission i.e. if he accepts it and the/ this or thr. t destination to be adhered to, the dana givers can dispose of that food according to this wish. morning session rrhe monies" were asked to give some insight into to what is wrong or right understanding. There were several kinds of both sets. Not believing in the inter-relation of action/reaction. Beleiving that body and mind are one and inseparable. The belief that this and the other world are one or that ther e is only this one world. Belief that there is an everlasting life. Belief of that that there is permanence. It was the latter set of permanance-impermanence that evoked a lively sometimes elevated conversation. 12

Wiit-C he opens , viien impernia,nance Decorne? pci1 uu 11 c ^ X x is so easy to coxcr up the tension existing between the seat of perinanent/impermanant, that a show is EEiixt is made of what is called perraanance. One gets caught i the wheel of impermanence and stayed there perraamnently. This sort of slogan becomes alive only through personal experience. But experience is something that is not directly perceived by the reflecting m mind. Most of what is experienced is lodged in ese what psychology calls the subconscious. If one can speak of subconscious, why not also of superconscious ? In both cases reflection can take place can take part simultaneously, hut by its very nature reflection is only a thin slice of vhr t boa)' and mind experience. The act of reflection comes often later, much later even. So man)' other experiences meanwhile have been gained. Direct experience is going on all the wxy tine. Thinking is usually included in this act or activity but thinking is only one of the capacities of the mind. That is analised and reflected on is necessarily willed, steered h h b directed and therefore singled out, isolated, wished. Understanding and wisdom are much more and sometimes much different from thinking and reflecting. One is aw re but does not need to reflect simult- neously. Direct experience anyhow is the thinnest layer of what is perceived as existing.

1K.1H , having travelled almost three hours, and having not more time than about an hour, could do little more than give some information and answer some questions. The diagrams drafted at Altenhof by his collegue from Hamburg, helpet him to gee going. Eis very appearance however, from the moment he filled the doer entrance conveyed much more than the few things he could mention sore than explain. Apowerful conviction of facts, through precise rules and regulations connected with daily life, was what he contributed at this second visit to the Dialogue, lie mainly explained the sence through which, once pronounced with full confidence and belief t La ixi illaha ill Allahu : Muhammad ur Rasulla, There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger. Once a Muslim, always a Muslim. That would result from this decision to join Islam. The consequences of changing over to another religion were defined as this alternative : Allah will forgive, or punishment must follow. This was the point where a dgoed discussion should have been started, but there was unfortunately no time for doing so. Being a Muslim is not only a * question of belief, the faith must be also be lived and Islam has precise precepts all faithful should strictly adhere to. There are the prayers five times a day, the Ramazan month of fasting, asstinence from liquor, the abstinence from adultery, the pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime. Who adheres to this can call M m or her a Muslim. Who believes, is a Moomin. In actual fact many call themselves Muslim who are merely Moomin. afternoon Higher Ordination The effect the trip to Gampola to participate in the higher ordination of two monks, looked like the release for a hmiiiy holiday from the boarding school, but it also was more than that. The participants from abroad were eager to see the area, the people around, life all its aspects, Buddhism lived in the city. The higher ordination was done on an artificial island in the Mahaweli river. A mainly orange coloured, cut little mansion, tied up in the river was the spot where the monks, in seclusion, accepted the two monks in a higher ordination into their community, after they had proven their monastic settle. Before this there was a perahara through the taetown, with an elephant carry­ ing the relics and groups of children dancing and singing, under the careful eye of their somewhat detached looking lady teachers. Two groups of Kandyan drummers preceded, the procession and the two monks, both of whom walked under the same baldachin carried above them. Meanwhile, shops went on doing business in the bazaar street, traffic passed and tourist clicked away. N iyangampaya A visit <> the ancient Buduhist monastery and temple Niyangampaya at Gampola itself was the first for those who had come from abroad to a similar complete The group was warmly welcomed by the incumbent and some elderly monks. Bhante and Ananda explained the purpose of the Dialogue. That made faces even more shining. This history of the place was illust­ rated by the archeological remnants of the zi sire. But more than archeo­ logy the frieze in soft stone serving as a base for the open hall in front of rhe shrine room, aroused the interest. The presentation of Buddhism in the handbooks gives the impression of a withdrawn, serious, monastic, inward looking and ascetic religion, that the joyful and sensuous represent ation of ancers and drummers worked almost as a shock. That this freiaee was not the eception, but the rule, surprised even mere. Aludeniya A further revelation was the visit to Aludeniya. The chief monk happened to he at Niangampaya and was offered a lift in a the van. He insisted on a visit to his temple. Since restoration work was going on, the first plac the party went into was the chapel of God Vishnu. It occupies a place of its own in the building. The entrance is a porch coming frosi the palace of one of the kings of Gampola, where the seat of the Sinhalese Kingdom had been shifted to in the 14th and 15th century. More honour was hardly conceivable for Vishnu. Eow surprised the visitors from abroad were to find him there, since their handbooks had not told anything about him in connection with Buddhism in Sri Lanka. The surprise was not less, when the great entrance thorana to the Buddhi shrine room was observed. There the Buddha-to-be was shown above the entrance, seated on a throne and surrounded bjr the gods urging him to be re-born as Gautama Siddharta, the one who after En^ightment was 'going to be the Buddha. At and after supper The usual supper conversation, extended for an hour or so after the meal was over, circled around, to start with, the astonishing phenomenon that the modern development has taken place in that part of the world that climatically is least promotional towards human expansion. Why is that the ancient and forceful traditions of the warm and tropical areas of the world, were humankind most probably found its early development and civilisation developed first. Instead of started an endless discussion about this burning topic, everybody was compelled to reflect on Nirmal's intervention, that what is called modern development has taken such a short time as yet, seen in the light of human history. What is a few centuries ? Development in nature and humankind, specially were it concerns the Blind takes time.

January 20— ------;------———— Breakfast talk was largely spent on Ananda’s trip to Colombo where he was invited to attend a dana given by the family whom he owes so much regarding his finally entering the Buddhist order. He was given leave full heartedly, day before but his absence determined the minds. Morning Tile" visits to the two Buddhist temples of the previous day provoked a penetrating conversation about the different ways one can look at e.g, a reclining Buddha statue. One can collect data and stop there. One can also be sensitive to what tradition, the artist and the local atmo ere offer through the image at that particular spot. One does not ne to exclude the other. Observers from^ the West are often helpless in respect, as their guide books give them little help and their upbringi tends to emphasize analythical more contemplative looking at things. - 1 4 .-

Berry tele' about the netbe&s a greup to which he belonged used in the ,•«» he c. ernes i rot to the he the r lanes* where it concerned trying to convey ** iking about Bnddkiss* Ko^ picture* or slices were shown* bet groups ■» eebec to describe a Bndv.be statue iron ns*sory* uaec rule wa# stifflc;? done# with details about eye*, ears* posture** tiz^, lip®, people trer;; 'rsc! tv gay vtu.i they to it; about seeing all this* lie stated that aero t? & well researched survey thoe© who bad gone vUroagk Much formal echo©! ■&■£ ©avion, neither saw details or senses’ tench, th e y collected data an.;' shelve, tile ex ©raise no finished, once tint i t inter lee teal interest we# s&iie** f ied* According to his experience, else with the emny groups iress •:- c&nrit.ries in Europe i or whoa he orrei.isec visits to Sri LuaLe ant1 other As ion countries* tar stony European* this irtoll/eetualistie * bettor • .» lioi-al approach a real one banter with people of Asia an© their reli^is Is not easy# Burticipitetiea with feaes is net the nos -1 way of noving with r.aople ol othei cultures*

Peter evobet bov «.ke realising baa aha, huge, red e-ac stretched, had at hit:; when he entered the shrine roost at Aladeslya# His eiac in itself an: else its romutnoss had a loos t overwholee; hi®, The Bn. dha but ap to '.is. us for over porwaaont. Opposite to that, the inpertiMiunec of bud bee.-. nines b visible* h s h i tbs t anc in&* the Buddha a to toe*« hogs of he did not fcsl belittled, felt like dinting hi* belly like a bid* ll m& Bb*ute wiiCtJLc-r t i n weald be el rss.*#et* Ehcnte explained that Buddha ©tutus arc cleaned »nt trashed with fervour and religious tenderness* ; ,ar renesbors hiss that that he had taker; a picture of hie in tbs perk ©f " trg Shcsfcastg vucra abstract statue© of Perry hoore* the English sculptor* nr© stealing* Bluytite acv appears o b the picture is the empty space of assa statue* defile in? a woman, right in the vasal?* It m s ressarked that often there had been talk of the woesb during the *ewesail one.

The talk spilled bach tc the ©dvcr.tion ays tea in Europe* A c t s loped slue® the 1 esmioiiiisce, ir- whirl* people arc trainee net to skav their emotion®.* The British upper class* civil servants* military and part 1 isrortaric v; 5 p ever; their ler-rusm© inside W a x they talk* That helps uhtr: to onHur: ( d thus perhaps the British Empire v*u» build up and kept going)* lot they f«@ war* hearted people but In their behaviour do not. show it, bovevor they arc capable of verbally expreasin^ the most refined feelings*

One b m » oncwoRter in the shrine rocs of Aludociye ears* into the litas ; t* In the right c o m e r aroppos its tbe feev of the reclining bud kb* there been Ilcit-roys bean ske.nd.ini, in the attire of a Lodhisattue, lotus ir. ‘ « Tbs Iw^luwe-cenc eft? ruddhiss bss disappeared and when huxanhlnd dire need of his* As a Bod&hisattsve be- is already in existence#

Sis conversation moved further* The sensitivity of ku&ans can bo •• ,,.. . that they can nave people cad thing*• J'haate said that he only could * people* lie ecu tale headaches out* Barry said that he also s&a* klnr*as talk O'? the feet as ultra-sensitive areas of the bogy* Example* wore a o.< sow s wie is experienced there and how a « t m s of

In tiie realm Oj. ohe food culture, taste and digestion, depend much more on what the nose smells than what the taste buds register. Tongue and palate are rather crude tools for tasting even, being capable onljr of i-discembing four major tastes (sour, bitter, M s veet, salt) and their variations, while the nose can finely distinguish up to 1 0 ,0 0 0 different odours. Tne nose has also a hot line to that concentration point in the brain, right down and in front, where e innumerable glands are interconnected a rod concentrated. That is also true for the yeyes.

To that Bhanie observed that he is not aware of meditation methods in the Buddhist range, that focus on and make use of this centre. The Buddha has aa curded hair on that spot i.e. on xhe lower forehead, but this does not seem to have the same practical significanse as it has in e.g. Hinduism. The so called Third Eye there plays also a major symbolic role. Experien­ ces with meditation practices of some of the partipants were mentioned. Then the physical importance of the spot inside of the forehead, at the base of the brain at that location, was highlighted. There were referen ces agin to the hot line eyes and nose have to it. As a vital spot it surely should he given full attention. In 'Western culture of recent develop­ ment, the frowning forehead has become the sighn of thought and wisdom, but it is also the seat of splitting headaches and migrains. Would the absence of such deep wrinkles on the forehead of so many thinking and gthoughtful people in the East, that, show its furrow on so many foreheads in the West, be a sign of less stress and strain ?

Hatha B evale It wes a descen^d of only a few flight of steps and a short walk on the road that lead the group after these points to Hatha Devala, but it took them to a world of its own. An ancient cave, now a temple for the God Hatha, who is also the Boddhisattva to come. Bhante had said beforehand, that he has a very special feeling in the cave, where he is no more Bhante. The pre­ sence there is wonderfully overpowering. But only a very few people are admitted inside and the group had no chance of inhering. The kitchen where thrice a day the sacrificial food is prepared, was the only room open at the time of the visit. Nobody had the key. The kitchen was in perfect order. The vessels showed character and graeeousness. The pingo with the two containers and their multicoloured covers was on the wall, ready to be used. Firewood was neatly chopped and stored. The grove in which temple and vace stand has a special choice of trees: A spout offers a bathing place close by and its splattering is heard from behind the temple and the kitchen. Although nothing eukxb much more could he seen, the group lingered on. Not much explanations felt necessary to feel the presence of the spot. The key to the Buddhist shrine was brought. It was separated by just a wall from the adjoining cave, where the statues of Natha and his wife Bisobanara stand imposingly. Serenity reigned in the shrine, given a warm appearance by the largely orange frescoes on the walls. Their archaic forms kept in pace with the age of the whole place.

Embekke

According to Bhante, the distance to Embakke was only a mile. Since it was dry, umbrellas were taken and everybody went on foot down hill. The short cut over the paddy fields was not adviseable because ox the mud, but even Bhante’s mile proved to be just an ordinary Lankan mile, i.e. sometimes between half and one time as such. On the sloping road the group met only muslims and Bhante stopped here and there for a chat, never missing the occasion of pointing out what interreligious dialogue is by presenting the variety of participants and. the goal the encounter had. Thus they leisurely walked into a Muslim settlement, Bhante talked to a teacher,.whom he had taught English. He was invited to come and visit the Dialogue. More men gathered and women appeared in the doors. Interest more than curiosity, readiness to listen and talk. How. strange some thought, to talk and talk about the Dialogue and trying by all meaiSb 16 - A new blue lorry stood ready for departure. Whether the Reverends and the gentlemen would mind having a lilt ? Soon the lorry sped over the' w inding roans across cross roads with the ease of tne local« At some cross-road f; r 9 pf JQ ung s t e r s , chatting loosely, had to move out to o-ive wav M e 1! ' 1 ^uiig s t-e rs seemea to .c accustomed to each other.” I t ’went wha., up ano boldly c own, the Reverends m the cabin with th e drivers and the gentlemen with a large crowd of men an. younsters and boys standing up behind in the open. In the streets and the roads signs of slight surp­ rise, amidst gestures of recognition. On arrival at the temple complex of Embekke the driver simply asked whetner he better wait or whether the group would join him elsewhere. Nobody of his companions seemed to be in a hurry of proceeding either. Bhante beamed j such dialogue i Embekke was closed i.e. the sactuary, since there ixad been a death in t&e Embekke neighbourhood. The wooden pillars and their delicate, strong carving stood as ever so that one coul ,t .elieve that they were that old. The air fwas filled with the noise of the brass makers in the shops around. A vcrj kind and. serviceable man showed what had to be seen. Bhante explained details in the Buddhist shrine. The peacock of the war God Eataragama marched forward in a side room. Eataragama himself did not show much of his presence anc. strength. In the brass shops the first souvenirs were baoght. A first sign of the impermanence of the Rockhill Dialogue. Walking back, the group met the Smbekka kapurala (priest) on the road, there were the pillars of the King's tea pavilion stand. Some information was'exchanged, but he promised to come to Rockhill in order to have a good talk. In the darkening sky the walk was delightful. Michael wished no be in his prime of love again to go for walks, the two of then. In the village the shops were lighted with bottle lamps. There was no money to even buy tea, although Bhante * s word surely would have opened a credit sheet, as had j&ek happened in the brass shop at Embekke. But there was also the urge.to go home, since the rain threatened to corse down. This time there was a van that offered transport.

Natha Devale Kapurala. Eow often bad the Faces, seen in the area, ^specially in connection with old was one The kapurala come to one that runs all through the season at that. Ee unwound himself and his tale over hours at a stretch, only with some difficulty now anc aagain interrup­ ted by Kissi Nirmal interpreting. Faces of his listeners grew pale . sleepy, vague, what only ' seemed - - jto- . inspire him to go over his data one more in even greater detail/ Late in the night he vent home, and those who stuck : out in great f“^ij^ion^ha^tr.^impres^°nt^ n^ es? at seemingly innocent incidences. What is if he really; had revealed the things he knows, In m s which the spot WWclfc.S knovnrkJLiVWAX in the different + xxmiiyr he knew he names, lino.uiiueit _ "“v "fj- .8 ^ u W e ^ sv&Ul&t82?F s t ! e G 8 P t S l t stfedfeS5l Soffein!”ilrvrit^n a° ™ ; are^handed^down’'orally, from father to sons In his family tnese traditions a ^ -wyiat now is called history, The same is true for the texts snap BJ * kabahu jy 0f Gampola, following in • »«>** at S r foot of a rock in thick Jangle a dream, was stopped by his horse ^ -ts hind aild fore legs. Those Actually, the hors® recently. Those of the hina legs were covrd signs have been visible nil recen > the front legs got struck was improved, when a reao. rock at the spot was cut. Both the kaPura d disappeared when the very Bhante have seen all four vestiges, The -kapurala took much time to dwell on the diminishing powers ox places like this, in comparison to the days of yonder even the days he saw when he was a younster ant an adult. Those days the powers of the god were strongly felt. In modern society morals have gone down, people were pre­ occupied with minor things that keep them “busy. That, affects even the phy sic a 1 tL ing s. In those days the daily food sacrifices, consiting of rice, coconuts, salt and a few tender leaves of the pumpkin, did not need further spices to he aromatic and tasty. people passing the kitchen area came in to have a sniff and a taste. The aroma was that strong. Now various spices must be used to creat a good aroma. The king had the glace cleaned, mainly of ant hills and found the statues that are now inside the cave. The one who gave him the hint after his horse got stuck, was an old lady of over 9 0 > living on the lower ground close to the rock where the horse stopped. She had heard that in olden days there had not been a kovil (Hindu temple, served by a brahamin) as the king suggested, but the place of the gods (devastaanaya). The king had a temporary abode from leaves constructed to supervise the work. He also instituted the 18 persons who had to perform the variety of duties connected with the devale to be : drummers, cook, attendants, torch bearers, elephant mahout etc. From the priest (kapurala) whom he appointed, the present one is a direct descendant. To each and every task sufficient land was attached for a living, for which .they had to perform temple service ( rajakaraiya). These lands are still known and in use. The practical European mind wanted to know more about the economic base of this temple service. The family of that old lady still has the produce of the land entrusted to them. They still live on the same spot as she did. The kapurala has two brothers who have the same function and he has three sons. The oldest is always the Kkiibcx chief kapurala. The land that they till has no increased over the centuries. Nobody can live only on that income. They must earn other money as well. The kapuralas did not utter a word about this personal situation and did not list this develop­ ment among the bad signs of the time. perhaps, if he had stayed long enough to talk about all and everything, more knowledge might have been tabled concerning this crucial issue. After the Kandy perahera stopped after the taking over of the Kandyan King­ dom by the British was revived, the 4 devales in this area came to life amain as well. They have common roots in history, reaching to the Gampola kings. Once the Kandy Esala perahera is over, starts the perahara at the Natha Devale, i.e. when the moon is two weeks after full moon. It lasts till next full moon, i.e. 15 days. To start with during the 5 days there is a ceromonv in the temple premises, with drumming, after the hoisting of the flag i.e. planting of the branch of a veertain tree inside. The 5 following days there is a procession, with an elephant carrying the the arms of the God to the other end of the holy road stretch (sinha-asana) with drummers and dancers. Following 5 are days with more attendance and elephants, randoli perahara, during which jewels, dresses of Bisobandara, the wife of God Kaiaragama are taken in procession along the same route. The day after full moon the same palaquin (dolawa) is carried to a point on the river band: at Gampola, where the dead body of Bisobandara was cremated. There the previous year’s water is returned to the river and new water is cut, to be taken to the devala. Three other devales from the area converge on the same place.

On the way to the mood is gay and the drumming accordingly, on the way- back on commemoration of the death of Bisobandara, the heads are black hooded and the drumming is that of a funeral. January 21 ------talk over breakfast f ei times during the meeting: with the f, kapurala ox hatha Devale, evenin'- before, interventions had been mate in oruer to receive precis answers from him to precise questions. He never hadL r

liOrnmi . Bhante told the Buuukist story oi the beginning of the world from the Aganayasuita. After the destruction of a previous world everything was covered with water up the heavenly realm. The subtle bodies living^there radiated light and had no needs since they lived on happiness. They also never ate. Then they saw strange things on earth. They saw a milkv- strean like melted butter took some to their tongue and were enchanted by its wanderful flavour. They wanted to try more. This craving caused hunger. Happiness dwindled. Their bodies became more and more coarse. Since they could not fly anymore and their taste had. deter iorateu, they had to live on something else. The more the ■ produced the more hungry they were. There had therefore t be stocks, how a compeition who stored were began. Thefts were made, clashes occured. Por the first time they started looking at each other. Amazingly rib two districtiy diixerent kinds, male and females. Touching sales, fe»u got strange feelings, touching females, males were excited. They to and clutched. Others seeing this, found it ugly and threw stones*. P reasons houses were built for reasons of privacy. The number of oc having increased, there was a need for organisation. In order to p on the order, a supreme administrator, a well built capable man was se: The others contributed for his upkeep. His main concern was agriav i.e. its administration and organisation, with the income from.it, Agriculture required tools and a blacksmith started making them, Kc crafts developer, all in one family, what caused castes to be forme Class and tribe grew up. This delicious butter like fluid is still existent in the earth. Destruction and development e x were caused by one of the four elerne which everything is made : earth, water, fire and air. Correspond there are taste, smell , nutritious--- value------and- — colour. The compositio those elements and qualities leads to different appearances. Asking where this world came from fj v a n o 19

The composition of those elements ant qualities leads to cifiernt apvear&nces asking, vcere this worbld came from, t .rious religions sought various answers, bnt iroi their tales an;, e: Imitations very close to one another. it shoved tiiat in the oe inning they Scfbekke Dt-vale Hapurala. At 2.30 pm the kapurala from Embekka arrived, he had promised to come and would not let the Dialogue group down, he declared. lie was a man of dignity, vita a face market by life anu seemed to live under a certain burden, tiiat he took seriously. The nuns also came to listen to him and there vats quite an auc ence i or him when ce startec his tale. He talked clearly and did not seem to need to convince. Perhaps unexpected :cr nim, Ins family's biography wa s asked fo . Ee brushed ime „ ., it on t:-e canvass < his tale wi tn broad., id sweeps. In the u e ox the same King 03 Gampola who is connected with Natha Devale,, his ancestors came from India, possibly kxk±y Madhya Pradesh. Ee was not a brahamin, as often said, there were two brothers, who had been revealed that had to take over the care ox the k e sanctuary' in Lanka by/ asking for its key. Also the king was given a message, in nis dream that & dispute hac. arisen at the sanctuary at Jimbekke tnat te favoured so much, jtie went there and. found tne two newcomers from India in dispute with the person in charge of the key. he entrusted the priesthood of the devale to them, since the unknown person who had appeared to him in the dream had told him to do so. One .f the descendants of one of the two brothers, at the time of the grand­ father of le present :apurala, attended his mother's luneral, against the strict rul governing tneir function, nd as a result was incapicitated -,-i 6 C his family soon was fully' gxxincij. a.s G.1SG&SGS set in# ±ae bevale naa been igurated by an old man with a curious ms t o ry ® drummer in 1 village1 i m the area was striken by an incurable ras h. Gone on T)1 . ;ru ye ;ne snrxne o, L ■{£ a rna in the jungle of the deep South, prosternated Del ore the sanctu - j ae tiie vow7, that he ■would come and oner suDGnapu; \( s,icrifice of so una n his magul bera (double drum used only7 ior solemn>1, and restive occasions] every7 year. He was cured and fulfilled his vow untill the time, that he grew too withered Ee sked the God to release him from his vow. Ee fell asleep and dreamt that at Anbokka a nerson prenarin.: for chena cultivation struck a certain tree started bleeding. He was urged to offer sabdhapuja before the tree so that the bleeding would stop and calamities avoided. Since then every Saturday he offers this pupa. A statue sprung up from the tree, showing the xsixfaced god Kataragama, his 12 arms vearinr trie arms ox tne wara goa.

Tke kingtravelied close to that small kovi1 one time, when his palanquin started swinging. He panicked ;na .et .he bearers stop. That is how he found the shrine. Firs- all he had an elaborate resthouse, now a shrine vith its carved granite pillars standing along the road side erected for himself. From there he supervised the construction of the devale till he moved into that part made ior him to reside during: the completion. That is how the present structure came into being. Kataragama Deviygo . The kapura la also related the story7 of how the place became Kataragama' s. Anar, and a wiraan came from India. They had dec.ic.ed to live in the forest anc meditate. For that reason they separated, eachisg going into ±kftx£* a different direction. They would however, converge in a large, round be jo the spot where they7 separated. They were not yet gods, just human hex. The queen arrived first, after many7 years. The king did not yet show up She took a bath in a pond anu collected the dust ox those years, eneruste* her body7 and into a bowl and threw it into the pond. Aziit±±Exkayx:apjsex, iEriiHi;;K5±BiiSKfix5KsaxiB:.vkBr., :.:SkEi:isEkxkxmx::up^::.embraced:7faimrEEKxptsyBd. WtraxEiK. She made an Act oi Truth, saying that if it were true that she had been chaste and anfaithf'ull to her husband all yhat time, she would have a son of her oxen. A little boy appeared in the water and swam to She took him and embraced, and. played with him. At that moment the king from the forest. He saw her fondling the little boyr and asked how she 1 her time in meditation. f She explained the case to him but he would ik listen, grew very7 angry and decapitated the boy. The queen wailed and pc e.. , (.:: : c / rove -C I

-- ■' : , Sko had no core oust or her 1>ociv ' ' Dux ga . uiiereu m e sweet that had appeared on her head and made it iiito six balls, throwing them into the pond. The Queen and the king saw altogether six little hoys swimming towaras them. The queen took them in one embrace and tflSt is how the sixheaded, twelve-armed Kataragama was formed. The king regret­ ted what he had thought and done ana ran to the forest. There he decapitated an elephant ana came home with its head, put it in the headless body of the little boy he had killed came back to life instantly What happened to the father nobody knows. The mother died in the area and her body was wrapped in bark and sent down the river, where it floated around where Gampola is now: there the body was cremated (Kahatapitiya)„ It is at that spot that the annual water cutting ceromonv performed by the four devales, among whom is Exnhekke. Tabao around death. The Kapurale looses its function when he stays under one roof with a dead body, even if his concerns his own mother or wife. Before they breathe thei last breath, he must move elsewhere. After a death in the surrounding, the devale remains closed for some time. That is how his Grand-grand-uncle was defiled by attending the funeral of his mother. Formerly people took a hath after coming from a funeral house and changed clothes. After a death in -Jar family, one cannot go to the devale for some time. A similar taboo surrounds menstruation. When his own daughter comes of age for the first time, the kapurala must move out of the house or she must. Women wearing a charm (talisman) must not wear it during 21 days after child-birth. Kapurale life. After his talk that lasted a few hours, only interrupted by bits of trans­ lation into the English, the kapurala heaved a great sigh and stretched his arms. He was prepared to go on however. He had to leave at some tine, since he had to perform puja at the devale. Before leaving he gave a hint how disciplined his is. Three times a day he had to perform puja with all the preparations and rites, at 1 1 .3 0 am at 7.AK, ll.pO Ail and 6 p.m. Given the various taboos, he is bound to the off limits in iiis surroundings, even in his own house. Practically his life is that of offering puja, throughout the day. For the rest he stays at home, has his meals and his bath.

If a t a. ra gama ana Bug alia •

The early morning puja at Embekke devale is 00 offered to Kataragama and his wife Bisobandara. At 11.30 dana is first of all offered to the Buddha in his shrine, following the fasting customs of the monks. Thereafter, puja of food is offered to the gods. The offering to the Buddha is done by the same person who op§ns the door and sweeps the floor, the one to the gods by the kapurala. Drumming is done in the main hall, called the King’s audence hall. Thereafter, the different shrines receive sabdajsx puja. There is a different rythm lor drumming to the Buddha and to the Gods talk over supper and thereafter It had come although the groups existed exclusively of men. A long evening was spent on talking on women in religion. The Christians were united on the need of upgrading the place of m b * women in religion heading for b equality. They were divided over the place of women in the ministry. Ananda had to go to Colombo and Bhante treated the subject with utmost seriousness and lightheartedness. lie looks after four nuns and they lookafter him. he seemed to have the time to watch out for developments, that possibly are in store ant towards which one can work, without- pushing for it. Nuns have become extinct - Theravada Buddhi|m. therefore also in Sri Lanka cannot be received as an institution, sinceh*uS” are not the five ordained nuns to receive others into an order of nuns,, Devious way have been -20- prosternrted herself before him. he wanted her to prove her innocence by anoiter Act of truth. She had no more du st on her body but gathered the sweet that had. appeared on her head and made it into six balls, throwing tiiein into the pond. The Queen and the king saw altogether six little hoys swimming towards them. The queen took them in one embrace and that is how the sixheaded, twelve-armed Kataragama was formed. The king regret­ ted what he had thought and done ana ran to the forest. There he decapitated an elephant and came home with its head, put it in the headless body of the little boy he had killed who came back to life instantlv. What happened to the father nobody knows. The mother died in the area and her body was wrapped in bark and sent down the river, where it floated around where Gampola is now; there the body was cremated (Kahatapitiya). It is at that spot that the annual water cutting ceromony performed by the four devales, among whom is Embekke. Taboo around death. The Kapurale looses its function when he stays under one roof with a dead body, even if his concerns his own mother or wife. Before they breathe thei last breath, he must move elsewhere. After a death in the surrounding, the devale remains closed, for some tine. That is how his Grand-grand-uncle was defiled by attending the funeral of his mother. Formerly people took a hath after coming from a funeral house and changed clothes. After a denth in thr family, one cannot go to the devale for some time. A similar taboo surrounds menstruation. When his own daughter comes of age for the first time, the kapurala must move out of the house or she must. Women wearing a charm (talisman) must not wear it during 21 days after child-birth. Kapurale life. After his talk that lasted a fewr hours, only interrupted by bits of trans­ lation into the English, the kapurala heaved a great sigh and stretched his arms. He was prepared to go on however. He had to leave at some time, since he had to perform puja at the devale. Before leaving he gave a hint how disciplined his is. Three times a day he had to perform puja with all the preparations and rites, at 1 1 .3 0 am at 7 .All, 11.50 AH and 6 p.m. Given the various taboos, he is bound to the off limits in his surroundings, ever, in his own house. Practically his life is that of offering puja, throughout the day. For the rest he stays at home, has his meals and his hath. Kataragama and Buddha.

The early morning puja at Embekke devale is 00 offered to Kataragama and his wife Bisobandara. At 11.30 dana is first of all offered to the Buddha, in his shrine, following the fasting customs of the monks. Thereafter, puja of food is offered to the gods. The offering to the Buddha is done by the same person who opens the door and sweeps the floor, the one to the gods by the kapurala. Drumming is done in the main hall, called the King's audence hall. Thereafter, the different shrines receive sabda^mx puja. There is a different rythm lor drumming to the Buddha and to the Gods. talk over supper and thereafter It had come although the groups existed exclusively of men. A long evening was spent on talking on women in religion. The Christians were united on the need of upgrading the place of n a x women in religion heading for s equality. They were divided over the place of women in the ministry. Ananda had to go to Colombo and Bhante treated the subject with utmost- seriousness and lightheartedness. lie looks after four nuns and they lookafter him. He seemed to have the time to watch out for developments, that possibly are in store and towards which one can work, without pushing for it. Nuns have become extinct - Theravada Buddhism, therefore also in Sri Lanka cannot be received as an institution, since-SfiSf are not the five ordained nuns to receive others into an order of nuns. Devious way have been deviced to retrieve the nuh's ordination, that is still alive in Mahayana Buddhism, but not materialised. Bhante quoted a saying about his step-mother urging him, also through his beloved pupil Ananda, to ordain her what he finally aid, but M s remark was not encouraging. His audence however, retorted, thet is not fair to rest such a vital issue on the Buddha’s relationship with his stepmother. Jesus had quite some problems with his own mother, however faithful^ she was to him, till the very end. Bhante also q© quoted saying of faithful Buddhist women, stating that they were quite content to he rehorn as a man in order to progress on the way to Buddhahooc. He also insisted on the fact that thousands of women in Sri Lanka had attained Enlightment with and enlightenment being not the prerogative of the men. It is the Buddhahood that is received for them, but not as a sex but as a stage in human social development. Who xgs says what comes next ? There was embarrassmnet. Men among themselves talking about women’s position should feel a bit funny anyhow.

January 22------— — — — --- -- Sunday Servi t:c Michael had prepared a reading from the Holy Gospel and a xiisermon tc- it. Everybody gladly accepted k this offer, specially since it was a Sunday. Michael was a sermon in himself, he started seriously and this seriousness never left him. But gradually he warmed up, although he never was enthus— astic. The warmth of his faith ± xsx matched the thoroughness of his preparation. His explainaiions were comprehensive and were directed along a clear line, but there was nothing dogmatic about it. Christian and Buddhists listened to him with open eyes and ears. There was mutual stream of understanding. Michael was also quite original in much of his thinking, although never using bold "words. Most the time he kept his fingers in the European mudra of the teacher and lecturer; all all, he is a pastor and has been brought up in a tradit­ ion of that used and uses the pulpit as a lecture stand. But, just like his thought took sudden, almost jerky flights, so did his hands. There was bhxkxxexkee not the corresponding mime on his face though. But his face grew more and more serene. (For insiders ; he was a Lutheran pastor at his best ) This was the reading he had chosen : The Gospel according to Saint Mathew', chapter k , verses 1 — 12. (New English Translation ±x§ 1961,' Jesus was then led away by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil. For forty days and nights he fasted, and at the end he was famished. * The tempter approached and said : "If you are the son of God, turn these stones into bread’. Jesus answered. ’Scripture says ’Man cannot live on bread alone he lives on every word that God utters’ This is what Michael preached to it. Jesus had gone to the extreme of hunger. He could have made an Act of Jesusof Truth : If I am the son of God, then let these stones bee bread. He had the power. He however was more keen on the right understanding of the moment. What does tee son of God do now ? Wh isosikiiSBHxsixSia was decesive, was not his hunger and was not ■wer to make bread, but the "will of his father. Doing the apparently ns thing, was not necessarily the best. Tbe Spirit who led him into the desert ior this test, woulo also lead him out oi it. Bhante said that the way Michael kEE± handled the idea of Act of . s not the Buddhist one. In order to get clarification, he asked Ni " to explain the issue to him in Sinhala. That took some time. Pet exploded ano asked what dialogue this was, in which English, the language abandoned. 22 - abcjidoned. h a r r y pointed out th’at this is real dialogue. There are so s ay kir? K vn -1Vsll'» 1 • 1 ^is.io itself renuireu dialogue, to make oneself understood anc understand others, Lore time that, expressing turn “if Jit F f terras in Ln„,lf?I end talk in. to Buddhist about Christian of Vent era concepts, is more th n translating literally. The meaning; behind the words has to be sought. If that effort v u not made, the dialogue would sot be more than fully lit trains passing each other in the dark, with the pass enters waring at one another. Together the group then sought to onderstund what reelly this temptation oi Jesus in the desert could have been. It was said, that he could here had hallucinations cue to his famine, lie also could have reached a point oi clear understanding after a long twub: fast, having gigone through different :tages with a composed mind* There was also the Spirit at work, lae Buddhist experience with fasting and meditation would be a greet help iz. rnaacnisx e>:pexiEK£s:r in discerning what was at isEg* take. Turning to the goog takes more time than turning to the eveil, that can perform powerful act almost instantly. There was more thinking about temptation* It corses afte • sufficient discernment has been made, since then a clear decision has to be taken. If there is not enough clarification of mind and he. rt, there is only the temptation to postpone discTenement and resain in the obscure. The greater the insight and the power the more crucial the decision, that might Live tempted Jesus could have been the syuick resolution to do the first thing et hand, however much it was within his reach one was good in itself, without considering the full range of decision to be chosen anung. he also might have been tempted to play around with powerful action, almost for the sake of it, he surely must Lave understood that the e.. ec-t oi miraculous acts on the mass oi people is highly ambi­ valent, -’any side issues came up and were given cue attention, but the main stream remain clitected to varus the clarification oi what really would hevc tempted Jesus. A general interest focussed for soiae time on the need of food* According to Buddhism there are various kinds of food. This its&lf could have provided food for thought end conversation for a long time, as also the holy Gospel is full oi food events and the Christian ascetic tradition has much in common with the Buddhist one regarding tasting end eating, Mratal and harry specially would have been delighted if this topic could have been given full attention. The one who fasts, but else the one who is in full action, ncecs little food. The undecided one tends to overeat. One can live without food ; the Catholic tracition has many stories about saints in this regard• Bunnte wanted to know whether something happened by way of food to Jesus, Michael read the end oi the story. Then the devil left him and angels appeared and waited on him, I, very body v&s aware of the new phase the Dialogue had reached* This vse sc much more th&i the hitherto careful listening to one another and enjoying the understanding that often arose. Now a common search had emerged, leading to better understanding of both traditions and of self, all the same tine and ill three distinctly, Michael was ashed to read and preach further. The devil took hiis to the holy City and set him on the parapet of the temple. ’If you are the son of Cod’, he sail( throw yourself dovnj for Scripture says ’lie will put his angels in charge of you, and they will support you in their areas, lor fear you should strike your foot &0ain*t a stone’ Jesus answered him ’Scripture says again ’You are not to put the Lord your God to test’ Here Michael came fully alive. It ves as if he himself stood high in the parapet mid measured the distance down below, imagining how: he could dive and land on his feet elegantly. Low the people would look up, raise hem’s and fingers, shout in fear ami delight, run aside where they expected the diver to splash to pulp and then crown around him, taking hi® on their shoulders one marching him through ti*e town, Michael, non*y, Jesus the great jumper, the new leas er, the miracleson* That reminder her oi the Dutch way, in which she is brought up, to say 'sorry* each a.ine one touches somebody else just by chance. This was reported also to be the custom in Germany. There was a general talk about touching as a cultural phenomenon. It was agreed upon that the Europeans of the North West (England, the Flemish part of Belgium, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland) are rather reserved from that point of view. The way males touch each other in Sri Lanka often is explained to be homosexual. however, how old this attihute is, has to be seen. Erasmus of Rotterdam, who wrote the first book on manners in Europe history, describes hove the valet has to behave when he, in an inn curing the journey, sleeps in the same bed with the lord, the nephew with the uncle. That must have been normal. Michat remembered nights in a house in Eenaya, where there few beds for a large family where a bed was put out specially for him, to be shared with only one personan adult man. The bed had a deep vallejty in the centre si nee strings had given way. The first night he tried to stick to the ecf while his bed companion slept cteep down, but cramp and cold (it was the mountains) it madegive up this attempt. But for their closeness both would have bitterly suffered from the cold. The way people crowd at the stamp counter of post offices was another example mentioned, leaving room enough for the slim and slender to find their way through the front.

Sri Sendeniya How rich the area around Kandy and in the environment of Wegiriykan.de is was once more seen when Bhante and Ananda, invited to attend the opening of a newly decorated cave at the ancient temple of Sri Sendeniya, 1,.• the whole group along. Dancers and drummers of the old tradition we. ready to receive the official guests, among whom the Minister who is member of parliament for the area, had assembled when the group art! peter met a master dancer, the one who later on performed sommersaulU in the procession who he had seen performing in Bonn and of whom he had taken and enlarged thr.ee pictures 1 Many monks had assembled Bhante Ananda mingled with them. The newly decorated cave/ held three Buddha statues of huge jzsize, still unachieved and with holes about the mlace oi their hearts, in the three postures of meditating standing and reclining. Much work still had to be none, as even the white piaster that covered the back bone of bricks, had to be completed and refined. The faces however in fine shape; they were good examples present craftmanship, with the prevailing tendency t idealise. The- cave's rock was sprayed blue, of the lighter shade., A shrine room in front of the cave had been renovated from the outs. but the interesting, old scruptures were in a deiapidated situation Objects to be encased in the breast oi all three statuess were ear under a canopy in the procession. The Chief Monk also distributed cooper plates to monks and honours and honourable guests, being sheets of a complete text of Suttas. At the auspicious time a prelate, the minister and a prominent ta ? ■ laymen placed their sheets and those objects inside the hole in the breast of the statue. They had to climb rather high up in two ins .. ss. The faithful shouted 'Sikis 'Sai.hu'. Before the auspicious time Before the auspicious time the monks had chanted pirith, ciraisg hi and without force replacing the chattering filling the cave with i serene rythm. The Chief Monk is agreat builder. In his speech he mentioned tn& has built 8 statues in other places, wants to have a Kakara--thorn- above each of the the three statues of the cakes, and contempltes erecting also a huge standing Buddha in Aukana style on the premie his speech and that of the secretary were enevitably full oi thankt bo the donors, full of figures, and also full of requests for more ' s. Some Rs.250,000 are needed to complete it all. In the evening Ananda gave further information about what had hap There vpulcl have been interesting discussions about the connect!-: en visible* signs and buildings and inner endeavour, between money am Sri Sendeniyp

Eov rich the area around Kandy and in the enviroment of Vegiriya is va.: once more seen when Bhante and Ananda, invited to attend the opening of the aetIt decorated cave at the ancient temple of Sri Sendeniy&} took whole group along. Cancers and drummers of the old tradition were * ready receive the official guests, among whom the minister who is a member of' pareliament of the area, haa assembled when the group arrived, peter met master dancer, the one who late on performed summersaults in the process! whom he had. seen performing in Bonn and of whom he had taken and enlarged three pictures. Many monks had assembled and Bhante and Ananda mingled e with them. The newdy decorated cafe had three Buddha statues of huge size, still unachieveo and with yholes about the place of their hearty i the three postures of meditating, standing and reclining. Much work still had to be done, as even the white plaster that covered the back bon of bricks, had to be completed and refined. The faces ^however were in fine shape; they were good examples of present day craftmanship, with the prevailing tendency to idealise. The cave's rock ’was sparayed ble, of th lighter shade. A shrine room in front of the cave had been renovated fr the outside but interesting, old sculptures were in a delipidated situati Objects to be encases in the breast of all three statues were carred unde a canopy in the procession. The chief monk also distributed copper plates to monks and Kh s h k x s donors and honourable guests, being sheets oi complete books. At the auspicious tine a prelate, the Minister and a prominent layman placed their sheets and those objects insider the hole in the breast of statue. They had to climb rather high up in two instances. The faith­ ful shouted 'Sahdu'. Before the auspicious time the monks had chanted pirith, slowly arid without force replacing the cattering filling the cave with their serene rythm. The Chief monk is a great builder. In his speech he mentioned that he has built already 8 statues in other places, wants to have a makara-thor5* above each of the above statues in the cave, and contemplates erecting also a huge standing Buddha in Aukana style on the premises. Eis speec and that of the secretary were inevitably full of thanks to the donars> full of figures, and also full of requests for more donations. Some iis.2 5 0 ,0 0 0 are required to complete it all. In the evening Ananda gave further information about what had happened* There could have been interesting discussions anout the connection betw. visible signs and buildings and inner eandeavour, between money and mer between the place of the poor and the rich in the temple - not only concerning Buddhism in Sri Lanka, but all religions.

January 23------" talk over breakfast Two new participants filled up the empty hall bj’ Nirmal, who was called up to Colombo for an urgent personal matter, Peng and Lily Ariya Bharrna from India, Asia, retired University teachers now in Amsterdam.; Netherlands. Feng touched at the subject that Lily bad mentioned the the evening before, the easy way buddhist monks move with the people, including women, in Sri Lanka, different from what they had seen in Thailand. The example was given of the ancient Buddhist story of the carrying a women accross a river when that was necessary. Lily re1 • that' a monk's robe had touched her and that she could not imagine a th like this happening in Thailand, where distance was kept. That remir her of the Butch way, in whicn she was brought up, to say 'sorry' each time one touches somebody else jusr by chance. This was reported alc to be the custom in Germany. There was a general talk about touckir cultural phenomenon. It was agreed ^upon that the Europeans of the North-West (England, the Flemish part of Belgium, the Netherlands, Se; Germany, Switzerland) are rather reserved from x e h that point of view The way the males touch each other in Sri Lanka often is even explain homosexual. However, how old this attitude is, has to be seen, of Rotterdam, who wrote the first book on manners in European history history, £i describes h m the vallet has vo behave when he, in an irm during r journey, sleeps in tl«e ske-c bee with the lord, the nepheu vith the u; cle. That mist have been normal. Eicuael remembered mights in a house ir hennye, verc there were few beds i or « large family where a bee v .s put out specially for i i b , to be &k sii; red by with only one person, an adult sale. The bet- hat. a deep valley in the centre since strings had river, way. hie

Lily anc Peng are of Chinese ori .in an- iron there have an access to Xu dhism. They however, only knew it in lorn it exists in in,,oaesia, i.e, wi ili strong loaist ant Lonlucinniet inf lucaces• The en ry into In .Lise has been Cue to Nerc.de Thero of Sri Lenka, t. eir highly venerate*: r.oni: who recently died and received a state iunernl, visited Indonesia a lev years a,.o and stayed with them. After many talks be o sleet them why they could not become Buddhists. i.ow eoulc that be done they asked ? by reciting the p; nr ha Sila, he answered, What they aid, they ic. not think oi cLenu-c 1\ es as ludt Lists for some nine therealter. They were t Iso iven names. The eumatse they have now officially was recognised by the In. onesian Government when they renewed their passports (Inc'onsosia, people of Chinese descent are encouraged officially to change over to Indonesian names),

Butldhis£ . n _Indonesicn re 1 ig ion. Inc.eper. ent Indonesia, led by Sukarno and Ilatta, accepted their own Pancha d eela as the foundation of state. Of the five pillars the first is the Faith in God (recently interpreted as ’adherence to a religion’ (ketuhanan). The others are tdeaocrcy, social justice, human rights end security for the people. In 1965 a Communist supported coup by en Arm y group felled end was repressed resulting mass killings. Since then it is compulsory in Indonesia to have a religion (ivgana), When buddhism, quite spontaneous­ ly, started re—developing in the country from about 1937 on, the Kinister of lieligion wanted to know whether buddhism as a religion, since it is known to he a philosophy without a specific interest in God. when he received the ;• never, that buddhism in Indonesia is of the Main yana kind, he pressed for an answer to the question whom of the many god&like beings then was considered to be god (Tuhan) in the sens® of the Indonesian lancbaseela. The answer was : AdiLudbha. Buddhism work out their own salvation but they strive for Ultimate Truth, that could also he called the Ultimate. To an Indonesian, with their tradition of mystiesm and their own openess and their openess to various religions, that answer sufficed. The recent renovation of the venerable Buddhist temple Borebuaur, under­ taken with world wide support through UNESCO has brought the place of Buddhism in Indonesia to the fore. Also Indonesia’s participation in Aesan, in which Budunisi countries are present as well, makes the acceptance of Buddhism as a religion also necessary. Agrmn Javan, the Eindu based ancient religion of the Javanese of the centre of the country (more than half of the population) had old links to Buddhism and in the area is not only Boroburiur, but also Buddhist groups exist. The Chine e, whose Buddhist temples were net safe in the course ol the antipat! y-weves against their economic power and uncertain political elic iancc, now officially are recognised as Buddhist shrines#

I ialogue among Buddhists Lily stressed, that she and her husband, strangely enough, have taken on acquired insights in Buddhism through \.©stern literature on that rel­ igion, li lit she hud gained knowledge already during Her studies in ftsa Bonn, Lest Germany where she also ready comparative religion. It was interesting, almost amusing to see Low she and fcih&nie conc-erser:. She ohe spoke from her own experience and as self-styled Buddhist had a fee ane frank approach co the monk. She ofcourse resorted much to technical terms, obviously known to the monk. SksnafEimiSHxrHSHrtBd?:BLHKkx±B lit also s:Joke from tue certainity that books give, whereas Bhante jgre**’ - 1 °*-1 tme st culture in which he is embedded. Tnar cioes not sav that the couple from Indonesia/Netherlands only came irom ueorr. rney have made best use use of their retirement and are like honey suckers flying all over the world where Buddhist gather and live0 m i n striking Indonesian modesty they started apologising about theiir little knowledge, as they called it. Quick of unde?f ate > :Sey also could j.orruulate, each in her or his own way, so that others could follow. Amitaba , This typically Japanese branch of Buddhism they had come to know during a recent visit to Japan. It is called theistic because of the place that Amitaba has. Sometimes similarities between the devotees to Jesus and that of Amitaba and their position in liberation or salvation are pointed out. The temples are served by ensuing ksr.aratiSKB generations, the abbotric passing from father to son. Today many try to find modern expressions fa for the jt traditions Amitaba is the embodiment of compassion, naturally 'based on knowledge. Whoever prnounces Amitaba1 s name, is sure to be heard and helped. The name is endlessly repeated. One opinion is that just saying the name makes receive Amitaba's grace, others stress that this is so only if the name is said wholeheartedly, with a pure mind and in deep meditation. Amitaba is himself is nothing but compassion. If a sinner entrusts her or himself wholeheartedly or at least with confidence to Amitaba, she or he will experience his grace much more than those who have not been that far away. It was pointed out, that similar ideas in Christianity can base themselves on Jesus himself and on the anDOstel Paul. visualisation. Lily recalled how once she saw the picture of a Buddha with his Shakti (female energy wife) intimately united. She was advised to try imagining that nectar flowing from his body was dripping all over her body, cleansing her. Bhante and Ananda pointec out, hat this is typically Kahayana, the branch of Buddhism Japan belongs to. The question arose, in how far ie visualisation is helpful by coming to insight. Bhante3V joked and said, thet once somebody was fully soaked by this nectar, ants might come and enjov the heavenly juice. One must be careful with this kind of visualis­ ation . stages A b r i el but important conversation then got going about the different stages the one who searches for purity of knowledge must ■o through.dirough. All tradition Theravada and Kahayana Bu hism, liindiusm (Pataniali) and Christianity (mysti V have experience with such stages and they describe them for the benefit of their faithful, Good feelings are also meanstowards higher s a:;es, as is well-being art bliss. But they are not goals in themselves and one should know clearly that it is a stage, however important it is. The same is true for tranquility. Saint John of the cross, the Spanish mvstic, talks of the night of the senses, where God's absence is experienced. The final stage lies beyond and. can neither be described nor wilful acquired but is received, or simply reached. In Kahayana Buddhism there is much less stress on these stage. Knowledge can come instantly, without much preparation. Dialogue at two. Lily and. Bp ante talked for a while abount in a language that they fully understood for they visibly were in complete communication, though perhaps only on an intellectual level. For the others it was difficult, if at all to follow. Sunyata, void, what is it ? Since everything is impermanent, everything is unsatisfactort (dukkha). Human beings are subjected to the laws' of cause and effect ana live under conditioning from also the lives before this life. Lily admitted that she was not fully in tune with witn tlse general xm belief in re-incarnation* There is no substance, but vhat is substance ? There is e self but it is never there, us th e self is permanently cn&nging, as there is no substance* That it. the void A t this stage it was rca rkdod, that the Dialogue was becoming a closet circuit keeping all those who vere not veil versed in the refinery of Iartieular religion, and real exchange 01 vhat the participants could give and grasp. lie did not want to go home with the feeling that hie horiaon had widened substantially but that his heart had not been touched by it. peter supported this strongly. Ananda said he had already been thinking of a south er balance. He wanted to as Lily and Peng who had cone to luddhisE t'ia various ways, why they adhere to 1 heraveda and not the hahsyana Buddhism. Michael further explained his desire. Guests should not be just interviewed, all should learn from their life experience and thought. Peter added, that persons are at issue, not topics, Phante said th a t he was very interested in hearing tkmy what Lutherans and Catholics, both represented, really stand ior. lily’s story, lily said that she studied psychology end had also undergone soae training in psycLo-ancnlysis. Speaking out of what is hidden in. ones— elit is liberating, but in the meantime other problems might prop up, 3 igging so deep in the past and never ending the analysis, offers no issue. The therapy still has to come. What struck her pleasantly in Buddhism is the combination of diagnosis end ther®pathy. What she experiences in Christian churches was so complicated. One must not stay in the suffering, but overcome it. Even not# sac asks every Buddhist monk Wi.os: she meets, what the things are that truly are. During her study in the Netherlands she was told, that is is good to express emotions, as keeping them suppressed leans to frust&tion *md mental strain. But she found that frustrating as well and* it ui- not hcli). She prayed the Christian way, but that did not help either. »BKi seeing that all kinds of emotion is suffering, that education conditions an indoctrinates, made her go from discovery to discovery, t radually she felt freed from feelin.rs of guilt. All this also fitted extremely veil with science. Prevention is about "all one- can do, but it is very much. Acceptance of things as they come became easier. Attachment is being left behind.

Anaada1s study he studied "economics aau sociology of developing countries, with a view oi being oi help, he ran into trouble with himself. An assistant in psychoanalysis advised to take to meditation instead of medication. Lis father xkx thought that doing sports would be the best remedyj he should get his feet solidly on the ground. Through a course in Transcendental 1 editation he learnt how to meditate, thus finding more ant more balance. A string of coincidental meetings with knowledgeable people from India led him to astray of a few months in that country. Lis interest went to Hinduism and Yoga, But coincidentally again, first of all he visiter, the Buddhist pilgrimage sites. In Benares he ihough oi becoming a Hindu monk, a thought he had before. Then he met & bud* hist monk irons hri Lanka, now in Lorm. he vent to that country an-*, stayed there. Not seisin believing in thin s unseen, he was now able to give idle search for a fruitful one. Bis background is a family that had given up the Jevis and Christian practice it had come t' Peng's story. All bis studies have beer- paid for by others, his les, study. Buddhism he receive- free. At the university he choose the study of life, biology, but was dissatisfied by compiling e h Xe data. he always hac. a searching mind and asked endlessly frank questions. Buddhism struck him as being undogmatic. Giving the example of Einstein ana modern science, he illustrated how Buddhist thinking coincides with the great scientists discovery, that nothing is absolute. What he dreads is visiting the planetariaum, since the look at the galaxies and, in that context at the earth revolving around the sun, he feels more or less desperate and feels like giving up. he often wonders whether a cow or a plant is happy. They live within the boundaries of their conditioning and correspond to them. Human Beings have an over-developed Brain and over-act. A question as Lily had about the Belief of re-birth, is not the same problem to him, since it is just a hypothesis like so many others.

Larry’s story Grown u~ in a traditional Catholic environment But having moved with a wide variety of religions and cultures, he was neither concerted nor reborn. lie has the impression that over the years he has been widening the circle he has been living in, But simultaneously found more of himself within. Why he has Become a priest he is not specially interested in finding out, since' he is not inclined in digging it all up. There are clues enough to indicate that it was a good choice. His training for priesthood was the customary one, with openings preventing suffocation. Knowing that the study of theology belongs i to it, he had Been looking out for one thing; finding out what the Trinity is ell about, hsxhxd hKB&xiBskxssxBBXxxBXXHKH tfcxEgxxvtiB.E±EgxsB±. Eov great we s his relief that it is neither a rational construction nor a mere symbol. With the heir- os the Christian mystical life that he discovered practically on his own, he developed warm relations to all three persons in the one God. lie never misses the occasion of transmitting this experience, like in his Jesus stories. Succession A point that aroused, general interest among Christians and Buddhists, was the difference of opinion and practice among Protestants in general and Catholics. The letter Believe in the apostolic succession i.e. the unbroken line through which Peter's and the other Apostole's selection by Christ has been banned over to their xbleeess±x e successors until now. In the Lutheran church it is the consent of the community that counts. Within the protests churches, however, there are some that claim to have maintained this succession ; it is, if it it is historically founded, recognised By Catholic doctorine. Organisationally it is thinkable that if one day the Christian Churches would all agree, that this succession is shared among all in charge of the community. In Theravada Buddhis ordained nuns are extinct. They still exist in Mahayana Buddhism. Ways have been considered to obtain this succession again to Sri Lank; When ordained monks were in extinct in Sri Lanka, ordination was obtai Iron Siam (Thailand) and Burma, reason why now the two orders who deriv from this, are still called the Siamese and the Burmese sects. Not just bhakti The" devotion "of Amitaba and Jesus Christ, as had been explained durin the last few sessions, was briefly higniighteu. Bnante pointed out just bhekti (devotion, total surrender, loving faith) is insufficient it must lead to e and Be accompanied by profound wisdom and insight - related his meeting with an elderly woman at Delft, Ketherlanus„ She very kind to him and. asked him what he advised her, as a monk, to do asked her what was hex Belief. She was a catholic. He told her to uie virtue s x x s e x e x of Jesus and. go on remembering that one, as a sx iac- of combing her faith in Jesus to meditation. She met him later and him saying that it had Been of great Benefit to her. - 29 -

Visible and invisible Church Both Michael and harry stated that a point of doetorine common to both Luuherism ano Catholicism, whatever differences they have specially about the organisation and the mature of the Christian community,* is th.~x there ia a visible Chursh that is needed. It keeps the doetorine alive and guide the faithful, encourages them and unites them. however, there is also& and foremost the invisible Church, to whom all those belong who, though the Holy Spirit, are saved by the grave of Jesus Christ. These Churches”do not coincide.

afternnon Peter1s story He has not known his father. His mother remarried to a pastor and together they had five sons and daughters. Through his xirpsEiskss step-father he came to know Heinhard. Peter's youth was uneasy. At the age of about 15 he was sent to a boarding school, where he was more at ease with the school and enviroment. There are little flowers in everybody, waiting to grow and be plucked. Gradually some kind of continuity arose, an orientat­ ion leading to an international truth. te still is very grateful to and in touch with the teacher at school who also was something like a guru to him. He gathered self confidence ss and. strength, still depending on the wisdom and maturity of elders. After graduation in History of Arts he landed in tough business, went to the Stares and visited Latin-America. Further studies of mathematics, economoetrics and statistics. What struck him in Latin-America was that poor people can he happy. Also that the continuous presence of death, also in the struggle for liberation, is of vital importance. He was received as the eldest son in an American family where the father taught him that life is a sequence of attempts to do what one likes, not an accumulation of success. Having been highly involved in the struggle against poverty, the Vietnam movement ana the Civil Rights Movement in the USA and the stucents movemen t around 1968 in Europe, he married and got rather consolidated , still pursuing in some way what he stood for. His third guru ite mile rd, to whom he has developed a deep friendshipriendship. ,Reinhard, said ; 'There is a,£ ire at is in each , , oaerlusthnas to kindle it, even,dwell in m i and ever ybody; Peter hiiaseli has placed Eis lif:e unde. he motto ; 1 To he one there must be two'.

Humanism Peter cannot call himself a religious man, although he likes to believe. His belief has not yet been kindled. Asked what he calls Humanism, the faith he has been representing in the Dialogue, he answered with a strong voice and much conviction, that it is the resistenee against any form of Fascism in society*- and in human persons. Fascists belieVe in permanence and matter only. Politicians are clever to hide the making of true decisions behind the smokes-screen of the facts that have to he taken into consideration. peter also was of the opinion, that this resistance must be plaviul and serious at tne same time .

Hector's story Hector was born on a tea plntation in the mountains in Kandy, where his father was a supervisor. That is why he knows quite some tamil. He had four brothers and four sisters. Eis father died sue eerily and at the age of 20 he took over as the bread winner and the replacing father of the family. The youngest child was 6 years old at that time. For that reason he also got married late, at the age of 3^? after ixs last sister was given in marriage. Hector has worked in the postal services ior * his life, retiring as a Postmaster at Kandy. Kis wife was nurse, when they met at the Post office itself. How to reveal kis this love story to his mother who was keen on arranging a match for him ?. It happene< It happened th a t she hum some ailment cnc had to have a a®. icr.-l teat — iHk**hWFS8xkftBIuh9MK~- ant had to hove tier urine tested for vhic the nurse arranged ant’, that is how happened to cossc hone ant he appreciated by Lector*6 mother. The wedding wee simple, with only tvo witnesses present, e Muslin am. a 'iaail. in 11980 lie fell seriously ill wit!, kidney nil ert and suffered perhaps aore fro« the treataent given than iron the sickness, then Ue was in hospital, it was shown Low such he v«s appreciated by poring with each and everybody. bu dhist monks urn' s u n s, Catholics, even a bishop, , iadu* case ant! prayed* lie had beers close to death and it took years to gradually recover. 2 e became involved is Hoekhili Hermitage of which he ha* been the treasurer till her fell ill, since 1975 through hi* brother Godwin. V.hec einharcl asked. Harry whether he knew a good Hub. hist to be a ©eisber oi the first session of the Interreligious 1 ialogue, he gave hector*® name after having consulted his, Ke thought that having e Buddhist layman li;e Hector would be e great blessing indeed* As a result of his illness, he coul< not attend. Together with fihaste hesappe lhcro at Rockhill to ask him whether he was prepared to take over. Lector*e wife become a matron and reeved in several hospitals, ihey have tvo children, a son am" n daughter. She also retired, 1 or the last ter. years he bon, ht nothing for himself - all essential items have been gifted t© him unaakeo for. Nothing in M s home belongs te him - he is therefore unattached nctungr-im. . evotee Avery friney Lector visits the kataregama temple in Handy, one of the four (levalee that ore also involved in the Haney l.salr Per&hera. On the last frit, 'j of vut mouth ne oilers a pujt to the kstarag&at Cod, The temple it- e place where the 5 nmil Jmshuminr i rota Jaiin* live on the same premises with Luudhist imoui** an the hucU hist tea ie am the Hindu temple are in t.-.e same premises• , ector was taken for the first time on a pilgrimage to Lataragama by & Hindu ‘i ».«sil frienc from Jaffna who was a gem! friend of Lis {kataragssa in the deep South-Boat - the jungle shrine), fenny people go to hetarn, aua when they need favour* or wont to make a vow, Hector goes for worship for good, lieblth, pence and happiness, &ji*£‘\8XEQBik Un the ii r. t oz each month he oes to the Temple of the looth lor worship. When be built in^ iris house in the Vatapulusra Lou. ing behease his contractor was © Catholic. Once ir, Colombo be passed by the church of taint Anthony at hachehikaue, he stepped i». one told the good Saint to pull up the contractor, who * , ivin*, priority to the house* of the rich. 1 wo weeks later the man turned up an" completed hector*a house, * Tourism with a dif i erex.ee bin.ee 1976 Hector has beef, involved in receiving group visit* from Europe, This we* done till be fell r>irk ant since be recovered, he would not cind resuming this at the appropriate level. These groups erase mainly Iron the Netherlands and Germany and were, to start with, or united by Harry and hi* brother Hierro, in an attempt to give people venting to visit bri He.aka a eh. nee to cone to knew the people, their culture and religion, from direct contact*. there’ aloo have been course* on buddhism for teacher® of Christies rail, ion from those countries «me Belgium, organised by Hharnecakra Vif’iyapitha at Re japo&aro^aya, Getempe, near I eradeniya. Hector wes involve© in these activities Area ike beginning, when people were hosted b his in katapuluwa, as part of the programme, ; irce then hundreds of such visitors have been passing through. Hector not only organised the stay in families, but also programmes in and areuaHenry an<. even trips to the Luddhist site* and Ruined Cities. This ha® els© 'bees an an afiactive way fox burope©ns, many @f whom convinced Christians, but all genuinely open to an encounter of buddhism and Hinduism in Hri Lanka, to gain Insights they even from good books would not have gathered, village funeral After "the session in the afternoon, Bhemte explained that be Had to go to yey ® visit to the funeral house of the grandfather of done*, one of the evtrenely and helpful young sen at Hoekhili Hermitage, James else runs the tea shop nt hoekhili. Whoever was free, joined* Also the four nuns of the mummery came along, together with Jones *iu few young »em* Ananda and Hater had to star behind, since a telegram frets Reinhart?. ; einhard a bit criptic, ha< beer, received announcing with joy that the kidney- operation of his wife had been successful ami that he was enplaning, *. In taspolft Bhante bought tea, betel leaves and sugar for the bereaved fatally, hr on there the van vent inside, stopping at the spot where it could 1 r. go no further. The steps cut in the earth that led to the poor funeral house had been improved an* coveret with white sand. The sun was setting when the group arrived. All paid their respects to the dead b o n y , t | an old nan whose hones hardly made relief ou the white sheet with which it the body was covered. Another sheet was hung a canopy above the body, from beam to hen®, his wife and two other veaec accepted the condol­ ences - that were offered without words and jpoc gestures, seated on the ground agains; the wall. Outside era chairs, obviously borrowed from the iauerliate exrviroiaeni, stood in a row, some covered with white sheets 1 and destined for the monks who were expected. The nuns disappeared t x k t x into the house and busied themselves with the other wocien, A cool drink was offered to the guests who appearance die not seen to have eamsec surprise but was clearly appreciated, hhonte whispered with two men squatting on their konehes next to his chair. Be approached Lily, asking her whether he could borrow some money fro® her, right at that moment she discussed with hector whether the visitors could contribute something* All preparalions for the reception of the guests were being sic; e, but there vu no coii in. The family could not get united ab o u t who v o ile pay f o r it. The couple with whom the grand parent® stayed were too poor to finance all what was needed for the funeral. The old man had been a well—known dancer and a few ye^rs ego b© had isade his last visit to Rockhill end they had been trying some of his dance movements for the last time. The van was sent into town with the money lor lithe coffin, heanwhile, betel was offered, of which only Larry took - i t was a sb s p e c ia l co m p o sitio n by th e b e t t l e woman who was in c h a rg e . When the van returned, the groups said farewell and was given a light up tne hill towards the vehicle. On the w-y home bhante made sure at the coffin shop that the coffin wae delivered and it was shown to everybody, Ja n u a ry 2 k 25*—*— ------—------— ——- — ------—------— — —— ——— m orning t e a r s . Talking about the work of the nuns of the premises, Bhante related that they had many contacts with women of the area uiu female visitors, also from a b ro a d , Or.cc th ey c a lle d him because a European woman paying them a visit in their convent had started crying, apparently without reason, and iid not stop any more. They could not yet handle the situation, since they had never had a case like that. In instances women c ne weeping went strengthened end became even nuns, bhante thought that also hie Sinhalese appearance and Lis Buddhist approach inspired confidence, at least interest, in foreign visitors, he also gave the example of people of the area who came vita endless tears, lie always comforted the®, touched then when it concerned men, spoke with them as family members and helped thorn, one© they were able to speak, often with the aid of questions, to relieve themselves, lie did not think that tears in themselves are a tkErstpsafcky therapy. The weeping must stop at some time. Tears alone are only flood* spilling over a bund, k- lmt the bund remains. In Buddhism there are two caused of tears j those ©1 sorrow and worries, these of joy. Both sorrows and joy can be wholesome and unwholesome* It is critical, therefore, to gradually distinguish the causes. Then the therapy must follow, harry reported that in the Christie® tradition wholesome tears, either of cenverson from sin or conversion to God, of sorrow and joy, are considered to be xk a gift of the holy Spirit, Preying for this gift of tears is well-known among mystics. They are signs and expressions of , * vkat really happens, lie also explained that in the group methods he uses, he purposely prevent the shedding of tears too much end too soon. Humour and jokes, also good communication help achieving this. There always flow tears, but of sorrow and of joy, but they cone later, once confidence Las been established and group members feel free to express themselves the way they went. th e ra p y % Tliai te an AjQt.ncia related a few moving stories about people eoaiag to ockhill ; em it a, e cnc vnntin, to cotaalt suicide. They first mace the® feel at hooae out then helpe: the® to talk about their problems* The con.: i. euce in an inspiring aonli alt ays hat. been a great help. It never bad been sufficient to dig up the past, that led to the present crisis. Coni'i e? ce in oneself, with the help of the experienced offered then to the® Iron their environent, could be built up with the help of - genuine until rstanding, prayer am meditation, pr ctical advise# Michael»s story Michael is one of iU children* He was born in Tanzania, Last. Africa# i is father vas a Protestant missionary me leal doctor there* luring the Second world bar the family spent 7 yet r e in xk prisoners camps, what for Michael has been a happy childhood, with such care from the- parents am a secure ix envirouent, Deck in Germany, schooling va« not easy. ! e lived two lives, that of the strain in et school act. that of the adventure with the boy scouts. he was both shy and bolsteroue. As a Protestant Pastor Lis Loppy is people. Church work is a tradition in his family. One grand—father gave up working at the post office since he Led to work on Sundays, the day of God and become a lay preacher, a ainsiona ary ir his own country. Going in for the rather academic studies of theology r*t the university, he had an inferiority complex, since he is not of the intellectual type. Michael iouna consolation ana insight in this verse of ps&lsa 139 s * I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made* At the Theological faculty he m e t his wife. They were worlds of differences. he just coulu not comprehend end like her. They net at one nr then at the ocher university and finally married. 8ke also is a Pastor. They arc complementary oi or.e another but that is eau.se of friction am. profound union. Once he accepted himself with his talents arc' 1 ini let ions, stuuy became easy, thile others relished in discussions about this teacher and that opinion, he assembled whatever jnusii looked good end profound to bis. This life style of his own drew much critiais from the real students, but they liked him all end he knotted wans friendships. This way of searching- for genuine knowledge even paid et the or ms, where he scored better notes then Hie clever—linge• Once he wrote a paper Tor a professor who was known to be as profound hr Incomprehensible. T ;e learned men noted o n the pa,per that he wondered where he had this precise understanding of hip thought from. As a Pastor in training (Vicar) he was given in charge of Reinhart!, where k i m r i wife first had done her apprentice—ship# Michael did. not understand Ite-inhard, hut had enough rapport to him to him to Lave long discussions, he an«. his wife became children of Iteinhard's house. At present he is a pcstpr in the town of Tlenslrarg, near the banish border, a navel base, after service in a village first# He is fully aware of the many and manifold needs he could attend to, but has chosen to concentrate on direct work with the people, with all the courage such outsit'edness needs Blustering# His colleagues wondered what gain gain he could bring from this trip to Sri Lanka, useful for them as vc11. that Michael found all the time, was the last they expected him to be confronted with s the position of woaec and the role of polities# He was sure that the way Eeinhard had chosen wsmiM. could be also hie.

Bfaante * s s t o r y . He was born in 1942 where hie? father was supervisor in a tea estate and also an ayurvedic physician# He joined the hoys Scouts and the lied Cross, Gaining experience, certificates and medals. hist mother die* in 195&# He has one sister a m one b ro th e r# a aonli told him he would becane one himself# lor one ye. r, at th e c e of 12, he stayed in a teraple but aoved out agoin# Ve»t lor lurcher studies anc was tr a in e d <■ s an estate supervisor, responding to an adve. tiacuent# After one y e a r of work he dec idee to jo in a monastery* Trying to meet Aranda T hera failed - 3 3 -

Si nee he was out of the country. Finally, he was accepted by the famous Balan- goda Ananda Maitrey a Thera, Mahanayke of the Burmese Sect. He did not know where his wish to become a monk came from, apart from the desire to he free from society and job. After three weeks he was ordained a monk (first ordination) with full ceremonies like riding on an elephant. That was in 1963. Higher ordi­ nation was in 1968. Followed a period of intensive studies in pirivena at Am- balangoda. Bhante did not like going to the Buddhist University and study mere. His longing was to Become a travelling monk, to he close to nature and people, staying over in a village during the raiay season. That way he remained on the Eas t coast, till he decided to go to Kataragama in the forest of Buhona. Meeting wild animal and being unharmed, reciting the sutta of Loving Kindness, wq® part of the experience. Staying at Pothuv.il the Muslims of the area were stricken by a disease that killed many of them. They had grown friendly with the monk who shared with them the smiles and the lttle he had, and was given a© much of their agricultural produce that he had to sell it. With the income the temple could be improved. Bhante and five monks toured the area, chanting and offering chanted water. How good Bhante can act on the people whom he met and the animals whom he encountered. After one week the epidesajr disappeared. After a stay at Gampola, Bhante moved to the temple at Wegiri. The residing oLd monk took his arrival as an attempt to replace him and was not vers friendly. When he had a dream that a wound looking like a cave developed on his foot, a pious lady (W.K. Ginadasa, owner of a factory of ayurvedic oils) turned up and offered him a cave on her property with the land. Going there he found thick jungle. With some boys he found his way through the thorns to find the cave he had seen in his dream, making an increasingLydeep cavity in his foot* People strongly advised him not to go and stay in that particular cave since it was supparsed to be haunted by evil spirits. Bhante, nevertheless, spent three nights, in the cave and had strange experiences indeed. However, that this was the place he was go Mfe to live in. The people did not bring him any food during that time. A sm all bo3'- brought him a few biscuits at the end., which he divided over the Buddha, the boy and himself. Once he mentioned his teacher to the villagers they changed their mind about him* In the beginning, i.e. during five years, an American monk lived with him, having built his kuti. However, thej had widely different views on many things and after he had put fire to his hut and b elo n g in g s by m ishap th e o th e r monk l e f t . During that time Ananda had come already for short visits. He felt like joining Bhante now. With the latter in his hand to be posted he met Bhante in Kandy and could explain his desire in the spot. Monks from Burma, Thailand, India and the West spent some time at the cave. Bhante himself visited the Buddhist sites in Indiaand met a number of yogins there. His main object during these day*, was to communi cate with nature and speak with people. He liked very much living with the trees. T rees When Bhante mentioned his life with the trees Harry indicated that this morn­ ing he had received a letter from another tree-man, Sanil Senanayake d o did his ph.D. in America and is ’known to move freely with snakes. He started the Neo-Synthesis Research Centre at Mirahawatte, close to Bandarawela where Harry lives”and the two are in close contact. Ranil made charts of all trees existent in Sri Lanka and one of the objevtivesof his Centre is to reconstitute jungle, combining the life of the rain forest with that of the traditional home gar- deningand adding to it all the means of modern research available. Peng, who is a biologist,^mentioned a farm in Europe where the members of the community had established contacts with the trees by talking to them and eommumieating in various ways. There have been also experiments in sending messages through trees, at various places. And everybody knows about the people with the green fingers who alsotalk to trees and plants, who make them grow marvelously. Destruetion and reconstruction of the world Bhante was asked to give a detailed account of the Buddhist presentation of this world's destruction and reorganisation. He stressedthat what he says peri ±s tains only to the present world* Before this one another existed, destroyed at some time. Buddhists reckon in aeoons, incalculable periods, 400.000 of which cover the three major perods. After a world's destruction the situation remains static for some time. Then it starts again. Destruction recurs, after - 34 -

a long period of time. The four elements are the agents of destruction. This world will he destroyed by fire. There w ill be nmeh. rain first.. The people, happy that this promises fertility , w ill actively engage in agriculture^ Then the rain will stop and the land dry up. At that time all beings, by accumalating energies, will meditate. That is how human lifew ill he safeguarded as through medit ation the beings w ill gradually move to brahmaloke, the heavenly realm.. A second and third sun will appear, till there are 7 In all. With the 6th the world, dry like a stick, will start smoking. The being meanwhile move up each time. The world w ill be one big fire. The remaining devastation w ill last for aeons. Then there will be rain. The sea and rivers will fill up. The milky matter *n whieh the human beings had been Seedingat the beginning of the destroyed world*s exsistence, with all deteriorating results on them, has remained existant and it gathers in strength. Science and Buddhism Peng asked Bhante. whet ether this view was based on the ancient notion that the earth is in the center of the universe or whether one must imagine destruction and reorganisation of the world as an unending sequeneeof development, like large waved. Bhante said that the latter corresponds with the Buddhist notion. Peng had critical remarks abput a presentation that cpnld give, the impression that a non-sclentific notion was governing it. He always had treasured a elnar scientific mind and did not beat around the bush when his cherished, idea,, the concurrence of Buddhism with modern science, Was in danger. His humorist in remarks came from a mind that does nit want to defei&te from elar thinkfng and wants to make the destination between tales, containing truth but couched in poetia wrappings, and expanations that want to be based, an facts ceriftable in science. He could e.g. not see how the many suns appearing in the destruction seer^rio could coincide with scientific views., Els Buddhism is a happy marriage heweea his life philosophy and his .scientific Approach. He also wanted to know, ^fhecer the milky substance can be understood as a stroy about the storage of ebergy, what Bhante confirmed* Peng found that nuclear science gives ample support far the Buddhist* world, view. Buddhahood in everything There was a small discussion about the mainlz Mahayana-ccncept, yhat there is Buddhahood in everything also material - since there is nibbing purely m aterial. Peng and Lily had met this notyion e.g. in the Amitube Buddhism of Japan where they redently had been* Bhante was rather reluctant in agreeing since he seemed to see the ground for quite some confusion in this notion*. Karma survives - — — — — — ...... — *■ The central plaee in the tHro±x±fr: doctrine ®f Karma occupies in Buddhism., evoked the the need for clarification of how Karma would carry over through the destruction. Since the human beings had taken refuge, thanks to their accuma„ lated power of meditation that chey enjoyed in the time just before the de­ struction, in Bramaloka above the world* it would he there that Karma th*±. survives. It takes place in’ the minds and is experienced there. Peng pointed out that animals have only senses and no mind and acquire no Karma. The realization of reality of life, starts with non-attachment, non-violence, non^delusion. Only human beings are capable of doing so. 0ne - sided presentation. Harry, seconded by Peter, questioned the presentation of Buddhism as it had been done until now* He had been able to follow, he said, leaving room for the problems a Non-Buddhist has when Buddhists discuss details, terminology and refinery among themselves. That would Christians also do and in 4he Dialogue there should be clarification like this. His remark aimed at something else. He reminded that once before he had said the same* The explanation of dukkha, dissatisfaction, suffering was something that a Christian from his own life-experience but also from his own doctrine (jthai of original sin with the Catholics) is in agreement with. But there had been such attention paid to this part of the coin, that the other one, that of - 35 - happiness, bliss, compassion and loving kindness had received nruck too little stress* In actual fact they had been playing a role all the time, specially loving kindness, but neither in the presentations nor in the explanations* Harry referred to the saying of St. Paul ( 1. Cor. 29-31): "...the time is short; it remaineth, that they that have urifes he as though they had none; and they that weep, as thongh they wept not; and that they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and that they that buy, as though they possesed not;and that they that use the world, as not abusing it; for the fashion of the world passeth away." (King James' translation)

Jan u ary 26 —------m orning Snakes; There was much talk about shakes, each time no tales being told and technical details preferred. Harry tried to describe what is the difference between the attitude of Western and Lankan Christians regarding serpents, in comparison to that of Buddhists in general. Christians have been brought up to disregard snakes and to be out to u.stroy them for two r eg so us. One is a one-sided tradition carried over from the Bible (vhe:re the serpent now acts as a disguise of satan and then as an image of Christ), depicting the serpent as punished for having tempted Eve in paradise* The other is a textbook education in natural science and biology, explaining the stratification of beings, the serpents and all that crawls being very low on the le vel and therefore prone to be trampled. From Ms experience Hindus and Buddhists have respect and even verneration for the cobra as a powerful being and serpents in general as living beings above all* Seeing snakes in a dream is considered to be auspicious. Harry explained how he always takes groups visiting Sri Lanla and all his visitors to the Dowe Temple, not far from Bandarawela, where the eobraplays a great role, to make them feel fnra and see how their education caused a relationship very much different from that of the local people. He thinks this crucial for an en­ counter between East and West. Bhante said that the boys workinh at Rockhill, while cleaning up the Meditation Hall for the Dialogue Group, had found and killed three poisonous snakes and then told him about it. He had many stories about how he helped saving the lifes of snak es, also venomenous ones. As a boy hehad been bitten five times when he held them up at the tail and his physician father had cured Mm each time. snake cures People -were related to have the power to whisk away the snake bite impact as they do with wats. There are also yantras in use to keep snakes, away or cure bites. The sutta of loving kindness is used in encounters with snakes. In Sri Lanka there are specialised ayurvedic snake doctors who w ill have to know which serpent has bitten*the patient for the cure. Sucking out the poison after the bite is dangeroussinee it can affect a person in various ways. One remedy is to fill a bottle with hot water, empty it and place it with the opening on the wound. Much used are also snake stones that suck the poison out and ean be pre­ pared for sueh use thereafter. At Rockhill as well as Mezzanine (Where Harry lives) a snake stone is available as well as a powerful p ill that keeps anypoison down for five hours so that the patient can be treated during thattime of grace. As somebody said: "Although we worship snakes, we do not sleep with them". The r ig h t Moment P e te r w anted to know from B hante how he had come to h is d e c is io n of g iv in g up acquiring more ancl more knowledge from books and choosing a life as he lived since. Bhante said it were the people. They had led him up to the cave at Rock— h ill. Peter Pointed out how knowledge can betray you and how it can fog the mind* In the stories of Ananda, Lily and Peng also it had become evident that for them the destinetion between the accumulation of knowledge and the acquirement of - 36 - wisdom a t some tim e had "become c le a r . Amanda related how he as a student in Amsterdam, on April 1st Fools Day 1 972, had bundled up his hooks and taken them to the second hand bookstore at the university where he was given a pittance for it altogether. There was no anti- intellectualistic mood in the groupat that moment at all. In all conversations, • in the group or in private, clear knowledge in the conventional sense of the word had been offered and sought after. There were scientifically trained people enough in the group who persue their investigations and publications to avoid any depreciation of conventional knowledge and the search for it. Yet there was a consensus that wisdom is not identical with it nor the way to acrspxireit* D e cisio n Peter once again asked Bhante to express what had been the forces leading h-im to the major decisions, that he apparently had taken in his life. All agreed that decision was not the best word to tag such events. Bhante, said that the ttw three most important decisions of his, that of become a novice* of receiving higher ordination and the settlement in the cave at ¥egir.ikancle had been like an opening towards life, a new life* Abetter word than decision, however, at that stage was not found. Everybody in the group agreed on the experience that decisions, arrived, at were as much their own act of w ill as the answer to a concrete challenge, needvox f chance. Some had read texts just at the time that they had come to same in s ig h t. Bhante explained how his decisions as a travelling monk had been influenced by his lively contacts with the Muslims in the area where he stayed for some time. Thoughts from other faiths also, had fertilized, his mind and directed d e c is io n s * Peng, seconded by Harry, said that in his life he had taken decisions to go in for a new area of research and work almost every four years. It was like a painter having finished a painting and starting a new one, not being in a mood to look at one achieved. It had often been a nuisance to Lily. 'When I want to change it comes to me', ha said. Here Blso a good conversation about how to arrive at the right understanding necessary for decisions eveolved, without arriving at a satisfactory word indi­ cating adequatelywhat was meant by substance, transcendency, deep truth, words that were used freely and seemed to meet with general understanding and consent. The same was true for words like dream, vision, image. Intuition - Knowledge Images have insight in them but they should not be accepted as they appear. ( There is intuition, a source of knowledge surely underestimated and underculti­ vated in modern western developments,. It is not the enemy of knowledge, they are twins. Together they can lead, to clarification. But even so they dc^ not reach beyond their own, limited realms. For real wisdom cannot be conditxned or brought about even by a perfect collaboration of both, intuition and knowledge. Unless one stops questioning ’and searching and opens up for what then w ill arise, no further progress, in insight seems possible. Peng pointed out that what relates to the conventional world must he treated with conventional thinking. Science being one of the new religions among edu­ cated people, the use being made of it by many if not most people, also scientists, conceals that it finally produces low knowledge. P e te r once more prodded Bhante to persue his description of what happened to him to arrive at the decisions he took. Bhante confessed that he had felt like a Bo&dhisattva a t the time of his wanderings. Hefelt seeing the scenery without attachment. He flowed over in generosity and good actions were natural to him. He was like a bird at times. From his story it had become clear that his de­ cision to come to the cave at Wegirikande flond from that stage and also trans­ cended i t . r- ^ - 37 - Afternoon A guest for one day, Muhamad Abdullah Suleiman, was given the opportunity to give his life story. Born in East Germany he studied and taught phireophy. The coincidence of his appearance at this stage of the Dialogue was increased by the fact that he lives, i.e. had his house, close to Altenhof but actually did not know Keinhard's place. Taking part in one of the demonstrations against nuclear enrgy in Northern Germany he saw what violence the security forces used against peaceful demonstrators, including the fear brought about by low flying helicopters. He saw that the forces of evil are in the i|icre§se in Europe. He became a shepherd and ilive picker in Greece after having sold his property. Moving over to Egypt the empty space of the mosque made him look for God inside, anexperience he had not had in his Christian upbringing. He came in close touch with Muslims and had remarkable encounters as well as decisive experiences. Thus he became a Muslim, without knowing much of what it all means. Hi’s highly dis­ ciplined mind did not rest heforehe had acquired a solid knowledge, also by academic studies about Ismal. He went to Mecca, Syria and Turkey* Via Kashmir he arrived in Sri Lanka on his second wandering, everywhere living with Muslims. In Sri Lanka he almost got married hut now wonders whether he will meet the Muslim woman he desires:. He showed all the signs of a new convert, full ofvhis new faith andsevere with the prescriptions. He also did not miss any accasion to make Islam known to anybody he met. Sufi In Turkey Muhamad was introduced to a Sufi Master. He is full of it. From a some times academic essay, where one can recognise the German teacher in him, complete with pointed finger, he suddenly switched into the most lively demonstration of what he wanted to explain. Loud shouts were no t rr rsrG o.nrixi^ Is.is long monologue, and. Lily each time jumped in surprise. Angels and Satan were depicted in their actions ad and Allah's great­ ness was demonstrated. The mystical knowledge of the Sufis and the phy­ sical and mental methods they used were indicated. AAnarAccording to Muhamad, the formal knowledge and inner knowledge, in later development of the Islam, wTere reeoncilled by bringing Islam and Sufi together. This was best illustrated at the time of the prayer-call coining from the neighbour­ ing mosque, the warm voice from the loudspeaker carrying across the valley and up the slope. The moment the call was over, Muhamad countered with his call of praise of Allah, his voice being strong enough to have been beard all around. It was a showering of questions, customs, sayings and figures from the s b mystic, astrological and esterical worlds of the Middle East, that there would have been confusion but for Muhamad* s conviction and direction of heart and and ming.

Kirjam He touched at the Chartian heart when he related how he visited the tomb of Miriam, Mar the mother of Jesus, to all Christians, the Mother of God to Orthodix (Greece and Russian) and Catholics, at the ancient Ephese, now Selshuk/lsmir. To him Mirjam is at the heart of real understanding of Allah and of the world. The niche in the x s e x x x mosque at the side oriented towards Mecca, is her place, her womb. Muhamed had pronounced opinion about women in Islam. According to him the first 150 years they were equal to men and only due to lower in under­ standing they were relegated to the background, although they are still such more prominent and powerful than usually is assumed outside Islam. He also explained why they were veiled, practically because men s are so weak and cannot handle the brutal force they have. - 3& Protest To'vara!" e end of his witnessing Kuhamad got seemingly carried away his sometimes simplifying comparisions between decadent West and pure Islam. He slipped into a statement amounting to accusing the Jews of corrupting the West resulting in spreading its corruption force fully and iposing it on the whole world. There was an immediate, non- aggressive hut strong protest against such statement and the unfairness showing through it. Kuhamad apologised and asked for forgiveness, what was given and sealed by a handshake. evening in the nunnery The nuns extended a surprise invitation to visit their convent, the international nunnery as is said on the board leading to it. The visitor were shown their simple, efficient dwelling, where there are also guest rooms for outsiders. These also could use the teaching hall as a dormi­ tory, while two kns kuttis wait for renovation. What was amazing was th amount of books to be found in each cubicle. Bhante explained that he though of starting a nunnery when Rockhill Hermitage received more and more female visitors from the Vest. To start with, they stayed with families in the village but there were many mis­ understanding arising from the clash of cultural habits and ideas. Asking experienced monks to advice him, he received mostly discouragement. All nuns actually have come from the village and the immediate surrounding. That in itself was a point of critism. On the other hand, the interest in becoming a nun had come from village girls themselves. The nuns themselves said, in frugal circumstances though, what had been their goal when they entered. They conformed from their facial expression and their posture that they had gained a stance of their own. When they were asked what they would do if Bhante went abroad for a long time, they confidently smiled. Asked whether the monk had changed when he was in Germany, they were very positive : he had gained weight. They have excellent results in the examinations they take. They run the Sunday Bhamma school for children and are counsellers to the people around Eyes Bhante explained the simple devices he uses to make people train their eyes for improved eye sights. Ananda has been helping people with second hand spectacles that he received from the Netherlands. Now import duties are so high, that this service is seriously handicapped. Apart from that, Bhante is convinced that eye exercises can be of great help for people with all kinds of eye problems. Harry seconded him, since he does the same, specially since he came to Sri Lanka this time. He gathered his skills from a Buddhist eye meditation exercise and from his own meditation/contemplation practise, also with groups. Bhante said that there has been a good tradition of this in Buddhism, but he would have to look for it..

January 2?------— -— ------day in Eandy and Aiapitiya Kataragama. shrine Hector's favourite shrine for worship in town, that of God Kataragama, was the aim of the group’s visit first. Behind the shrine itself, serviced by a group of Hindu priests of the Brahamin easte from Jaffna., lies a Buddhist temple. The Kataragama shrine is specially busy on Fri­ days and this -was the day of the week the visit took place. Hector arranged his puja, after the temple had been shown by those who were - 39 - (H O new to it. That is what he does every Friday. Once a month, the last Friday, hector arranged for the Puja in the afternoon, the time that most people come. Peter, Michael, Lily and Harry stood with Hector while his puja was offered to the gods by one of the youngest priests, after he had been given it by the chief priest. They were given extra plantains when the service was over. Meanwhile Bhante, Ananda and a fear others chatted with the chief priest who attended to the public in the entrance hall. He accepted the gifts and handed them to an assiatant, after having singled out the gold that was given as contribution to the temple and livelihood of priests. Ee was very well versed in the various religious traditions, specially of course his own. It would have been good to have had a long session ’with him or to have him as a participant in the Dialogue. He is, as are all priests, much tied down to temple service. His chief role seems to be that of an advisor. He is also a learned astrologer and services the people on those matters. picnic The excellent food parcels brought along from Roekhill, were eaten in the Royal Park above the town, from where there is a magnifieient view. The park being closed during lunch hour. Ananda received the special permission from the Mayor, who lives close by, for the security officer, a gentle though martial pensioner, for the purpose.. There was running water with much chloride, fortunately flasks had been brought along with the excellent spout water from Wegirikan.de. A bus trip over the high road overlooking the town took the party then to Ampitiya. National Seminary Father Joe de Mel, Sector of the Catholic National Seminary, the central training place for priests for the whole the island, showed the park and buildings. From the hill top there was a good view of the area that will go under water when the water of the Victoria Dam, recently completed, will rise. Fr.Joe said that the scenery had changed consider­ ably over the 2-§ years that he was Rector, with more soil showing and less trees. The path wound along the stations of the Cross, a Catho­ lic devotion meditating on the 14 moments in Jesus' wray of suffering iss leading to exhje±x x k s ±x s :e x crucifixion and burial. The spacious buildings, monument of a missionary period marked by its origin in Europe recently had been painted orange. The chapel was being renovated. This entry into the vast complex, ending in the dining hall where tea was served. The noise of the students who were no more all in white cassock they wore in days not so long ago - made it difficult to converse, so that the group moved to a more quietd place, The Rector had not been disturbed by the noise of so many voices, resound­ ing in the vast dining hall, h he obviously was accustomed to it and was very much composed.

Theory In the eurriculam, Fr.Joe explained, there is not much room for studies of the non-Christian religions. It is -world wide rather the same. The study of buddism at present is the weakest spot even since a qualified teacher -went to Kelaniya University recently. He himself had already arrived at the conclusion, since his arrival that it is not through classes that one can come to understand other religions and one's own, however solid knowledge is needed (a visit to the library confirmed this) In the building itself, apart from the large chapel where the common services and prayers are held, a number of small prayer and worship rooms have been installed, where roups of students meditate and pray. That innovation is regarded as very important. Yet, even the best system was considered to a fall short of the goal, that interreligious dialogue has and that was fully understood by the Seminary's Rector. Perhaps the young priests could gain experience - 4 1 - \ ‘4' dialogue in actual practice* Bhante oroposed to have a group of students spending a period of t^ae „ at Rockhill Hermitage, fe. g. during the holidays, share the life ther* and follow a meditation course* There was also the offer to make the experience of the seessionrs of the interreligious dialogue available to the Seminary for their own us®* Peal presence \ The custom in Catholic church buildings and chapels to keep bread that is preserved from the Holy Mass (Eucharist) in a shrine box where the | presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is the object of worship* A lamp is eternally burning as long as this hosti is kept there* It is renewed once a week and has to come from a Mass celebrated* It is this bread that is also shared at Communion* jy* Joe invited the group into the cuapaE where he and the lecturer® celebrate Mass aaad worship the SI eased Sacrament- (the bread remaining from it)* like the other- worship rooms* it had mats and cushions o® the floor* All- sat and Fr* doe open eiM the doors of the shrine box* diowing the round bread kept upright in a metal container* There was deep silence for a while* At the request of Michael* Fr*Jc-e read psalm- 23* describing how God is like a shepherd leading the sheep through the desert to the oasis where oil said food and water are abundant* Food and water, or festive wine, and the presence of God are profoundly embedded in the Christian faith* Whoever believes in the divine nature of Jesus Christ, Son of God, may also believe in his Heal Presence in the bread and the wine offered at Holy Mass* Sharing this bread and this wine as Communion, unites- at the same time with all mankind* Fr* Joe stressed, that both bread and wine are the pro­ duce of the hands of working people* SHencg. Fr* Joe also said., that words are not capable of expressing what reality is* They merely try saying what silence actually is* Silence as it was kept by him in the echoing dining hall, so that he was capable of listening to others and und e r s t an ding them, and taiing himself without raising his voice to another shout is more than the absence of sound* In the Dialogue., till that moment, silence had been one of those words that nobody had been able to describe., let alone define adequately. In the quietness of. the worship rooms of the seminary the silence reigned there., in the presence of God, was the best sign of the Unity that had governed this visit to an. apparently strange world* The visitors were really moved by the immediate communication that existed and the departure was like leaving home* Holy shroud Monte Fano was the next goal* It is the Benedictine M0nastary not far from, the Seminary* The group arrived just In time to participate at the Holy Mass that is celebrated every Friday afternoon against the back­ ground of the pictures of the large piece of cloth, that is believed, to have envelopped the body of Jesus after he was taken off the cross on which he died* The sermon of the superior of the community, Father Thomas, coutd have been dictated to him by one of the participants; in the Dialogue® or by all together* The community with the many people attending Mass was immediate and stimulating* So was. the popular singing JEt the end there was the illum ination of the three pictures* showing traces of a man to who® the prayers were now said. There was a moving litany to Jesus who suffered scourging and crucifixion for the good of humankind, following the will, of his Father in Heaven* There was an explanation of the pictures after the service* Recent scientific research was told to have shown that the cloth is a* old &s\ tradition has upheld. A close look at it shows the breathtaking picture of a Man of Suffering, as the Bible says; one who was systematically \ scourged with 2f0 lashes, as the Bible says and the picture shows, crowned with thorns thereafter and who carried the log belonging to the 1 cross on which he died on his shoulders till they bled* Also, the place where the blood of his heart, pierced by the soldier's lance, coagulated* is visible* How the picture, that is a negative, was formed on the cloth, still is a question mark*. Also, what happened to the body, since there are ebo graces of decay* Christmas Cake The Benedictine monks, who had been informed that Buddhist monk® were coining for a v isit, had not prepared any food to the tea that was prepared* They drew on the last reserves of the Christmas cake that was nicely kept in paper and wrapped with a silvery strap* The visitors from the West were given the recipe and explained why this cake, probably a joint reminder of the Dutch and the EngLish presence in the island, Can be kept long* Bhante and Ananda took theirs home and also some for th nuns*. That was significant for the amazingly cordial get-together that developed around tea and cake* The Benedictines-' showed their interest in dose exchange with Buddhist aonSis especially, on the basis of eachother's spirituality*

J a n u a ry 28 ------*------

Reinhard*s arrival ------

Early morning Reinhard landed at Katunayaka* He was welcomed by Anandae and Peter, who had slept a bit before driving down* That night there had been little sleep at Rockhill anyhow* Reinhard met all the dialcguists as if they were old—timers from his own sessions at Altenhof* They were told about his w ife's operation, that had been successful but still had its aftermath complications* Benita however had urged Reinhard to fly to Sri Lanka, and that was the reason that he felt free to join the Dialogue* Benita had said: "They are pulling so much*" a fte rn o o n round table report to Reinhard

Reinhard's Dream came true* There has been a genuine encounter based on union with God and the nirvanic ideal* He appreciated especially the peric of silence, of free time and the group meditations* The direct dialogue with the Supreme was fostered,, on that, way producing strength and peace* The conversations had been fruitful not because of the words, chosen* they failed to express and comprehend what was wanted to be said* H at lacked was the continuous presence of lindu and Muslim partner#^. Also of Man ay an a Buddhists* Among Hindus, one would have welcomed equally representatives of the various schools ig Hinduism* V isiting places was- of importance* The W~giriya and Babekkre devale kapurales had focussed full attention on'the central place worship had" been in traditional society, with the economic basis of nindagam and devalegam lands entrusted to those who served the defales* The village thus had its base of cohesion and strength* How the m aterial development side tracks the people towards minor issues* The traditional -Buddhist basl af temple, dago ha and tank, that will be seen at a large scale in Amuradha- pur a, also is in danger of being eroded* - 43— \

Tte sorsiilp in Fr* J0ers chapel at the National Seminary and his words were appropriate in stressing the unity of human work and Godre grace* At this plane also the religions cannot but meet* The ascetic ai® Nirmal adheres to, in line with the tradition of all religions, teaches what one wants and what one does not want, what is good and what is bad*

D eeral

Having arrived with a rather neutral feeling, he was soon taken into the common experience of transcending the identification one usually has witis. one's own relgion* While commuting to said from work during the time fee could not participate, he had been pondering om how this experience can be transmitted to society at large* Perhaps few will understand* What happened during the dialogu is s till ahead ocf time* H e c to r s? For a while he thought that he had been forgothen, since hil illness had prevented him to go to Aitenhof for the first three sessions* He has best living what the Dialogue is about, for the last 30 years* He himself has reaped the best results from moving with people of all religions, won- whipping with them as well; often against oppostionjr or at least lack: of understanding in his own circle* He appreciated very much the group participating in the puja at the Katragama Devale shrine at Kandy and the Service of the K0ly Shroud at Monte Fano, Aapitiya* He was especially happy that a Muslim was there as well* This kind of dialogue should be introduced to more and more people* Hector pointed out that radio and t*v* are important media to spread it*

H arry

As a Catholic priest, living in several cultures simultaneously, he ex­ perienced the dialogue as a confirmation of what his life had- been since* What he valued most was the ^rrituaL union, that is the very centre that supports his many activities* Talking about the methods followed, first of all he praised the informality reigning* There had been no chairperson, no expert, no lecturer* Each said everybody had proven an expert in one or the other field or life experience and a learner in so many others^ He experienced the Dialogue as moving in a spiral moving upwards, revolving around central issues but open, and growing in intensity and simplicity* The meals he had appreciated especial] since there the most common topicfc used to spark off the most vital conversations* Being a specailist in the culture and spirituality fcf food, this experience had given him much consolation and joy* He saw the Spirit at work everywhere*

P e te r

This Dialogue turned for him faith alive. He saw the incredible importance of religion when it bums in all of use* While Dialogue emerged,, personal- development took place* Peter resented Peng at first, always asking for scientific proofs* Lily then had subtly soothed Peter* Meeting Peng mtfc. a different view, he also remarked that the latter was changing like fee, Peter, was* H0w the couple1 s eyes were bright said wet, when the departure came in Kandy at the Burmese Rest said how this corresponded with what the others felt towards them ! Peter was especially grateful for the patience built up while waiting for the now to be experienced and eperceived* The z±g—Eag road followed during the Dialog®® was built on the hopefulness, that unplanned inquiries and contacts can lead to deep; conversations* Each and everything of the Dialogue had been of this quality* - 44- Two features helped basically to achieve this* First; of all the fact, that nobody shuns politics and considers it to be an important part life and society, but the Dialogue SJ fully un-political since no control it and there is no intention to translate the findings into a plitical force of any kind* Secondly, there is the clear that all existence is temporary,,, illustrated by the daily conditions in which the Dialogue takes place; this makes everybody look forward to see the real, taking the now and here as the point where it may reveal itself* How can the participants help others to overcome the cosomm fear evoked by the very name of Im tarreligious Dialogue t

Bhante Kassana He left everything concerning the organisation happily to Ananda* Aim. the practical running had been done by him* He expected an awakening of heart, that is sc necessary for the mind of the mass of the people who had fallen asleep over the year®* If there is no sign of rain* nobody cares to take an umbrella* When there is a downpour, people are prepared to pay much money for an umbrella to be acquired* The desire to enter into dialogue with other religions had always been living in hli but how could that meeting m aterialise ? The faith in the Buddha lives also in some way in the other religions,; one therefore has to pay respet to such qualities: in people's minds* What counts is not the argument, the conflict, the competition, the conversion* "We must break the walls of the prison we live in"* Bhante had no wqy to go to a Christian church how to dispell misunderstandings on both sides if he did ? Now he went in a group to a CTatholic worship service and it was quite natural* Temples, Mosques, churches and kovils help the respective religions externally. The internal awakening, however, is what counts* True dialogue turns inside and helps; the participants to look at them­ s e lv e s *

An an da

In. Reinhard's absence, the Dialogue,started at Altenhof, easily went on at Roekhill* Distances do ndrt count* We do not need to be physically close in order to be together* What he felt very much was the absence of permanent Hindu and Muslim partners* All was treid to fcalEe them stay all the time* The present tensions in the country and the recent dis­ turbances might have contributed to their absence* The intesity of the Dialogue feas increased* It adds so much to the normal routine of Sockhil The meditation courses attract participants of non—buddhist background®, but they remain within the Buddhis » horizon, do sot necessarily open vq for what good can be found in each religion* ■Although time is flying in the dialogue, there is a kind of timelessnesi that prevails* Just the contrary from what happens at meetings where people try to push their points through, then it seems to last long and boredom settles in* N0w it is easy to stop and think* Unfortunately this dialogue must be organised in a m ulti-racial and multi—religious society as Sri Lanka* s* Peoppe just pass one another* Even people's environments lieed to open up. One does not need to go to all the temples and churches, but one should not be restrictive* What has come' out strongly, is the importance of silence in between talking and during talking* Whenever persons came up with personal storiesy people were touched, whenever it was not just rattling tales*

M ich ael He sometimes received too much information and could not get touched* But also information turned out to be useful, when later on it was touched upon again and then understood* The first few days he kept silent, listening and trying to comprehend- Then he opened up and starting contributing* He was most captivated by and inspired by stories, i*e* those not told as examples, but taken fro -45— life 's experience*. The sicknesses showing up in the group or with which they were confron­ ted,, like diabetes, kidney trouble, stomach disorder, heattaehes, were significant to hint* Also Niratal's family problems*. Very nice was that everyone had one companion having the same faith o r speaking the same language* English was a foreign langiage to all. and speaking in the mother tongue is beneficial* Firmal had been seen by Michael as the pivoting point of the RLalogufp, so well versed as he was in all the religions present, understanding, able to translate language and thought* The unscheduled visitors also had been an asset* The visits of places and sites were appreciated very much* A climax had been H ector's puja at the Kataragama shrine at Kandy, where he had c^Q.ed those of the group present to his- side; they subsequently sheared in the plantains-, fire offered and received the puttu on the forehead* thought service had been deeply moving for him. He had not 5 that participating in a Christian service of another denomination than his own could have such an effect* He could not participate in the Communion, since he knew that Nirmal had another notion about the presence of Jesus Christ in the bread and the wine of the Holy Mass, than he, which had to be respected. The existing gap between Catholic and Protestants had to be respected and taken seriously as much as that between Christians and Muslims* Michael had felt very close to the dietances^being^apparentf6 edging sinmltaneonaiy the great S teeh an He had the convictions that the Dialogue had taken a road where there was none* It had been a pleasant experience for him* He felt accepted and received as an equal partner, and postponed his departure from Hockhill since he was so taken up. According to him it" would be good to make the technique used available to others, in order to take the same road. He also proposed to have axi£ exchange of fam ilies, youth, etc* e k-ad great respect and awe for what had been going on in the Dialogue* R ainhard Having listened intensively and happily to the different personal ex­ periences and expressions, he thought of how the lotus flower opens, having its roots in unclear water deep underneath* Or of the top of the stupa where the chrystal g litters and seems to be immaterial* The Lord is unseen, present amidst the gathering. It has no words yet* It is like bubbles in the well, having no language of their- own but relying on the well* s *1 anguage. He thought it not important that he was so happy about the way the Rockhill Dialogue had develeoped* He thought that immaterial; the great thing beign that it happsdned as it did* The Divine in the midsfyl of the Dialogue established a continuously new now, creating the sphere in which the participants could breathe as they did* Learning to breathe that way is a real thing, but also a symbolic ac There cannot be enough gratitude and thanksgiving for the participation in this process,, which is more than one can name*

mo rn in g Stephan said goodbeye, as if he had been there all the time* Another guest took his place, at least for the morning* Michael the Archangel Among the confusion of departure and arrival, there was suddenly talk about Michael* It was explained to those who had no knowledge of the Arch- —46—

angel* what role lie plays in the tradition- and art of the Christiana. He is the one who drove the fallen angel (satan) out of heaven, asking w!ho is like God-” (that is what his name means) and keeping the fallen couple Adam and Eve out of paradise. He is often depicted with helmet and in the painters and sculptors of later periods in Europe made him look full armour and a Ilsaaing sword in the one and a shield in the other hand® But the effort to show his angelic nature, the painter and sculptor® of later periods in Europe made him look so sweet and innocent, that his attire seems to more that of a majorette in a drum band than that of a divine soldier. -Although angels have no sex and are even each a species of its own, as mediaeval thelogians have it, MichaM turned out to be a youngish male, reason why he can show hie legs. The goddess of Asia, not only in Hinduism, managed to combine the fierceness arising from the battle against the evil, with female charm as well as with profound meditative mind. Harry reported of the goddess Parvati, sfaakti - consort of Shiva -at the Hindu temple of Prambanan, Central Java* Indonesia, who shows a rare blend of charm and detachment in face and body, having her 8 hands ready with club, dart, arrow, axe and sword to fight any adversary.

Rpinhard* s Day Dream

Bringing tbeRockhilll Dialogue a step further in trying to sketch the stages a convergent dialogue would follow, Reinhard showed charts. He limited himself to the first and second stage. First of all one has to find her or his own horizon, life horizon that means. This supposes that there is not a collection of disconnected points, but that there is always the now. This needs tremendous con-sen— tration leading to and springing from the 11 silence of heart free of seLH tU-oi^UCX tis-es" as an early Christian desert saint has said. The life giving rethora lies beyond the first horizon; it is no horizon at all, but the Divine appearing. Reinhard saw snakes crawling to disturb this approaching of both horizons. How much snakes have been freed from their bad reputation could be heard from muffled protest, that however did not reach Reinhard* s ear. These ’’snakes'* have their roots in real evil, They are self-consciousness/" self—confidence, self-righteousness, self—centredness. The second stage concerns the various religions communities, and people belonging to them, opening up towards eachotheir. Potential partners, having perceived the two horizons of their own life , and having experience? that they can and do touch, at least; temporarily and partially, perceive potential partners next to them. The partners allow eachother living space, expansion and Lasting activities All this is perpetually threatened, not only or in the first place by traditions, rules and customs, but also and foremost by personal problems. There is especially the own vitality, the will to dbmnate others, to C » W*. englobe all and everything, to claim the universe. !U ■ Reinhard replaced'Muhammed’’s jerking shouts with sudden knocks by his k / 7 , v" strong hands and fingers on the table, but there was nofLily to jump. . v J / <*>• > His words flowed waveringly, as- if chewed by brain and mind before reaching the wall of teeth where they remained for another while. To crown it all, i 1 he even hit his head against the top post of the door while leaving the Or <*f~ place once...

Ananda pointed out, that giving space to others is recognising one’ s own potentialities and M ad.tatlons. leinhard thought that the union between woman, and man is one of the best life examples of what is at stake, how difficult it is and what is really possible. Harry reminded of the Christian notion of the visible and the invisible Church, the first being real and indispensabla, the second being the universal and pure- Fro® his own life and practice he had the experience, that adhering to one’s own faith opens avenues and doors to people of other beliefs and helps being aided by them to acquire insight into the own tradition, together with universal solidarity- Basically, one has to go it alone, but is always- carried by others. The Spirit cannot be restricted by human lisitations- It was pointed out that one should try to remain the innocence of children before they are conditioned. They also have to regain their inne cence once they have been led astray. But also children are conditioned, there is karma or original sin, their genes are carrying what generations have stored in the®. Peter repeatedly asked, whether one can be bom into strength andAr why there is such need for rejreats in the quest for it.

Henk,asked his impression: after having participated in this one session, said that he was following with personal participation when personal, accounts were given- It was mere difficult for him to be with it when more abstract things were treated. He neatly pointed out, that the ’’snakes” in Reinhard’s account on the stages were not all snakes, i.e . temptresses to him- All. three negative attitude's also could be seen positively- Individualism is not the same as: personality.

When the conversation was almost over, Reinhard answered to rem its coming simultaneously from different sides. Talking about horizons and the Divine urging from outside ana entering onens own horizon, should not be misunderstood as MGod out there”. "It starts fro® the cent: Talk at table

Henk being an agricultural expert, on loan’ by the Dutch government for a brief period, he had to answer a number of questions about his work in the country- Working in the field of seed selection and re gen era ti om, he saw great benefit in the work being done- Dialogue tadaE® participants who have been working at the grass and rice roots, did not doubt the necessity of this highly useful work- They however pointed out, that it takes time for these benefits to reach the small people and the outstati: How can the distance between research and scientific work and those who need its outcome most.’, be shortened? How can be prevented, that major economic organisations, who have the resources, the skill 3 and th e personnel , monopolise such findings and use the® at will ? a fte rn o o n Nila®be Med taticn Centre

As the crow flies, RoekhiUL and Nilas be, the M editation Centre directed' by Godwin, Hedtor*s brother, are rather close. By van: it takes about one and a half hours- The climb from Peradeniya University Campus to the Centre is of great beauty- The reception by the group leihi from a meditation and yoga training session held by an American Buddhist monk was serenely warm- They described the benefits ach had gained fro® the course in various ways- They agreed on one thing: Rev- Rahula had been a tough guide in the beginning, quite different from the wans radiation both Godwin and Bhante had shown to those who had met the®, and even followed a course under the®- There was soya coffee and An an da explained Fc 1 fow edWa&J 0ini aetxIfl.fo^lel'Son^iu the meditation hall. Sunday Service

Harry had been asked to conduct a service making use of his experien.ce in different cultures and religions.. He had toped to see sunset at Nilambe* an ideal place for it, but there were clouds- The group walked up to rocks on the mountain top., from where there is a circular sight eve­ in e surrounding valleys to the mountains all around- He asked everybody to find a steady place, either standing or seated, a point where he or she could have a wide and unhindered view. Then he advised the group to first of all try to look at the landscape without peering, peeping, staring and without having focus, notwith­ standing the direction everybody inevitably had- Close the eyes half way and looking at the scenery through the protection of the eye lashes helps the eyes to relam and its muscles to adjust the eyeball to a contemplative look- 'Let the landscape come, the whole landscape, le t it show itself to you' ► One could open the eyes fully, keeping the same look. The eyes could englobe a n d increasingly global view to all sides. Then they could make a slow walking tour over the scenery, steadily moving and never stopping. Thoughts could be le ft behind that way, in case they were still present- Light in the landscape was seen twice, once by visiting the light spots, once the dark spots with the eyes- Finally attention could be given to particular spots, as one wished* Harry made it clear, each time, that these hints were no rules to be followed at all cost; one could follow them or leave them alone and stay at the point one felt at ease with. Then he offered repeatedly, with different stress on the words, the saying by .Jesus; "You are the light of the world-" No comment, no adv5.ere

mo rn in g Harry's practice Hector is the senior as far as lived Dialogue, as it has been going on in all four sessions of the Interreligious Dialogue^ is concerned. Next to him comes Harry, who is also a professional dialogue promo tor. He tried to trace the major lines of development that led him to this, together with an indication tow he tries managing to become more and more himself, and a Catholic priest, through practising the dialogue.

Harry say three stands in his life combining into one strong thread. Grown up in a traditional Catholic environment, his tome was an open one in man}' respects- His father, gentle, social and non-politicals, was arres ed when the N azi's had occupied the Netherlands in J.9h01 In the concen­ tration camp of BuchenwaXd he experienced, that, colonial Dutch, even there discriminated against coloured Asian co-prisoners* This: he conveyed: to his family and one of his most strikteg concentration camp experiences. This took Harry into the world of Asia, liljfe Michael: had been takanto Hector's side when he assisted at the puja in the Eataragasa shrine in Kandy. During his training for the priesthood he entered mysticiaa, by chance and this never left him. The Asian students he moved with, in Europe when he worked in those circles, gave him thorough political training ( whcih kept him also out of politics him self). - 49- His relationship with his superiors* the bishops* underwent a real change when he was sent as an unexperienced young priest into a new Held of work with many blessings but no financial support or guidance* Idealias carried him initially over this period* but then he understood* that bishops are changeable and interchangeable but that the message of Jesus survives* Since then he keeps his superiors loyally informed id. thout asking them for guidance which they are unable to. administer* fork in many parts of the world and among communities of the most diverse culture further taught him* that people in charge find it easy to pronounce far*- reaching opinions and send people out to pioneer them* but feel helpless when it comes to closely support them and then either ignore their pro­ blems or withdraw them from the field* PI el workers*, however, should mot- feel lost or even betrayed* In the field they find support and advice. The link with the own home community is as vital as speaking in the mother tongue* Practiacally* Harry fcever had the feeling that there was a dl— or tri­ chotomy in keeping those three major streams, in his life running* eves i.f close colleagues and comrads in arms found their symbiosis strange* even suspect* It was never difficult to meet others, who at least combine* two of them* In Jesus he always found also three* also: in Trinity*

Strategically he has arranged his time and work in rather equal, parts* easily to be distinguished in trios. If he accepts work for a limited period, usually 4—5 years, that requires more time propertionattey for one segment of a trio* he sees to it, that in the next stage this is c o r r e c te d . These are such trios: money making work.* work that does not pay* work he himself pays for; work with Catholics* ecumenically among Christians* among others.;; life in the West* life in. mixed situations and communities* life in Asia; moving with underprivileged, with middle class people* with elite*

Deenal1s practice Deepal first explained briefly the Buddhist 10 perfections, ssaart to gauge and guide human beings' actions* It is a refined system, derived from much thinking and meditating* Also, the guidance of monks and lay- people by experienced monks and nuns over the ages has accumulated this practical wisdom* He reminded of the Jataka stories in which the li%es of the Buddha as a Bodhisattva are told* They practised the Buddhist doctrine of loving kindness to the point of loosing their life* There are always the two dimensions, one of truth in itself* the o.ther its realisation^ in one's own life* The latter indlu ded life, in society as w ell* While queueing at a bus stand, Deepal was able to observe his annoyances when somebody took advantage and aieaked in* Why loose his peace, shanti by getting upset ? It was mainly the thought that he would not get a seat in the bus* A similar thought crossed his mind while riding on his motorbike through the city of (Colombo* He was chasing thoughts of previous occasions and running away from centering on his driving In the busy city* He once saw an uncle of his taking those 10 perfections and gi through them with his children during a long pilgrimage, in order to get the right idea* Because he was not too sure of the series himself, he had written them oil a piece of paper* Beepal himself uses a sim ilar method when he kelps others to sort out their daily life and see it from the viewpoint of Buddhist doctrine* He makes sax act of truth, based on the life of the Buddha and his practice of the perfections, in order to wish, well, also in details* He does this at Bodhi pujas at the local village temple* When he go the new job he will be starting soon, he also considered the Jitgiifc ©hcrfec&hfet 10 perfections'* He is surd that such practice is applicable to anybody in the world* Jqo ^ _ Resistance Deepal is questioned about what he would do, if he would find that a boss of his ’ an exploiter, really doing much, haras to people. What he said sounded so peaceful hut what to do if life asks for resistance ? The fate of the German Jews was mentioned, and those from the countries the Zazis occupied during the Second World War. They marched, in instant ces, singing into the gas chambers, after having been told it was a hygiene nic ac irity. Other knew exactly what was going to happen to them and'^ lucidly n accepted death. Coulo. not have resistance been organised ? Part of the answer was, that nobody can can catch the soul, but that did not solve this crucial question. The questionwas touched at from several angles, but not sufficiently faced-. Befering to the freedom bikkhus have since they are not married anh' have not the XESSExsisiiitiES responsibility for children, showed that they are free but did not answer the question that was not asked, where their political responsibility lies-*- The general agreement that in actual life one has to consider the possi­ bilities and non-possibilities one has, did not solve the problem either. There was also the remark that on the long run, in the gradual growth of the mind and of mankind, with the faith in reincarnation, sacrifice and supreme suffering can turn out to have a sense, made the issue only more sharp. It was left at that. Progress ! Shanti, with the frankness and candidness of the well-informed adept, showed a remarkable understanding of questions arising, although she had arrived at Rockhill by chance and from that moment on took part in the dialogue. her quick grasp and rapid formulation helped the conversation considerably, but she was always willing to listen and go further than she h had come up to that moment. She pointed out that had and good experiences can increase awareness. Evil can he a good teacher. She wanted to know from Beinhard where the two horizons he talks akot meet. Beinhard was low in answer ins’ as she was in asking. lie spoke of a face not made by human fex hands, saying tin t it can be called in as well as ex-carnation. For his this was christ in history. Shanti wanted to know vk± why Christ ? Did Beinhard mean Adibuddha ? Beinhard was wary of definitxions. Neither A nor B nor C can and should defined. Hardening in usxxsynotions or formulations is injust— liable. 'All wors are wrong. The Divine appears at this table, among the people who are here together. We are lost for words. Be envied three trees like Peng had envied the cows (both not wanting to take their places of course). 'A tree just cannot hut moving its leaves in the wind'. Shanti shot across :'But they have no intelligence'. Refhhard did not seem to heed remarks. According to him activity comes more and more from the other side. We need a great deal of un-learning. Shanti remarked, that human beings receive, surely, but that they are still conscious. Talk over supper Plantain hunches had been brought in and were on the verandah where wvery- body passed to go for supper. It was a kind that had not yet been brought to table. The usual praise of the plantain was raised. But also a complaint ail over the the West what is called there bananas is being consumed. They come largely from Latin-America and are planted and shipped and distributed but a free monopolising super—companies. The reason why Latin—ajaerican countries are sometimes called banana republics stems from this domination of their economy and much of their politics by foreign powers, not even govern­ mental. The banana is a mass produced, straightened out, tasteless item, not to be compared with Lankan plantains. When will this domestication of the plantains in this country start ? - 51 afteraoon Altenho at Rockhill Reinhard explained to Shanti and all those who wanted to hear - there was no exception - what Altenhorf is, the place wiiere he lives in part ol the buildings of a castle in the woods and the fields. There was great delight when he told the story of the small « casket, in the shape of a dagaba, that Bhante had brought along. It was decided to fill it with objects symbolising the different religions and then close it. That was the laying of the Foundation stone of the Interreligious Dialogue. After long thinking Reinhard himself had placed inside/* of the casket a thorn brought from Jerusalem, of the kind of thorn with which Jesus had been crowned as part of the humilating tortures leading to his death. Reinhard's Day Dream, stage 5 The third stage of a world wide interreligious dialogue would make single single people and single groups aware of their neighbours, their own horizon still being there but now turned into a common sight to all.. The living traditions would be still alive, but only insofar as they lived. This appearance of a new, common horizon, also now, e.g. at the Inter- religious Dialogue, occurs, and it lifts up the hearts. However, the powers of destruction (Reinhard did not use the word snakes any more) grow as well. A new kind of destruction is now possible. A newly born baby carries death in itself already. Enemies would come with the claim of power that would endanger the hope gained. People will cry out for fear, run and hide, falling into unknown directions. There would be a last appearance, bringing about a total change. An all embracing appearance of the Divine. All purity appears at the same time,. Light/' and fire accompany the universal home-coming. Inexplicable, too difficult to dwell upon now. People will experience an complementary growth. They suffer if one misses out. There is s± a widening anc. increasing inner vitality. This intercommunication creates new insights, experiences and dimensions of understanding, in accordance with the broadened horizon. New energies emerge, for better or for ±mx worse. What the participants in the Dialogue sense a bit, a new conherenee will join complementary energecies, leading to a new consistence, of a hitherto unknown destiny and compactness. A new space, a new body, a new shape, a new volume. What had been receted leads to inter-action, elements that were repelled converge. 'You are not me turns into we are together'. The new horizon appearing announces a new creation. * This increased awareness is following a spiral, not a circle. The population explosion of these days, the scientific accumulation, the new forms of living are impressive, but they lack heart. 'Come now it i s time' . In this evolutive drift also new roots grow’ there were there are old ones. They grow in prayer and faeditation, when one does not Know what to pray f or . There are also energies that distract, divert, damage. Co-workers and witnesses of this process of the new horizon and the new riii life, will be mistrusted, ridiculed, despised, persecuted, destroj-ed. That is no reason to be sad or discouraged, act the hero or the Estmartyr. A seed does not know- what is happening, it is kept carefully in the eyes hands and devotion of the Divine. Such seeds will wake up in dimensions that have no nape/, are unknown, are unconditioned, cannot be described.

What now' ? _ ■pei^eT pointed out this new horizon must he envisaged. Harry thought that, in some ways, it already exists. The linking has not yet happened. Peter meant tin t dialogue is only one way, there must be other ways. Ananda wanted to know, whether it is being done or whether one must play active roles. Reinhard answered Aranda's question by saying, that it is both, but basically it is of no interest, since one is so involved that no disorder or confusion arrives. ,ri’he landscape will come to you*, as same during the Sunday Service eye meditation on the rock at Nilaiabe had experienced. Ananda added to this, that one can and must remove obstacles. Reinhart pointed out that he and his wife had experienced similar develop­ ments in their relationship. Peter remarked that the chart drawn by Reinhard on the third stage of the interreligious dialogue was like an eye to him, open at two sides, as modern painters pictures them. The inside and the outside, as well as' the insight and outside are i± depicted. It ves pointed out that what is called the third eye in the Hindu tradition could correspond to this contribution on the unseen powers of the eye. peter quoted the French mystic and poet Claudel in 'the silk shoe1 saying that God -writes straight oh croked lines. All people are blessed, also the enemies. All are included. Bhante added that sssfcKX snakes are notnot just negative and wanted Reinhard's opinion. The answer was that they are positive and negative, at different levels this or that. Talk over supper eating with fingers Astonishingly late the talk was about eating with fingers. Probably be­ cause everybody had done it from the kB±n± beirming as the most natural thing in Asia, although some never had dreamed ever doing so. There was no need for putting up a defence, as one has to do often in the West when there is talk that people do such backward things. It was agreed upon that there is a good exercise in singlemindedness, so to say, since eyes and fingures are united in the effort to combine tasty portions to be lift­ ed to the mouth. What was new to most was the fact, that till the end ol the 19th century eating with fork and spoon had not yet been given rhe high status it reached thereafter. In the Royal British Navy sailors were forbidden to eat othef than with fingers and knife s such effeminate items as fork and knife to cut and transport food would have risks loosing the whole empire. Some were really struck by the realisation now far some­ thing that has become such a sign of civilisation, has been the result of fashion and salemanship.

Ja n u a ry 31------— —-—■—■ — -— ------an interreligious dialogue ? Everybody wanted to have a second look at Reinhard's chart of the 1st stage of the Interreligious Dialogue. Bhante had been very silent, even looking somewhat withdrawn at the last few sessions. Would it be possible to revive the conversation that had been largely a listening to what Reinhard carried over from the sessions at Altenhof. Harry started the ball rolling by stating, that Reinhard1s chart and explanation had been very Vestem-Christian - saying that this is one approach, that, also within the Christian tradition, has to be complimented if not also criticised, by another one. Reinhard had, at the last minute and at the request of some, added a central point within the circle of the double horizon drawn to signify the new view (s) people in the ini­ tial dialogue with themselves acquire. The outer, circle suggested that the Divine is up and out. One would have toadd a small circle of the same colour as the inner circle, ^^rith a dot in the colour of the outer circle inside it, within the human figure involved in thinking and meditation. The Siam and the Buddhist, but also an important stream within the Christian tradition of the West, would say that the new horizon appears inside of the person. The trancesdence of God and his/her immanence and each that in order to avoid serious misunder­ standings. Reinhard!s chart, therefore, should be completed by complemen­ t a t i o n . - 53 -

Convergence Bhante remarked that Reinliard had Brought what happens inside out, in order ic show what happened. To him Christ could well he the object of Ssg Enlightment, making impermanence clear once for all. Harry related how a young woman in Vietnam, during the war, selfil- mmolated after haring spent the night in meditation in ikfront of the statues of Quan An (in China : Quan Yin), the boddhisattra of mercifulness in Mahayana Buddhist of the Far East, and Mary the mother of Jesus, both with child. Bhante explained further, that for the Christ is not an outside agent helping to see impendence. Enlightenment comes from outside and from within since impermanence shows up everywhere. This way of talking, however fruitful it would have been, could have gone on for a while. However, somebody had the good idea to take an empty sheet of the size of Reinliard's chart and get the coloured pencils to it. Seated around that sheet, in all its blackness, the group moved into a converging dialogue, as had not yet been experienced in any session. Bhante and. Aranda explained in jjBjgjbfcadkx Buddhist t e m s how they envisaged a beginning dialogue in the person - her or himself, the others gave insights from the Christian and European tradition, and all were deeply involved in moving further in their Own understand­ ing iw x x s s of the case. The level of wisdom According to the Buddhist tradition the mundane is grasped by the mind at two levels., first of all through thinking. Thinking cannot bring further at some stage and through tranquillity the mind sees what is behind the mundane. Tranquillity handles form and formless objects. It is only thereafter that wisdom arises, leading to insight. It is crucial to know in what .state: one is a in, which ofcourse cannot be achieved by more and more thinking, however much brainy work is required in the handling of the mundane. Beyond the wordly forms one finds material ones that transcend the five s e senses, and immaterial forms are perceived at a stage where thought and memory have become useless. Bhante was optimistic about the actual possibility of people attaining insight. one simply has to see things as they are and at least partially this can happen instantly and momentarily. This needs high concentrat— i on. Concentration * The concentration all participants mustered during the whole of the. morning was the best explanation of what this kind of concentration is about. They are relaxed and did not grow tired. Grasping what others said or even suggested was astonishingly easy. Also formulation came lightly. ¥hat is obvious, is easy to see. The whole of life is one continuous opportunity of seeing things as they are. Not the effort of sitting in seclusion is the condition required, it happens in every day life and all the time. ¥hat is called concentration in the modern Vest often is just the oppos­ ite, hut this Trt-g misunderstanding occurs in the last as well, since it is a common human weakness. Frowning the forehead, keeping in breath, straining the muscles, stress in the eyes and streamlining the brain leads to an absorption of the mind that blocks it from seeing things as they are. It only perceives glimpes of things as they appear, seen from, this or that angle, caught in this or that mood, analyieed in this or tbst mood. One-pointedness is confused with narrow-mindedness, one-mindedness with single-mindedness. - 5 4 -

Divine abode Like a lotus in bloom stand above the mud, untouched by it, but arose from it, to a divine abode can be found by those who obtain a clear insight in the stage they are in and what lies ahead of them. Beginning enlightenment is to he found,, achieved and consolidated in the world Everybody can he at one of the two stages this is divided in. There is no need for renouncing the world ±n±iy one fully lives in. In a latex stage the possibility and necessity of renouncing the world appears, thus preparing the fourth stage in which the -world actually is given up. The refinement of Bhante's explanations of course escaped his non- Buddhist partners, hut they easily follow what he said and there -were a numbeer of references to the Christian mystical tradition snd to Christ himself, where converging notions have x been formulated or at least sayings and deeds witnessing this can be observed. What Ehante said about the Bodhisattva1s renouncement and the stage he or she keeps or himself consciously and willfully in, make the absence of Mahayana Buddhists almost painfully observed, lie said clearly that this was the Theravada line. To all it was clear, that about each and every details long discussions could he originated, but they also understood with mind rand heart, wholesale, what he was talking about. They could refer it to their own tradition and, what is more, to their own experience. And Bhante felt and knew that this was the case in the others. When Bhante made it clear, thfct stages 1 and 2 (thinking and tranquilli­ ty meditation) do not add up to and result in 3? that they only can condition that 3 arises, there again was general recognition and found tradition and experience confirmation. Talking about the forms the, mind takes as an object to come to enlighten­ ment, Bhante mentioned them first j gross forms, the realm# of the senses) subtle material form and the material realm. Then he gave the example of how subtle material forms observed, lead to insight and wisdom.. At first the mind take the form as an object and takes it in. Once taken in, the mind sends the form into space, on an endless course. Since the course is perceived as endless, spaceless, the mind perceives nothingness. Thus perception/non-perception is achieved. the absentees How much the absence of Nirmal was felt all through the morning, although his name was never mentioned : Hisunusual knowledge and insight in a whole range of religions, his ascetic life, his lawyer's skills had been the pivot Michael had spoken about. In any way much more even Imam's absence was present. He had shown deci­ sion and strength, combined with gentleness and refinement. How his part- cipating presence would slowed down hasty conclusions perhaps reached at and how his faith in Allah's greatness would have - i Humiliated the place; the news that he had been unable to come since he had been hospitalised for a week, not able to take food even, had been received with grief. Ananda had reported that the first pEXXBnphone call Imam had made, had been to Bockhill. The affinity of Hinduism to the subleties spoken about this morning had no chance of being at play, since Swami Murugesu never made it to visit Bockhill even. His concern had been the Tamils displaced by the recent riots against them and he had been going up and down t to India, only to land in hospital as well. Who can make out, whether their presence had been a greater contribution than now this absence had Surely been ? - 3 ’J -

Doors

Tie sheet, on which there was only on drawing, a human being seemingly sitting in meditation, filed gradually with some text. Reinhard said* that he.could try redesigning his chart, with the two horizons staring in place, tut the mindfulness of the human figure being shown. He wanted to know from Bhante how he had him, Reinhard, in mind.” Bhanxe explained, almost speaking for everybody now, that at all starts from thinking. The meeting place is in the mind. *If you come to my state of mind, you can come. One has to leave names, concepts, notions, insight might arise. At this stage doors open to one another. The senses procure harmonious living now. Compassion and loving kindness rule:. Vibrations are mutual. These doors give s s r entry to a situation in which one does not only rely anymore on vibrations, as muck, as one has shed notions. Michael asked whether there is not a new then of a language, a new jargon and how this can be a new hindrance. Bhante said that union exists. It can be tapped, so to speak. It is sot to be constructed or established, it was there but we can make it into our inviroment. Peace resigns and unites. This translates itself into actions, evoking reaction and results. A naw kind of dialogue is born. At Michael's question 'Why dialogue ?' Bhante stated that one must create the suitable enviroment, 'Why enviroment ?' Where upon Bhante sung his song of love. There is otherwise no love. Dove is the force that is needed, unbreakable force, resulting in a no body of love. Love comes from within now. It was remarked that the two horizons Reinhard sketched, now touch off and on. There are no clear borders anymore, since there are clear distinctions. The inner horizons cannot be without the outer one, in Reinhard's drawing, without the most inner, point in the drawing that was never drawn. Bhante pointed out that the Buddha also went to visit people of other ways and methods, like the ascetics and that he s± s.i± ziL wished them well, without trying to convince them of his own way. Peter insisted that many, if not most people who acquire wisdom not even know it. how can anybody somebodty like himself, sitting in a fully mundane enviroment, enter into even the second stage of tranquillity or, if one gets that far, how to return safely to the mundane ? This paralysis and prevents taking next step. Ananda spoke of the silence of the,, heart and Michael pointed out that also Reinhard had written this in his chart. Bhante. reminded of the conscious of the unconscious, the unconscious being by far the major part of the human mind. What is going on there one does not know. Harry quoted Jesus' word on on the cross, when he prayed for forgiveness from the Heavenly Father for the Ins Roman soldiers who crucified him 'Father forgave them', for they do not know what they do. talk over supper female participation Guests at the Dialogue and at table asked repeatedly, whether there were women parxicipating in the dialogue. Ananda, the organises in Sri Lanka, had hopes to have a well-known female professor in Buddhism participate, but she could not make x± herself available for such long period at that particular time. Reinhard explained each time, that two Christian contemplative nuns from the Catholic nunnery at Taize, France, one proetestant and one a Catholic, also had tried to come and had been prevented Irons participation because of their studies. The women who turned up as temporary participants of guests had no difficulty in fitting in ot contributing. The all male gathering aid not seen to show the well-known male attitudes. ... , The nuns at Wegiriya nunnery, for lack of English, could not participa e verbally very much. Their participation actually nas been there all the afternoon How dialogue ?

Michael wanted to know, what dialogue now really is, in the irst stage.., Shanti reported that she had arrived from Indii » having sorted out a few major problems she had with her!'sell. she celled it stepping stones, She again and again finds the }eace she found several at several places in India where she stayed. She is satisfied with the practical•actical solntjsolutions sue round, and was even surprised to have found them at all.. 1. She seass e es not a glimpse. Perhaps that was the reason why she fitted in with the Dialogue so smoothly. neiuMra explained that in /his drawing he had tried expressing the pre­ condition to any dialogue. In such situation as sketched, one finds partners ne^t to oneself. This is also true for different persons adher­ ing to the same religion. Interreligious dialogue is nothing more than a special case of a general rule. The other's existence sphere finds more and more room in one's own is increasingly accepted in that of the partner. Inter-religious becomes intra-religious dialogues. A Christian has his or her h i existence in his of herself as well as in the Buddhists'. That is why he had drawn a good number of people inside of the spesphere in which each individual or group belonging to one particular religion was sittin; . Shanti suggested that it is like falling in love with somebody. The other is taken into one's heart, no mutual damage i.s done, there is no possessiveness. Michael added that this is double the case in marriages in which the partners belong to different religions. Song ox love Bhante continued his song of love. 'I need you to love and to he loved. Tranquillity meditation on loving kindness and compassion as well as. on joy in somebody's else's well-being and on equanimity, lead to this, purified love. You two, addressing himself to peter and Heinhard who appeared in miniature form in the empty sheet that now was spread on the table to accept indications about Beinhard's second stage of dialogue. 'you two help me to come to that. If I want 1 can see reality of nature of that state. lieinhard countered : If it is true (he almost made an Act of Truth) that I siBiyss cansee you and through you as through a glass, than I see true nature. That is it. Bhante continued : 'True understanding is based on riot*thinking. First I had general thinking and through it I cease close.. Then I built a a divine abode in me. So we came very close, more than open ; integrated. That is how I came to insight, a beginning at. least of right, understanding. I shed more and more untrue, unclear understanding. You, sx. my friends., live in me, I gain knowledge through you, ponder over you, explore all the areas of vou. I arrived at this condition because of xsy you, my two two friends and could build the right enviroment. Thai is how I am in dialogue. Since I am in a safe state, there are many blessings in me there you are protected by me, Each one of us therefore has the possibi- lity of developing more and more, Michael 'Boes this happen already ?' Bhante : 'That is what I*experience in the dialogue' Beinhard 'Otherwise you and we would be no where'. Michael I feel safe, protected by you from your living in the cave, now does one get into it'?

T B S t . explained, that the divine abode is not to'be const:ructei. Each and everybody no* joined the search ior wordshaSd Bh«te ’ • Lo v ^ td- oneself in the abode. 'To me it is paradise , said iinanve. no b - 57 -

kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity are as many doors the divine abode, boors cone to you and let you sin. It you are not already there and I at yours. Bkante explained further, that there are several stages in relation to the doors. hirst of all they are closed. Once opened, the abode proves not to be emptiness. There are the previous experiences gathered in existences before, how they are recognised through dialogue. Harry remarked that this is well-known to him and to the tradition* of Christian spiritual life, 'Jesus said that he is among us but that we simply do not recognise him. Specially after his Resurrection the Gospels are full of this*. Human rights and peace Ehante, approved by all and applauded by Peter, gave as his opinion that these four qualities, loving kindness, comp-ass ion, sympathetic joy and eqanimity are the human rights. 'Such is the peace I have now in me. This is the way to go, the way into myself. Now I can transcend myself as a Buddhist, what is nothing mere than a concept*. 'Through real awareness of others in me I can see their real characteris­ tics and my own. Since I can transcend the image as image. bhen non­ violence and non-attachment combine, wisdom arises.

Partners Michael : 'What happens to other partners, non-Buddhists ?' Bhanre : 'This can be practised by each and everybody. Thus unity finds expression in everything, even in silence. Inter-action takes place. The peaceful mind becomes more active in different ways. That is how love spreads, .This is the bridge of the interreligious dialogue'. EveryboaJ/now to clarify wha,t this bridge is, till it was agreed upon that there is no bridge, only a bridging.

Dialogue with Theravada T¥e~aTTe^nl5on~ displayed another kind of dialogue than that in the morning. There it had been a converging one. Now it was a dialogue of the others with Theravada Buddhism, with Bhante as spokesman and singer. It showed the absence of e.g. bhakti people and Kahayana Buddhists. The non-Buddhist also were ixkEE so taken up with Bhante's approach, that they almost forgot to turn the conversation into a convergent one. The convergent that took place was happening in Bhante's contribution and self-reflection. As he said repeatedly, this would not have developed in himself without his love given and the love received by him.

ifter a short deliberation it was decided to postpone having a similar look at Eeinhard * s 3rd 'chart. The meditation course should be gone through first.kho knows who would emerge meanwhile ? It would not be googood to be impatient and perhaps block an avenue that might show itself. - 5 8 -

On 1st February our group of Interreligious Dialogue participant* vas joined by another ten people from different countries, ranging in age from early twenties to aid-sixties. They came from all nooks of the globe to follow a tea day intensive Vipassana meditation course, as held monthly at Boekhill Hermitage by Bhante and Ananda. As Iteiniiard had expressly stated that he and our other members would like to share the life in the Hermitage completely, we did not exclude anything or anyone from the normal course of events * In the evening, just around sunset all 18 participants came together at the Bodki tree, where the four nuns of Eockhill and Bhante Eaesapa^Ananda and some villagers joined in a special Bodhi 1uja. This ceremonial offering at the foot of the holy Bo-tree was held, to shower Blessings upon all participants for well-being and peace and happiness and specially to transfer these Blessings, and good vibrations to Bonita in Germany for her complete recovery. Anyone could feel the vibrations of loving-kindness (Metta)* After this we started the Vipassana meditation course with an introduction into the background and the technique b y Armada in the newly built meditation ball. " ' *' , . ; v. - For the next 1G days our daily schedule consisted of three , hours of silent and guided group meditations,, two hours of group walking meditation, 1 hour evening discourse and discussions, meals and tea - all done in more or less Noble Siilenee. The Vipassana meditation is not an escape from reality or life, as is sometimes assumed hy critics of meditation. Vipassana meditation or Satipatihana Bkavana (the development of mindfulness) is a technique of developing awareness of body and mind. It focusses attention in the present moment on any physical or mental phenomenon that presents itself to consciousness. It does sot try to judge, interpret, value, analyst,, criticise or comment on the observations. It is meant to bring the meditator in the eternal present by getting closer and closer to the actual experience of direct observation. In the beginning everyone had much trouble with the focussing of the attention on the feeling of the breath inside the nostrils. This was to be our main object for the first day or two. Soon we found out that the nature of the mind is to wander from.the past to the future, never remaining a second in the present. Then the uncomfortable feeling of sitting in one position was experienced, as pain,, restlessness, uneasiness etc. ’ ‘ * L Daily Bhante Kassapa and Bhikkhu Aaanda would explain in detail what steps could be taken to overcome the hindrances and obstacles on the path. Questions from the group were answered arid left to ^ be answered by oneself. Especially s-ome questions regarding the practice of prayer came up during some of the sessions. Reinhard, harry and Michael, but also Shanti and Annje found themselves praying when gettinnii* offc— deep meditation. Thlfr^feonxliecaaing— of t h i s prayer with the Vipassana was soon solved, as one w$s just asked to become aware of it as it happened and to know what one was doing. People who had never formally meditated before and who might have thought that the days would never pass, found that - as they were getting into the meditation more and more - time was flying. The whole body-mind complex with its feelings,, perceptions,* intentions, consciousness was observed in its ever-flowing and developing qualities, The changing nature, the tendencies to cling to the pleasant, to escape from the unpleasant and to wrongly identify with only a part of the body- mind complex and the causes for individual suffering and the way out if it were pointed out and discovered by each one in his or her way. ; Every day Bhante and the nuns arid cooks had cooked up a different vegetarian Sinhalese meal, which was enjoyed by a ll. On the last evening Ananda showed his slides of a pilgrimage and tour through India, Nepal, Burma and Thailand with suitable and beautiful music and chanting as background and commentary. -5 9 - —59 —

INSIGHT IHDriATIGy - a way out ?

The Enlightened Ones of all times have proclaimed that anything which has a beginningt must cose to an endf Anyiang -which is made up of causes, carries in it a conflict, an unsatisfactory nature, Dukkha• In Vipassana meditation, by looking with attention at oneself, one's physical body, feelings, perceptions, intentions and consciousness, one can see the ever-changing nature of this body-mind comples, It is forever in a flux, never static. There isn't even anything which we can call our "own", pain and pleasure, even human happiness, last for only a few m omenta and pass away or turn into their opposites, Sim e call the Buddha a pessimist, as he is always stressing the conflicting nature of life with its suffering, however, if we look at the Noble Truths: Suffering; its cause; its End; and thw path leading to the end of suffering, we can see that it is rather realistic and even optimistic, in ti.e sense that itl leads one completely out of all conflict and suffering - to Kibbana, the Unconditioned,, the Uncreated, Father than being an atheistic approach, we could call the Buddha's a non-theistic approach, keeping rather silent about ultimate truths, if fone observes the three characteristics in oneself, viz, the changing nature of everything compounded; its conflicting nature cr inability to give permanent satisfaction and the lack of anything which we could call an unchanging everlasting spirit or soul in it one comes to see things as they really are* In the beginning we focus our attention on one chosen obieet. viz. tne touch sensation of the breath in the nostril, treating all fcther distractions. Once ve have developed a certain amount

By the development of mindfulness of "what is", without clinging,; condemning or wrongly identifying things as "me", "mine","myself" etc., we come to a state of consciousness called "bare attention"„ The old patterns of attraction and repulsion, the pursuit of pleasure, the tendency to escape from pain, the fast grip of illusion and delusion are seen for what they are and loose their power. Once this space is created in the mind, by letting go of the past and the future, the ever-present tendency to escape from the present moment, the mind can experience a whole new area, which is much more peaceful and sublime than its old habitual patterns» The past is all dead and gone, the future is not yet there, the only moment we have is the now, which can also not be captured, as it escapes from our grip. Ve are "riding on the crest of the wave of time". This truth of the ever-present now, which transcends time and space was talked about by great mystics, such as St. Francis of Assisi. The Buddha discovered it at his Enlightenment. By his penetrative insight into the characteristics of all things and nature and into the law of dependent together arising, he came to see who had been the builder of this house (i.e. the constantly being reborn in the cycle of births and deaths, or even the builder of the house in this very lifetime!). By seeing the Four hoble Truths and treading the Eightfold Noble Faih of Morality, Mental development and Wisdom., each one of us can discover the Truth which transcends any description. Faith and confidence, energy and effort, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom are necessary and helpful factors on the path. Sensual desire, anger, hate, sleepiness, agitation, restlessness and sceptical doubt are obstacles on tae way, to be overcome. To become free from greed, hatred and delusion is the aim of Vipassana meditation. It is only the mind which is free of these three major roots of evil, which can see the Truth, as it is. The ten—day intensive Vipassana retreat was for many the first step on the Path to deliverance; for many others a new dimension. The daily lectures by Bhikkhu Bodhi on the Teachings of the Buddha were really helpful to get intellectual clarification and inspiration. -60— - 6 0 -

11th February Afternoon round-up session Interreligious Dialogue

Beinhard presented to us the diagram of the second stage of the Dialogue and posed some questions to usj "The inter- or intrareligious dialogue; different people with different traditions,trying to understand eachotlier, so t at in each man's horizon each other partner comes in, so inat he has the tradition andhis faith, world view, abilities and whatever in his mine as well. This is meant with our being together in the interreligious dialogue, that we not only hear -shat the others said hut t \at we take this into our own life horizon as a living partner inside. We could continue this stage cf our session, with some open questions, e.g. "Bow is it for Bhante or Ananda - or the others — what kind of place has our presence here in you ? And which is your feed-back to our presence here ? How do we have our living presence in you ?And you existence living in me ?" A second question; In the first stage of dialogue, the snakes, the Temptations or the defilements (lobha, dosa and moha - greed* hatred and ignorance, which should be overcome) came up. We have had no answer till now how the great questions and problems and life £ problems for the whole of mankind, how they are living for us ? Sell—conceit of the faithful people in each tradition or ideology. We are closed in our own tradition and we are tied to it; we think we have embraced all, and we are right and all have a place in our system. BUT really , ve a re closed; we don't hear eachotber and we ere very sure of our own position, (in the N.T. the pharisees e.g.). This is a phenomenon in each tradition. So, to be attached to one's own disciplines, dogma's, as a Christian, as a Hindu as a Buddhist, as a Humanist. I think it is one of the BIG problems, because the pressure in the world presses us together, has a main eifect that each tradition has to build a thicker and thicker wall, so that each religio’ can be sure that they are secure. So, NO attachment to one’s own walls i how does this look practically to us. Bow do we handle this ? This goes for all mankind. Secondly, I call it the self-righteousness of the moralists, i.e. the problem that in each, people, tradition, religion, country, there is a known and own system of morals and abilities. These have developed over the centuries, and the people within that sysem are sure that "this is x right". And ve try to be righteous concerning these morals. And at the same time ve are self-righteous; i.e. we have many difficulties, to overcome or to come out of it, to see that other people have very different forms of corals with their right and origin; and how to handle this self-righteousness. I sometimes thought in the lectures which we heard, that it was presented a s a law which is only valid for the Buddhist religion, not for my own tradition, not for me. So, I tended to leave these morals out of my own heart; I pnt it away, and did not let it come t o ’me. A third problem for mankind, one oi the most striking is, the self-cetredness of our scientistic, tecnnologicai, industrialised world-civilisation. Only directed at the measurable, and what you can prove with numbers or calculations.; All other human behaviour, human dimensions are being refused, so that we are hound to this industrial society and refuse all else. The engineers viol says "You are religious-minded; that is no use for our country." A word which often came in our being together was; to see things as they really are, to be with the reality. But what is this ? The engineer says; real is what I can calculate, measure; noting else. The importance of this question shows, also when radio and tv will come more and more to Rockhill. V/hat will happen then ? I often found that in these countries the thinking people used to say that there will be no problem; we will raangge this overwhelming power of the indus­ trialised society. But I t.iink that in reality you will find that in all places this "civilisation" will be hollowing out the bottom underneath, undermining t^.e foundation, Iiov can you and I handle this ? AttachKRnt only to the measurable things; perhaps to the body, or to tie matter. - 6 1 -

Or attachment to the feelings, to my feelings, my perception and to Tf consciousness - when it is limited only tc this; how we handle this? This is my second question-cirle. The third one - perhaps the best to start with - is a question which Peter posed. Aranda: "Reinhcrd told me he fi had a couple of canons ready to shoot" heinheret "Yes, you think so ? We are here not to escape from these questions, but to face them, and not to waver." Denis Rose:"Then one might say: 'Lay on MacDuff' (Shakespeare) t Peter's question was; From what do we have to become free to be able for a dialogue. Far what de we have to be aware and what boundaries we have to overcome ? It is a very important question in each place and we can't solve it; but we can try to handle it. We could compromise a little and say: attachment only to one's own doctrine and abilities, only to one's own morels, to the measurable phenomena. hy suggestion is now, perhaps we should begin With these questions ? Low can we get rid of these attachments ? It is a world-wide question in so many different aspects. Ananda: "horals, behaviour and abilities they are all part of the measurable, in the fie-ld of the finite, the conditioned, which is bound by time, place, religion, customs etc." Reinhard: Yes, but we are more dominated by the measurable than we wish and than we perhaps know, by the technical world. It's only when you think mho* the new media, the computer technique, will change our life; and we are not prepared, spiritually,psychologically and with our life experience for these questions. So the whole of life should be complete, and not one technical thing should dominate our life. Only think of the influence of t.v. Peter: My question was; What liberty and real freedom should we and must we give up in order to maintain the dialogue? Does the dialogue need a doctrine ? Do we need guidelines ? Where do we go with that particular kind of righteousness, because we are such an exclusive bunch of people . Dow de we explain the dialogue to the man in the street. Does it require that we develop a doctrine, a belief ? E.g. when we leave, do you SBy:"G.L. it was a beautiful thing to have the dialogue at Roclchill" end tbien forget it ? Does it affect your daily life ? yotir organisation, your thinking, your orgenistation, your orientation? Bhante Kessapa: "The dialogue is going on all the time", Peter: Well, that is easy to say, but the question is: will it develpp that far that you could says O.K., I, Bhante would not recommend to develop a doctrine, or some kind of statement for the dialogue, or some kind of guidelines, or; I would recommend that such e thing would be developed. As everyone of us accepts the basic idea of the dialogue, it should be interreligious, irres­ pective of any religion, But of course this may cause tremendous problems t as these words indicate: self—centredness, self-conceit, self-righteousness. I see these problems should be checked by us b o w , in the real sense, not theoretically. How does it affect us and what do we do with it in the forthcoming months, the next year ? Denis Rose.; Each of the people here will have changed to some extent as a result of the dialogue taking place. That is what will happen^ what will develop out of that you may not be able toor wish to formalise. .But each person here will emerge a slightly changed indi­ vidual, and in turn will influence others. That's one point. The other point is; Reinhard's question is most fundamental. When I was faced, with the phrase, name "Interreligious Dialogue", I thoughts Oh, what'sthis. So, as he says; each one in his own religion - or ideology, philosophy the more faith you have in your own religion, the firmer it is, but then the more you tend to reject other peopled* This seems to ite the whole crux of the dialogue. If you have much Saddha (faith) in the Buddha, then you don't have as much faith in Christ, if any. If you have faith in Christ, you must, in some ways, jerect the Buddha. —62— Putting these points together, I would not suggest either to make or not to mane a new doctrine, but just let me point out, that all of us will emerge as slightly changed individuals as a result of the interreligious encounter. Eeiniiard; let me add a little thing to your remark, which is very to the paint, regarding one's belief to Buddha or Christ. This rejection of eachother's faith is one pole in our fundamental conception. The other point is, that we will not allow', seeing this, we will not allow ourselves to be generated. Although he is firm in his faith, he is my brother, and I have to live with this brother as a brother although I have another faith. Michaels But will not the consequence of this he, that my faith becomes unsure ? That there arise questions in me, which I thought that had been answered many years agG and now 1 eanjt answer them ? Ananda: this may happen when one gets confronted with a foreign element in his known world, that his ideas, his faith, h±ar are a bit hsaken - as long as one identifies with these beliefs at the level oi ideas and beliefs. As long as there is no actual realisation of the truth beyand the words of our faiths, of our systems, if our dogmas and we hold on to the words of the dogmas, tachings and preachings, without having transcended that level through our own realisation of the truth beyond the words, then ve will bseome uncertain if we have to substitute, add or omit something of our known field. If this faith in our dogmas can be supplemented by a realisation of the truth whatever that is - the truth which transcends the phenomenal world may be one — and as long as that is in its turn not made into another do ma, the individual who has realised this truth, will not be shaken. He can live, seeing the differences and overlooking the differences. Eeinhard: This was the answer which we found in the first three dialogues. Michael: In Germany, in politics we oays We are free, if we have secure borders.. I feel that the borders of my faith, after this dialogue, are no longer as sure as they have been. And when I have to teaeli the children and have to prepare sermons, it will sometimes be much more difficult. And 1 think that I will be able to repeat the same things that I have spoken before; 1 don’t know. That will be a task which is still te be started. When I was here I did not so much reflect about my Christian faith, but about your faith. It is for me not possible to do these two at the sane time. But this is a kind of freedom, that I have lost. Denis: All true thinking people have a crisis of faith at some time, as symbolised by the temptations of Chridst and the temptation of tne Buddha, and I think oi any other religious leader. Peter: I don’t think that the dialogue is leading people to have crises of faith. Denis: After what Michael said I'm beginning to wonder. I hope it doesn't. It would take it too far. Michael: The difficulty for me is, that the knowledges which I taught in my profession as a pastor - the knowledges w^ich I don't have from books but from living experience in my faith , experience with the truth behind the words, by being here in another country, that tnese knowlegdes have become superficial knowledge, wisdom. Thev are no longer the truth behind the word, behind the thing. And to notice that that which was a living truth having become a dead truth, that is * difficult, but it is a consequence of such meeting. -ft - ..:.f : c '* . >. . < t. ■■ Kimal Fernando j Swami Sivananda of kishikesh, has a famous saying: The truth is one and paths are many. One thing that follows from this is: a person can tread one path, but what h u e u be seen is that he goes beyond the path to the truth; tnat he does not remain^ always on the path. If you always remain on the path, you are getting attached and tied down to it. The important thing in the dialogue as I see it is, that people treading different paths, unite heyonu the path in Truth, which is beyond doctrine and beyond words. —63 —

L-vei' tLfc iM&Zb* Bi id this Tery clearly; to use the Dhamma as a raft to get accross to the other shore; not to el in" to the Dhanrja * Cut one should reiember, that as iiong as one is on the raft one has to be on the raft. You cannot be on this rafts as veil as on some other raft and in the vater. For a dialogue the different religions have to exist. The actual meeting will have to he beyond tnese rafts and beyond the measurable, beyond space and time. In my opinion anu in my realisation, an amalgamation of rites, ritual and doctrine will be of no use, because you cannot tread more than one path.If one mixes up tvo colours, say red and green, one gets neither red nor green, but some colour which is neither her nor there. So, tne preservation of the identity of the different religions but non-attachment to the religions is important. The only possible way to transcend the vails that Reiniiard spoke ofr is not to break dovn the vails, but to let the vails exist as they have existed throughout the history, and in relationship betveen human beings one should transcend theae vails. It’s a paradoxical situation. Peters Kirmal, do you have a faint notion, how to overcome the attachment to one's ovn religion ? You sue, not just saying it vith your head. That is vhat Reinhard and I meant by liberty, freedom. When does the identity of a religion have to be maintained, regardless whatever openness I may have;: this far and no further - that’s it. Kirmal: One should go deep into the roots of the religion. Kow take for expample morality or Sila in Buddhist terms. One should distinguis betveen the outward action and the internal action. Once you go to the depth of the spiritual level of any of these things - tha morality, the doctrine, the lavs, rules etc. you can see that any external action may have two kinds of internal reactions. In one religion certain rites and rituals, moral eode etc. may he completely accepted, and may be given differently in another religion. But if go to the morality of it, it is one and the same. For example, take Sati-puja, where the widow throws herself onto the burning pyre of the deceased husband; or sometimes she may be forced to jump., li you look at the external action, it is killing. If you look at the moral action, it is not killing. It is even signified in the Bible, when tod commanded Abraham to sacrifice his own son - it is not murder. It is like Buddhist monks burning themselves to death in Vietnam as a protest agains the war; Or the Jain monks, when Alexander the Great crossed over to India. If a person really lives his religion, he really meets the spiritually of the other faith deep down in the spirit. I can say that I have personal experience, as I am a Catholic living in a Buddhist environment. It is a dialogue going on right through my life. Peter: I am now trying to pinpoint some of the cardinal issues which have to do with the three hindrances which Bernhard pointed out: self-conceit, seif- certredness, self-righteousness. What are the issues at hand and what are the issues we may pick up in order to prepare ourselves so that we can participate in the next dialogue. You see, ther is a job to he done. It is not just coming there and pulling out the big bag of experience. JCBaxxxx korality most often leads to dogma. I hide myself behind a dogma, because I don’t want my morality checked by others, or threatened. This is a basic issue. Denis: The Buddha's example of the raft which is vised to reach the other shore is very good here. We ere on our ovn raft. If we step off of it, we sink., ior the tire Being we all have to he on our rafts. When we have reached the other shore, we abandon the different rafts. That is the true meeting place. peter; Entering the raft i§ one thing; envisaging the other shore is another and getting there somehow, that is the job to be done. Lhante: are we all sitting in the same boat or raft ? Lichael: When I am in Germany, arc you sifting in my boat ? And what about here, when the next guests come; are we still sitting in the hall ? I would like to hear how it was for you, always knowing that we were sitting in the hall. Lid you speak the same way as always, or did ynx have our presence any consequence. You had the possibility to live your life, your practice during these ten days - 6 4 - — 6 4

and we have been t ere, with our body. Excuse me t .at 1 ask this. Larry: Did you address the crowd especially, in a different way ? Ananda: I think the course went fairly much in the same waj- as other courses, however, each course has, of course, little differences because of the people who participate. Each individual has a different level of understanding, so when we are explaining the meditation we have some general instructions and then when the questions and the reactions come from the people, or even if we have found out from previous questions or utterences, we have to adjust our wording^ The raeditaion course as we give it, is some technique which brings each individual to his own tinderstanding and a deepening of it and of how hie mind-body complex is working. It is not so much directed at a verbal understanding of eachother's wavs of life. Through the understanding of oneself, one may get an understanding of the others. However, I have noticed in myself also, how easy it is to live in a closed system,and how difficult it is to really open up,It is not easy to really ppen up to an entirely new' dimension* Iteinhard: It is difficult, very difficult, I felt this was working during the course. I felt the distance from my usual thinking and feeling and being directed in a completely other way. And it was very difficult for me to follow' this, your guidance and to cut off my thoughts, my feelings, my tendencies etc. But this is what I take with me, to try this further on. And in this way I can says Rockhill will go with me and your life and my experience of your life as I could experience your life here. There was a tremendous difference between the possibility to understand you life at Altenhof and new here.And this is one of the gifts you gave to me, that I have a much better and nearer possibility to say: May liockhill be well and happy l In the Christian church we have bidding prayers, suppli­ cations, prayers for other persons and to be in contact with them without their presence. And it struck me how great the distance is from your daily life, not only outwardly, but also inwardly, teaching this Vipassana, and my daily life. And to refuse to say: let them go, this is too distant for me; but to take this distance, not confusing. Therefore, being together, and to observer, perhaps, a little more convergence - so that there will he in my life a tendency to have your life with me and vice versa. Harry: Having had you sitting next to me was a source of strength, because you have been applying yourself so diligently, and honestly. Was there anything, following the meditation course the way you did, which has enlightened you about something in your own Christianity ? in the positive way ? Ileinhard; Yes, I think mo. I can nstice this big distance. But it is not for me to overcome this distance, hot that I was living in the illusion that I could live your life, but to hold your life near me faithfully. This is also one of the fruits of this dialogue to me. It is a gift for me, so that I am much more firs in my conviction not to be separated from you or other people, although the distance which is there gels more and more into my awareness. This helps me to have a better profile of what we can live together. Perhaps I can see your boat a little better, without envy, without hatred, without illusion, without self-centredness or whatever. And I can he not only more free to follow my boat, but to have this sympathetic joy, as you call it. That I can feel and sometimes see you in your course. That is for me an immediate result. Exactly because I made such an effort to try this sharing of your life, not tried to skoid it. I -was able to develop more joy in the other’s progress, for the other’s sake. And also I was more joyful to see that the jay is in me. Bhante: Nobody has travelled in my boatl When there is right en­ vironment in the mind, the lav of nature (ihauma) can he seen well. Anybody can use this boat, but we need many things: moral conduct, effort, concentration, wisdom and mindfulness. What we mentioned in the course was taught by the Buddha, to be experienced by each one.

—65— Pilgrimage to Anuradhapura On 12th February our interreligious group set out early morning lor t lire e-day journey to Anuradhapura. Breakfast was taken at the Aluvihara near liatale.. This unexpected stop gave an entirely new perspective to our Dialogue* Vie could see the actual caves where 500 Arahat monks had gathered during the 1st Cautery L.C, to write down the entire Pali Canon (Tipitaka) on Ola leaves. The modern temple showed terible paintings and seulptings of the torchere in hell for the wrong-doers which put us off Samsara completely. In the main building we saw how nowadays monks are re-writing the Tipitaka on PaImirah—Leaves — a huge task* started in 1958 and not even half-completed* The museum had a beautiful collection of old books from Sri Lanka, Burma, Tibet etc* For lunch we just happened to arrive at the right time at the Eaja Hah a Vihara of Daiabtilla, where the monks went for their a ana to a temple next-doors., which leit the dana self to us* On the way to Anuradhapura, one of Bhante's pupils happened to stand near the road-side and we detoured through Minixintale for him* The Pilgrims Best house of the main temple,. Sri Ilaha nodhi Maha Vihara, was able to lodge us all comfortably, with the Blessings of the Chief Incumbent, Yen* Pallegaaa Sri Gnanaratana, Atamasthanadliipati of the sacred ‘city. He promised any kind of support and success to our interreligious dialogue and thought that this was. one of the most needed efforts and endeavours in Sri Lanka at this tine of crisis* Ths holy atmosphere under the Bodhi tree - which was brought to Anuradhapura by Emperor Ashika’ s daughter the Arahat m m Sanghamitta in the 2nd Century B.C. - enveloped us all* We trended bearfoot t© the enlrmous Stupa Buwanwelieaya, built by King Devanampiyatia«a. After visiting the shrine and circumambulating the stupa, we sat down for a Sunday evening service with Beinhard at the foot of the stupa. Leepal explained us how King Devanampiyatissa had decided that at this place the stupa with the greatest amount of relics was to be built, but it was only built under King Lutugemunu, who ensured that all who built it were duly paid, and not Inly worked for merits* Beinhard read the prayer for holiness of St. Francis of Assisi. The a quote from the Bibles Awake thou that sleepeth, and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light* Yen. Handapola Ledhananda of the Bhikkhu University came to meet us at the stupa. He had arranged the circuit bungalow for the next day, meals and night’s stay* Early morning we started a tour of the Sacred City of Anuradhapura * The Archaeologist Dr* llema Itatnayaka showed us some of the latest findings of the recent excavations and gave us a letter to see all the archaeological sites. Yen. II. Chandawimala of Lankatilleke temple accompanied us and ‘together with Deepal he explained what we saw: the Abhayagiri and Jetavana stupas, the Samadhi statue, the Moonstone* After lunch at the Bungalow we say Isurumnniya temple and ancient pleasure park of the famous loving couple. The head monk, Yen. Saddharma Kierthisri Saranankara 8 angharakkh.it a, Sang/.a nay aka of the Forth Central Province gave us. his blesafrigs and a King Coconut each. In the afternoon we returned to the Scred City for the continuation of our din logue discussions at Tissavewa Rest House, where the assistant Manager hosted our group. The content of the discussions appear later in this report. A sun-set walk took us again to the Sri Maha Bodhi, where a special puja was held lor Upali Jayawardhan, whose private jet plane had disappeared exactly one year ago. The head monk, and the maims oi. the Bhikkhu University and friends, relatives and suuporters of the missing billionnair conducted the puja with thousans of oil-lamps and chanting of sacred texts. The atmosphere had something of the supreme peace and was shared by all of us. Dinner and a group meditation at the bungalow concluned the day* - 6 6 -

Oe. 14th. February early morning Bhante Kassapa met the AGA Anuradhapura, Lr. E.D. J ayava rdhana, who was enthoused about the in ter religious dialogue and promised to try and get a meditation centre started under Bhante*s ausices near Anuradiiapura. The Chief Incumbent of the Bhikkhu University gave us his blessings and our group left Anuradhapura to return to Kandy, via Kurunegala, On our way we went to see our Muslim partner 1£. Salahudeen, who had been ailing for the last few weeks. Ee prayed for God's blessings for the recovery and good health of benita, Eeinhard's wife. After some 1st minute shopping, the group returned to Eockhill hermitage, where a group from Bandarawela joined us. On 15th February we had our last group meditation in the hall, with thought of loving kindness, peace and happiness for all, Eeinhard presented two photographs of voodcarvixxgs from Lourdes, which were sculpted by a friend of his: the face of Christ, on the cloth given by Veronica; and the three angels visiting Abraham, An afternoon drive down to Colombo took us just in time to witness the Eunupitiya ha vara Perahera, a great colorful cultural and religious pegeant. Thousands of drummers and dancers, both from up-country and the South of Sri Lanka, hundreds of elephants and also hundreds of monies in procession' took part in this 2-f hour long event. The night was spent just outside Colombo in the luxurious guest house of the Bellanwilla temple. February l6th, a Poya day (full moon) showed us the practice of Sri Lankan Buddhists who visited the temple and the Devale to do their pujas both at the Buddhist shrine room as well as the devales for the gods. A meeting with Ven. Bellanwilla Wimalaratana The ra, M.A. ph.D,, who had extended his hospitality to us so warmly, concluded our stay here. Bhante liassapa's three chief disciples are studying at the Bhikkhu Training Centre at Kaharagama, Being, a poya day we decided to pay them a short visit. A lunch at Bake Blouse and a rest in the elephant spangled Vihara i-aho Devi park concluded our day in Colombo, The drive along the lagoon-coastal road towards Kegombo tooh us along the old Butch canal to the PODIE people. This people's Organi­ sation for Development of Import and Export tries to help the small tea and spice growers and the small handicraftsmen to get aut of the grip of the middlemen an to find them an export market. The beach with its sun-set and a fine dinner at begombe were the concluding scenes before Eeinhard, Lichael and peter left us at Latunayaka Airport to return to Germany, The interreligious dialogue does not finish here. There is a job to be done, in our daily lives, in our meeting with peoT>le »f other faiths and before our next meeting in India in 1985« The interreligious dialogue at Itockhill Hermitage, begirikanda, was another step on the long and winding road towards harmony in ourselves and in the world.

Text of the meetings at Anuradhapura on pp 6? ff.

C #? Meeting; at Ruva nwe 1 i s a y a stupa Anuradhapura, 12-2—£-4 Prayer for holiness from St. frauds: ~~ ' "Oh Lord, moire us to instruments of your peace When there is hatred, let us, together sow love hirer there is injury, pardon Where there is doubt, faith fliere there is despair, hope Where there is darkness, light Where there is dadueas, joy Oh, divine master, grant that we may together not so much seek to be consoled, as to console to be understood as to understand, to be loved, as to love, for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life". arid: "awake thou that sleepeth, and arise from the dead, ReinharS: Clirist slia11 give thee light." As Christians we are taught that the first thing is the Grace which comes from the Lord to us and then we can do something, then we can say: yes I take these precepts etc. For Reinhard the imperative form of the teachings iE Bnckhill; the person should take the precepts and then follow the method and the path, was not satisfactory. One moment I was told and told myself, do this and the next moment I dond not do it - per­ haps outwardly, but not with my heart. And in this word of the lible it is as you have snovn us at liockhi 11; Awake, you are sleeping l This applies to the whole of mankind. I think we are in a deep sleep. All the hectic activity in our liie is also intended to renain sleeping. So, awake l This is also your, buddhist word. Irou are in ignorance. The second is also an imperative, very strong: Arise from the dead. We are not only sleeping, we are dead, hut this is not an excuse, not for anybody. It comes in each day, each moment, each second, this call comes; Cone on, wake up l Clirist calls; Cose out froc your death. This is for me perhaps the source of the Dialogue. And this may be the new step: And Christ shall give thee light. And sometimes I thought very secretly: the enlightenment of all men comes from one source, from one light. In bur Buddhist and Christian devotion this is one of the secrets of our being together. We know we cannot compare this; there is no need to compare; it happens and it has happened; and we receive this light, in our place, with thanksgiving. And tnat is for me one of the reasons why I am so thakful to be with you in this place. Michael: These words were spoken by someone who is hot sleeping himself. In the dialogue I think it is important that we do not say to eachother: Arise from your sleep. For the question is; As 1 sleeping ? And I think it is good in our dialogue that you always try to speak with the voice of Buddha, from the Enlightened One and not with your own voice, not only with your own voice in your own limitation. Ananda; There Is a saying in the Hindu literature: If you take one step towards God, God will take ter. steps towards you. I get the impression from this, that we should take the first step. God may be or IS always there, but we have to prepare ourselves, open up, do something in the moral and ethical field,with our rainda, getting rid of defilements; then it cooes..... Bkante: That is the first and the last step, very important step. Reinhard: That is the certainty from which you say: begin this meditation and you wil find enlightenment ? Bhantes Enlightenment cannot be gained if there is not the proper condition. Enlightenment itself is not conditioned, to realise it, there must be a certain condition in the mind. It can be the voice of Christ, the voice of Buddha, or Mohammad, which is the eonditiona -68—

Eeepal: The voice from Buddha or from Christ could be a condition to go towards enlightenment. And once you really reach ity the conditioned state dissolves. This conditioned state can be tne stimulating factor which brings you towards the light, the truth, enlightenment. And when you really get contacted with it, this conditioning nature is no more in existence. Anandaj I would say, it may be in existence, but it* has lost its importance. The conditioned doe not really vanish, but another dimension is added to it* The conditioned has lost its absolute validity. It is een as the relative, as the conditioned, Deepal; Now you can smell the flower ...... Iteinhard: What the head monk of Amirndkapura told us to-day - the necessity to try and understand eachother between the different religions and nationalities, is also very important. But the sleep and the death are very strong and stubborn, and so is our heart. Peter: This really troubles me very much. We are sitting here under this great pagoda. If I'm not mistaken, we are sitting here on the base of it: confidence. The people who come to this shrine to worship they have great faith and confidence and they do not seem to be asleep to me. I think in is very important to be aware not to fall astleep* Be more aware, develop your sense for truth*. Once I realise that I am sleepy, I realise that I am sitting on stones, which are called confidence, and I really have the feeling of being carried by some confidence* Lichael: I can feel that now also. I think it is especially a Ciiritian way, that there are not many steps, but always the same step, over and over again, like waking up each day. Speaking about myself, I need this voice and 1 find myself again and again sleeping, just like Jesus found his disciples sleeping in the last night before his death. To do the one step, I have already heard his voiae: Wake upi God always takes the first step and then we can take the next step. But I must say that I also very impressed by the confidence of the people here. Keinhard requested Harry to read the Lord’s Prayer. We then all made a”Chain around the world” lieepal then suggested to chant the Karaniya Metta sutta, for the wellbeing and happiness of all beings, near and far, visible and invisible, all around the x/orld* The Love and Peace were tangible to all around.

Dialogue st Tissawewa Best Louse, 13-2-84 Fteinh&rd's ideas go way beyond the sphere of mere religion* Religion encompasses so many other fie ld , which we usually do not include in the field of religion, e.g. the ecological question, o r the arms race, or the scientific revolution. We are on this planet, with its mass population; it is a very serious theme, how do we personally feel these things, after having lived this dialogue, you see ? And also, how far do we go in accepting eachother1s faith and where does our flexibility find its limits ? How do we as partners in the dialogue, after becoming aware of these global problems, how do we look at it, how do we implement, how do we incorporate these realisations into our daily life. And how far do we go in "overlapping”, i.e. taking another person's life into ours and where do we stay fixed in our own belief, not being rigid; but: when is self-centredness something which is not bad or negative. Once I have readied and understood this particular stage, then I can give up and more into spheres which are open to my thinking, my activities and my future. harry: There are three things: 1. We a ll have been touched, moved, shocked by certain things which are new challenges to us. 2. This necessitates us to move out of our l i t t l e 1 bowl1. We have to give up certain, perhaps cherished things, which we thought were absolute, and which now appear to be less universal. But also there must be some of our own identity* —69— - 6 9 -

Iron practical issues in which we see that we have some hind of commiouent, we now cone to a more theoretical, more dietriual poinj; which has two aspects; a) to go beyond and b) that which remains, your own point of view. Peterj beautirul it %oulo. be if ail people in the world would meditate half an hour a day l I would think that the meditative povev would create a more livable state in this world. I am more convinced of this after having the experience of these ten days of E^editation at Rockhill. It is something really worthwhile; so many fruitful energies are really created in you. Ananda; In the world, generally, people are always going out, forgetting about themselves, they have no touch -with themselves, they are alienated, which takes them away from natures the industrial revolution, urbanisation, the speeding up of it all} the computer revolution, the whole division of labour, where people are only parts in a big machine-like structure; they don’t live on their own initiative! people are being lived by the society and the economic structure. It is very important, in connection with this meditation, that people come once again to themselves. Reinhard: What can we do about the enormous unemployment. So much of human potential is lying idle. We, as a "spiritual elite" are free to forget about these people. Eow can we help these especially young people to find their real human volume, possibilities, horizon? Ananda; Especially in the west one has realised the limitations of material growth and the possibilities of satisfaction in that field, people have not found real happiness with only material things and some people have not found any spiritual values, or had no chance to return to the land for instance, to live a simple life from the land. They are sort of lost. They are unvoluntarily unemployed; they like to work, but there are no jobs for them. Eut on the other hand there are many x>eople who are unvoluntarily employed. They have to work, even though they don’t like* to. Those who have many more spiritual values they are forced to work. In that way there is an unjust dis­ tribution of labour. llichael;When Nehru was in prison - unvoluntarily unemployed - he took a picture of the Anuradhapura Samadhi Buddha with him. Ananda; Some people who are in prison took to meditation also. E.g. Sri Aurobindo, the revolutionary-saint. Bamdas, Goenka, who are teaching meditation in prisons. There is a need for the regeneration of the spiritual side of life. Once you come to yourself, all these social, economic and political and other problems will reduce. It was suggested that meditation be introduced into the curriculum of schools, although it was recognised that one cannot "force" mediation. By coming to oneself I mean that one gets to know one’s thoughts, feelings, emotions closer and closer. One will be more able to dis­ tinguish between what is important and what is not. So more and more one comes to the essence. Reinhard; When I try describe what it means to come to myself; Aim lump of clmy which is trying to follow the hands of the lord, which makes this lump of clay a life figure. Ananda: if we take that as a parallel to our meditation; not to suppress, not to change, also not to cling, not to condemn, just like a flower; just watching it, how it unfolds; then you are in your Dharma,, on the path. Peter: To what extent is each individual person free ? Ananda; Every person has a part which is free and one part which is conditioned, by previous lives and by all experience etc., heredity, climate, environment etc. You can change, recondition the conditioning - according to a pattern. In another way: know the conditions in which you are and realise also the unconditioned. Then you are actually free, not according to a plan, from your own conditioned ideas. Is there such a thing ? -7 0 - Reinhart!: This djuxamic force (the Holding hands which 1 see as a Christian; which is buildigg and pushing yon forward to be aware of your conditioning, to realise more and more the unconditioned. Could we say that this is also valid for the Buddhist, or is this difficult to say. I taink that the Lord is not only building the individual, but also the big groups, such as Christianity, Buddhists etc. Ananda: If the Lord is making each individual and groups as a uhole all the time, where does the factor of our effort cone in ? Iteinhard: he works with our acting and with our suffering both, with our doing ©nd with our weakness both, and transforms both. Be uses both to build more and more ; to cut away and to form, be can hinder him, if we are too self-righteous, self-centred; we cut ourselves away from this dynamic evolutive creation. Ananda: hoes this mean then that the lord is not completely omni­ present ? Reinhard: 0 yes, completely omnipresent and completely omnipotent. The lord is patiently waiting for those who are moving away and cutting themselves off from this creative evolutive process. The prodigal son, which is mankind. Larry: In the end nobod3^ can imagine how it works. The above description is rather masculine. What I have learnt from my Asian friends made my concept of God grow more and more feminine, and less and less "he". It is not a sexual problem: I have much more a feeling of being in the all-embracing womb; a cosmic feeling of a universal -womb. Reinhard: It is also said that the Lord is always giving a new birth to man in the ever present now: the Baptism, every day. The womb is a very good picture for this. Beepal: It gives all the necessary nutrition, it gives protection, there is no chaos; it goes in the same vibration. Reinhard: Ran is growing, as an individual and as a whole. When the groups are growing, they start touching. In this sense I see our dialogue. We are like the first branches touching; we are willing and prepared to stay to touch ecchother, not to break the other, hut to build one panorama. The ideal should be a forest. Ehante: What about when a ereeper comes and destroys the whole tree ? Lichael; That is how Christianity did mission work before. They were like parasytes on a tree. Reinhard: Those were ray snakes: the temptations and defilements. Beepal: As a result of this interreligious dialogue we prepare ourselves and grow, without crushing eachotlier.But, if it is not a development through real understanding, what would happen is, that creepers of self-identity can grow and cover the tree. If one has the right understanding, the self-identity - the creepers- still no more Andnd*:That is, if you accept the other religion as equal. Rhante: Apple trees produce apples, Jack trees produce Jack, hut they live together, in harmony. They produce their own fruits. We need all the fruits. Harry; Buddhism is 2500 years old, and it will disappear again from this earth, Christianity is even younger. In the history of mankind it is very little: kankind has lived for only a minute.( We tend to forget this. The history of Chritianity and RudHkism is a very short one. Before this, mankind lived also, they believed also, God was there also (talking a s a Christian). AIVthese people have %een searching also. We are talking and being very provincial. Nirmal: Buddhism is not that only of Gautama; there have been nan^ Buddlias before. In the same way I look at Chrisianitv from the first man. Bhante; Buddhism is not produced by Buddha. Ee revealed what was existing in the w*rld» Barry: Christ also said: I have not come to abolish; I have come to accomplish. That is a tremendous thing. Reinhard: The lluslim would also say, that l ohammad revealed a truth which was existing and he is the last proohet. They accept all previous prophets also. —71— Yen. Chandavi^nnla; There is a truth, which has been existing throughout time. Various sages, Christ, Luddha, earlier • indu - u Eishis nay have discovered and proclaimed to the world in different ways. In this aeon or world-system we have already had four Buddhas; Eakusanda, lionagama, Kassapa and Gautama on this very’ earth. Suppose that through a terrible bomb this world will be mostlr destroyed and another civilisation would start from the few sur­ vivors who hid in caves etc., this very truth can be dicovered again. The truth of suffering, the cause of it, the end of it and the path were there and will be there. ieter; Does this mean that there must always be an outside force, or saviour, a power, a stream of consciousness, wnieh touches upon earth, this planet, to revive it ? Deepal; Actually, this problem arises if we think geocentrically, i.e. if we take the earth as a centre. We think that we are here in this world and there is nobody else. If ve just take a look at night at the infinite number of stars, the galaxies. In Buddhism we take the whole universe. Ve are part of this whole universal system. We are not enlightened, I see the possibility of entertaining this universal power, or cosmic power or the Love as an essential part. Maybe that is a part of the present development of our consciousness. Ve are trying to either accept or reject God or this universal creative power being in this level l One can only realise this cosmic power if one realises the ultimate truth. At this moment we have not realised. Eeinhard: The next step in our dialogue or in the meeting of the branches of the various trees is; to be free to encounter eachother in Love, Only what one does in Love has reality. And that is the freedom. One must try and find the steps which only Love can make. Deepal; Beal Love flows through you when you clear this blockade of the "I"-conditioning. And this flow will spread all over the place. lieinhard; And this flow is the Loving-kindness ? Deepal; All the Divine qualities of Compassion, Loving-kindiess, Sympathetic joy and Equanimity am all different faces of this Uni­ versal Love. All this we can develop up to a certain extent even within this I-conditioning, but the day you are free from this I- conditioning it will remove all these masks or labels and it will be one Universal Love. Ninnals listen this Love is accompanied by the total destruction of ignorance, i.e* by Supreme Wisdoa, only then one can really express this love, because the will is free from conditioning. Agape (Greek) is the disinterested love, for its own sake* Love itself. This is why Christ said; Love your God first, with all your heart and mind and will. This God is not a conditioned abate. That is the first and greatestCommandment. From that flows; loving your neighbour as yourself. Ven. Chandawimala; In Buddhism one does not stop at Ketta; one goes beyond that also. It also goefi beyond Compassion, Symathetic Joy and Equanimity. Bhante: Why should we love ? Beinhard; Because I always find myself not loving. And the great help to me is Christ’s commandment; Go, and love i So, I have bo go and love; that is my reason. It is not my own choice* I am very grateful that this commandment comes to me; Go, and love. And then 1 discovered, that when you understand what real Love is , then all questions vanished; because then you are fin the stream. When it does not come through your heart, then it is something else* Bhante; The knowledge of Love is Wisdom; there must be tne will to love; there is effort also, there is consciousness also* When these four factors come together there is accomplishment* In order to succeed in anything these four factors must oe there. Ii all these factors are there in us, I think we can have a successful Dialogue l Because there is love in me, because I love myself I ean love the others, without having an image of the other. - 7 2 - - 7 2 -

Last session at Eockhi I I hermitage , 15-2-1984

Eeinhard presented two photographs of woodcarvings, made by a friend for the Orthodox church in Lourdes. They depict how three angels cane to Abraham and Sarah and spoke in One Voiee. It depects the Father, Son and holy Ghost vith bread and wine, brought by Abraham and Sarah on an open table, for all to take. The One Voice predicted, that Abraham and Sarah would have a son; and it ern&true. Isaac was born, one of the successors of Abraham* in the Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions. The picture shows tne Lord in his self-r-revelation: I give myself to you, in bread and wine in the holy Eucharist. Beyond this, I nourish, with the blood of my heart, the blood of my life, with my spirit, I nourish the world, earning to each place. Loth pictures (the other being the cloth presented by Veronica to Jesus on his way to the crucifiction) are a very poor, hut very significant and symbolic expression of what comes from the transcendent to us, so that we can layrdown our life in this presence of Christ. You here, and ve, whoever we are., have this daily bread, encom­ passing what we need. And we always need peace and love., I think these days here were such days of peace and lava and I th a nk you Ehante and Ananda. as you know, this Dialogue is a thing which is a process which, is going through the world. But I think there must be little groups or people who feel responsible to DO this dialogue. Many people have such thought and know the necessity of it and there are many- different ways to do this and different engagements to look at your neighbour. In our group we try ta make each year such an encouter of people from different religions. This year our Lind® partner, Govind Blurratban, an advocate in the High Court in Cochin, could not he here, because this is his busiest period of the year. So we decided that we should have our next dialogue, after this dialogue in Eockhi11 in a Buddhist environment, next year in a Hindu environment in India. We hope that the participants of this dialogue will also be there, so that there can be a continuous line. Especially the dialogue will go to a Lindu environment, we will need more time, because the range that Hinduism covers is very wide, and the impressions will he so deep, varied and many, that ve will try to be together about 6 weeks. Michael added one word; There is joy in the Heavens- about these days here together at Rockhill. Bliantej I# we want to find the real meaning behind the words of the great religious leaders, what we need is self-awareness through meditation. Give tne mind a chance to find it. Angnda: We have to thank harry Haas especially for bringing us into contact with the dialogue through Eeinhard and Hector. And also we have to thank him for his great contribution of typing the diary. It has been a superhuman task, which he undertook voluntarily and keeping his balance with all the other activities as well. Life can be a meditation when you dedicate yourself to the task at hand. \/e thank all the participants and also Ben, Eeinhard*s wife, for letting him come over here. So, we can actually say that this dialogue here has been a Jiart of the fulfilment of Eeinhard *s Dream, and it is going on. Then the group sat in silence together before departing. A p p en d ix "ACTS 01 TRUTH"

Eeepal Sooriyaracbchi propeses an alternative course of action for those wuo seek the help of divine powers for the overcoming of tn e ir problems, without condemning the making of vows etc. In the Buddhist Loctrine this is called "Satyakriya" or Acts of Truth* The Buddhist essentially gives a very prominent place in his practice to the power cf Kamrna. According to Buddhist teachings, acts of the w ill generate Laramie forces. While wholesome thoughts develop good kaamic forces that bring about happy or good results, unwholesome thoughts do the reverse. This kanuaic power acts as the forerunner in most of the happenings in life* In both Buddhist and Hindu ancient lite ra tu re one can find records of the performance of Acts of Truth, to overcome difficulties, to f u lf il one’s wishes and sometimes to prove one's innocence* Let's examine what an Act of Truth is* It is a strong wish made, based on a definite truth. Acts of truth differ from a charm in that they release power accumulated by one's own merit, purity, steadiness t or in practising the precepts, virtue etc. In Jataka stories (e.g. nos.444,463,519,516, 513) we can observe how the Bodhisattva (the Buddha in his previous lives) by performing acts of truth got his wishes fulfilled and overcame difficulties, >t"' On a certain occasion, by performing an set of truth the Bodhi­ sattva could restore a boat to its proper course after it had been diverted. On other occasions, gods had intervened to help the distressed, such as the intervention of Sakra (King of the gods). When Lord Buddha first visited Kimbulvath after his Enlightenment, to v is it his fatuer King Sudhodana, queen Yasodhara (lay Prince Siddhartha* s former wife) did not come to see him. But she performed an act of truth, wishing:"If it is true that I was a faithful wife to him when he was in this palace, then he could come and see me here in my room*" her wish was fulfilled; the Omniscient one walked into the room with the members of the Sangha. In another instance a Jataka story accounts how a faithful queen made an act of truth: "If i t is true that I have protected my chastity (while she had gone into the forest to get fruit and got late to return), may my husband be free from this sicloiess." To her delight, the king was cured of his skin disease instantly. Even to-day, to evoke blessings, Buddhists chant "Pirith" or Songs of protection, which were even done by the Buddha himself. Most of these P irith are expressions of Acts of Truth. E.g* Itatana Sutta - In this Sutta the qualities of the Triple Gem, the Buddha, Dhamraa and Sangha are mentioned and at the end of each stanza is an act of truth, wishing well, based on the truth of these nohle qualities. Once the parents, of a ‘newborn child came to the Buddha, a fte r a clairvoyant itishi had refused to bless the child with long life. The Buddha also confirmed the probable shortness of the child, however, he asked the parents to prepare seats for him and the Sangha. Then they came and chanted p irith and evoked blessings. After the all-night pirith the child was placed at the feet of the Compassionate One, who blessed him and assured the parents that the child would live 108 years (the full life span Pt that time). Later, he was called Ayu-waddhana (one who lives long). Still most pregnant mothers in Buddhist countries get the local monks to chant the Angulimala Pirith. This is done in the hope oi having an easy delivery. The Buddha set the example - introducing the performance of acts of truth - as a remedy for various worldly difficulties. In the annals oi Sri Lanka's history, we find how King Sirisanghaho performed an act of truth to bring rain to the land. Ee slept under the shade of the liuwanwe 1 i Stupa at Anuradhapura and did not get up until his bed floated on rain water. - 2 - Appendix Acts of Tniuh

Luring tue time of tiie sinhala kings, sermons of the Ariyawansa Sutra had gained ground as a social event. Participating in these was considered a deed that will bring abundant merit. So people of all walks of life flocked to places where these sermons were being conducted. Once a not-ier who was listening to this sercon found that her infant had been bitten by a poisonous snake. But. she did not move, thinking* " In the round of rebirths (Sangsara) children are found in plenty but not so the Dhamma", At the end of the lengthy sermon, she per­ formed an act of truth, saying: "May the truth and the power of the noble Ariyawangsa Sutta act upon my child and may he be free from the venom of the serpent", her wish came true. There are a number of such stories of revival after poisonous snake bites related to the Ariyawansa Sutta Besana ceremonies in Sri Lanka. When the Tooth Relic of the Buddha (now kept in the Temple of the Tooth in handy) was hammered on a blaksmith's anvil, it was imbedded in the metal. A fsious devotee performed an act of truth and... out came the tooth relic from the metal block. I have some cases from the recent instances also. In 1980 I organised my father's three months' commemmoration ala* giving (Dana). I had planned lor a sermon to be lelivered by the Rev. Lorana Pannasekera (how in London B.V.). I promised him that I would come to his temple to accompany him. The sermon was scheduled to start at 7 P.K. By 4 p.m. a thunder-shower started. There weren't enough people at home to listen to the sermon. I decided not to go to Lorana to bring the monk. Instead I went to the village temple in the heavy rain and invited the local village temple monk for the sermon. I went to the temple cave shrine-room and lit an oil lamp. After observing the Live Precepts, I wished; "If it is true that my father had lived a virtuous life, all I programmed for should go well." I was astonished when I was informed that the Rev. Pannasekera had come to the village temple at 6.30 p.m. By 6.45 the rain ceased. I went to the temple and accompanied him home. By then the house was full of people to listen to* the Bana sermon. On another occasion I was able to cure a terrible head-ache of my mother by performing an act of truth and by chanting seven times the stanza enumerating the qualities of the Buddha and applied the chanted coconut oil to my mother's forehead, while wishing:"If it is true that I lead a just life, my mother will be relieved from this pain It is not my intention to blow my own trumpet, but I must -show you how I got so convinced about the power of these acts of truth. In 1981, at my father's annual memorial almsgiving we invited pvev. Glande Ananda to give the sermon at the temple in this connection. I asked two of my friends who are doctors to come and take part in the seremony. They were young doctors and could not finish their regular rounds until 7 p.m* Eev. Ananda* s sermon was to start at 7 p.m. Befor leaving the hospital they did an act of truth: "If it is true that we look after our mothers well; if it is true that we are loyal and obedient to tnem, we should be able to listen to this sermon." This took place in Colombo. In the meantime in our "temple, the chief incumbent decided to put off the sermon till 8 p.m., so the monks could chant lirith from 7-8 p.m. As they finished chanting pirith, the microphone started giging trouble. In the meantime my docor friends arrived. The mike started functioning again and my friends could now listen to the sermon! As wre have already seen, most of the acts of truth are supported by our virtue - or the practising of the precepts. The power of this virtue and the wholesome kamxaic force which it generates depends on how diligently and for how long we have practised the precepts. Acts of Truth. . Apjiendis _3_

While performing an act of truth, we release out this accumulated power towards a certain decided direction. Achievment of the desired goal is therfore conditioned or limited by the two factors, viz: a) potential energy of the accumulated kammie power b) how well-focussed the released power is. This we can compare to how a piece of paper can be ignited by holding a lens over it which collects the rays of the sun in its focus. This article will not be complete if I don't relate the story where I learnt about the acts of truth first. I is again a Buddhist story which I heard when I was 3 or h years old. Two small cniidren were asked to find rabbit flesh to save their mother from death. These two boys, who had no father, made a trap in their garden where every night rabbits come to eat grass. Early morning when they went to the trap, tehyy saw a rabbit caught in it. It was a mother rabbit, with two small rabbits sucking its milk. The boys had to make a decision - if they didn't find the rabbit flesh their mother would die. If they killed that mother rabbit, the two little rabbits would be without a mother. They hesitated for a little while, aid then let the mother rabbit free. They ran home and standing by their mother's bedside, performed an act of truth, based on their deed. The mother escaped death and became well. There were instances where qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha were used as the base of the acts of truth. When we contemplate the qualities of the Triple Gem, our minds will be free from hatred, ill-will, lust and delusion. So that mind became® pure at that moment. The purity we gained is itself a power of good kauuaic force, and it is this power which brings about the desired result. This is like cleaning a lamp chimney . When cleaned the light radiates through the chimney toughing everything surrounding it. We discussed the acts of truths based on the practising of precepts etc. here a question could be raised, whether one could perform an act of truth based on one's bad deeds, such as; "If it istrue t A-ici "fc i- lu illed so many animals, may this or this happen".? Kaybe this could he done. But I doubt very much the ability to achieve a destructive goal with the help of an act of truth, because trouble is inevitably the result of some negative power. With unwholesome deeds that we accumulate, unwholesome powers arise. Therfore, with an act of truth based on haired, lust and illusion, it would only be releasing negative powers. Concluding, I would draw your attention to the importance of performing acts of truth. Definitely this way of getting things done will not appeal to the ordinary people as they always prefer an easy way. Only those w iO believe and take an interest in the power of mind over matter will prefer to harness and practise this metnod. Irrespective of color, creed or nationality, if one leads a good life - that itself could be used as a base for this type of performing acts of truth. Like the coins collected in a savings box, it all depends what our collection of good kannuls force is. So let us lead a good life. Let the effort itself give us enough courage and help us to overcome our problems with confidence, being true to our own convictions.

Deepal Sooriyarachchi Appendix. Random thought on the Dialogue by Denis Hose

It was a moving and wanning experience to meet and spend a few days with the Dailogue at Ro*khi_ll. Because the way in which all — Reinhard, Peter, hiehael, Harry, Lector, Nirmal, Deepal, Bhant-e and Ananda had opened their hearts to one another they had acquired a rare and precious degree of transparency. What could better shoe the value of the Dialogue ?

I had a few thoughts whilst the groiip was away in Anuradhapura, and although they are not in any locigal order, I offer them as a small contribution. 1 All religions, insofar as they are conceptualised, are "conditioned” (to use the Buddhist term); thus, they are changing. This may be part of the meaning of "progressive revelation". 2 The Dailogue could be a process in which those taking part seek to find in their own religions what is acceptable to other religions. This is the converse of each seeking in other religions™what is acceptable to himself. 3 As an example of 2 - Nibhana has many interpretations. In a very few words, a few of them are:' (a) The Transcendental Path, which we cannot grasp with our normal minds. (b) A state of freedom, power, happiness, perfection and knowledge of a transcendental thought. (e) A state of perfect mental health. BUT (d) It does not mean "extinction". Dee Bigha hikaya I 200, " I will exist in the future". One would think that all except (a) would be acceptable to Christians. 4 HOWEVER, for Buddhists, Nibbana is attained by one's own effort. For Christians by Divine Grace. This needs exploration ! 5 Buddhism is now. It starts with present experience. In this, it is like science, which starts from observation of the present, not from a theory or speculation of the first cause or the finality. When we attain total experience of the present, we traacesd time and space, which are both conceptual; we enter the metaphysical realm. But without metaphysics l 6 Christianity states, "As it was in the beginning,, it is now and even shall be...... " By transcending the metaphysics of "the beginning" and "ever shall be", the Eternal Present is realised. 7 It has to be said that 5 and 6 are opposites. What they may have in common is the act of transcending. 8 Buddhism is deductive. Christianity is inductive.

Rockhill Hermitage 12-14 Feb. 1984