SSA1208 / GES1005 Written Report on Temple Visit

Ashley Chin Wan Ting

Cheong Jie Qi

Clarice Lim Zi Ling

Chua Jin Kang

1 Introduction

Founded by Venerable Dr. Kotawila Sri Pemaloka Nayaka Thera, the Aaloka Buddhist Centre sits at the eleventh unit along the main road of Lorong 22 Geylang. A shift from the conventional idea of temples, the architecture of the centre lacks the grandeur associated with chinese temples, without the iconic tiled roof with upturned corners. Accessed through a small side entrance, the centre quietly sits on the second floor of the building. As its name suggests, the place appears more as a centre than a traditional temple, its doors open to anyone interested to learn about

Theravada Buddhism.

In this essay, we explore this unorthodox example of a school of Buddhism focused on pursuing spirituality without outward rituals of worship. Beginning with the founder, we then examine the school of Buddhism practiced, the centre’s interior and the activities conducted before concluding with our take on this atypical place of worship.

2 The Founder, Dr Kotawila

Firstly, the founder and head monk Dr Kotawila’s unique background suits the nature of the centre. Not only was he appointed the Chief Monk of Singapore and possesses judiciary powers on buddhist-related matters, he was also awarded the honorary title of Dhammakeerti Sri

Ratanapala by the Maha Sangha Council of Siam Maha Nikaya Kandy of Sri Lanka. The 77 year old venerable holds a Masters and PhD in Buddhist Philosophy as well as a diploma in English, and has lectured on comparative religious studies.

As a scholar monk, he left his homeland at 22 years old after his higher ordination to do

Buddhist missionary work in Malaysia and Singapore. His collection of photos taken over the years boasts illustrious ministers and heads of states of the United Kingdom, United States of

America and Asia, members of the British Royal Family and even His Holiness Dalai Lama. He also published 11 books on the Buddha and Buddhism, and 1 memoir which can be purchased at the centre. Proceeds from the sale of hia books go towards the maintenance of the centre,

Dhamma classes and activities.

The Aaloka Buddhist Centre stands as the culmination of his efforts and long term aspiration to practice the noble teachings of the Buddha without prejudice and restrictions in a peaceful country. At the moment, he is still in search for a suitable place to establish his own temple to settle and provide a better place for his devotees.

3 About Theravāda Buddhism

Aaloka practices Theravāda Buddhism, a school of Buddhism most commonly practiced in Sri

Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. Their scriptures are extracted from the Pali canon, believed to be the oldest records of Buddha’s teachings.

They are distinct from Mahayana Buddhism, a major Buddhist tradition practiced by most

Chinese temples in Singapore, in ways of ritual and beliefs. Aaloka does not believe in supreme beings or God. They see Buddha as a role model — a human who achieved spiritual enlightenment. Thus, their altar only sits statues of Buddha. The goal of the religion is to attain enlightenment through meditation, a solitary journey taken without divine intervention from God or gods.

Meditation can be practiced by both monks and believers. Monks guide believers through spiritual teachings and chanting sessions. They also give spiritual blessings for weddings, funerals, houses and offices. In exchange, believers provide monks with their daily necessities such as food and cloth for robes. However, both parties are not allowed to make demands to each other. Giving is done voluntarily and out of goodwill.

4 Visiting the Centre

As mentioned in the introduction, the Aaloka Buddhist Centre is situated above a traditional Chinese temple. It can be accessed from a staircase entered from the left hand side of the temple.

A photo of the entrance can be seen in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: (left) Entrance of the centre which can be accessed from the side of the temple building

(right). A hint of the signboard can be seen on the left of the photo on the right.

Along the stairway up to the second level where the centre is located, there is a noticeboard

(Figure 2) presenting information about the courses the centre offers regarding chanting lessons, Dhamma classes (teachings about cosmic law and order) and the contact number for Bhante services. Bhante is a form of endearment and respect in addressing the Venerable. The Venerable can be contacted to bless various places, from homes to offices upon request.

Figure 2: Noticeboard along the stairway before entering the temple with information regarding

the centre’s activities

The interior of the centre was simple and held only basic furniture. The traditional decorations that adorn the interior of a Chinese temple such as couplets were absent. We crafted a floor plan of the centre’s layout (Figure 3) based on pictures taken and our observations upon our visit.

6 Figure 3: Floorplan of the centre constructed with SmartDraw. Do note that the layout of the

centre was not drawn to scale and the objects in the figure are not representative of the whole

centre.

A registration table on the right is the stop upon reaching the top of the staircase. It is used for people who wish to sign up as a member of the centre. More information about the classes offered by the centre can be found in the green box tray as seen in Figure 4. The stack of books in yellow are the chanting book written in Hindi which is used during Puja sessions. The term

‘Puja’ simply refers to an act of worship.

Figure 4: Registration table adorned with the colours of the international buddhist flag;

registration forms for new believers, refreshments and other documents are placed on it

The sole altar of the centre (Figure 5) can be found in the corner. When we arrived, the Venerable lit up a joss stick. He mentioned that this is a form of greeting out of respect to the

7 buddhas. If visitors wish to say their prayers to the buddhas, they could do so by kneeling on the cushion. For Theravada Buddhists, they would pray with two palms together, fingers flat and pointing upwards. They would slowly to raise their palms up to their forehead before lowering it to the floor and ensuring that the whole forearm till the elbow is touching the ground, with their elbow touching the knee. This is the type of prostration that Theravada Buddhists practice.

Figure 5: (left) Altar with 3 buddha statues, (right) with a cushion on the floor for visitors and

members to kneel down and pray

A donation box was placed next to the altar. We heard from the Venerable that all donations would be used to help their beneficiaries during their volunteering events. People who wish to support the centre financially for their volunteering events are welcome to put in any amount of donation they want.

Figure 7: Donation box in the temple. As the founder does not accept any money, all cash

transactions or proceeds will be put into this box to be used for the centre’s activities.

There is a table seen outside the Venerable’s office where he sells his thesis book and some chanting CDs. We purchased his memoir book that detailed his life’s journey that led up to his founding of Aaloka, and through that we found out that the payment for purchasing the books would not be paid to the Venerable himself, for he would not accept it. Instead, the money will be placed inside the donation box where it would be used by the centre when they go for volunteering events and pilgrimages.

Figure 8: Table consisting of some books Dr. Kotawila has authored and other chanting CDs.

The light orange cover in the photo is his PhD thesis. The memoir book (right) we purchased.

The two cupboards seen in the floor plan are filled with books about Buddhism. For example, books about the origin of Buddhism or how Buddhist teachings can be practiced in everyday lives could be found. In contrast with the books displayed on the table in Figure 8, Dr. Kotawila shared that those were not price-marked for sale and the books can also be taken without any donation or payment. Alternatively, those who wished to take the books could contribute any amount to the donation box should they wish to. It also consists on trophies of appreciation for

Aaloka Buddhist Centre’s support during their volunteer events on occasions like Vesak Day.

Pictures of their volunteer events and other information regarding the centre extending their help to the public are also pasted on the door of the cupboard.

Figure 9: (left) Cupboard containing various statues of Buddha, photos of pilgrimages and milestones of the Venerable’s life; (right) various notices pasted on the cupboard doors detailing

the centre’s activities

Lastly, the 2 classrooms seen in the floorplan of the centre (Figure 3) is where the Venerable himself and some volunteers of the centre teach Dhamma classes to the members of the centre, though any interested party is free to join them even if they are not a member. The centre is not the traditional type that focuses on the practices of Buddhism, but emphasizes on the importance of Buddhist beliefs.

The Venerable himself also personally captured numerous photographs of religious sites on his travels. He selected two pictures he had taken in Sri Lanka to be enlarged and printed as a life-sized poster, which he hung on the walls in the centre (Figure 10 and 11). To him, both photos stood out as the most meaningful ones in his collection. The statue is the Samadhi Statue

11 (Figure 10) found in Mahamevnawa Park, where the Buddha is depicted in the position of

Dhyana Mudra, which is a posture associated with Nirvana, his first Enlightenment. In Dhyana

Mudra, the Buddha sits cross-legged with his palms upturned on his lap. While the position was universal in the Buddhist world and typical in Buddhist scripture, Dr Kotawila felt that the

Samadhi Statue brought him a great sense of peace and meditation. The other poster depicts the

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, one of the most respected Buddhist relic of Sri Lanka (Figure 11). The Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi refers to the Sacred Fig tree which is southern branch of Sri Maha Bodhi

(The Bodhi Tree) in India where Buddha attained enlightenment as Siddhartha Gautama. It stands as the oldest human planted living tree in the world with a known planting date.

Figure 10: A poster blown up from a photo of the Samadhi Statue from Dr Kotawila’s personal

collection and a row of international buddhist flags

Figure 11: A blown up photo poster of Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, the southern branch of Sri Maha

Bodhi taken by Dr. Kotawila on his travels and a row of international buddhist flags

The centre was also generously decorated with rows of international Buddhist flags (Figure 5, 10 and 11), which consists of blue, yellow, red, white and orange vertical stripes, each with one-sixth of the distances from the hoist. A digital image of the Buddhist flag can be seen in

Figure 12. The sixth stripe is a combination of the five horizontal stripes of the same colour starting from the top. The right hand vertical orange stripe merges with the bottom horizontal orange stripe.

Figure 12: Upright picture of the International Buddhist Flag

Starting from the left of the flag, the blue signifies the concept of loving kindness and peace in

Buddhism and yellow signifies the Middle Path (i.e. the complete absence of form and emptiness). While red represents achievement, wisdom, virtue, fortune, dignity, white symbolizes purity, emancipation, that the Dhamma will always exist regardless of time or space and the essence of Buddhism which is full of wisdom, strength, and dignity is seen in the color orange. The last column on the right is the combination color that represents the one and only

Truth in Buddhism.

The Buddhist Flag was first hoisted in 1885 in Sri Lanka, and is a symbol of faith and peace used throughout the world to represent the Buddhist faith. The six colours of the flag represent the colours of the aura that emanated from the body of the Buddha when he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree. The horizontal stripes represent the races of the world living in harmony and the vertical stripes represent eternal world peace. The colours symbolizes the perfection of

Buddhahood and the Dharma.

14 In a nutshell, the Buddhist Flag implies that there is no discrimination of races, nationality, areas or skin colour: that every living being possess the Buddha Nature and all have the potential to become a Buddha.

Activities conducted in Aaloka

From our interview with the Venerable, he revealed that Aaloka Buddhist centre holds Dhamma classes and Pali chanting sessions to cultivate one’s knowledge on Buddha’s teachings, with different classes for varying age groups. For the young, classes will be simpler, with arts and crafts and basic teachings of Buddha. For the more mature audience, topics such as consciousness and more complex teachings will be taught. For the centre, Sunday stands out as the busiest day of the week. Every Sunday morning, Dhamma classes are conducted for adult and children according to the YMBA syllabus. This is followed by Pali sutta chanting classes and group Dhamma discussion in the afternoons.

Notable annual activities include Vesak Day celebration on 9 and 10 May, ‘Qing Ming’ memorial puja on 9 April, ‘8 Precepts’ Observance Day on 15 April, the Bhante’s Birthday

Celebration on 2nd July and Kathina (robe offering) for all devotees. In addition, the Venerable conducts blessings services to houses and offices alike, memorial and funeral services for the departed. Last but not least, there is Buddha Puja conducted every new and full moon, concluding with a short sermon and transference of merits.

15 Vesak Day is a day of particular importance that commemorates Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing. It is celebrated over 2 days in Aaloka Buddhist Centre, and everyone is welcomed to participate. Unlike many festive events, Vesak day is not a day of indulgence for those in the centre. It is a day of bringing joy to others and paying homage to Buddha by practising kind deeds and reflecting on His teachings. Aaloka will be putting together an event for a senior citizens home, providing dinner, small gifts and entertaining them with singing and music as well as collecting used spectacles for the needy in Sri Lanka. They will also be viewing Buddha

Relics, paying homage to Buddha and observing his teachings.

Similar to traditional temples, Tomb-sweeping Day (清明节) is also observed by Aaloka

Buddhist centre. For Aaloka, this day is a “Qing Ming Memorial Puja”, where they offer

Buddhist Puja services. It is a day for followers to remember and thank the deceased, showing their appreciation and paying tribute by acts of Puja, making offerings and chanting.

While Buddhists observe and abide by the Five Precepts daily, they observe the Eight Precepts on special occasions. The Eight Precepts are meant to purify and cultivate goodness in oneself.

However, in an increasingly modernized world, it becomes difficult for people to follow the

Eight precepts, particularly for those having very routine work days. As such, people set aside a day to follow these Eight Precepts, refraining from indulging in comforts and pleasures of the physical world, setting aside distractions of the modern world and cultivating oneself.

Unbounded by rigidity, people adapt their practices to better suit the modern Buddhist without

16 perverting the essence of Buddhism. For Aaloka Buddhist Centre, followers will only don white clothing, and spend the day singing hymns and studying Buddha’s teachings.

Conclusion

Visiting Aaloka Buddhist Centre was an enriching experience which presented us with an alternative view of Buddhism. Growing up as Chinese Singaporeans, our encounters of

Mahayana Chinese temples shaped our perceptions of Buddhism — a religion heavily governed by rituals of worship. However, Dr. Kotawila has opened our eyes to another way of Buddhist life where elaborate rites are not practiced. Rather, believers engage in serene solitary meditation and self reflection to become better versions of themselves everyday in order to attain enlightenment like Buddha — a person named Siddhartha Gautama.