Ven. Sri Dhammaratana’s birthday celebration
Ven. Sri Dhammaratana
(By Tsem Rinpoche)
Last week, I was invited by the Buddhist Maha Vihara Malaysia to attend their special Dana ceremony in celebration of Venerable K. Sri Dhammaratana’s 63rd birthday. This Dana ceremony was also to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the passing away of Ven Chief Dhammaratana’s mother, the late Madam Daya Siriwardena.
Dana is an ancient Pali word for “generosity”, or “gift/giving”. 2,500 years ago, during Buddha Shakyamuni’s time, disciples and followers of sangha members would voluntarily give Dana in the form of food, shelter, clothing etc. It was in a very practical form towards the sangha member to survive.
Today, it is the same. However, times have changed and as the practice of the Buddha Dharma is in the degenerate age, the simplest (but one of the most effective ways) to receive merits and blessings from a sangha would be through offerings, i.e. Dana.
So, yesterday I attended the special Dana ceremony at the Buddhist Maha Vihara’s grand prayer hall, Asoka Hall. There were 71 sangha members who came from different Buddhist traditions: Mahayana, Vajrayana and Theravadan… and amongst them there were hundreds of devotees. They came to celebrate their Venerable Chief Dhammaratana’s birthday by being there and by offering Dana to the sangha… how beautiful.
Venerable Chief Dhammaratana is the Chief Incumbent of Buddhist Maha Vihara, Brickfields and is very well known in Malaysia for his missionary work. At the age of 17, he became a novice monk of which he briefly mentioned during his speech later during the day.
The event started at 11.45am, where the emcee introduced the different sangha members that were present. This was followed by a short speech by Venerable Punaji Thera.
Venerable Punaji Thera, or Ven. Dr M. Punnaji Maha Thera, is a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka. Ordained at the age of 30, he has obtained 2 doctorates in the United States, where he currently resides.
After the short speech, 3 prayers were done to represent the 3 different Buddhist traditions: Ven. Chief Dhammaratana did a prayer representing the Theravadan tradition, followed by a Mahayana prayer and then I was then requested to do a short prayer to represent the Vajrayana tradition.
The guests then offered Dana in the form of food to all 71 sangha. Many people of different ages came around to offer food onto the Sangha’s plates, who remained seated. Maha Vihara’s President, Brother Tilak Leslie Jayawardena, then gave Dana in the form of monetary offerings to all Sangha members. At this time, Kechara also offered Dana consisting of a box of Kechara incense, a gift card, an envelope with money and a khata which was wrapped around those items.
Orphans from Ti-Ratana Orphanage also came to give Dana in the form of bags with different type of goodies. Very cute and sweet offerings!
At 12.30pm, I presented an offering to Venerable Chief Dhammaratana – a 3ft Buddha Shakyamuni statue from Kechara Discovery and painted by Kecharians. I then gave a short speech, with James aiding me with the Chinese translation. You can see it all in the video below…
On behalf of the Gelugpa Vajrayana Buddhist Association Malaysia, Henry Ooi (who is also Vice-President of Kechara House) presented the President of Maha Vihara with a 12 inch Tsongkhapa statue. He then gave a speech, after which Venerable Chief Dhammaratana gave a short sermon.
He thanked all of the Sangha members who were there with him. He emphasized about unity that must occur between the different Buddhist traditions… explaining how during Buddha Shakyamuni’s time, there wasn’t “this and that” tradition. It was only after Buddha’s death that there was a split and segregation of traditions: “It (different Buddhist teachings) still goes to the same sea… same way”.
He advises for all to not criticize and make comments about other monks, but to open our eyes and to work together. Venerable Chief Dhammaratana identified how “we cannot be ego, we cannot be just selfish”, and he humbly appealed to all to work together.
It was a great speech from someone who is very qualified to speak as he has spent 46 years of his life in robes. To listen to what he says, the speech is in the same video below.
Do take a look at the photos and the video of an event that saw Sangha from Cambodia, Thailand, China, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Burma… all under one roof!
Tsem Rinpoche
Ven. Sri Dhammaratana arriving at Maha Vihara
Mahayana monks arriving…
Vajrayana monks arriving…
Theravadan monks arriving…
Mahayana nuns arriving…
What a beautiful picture!
Ven. Sri Dhammaratana in the Maha Vihara compound
Venerable K. Sridhamma Thero and I greeting each other
(left) Greeting the President of Maha Vihara and (right) a volunteer with a khata
Ven. Sri Dhammaratana reciting a prayer before the Dana offering. Seated beside me is Ven Punnaji Thera
Dana offering prayer from the Mahayana monks
How beautiful… rows of sangha members gathering at the Buddhist Maha Vihara Malaysia
Ven Punnaji (right) currently resides in the States. He has many followers in Europe, Canada and America
Volunteers and guests giving Dana offering to the sangha
Presenting Ven. Sri Dhammaratana with a birthday gift of a 3ft Buddha Shakyamuni statue
Presenting Ven. Sri Dhammaratana with a khata
James Long presenting some monks with Dana offerings from Kechara
Andrew Boon presenting some monks with Dana offerings from Kechara
Albert Ratchaga presenting the Assistant Chief monk of Maha Vihara with Dana offerings from Kechara
Henry Ooi (left) presenting the President of Maha Vihara with a 12″ Tsongkhapa statue and khata on behalf of the Gelugpa Vajrayana Buddhist Association Malaysia
Ven. Sri Dhammaratana giving a speech to his students and guests
The event ends and Ven. Sri Dhammaratana and I have a few last words with each other again
Ven Punnaji and I saying our goodbyes to each other. He is visiting Malaysia for 3 months and will be returning to the States after
A monk from Sera Jey Monastery came up to greet me
Another monk from Jangtze Monastery came up to greet me as well…
I bumped into some long lost friends, including this nun…
She said that she went to Kechara Oasis to try the food, but it was closed… so I told her to go again next time during opening hours hehe
A video taken of the event for your viewing
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/TTRVenSriDhammaratana.mp4
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A beautiful post with photos reflecting true spirituality. There is something very, very beautiful and moving about the way these monks from different traditions greet and interact with each other. Thank you with folded hands.
What i love about this event was the unity of the sangha – here are 71 sangha from different traditions who joined together at one joyous event. I also liked what Venerable Chief Dhammaratana shared in his sermon about how Buddha’s teachings was unified when he was alive but only segregated after he went into clear light. This shows that there is no difference between the three traditions of Buddhism. It is only wrong view and ignorance when some people differentiate and even look down on other traditions. If we could only respect each others different traditions, we would all be better off. I had just read this blog post about HH the Dalai Lama and the Cardinal (http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/great-lamas-masters/his-holiness-the-cardinal.html) which shows that mutual respect goes across different faiths also, let alone among our own.
It’s a day of inter-faith harmony today! I’ve just read the newest post for today about the close friendship between the 16th Karmapa and the previous Trijang Rinpoche (http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/great-lamas-masters/mind-blowing-connections-between-two-high-lamas.html) so it’s wonderful to then chance upon this article and see how Rinpoche and other spiritual leaders today in Malaysia are creating the same friendships, fostering understanding and harmony.
As Rinpoche has so often taught us, if we want to represent our own religion well, then it is about also respecting the faiths and beliefs of other traditions and religions. Then we are really practising equanimity, respect for others, humility for our own practice and kindness. When we do this, we become true representations of our own religion and in turn, garner the respect and love of others too.
Acting in any other way – putting other religions down, insisting that our way is the only or better way – only drives a wedge between us and others, makes people fear us and eventually, not even want to be near us. So how can we represent our religion well that way?
Thank you Rinpoche for always showing us what it means to be respectful and kind, even towards traditions that are outwardly completely different from ours, and for showing us that even if we might totally understand the practices and actions of other traditions or religions, we can still have full respect and harmony, rejoice in what they are doing and cause their good works to grow. For in doing that, our own practice and tradition grows too!
I bumped into this beautiful post and I delight in watching Rinpoche interact with the other monks at the Mahavihara Temple in Brickfields. Rinpoche has no sectarian issues with the other monks whatsoever. Rinpoche has no airs when he interacts with the younger and senior monks and in fact, he is extremely humble, polite and even somewhat subservient to the older monks. He folded his hands throughout the prayers in Pali and everything about Rinpoche reveals his qualities as a true monk.
I love the prayers recited by the monks and Rinpoche and I love the fact that the lay people get to serve the monks as a form of offering. This is a most beautiful, spiritual and merit-making experience! It is beautiful that the tradition of the Vinaya both in all traditions are still very much alive and with the existence of the Sangha that holds their vows, the merits to sustain the preservation and propagation of the Buddhadharma in Malaysia.
I was doing some online searches using google when I resurfaced this post. I read it about a year ago when it was posted but it did not really appeal to me back then. However, after reading up about the Sangha community and its importance, it really amazes me how these pictures here look so beautiful to a point where it deeply touches my heart. Rinpoche made me realize how our perception can take a different stand when we are instilled with more Dharma knowledge – Everything Changes Nothing Changes. Thank you.
Never heard of the offering Dana before, but seeing it offered to the Sangha like that,I see it’s a wonderful way to show respect. As usual Rinpoche presence was awesome and inspiring and I am sure they were very impressed how hard his Kachara volunteers and staff work to prepare and are right by his side always!!!
It was a sunny morning on that day but it drizzled a bit before the ceremony begun, how auspicious!
It was so beautiful to be in the midst of this ceremony to witness the holy Sangha gathered together and to allow lay people to make offerings.
The Chief’s speech for all and sundry to come together to do and spread dharma is so meaningful.
Dear Liaisons,
As you would probably know by now, Rinpoche attended the big function at the Buddhist Maha Vihara (BMV) in Brickfields on Sunday to celebrate the Chief Monk Venerable Dhammaratana’s birthday and to commemorate the 1st year death anniversary of Chief Monk’s mother. I am sending you a short update and summary here, but full details, more photos and a video are being prepared by the blog team to be shared with all soon.
The event was only about 2 hours long, and comprised some short speeches by the President of MBV (A lay person) and an older monk, Venerable Punaji; dana offering, further offerings to the Sangha and, the highlight of the morning: Rinpoche making a very grand offering to the Chief. Chief himself also made a very short speech before the morning concluded with a transfer of merits ceremony.
Rinpoche was seated at the main table, just 2 seats away from the Chief Monk and was representing the Vajrayana sangha at the event. Gen Lobsang Yeshi also attended and was seated just behind Rinpoche. There were about 60-70 monks and nuns there from all three traditions (Theravada, Mahayana and Hinayana).
Kechara volunteers and staff, especially from KC and led by Su Ming worked very hard the day and night before to prepare all the offerings. They even brought in their own tables and vases to display a three-foot Shakyamuni statue that Rinpoche wished to offer to the Chief Monk, and did very beautiful preparations. The MBV even allowed us to set up the Shakyamuni statue right in front of the hall, under their own large central image of Shakyamuni. They also prepared smaller offering packages for each member of the Sangha there which included angpow and incense.
Before Rinpoche presented the Shakaymuni to the Chief Monk, he also gave a short Dharma teaching to all present about the significance of the Sangha, why we make offerings to the Sangha and why their efforts to celebrate the Chief Monk’s birthday was so important and beneficial. Rinpoche clearly explained to people why they were doing what they were doing, and how special it really is. People were very keen to listen; there were some who kept their hands folded throughout the talk and had a lot of respect. I think many of them have not had explanations like this before so it would have helped them a lot to understand the significance behind the activity and to strengthen their respect for the Chief. . James also helped to translate which was very good for many of the Chinese speakers there, especially the Chinese Mahayana monks.
I’d like to add that the people at BMV were very nice and it seems that they really did appreciate Rinpoche being there and were impressed by Kechara volunteers’ efficiency. Freon Tee (Wai Meng’s friend) was coordinating from BMV side and helpful throughout the day.
Throughout the day, many people – both monks and lay people – came to pay their respects to Rinpoche. There were also some Gaden Jangtze monks present, who came to say hello.
As I mentioned, a full report will be available on Rinpoche’s blog soon, as well as a video of the full, main events of the day. In the meantime, please refer to the photos below for a pictorial summary! I will update again when the blog post and video are up.
Thank you especially to the Kechara Care volunteers for their hard work in coordinating and preparing the offerings. They did a wonderful job! It’s a wonderful thing to have made many new friends in the Malaysian Buddhist world.
Love,
Paris