February 11th was very important day for Sri Lankans living in Auckland. Venerable Elle Chandawimala thero was welcomed by a new trust called Auckland Centre for Buddhist Learning (ACBL). The occasion was graced by Venerable Walgama Munindrawansa thero, the chief monk of Sri Lankaramaya, New Zealand, and Venerable Meththeiya thero, the chief monk of Hamilton temple and also venerable Kottakachchiye Panngasiri and venerable Saddathisssa thero of Sri Lankaramaya.
The ceremony was attended by more than 400 people despite the some negative propaganda launched by few interested parties. The ceremony was very well organized function. The most organized event was the refreshment session at the end of the ceremony. Unlike rushing around tables to serve yourselves, they had arranged about 20 children to serve the audience individually.
When I was invited by the organizing committee, I was told to spread the message among my friends and to bring few friends if possible. I selected 12 names of my list and started calling them to inform about this new temple; a Buddhist Centre. Three out of twelve responded negatively. One asked me who are the people behind the seen ( Kawuda oke pitipassen inne?). I said I donno and that’s not important to me. But he said that he wants to do a research to find who and who were behind this temple, if he was happy with the people behind he would think about attending. Another friend said there must be a hidden agenda for these types of events; therefore he does not want to attend. The other friend said one temple is enough (Pansal dekak mokatada?) to Auckland and some reasoning stories why he doest want to attend. I was amazed with those responses and horrified to see the politics of Sri Lankan community in Auckland. Other nine people consented to attend without any hesitation and eight attended. The organizing power was such that most of my friends have got the message from other sources as well.
Walgama Munindrawansa Nayaka thero who is in New Zealand for more than 4 years may have noticed these politics and delivered very fine relevant speech. He said there are different types of “Muthu”(pearls). He said oyster pearls are the basics, but elephant pearls (Gaja Muthu) are more valuable. “Eka-Muthu”(togetherness, teamwork) is the most valuable out of all “Muthu” and he said, if you are not “Eka-Muthu” then you all will be “Kam-Muthu”(finished, over or end of the affair).
The venerable monks show the real maturity and discipline by advising the “Dayaka sabhas” (members of the trust) of both temples correctly. They were asked not to compete but to treat the two temples are complementary to each other. After inaugurating the new temple I noticed three positive developments. First there is a very fine awakening of Buddhist community in Auckland. There is a regular pooja at the Buddhist Centre: the new temple at 7.30 PM everyday. Anybody can call the temple and get a date for a pooja or an arms giving if interested. Second, that there is a slight competition between two temples to attract many people as they can, which I consider as very healthy competition, they organize many events: events for youth, events for women, events for non-Buddhists, events for English speaking Sri Lankans etc etc. Third, there is a tendency of learning from each other, for example: when I donated blood on 28th December 2005, at the blood donating event organized by Sri Lankaramaya the refreshments were arranged at tables, now, I noticed that about 10 children were running serving the audience the refreshments after the prize giving ceremony of the Daham School of Sri Lankaramaya on last Sunday the 26th February 2006. Therefore it is clear that the ultimate beneficiaries from these developments are the ordinary people.
When asked the question whether two temples are a burden to people, venerable Elle Chandawimala thero had said that when Visaka wanted to donate Purvaramaya, the Isipathanaramaya was in the close vicinity, but Buddha did not say no. Some were in the view that Auckland can have few more Buddhist temples as well.
I am eagerly waiting to see a common event organized by both temples together to show the power of “Eka-Muthu” and set an example for all Sri Lankans and various Sri Lankan organizations as well.