Amarapura (Sri Lankan or Ceylonese) Buddhism ― When used in reference to a MetaPhysical Orientation as to Tradition, Culture or Preferred Flavour, is primarily defined, usually selfdefined by it's members and/or adherents as such, and holding the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, and/or interpolations thereon as a primary or critical parameter of their Spiritual Paradigm. Amarapura Buddhism (and for convenience of categorization Myanmar Buddhism and/or Sinhala Buddhism as well) is the variety of Buddhism that developed in Ceylon, the name of which is now Sri Lanka. There is a fairly wide concensus of belief that Theravada Buddhism originated in Sri Lanka, and it is Sri Lanka that transmitted the Paali Tripitaka, as well as numerous commentaries, synopses, chronicles, and grammars of extreme importance to all Traditions of Buddhism. The legend in the Diipavamsa and other chronicles that the Buddha visited the land which is now Sri Lanka three times during his lifetime, is widely believed in present day Sri Lanka. Scholarship had developed in all fields: Pali grammar, the Vinaya, the Suttanta, and the Abhidhamma. Myanmar had, after a long period of development, become the custodian of Buddhism. Even today, Sri Lanka possesses three schools, the Amarapura Nikaya, the Siyama Nikaya (Thai school), and the Ramanna Nikaya. Some postulate that there is no monolithic Buddhism as such, but that there are Buddhisms such as Sinhala Buddhism or more precisely Sinhala Theravada Buddhism, Siam or Thai Buddhism, Myanmar or Amarapura Buddhism, and so forth.
(also see: the complete entry on Buddhism.) Sinhala Buddhism introduced officially to this country has gone through many metamorphi, beginning during the time of king Dutugemunu and post Dutugemunu Sinhala (Theravada), having undergone some modifications introduced by Buddhagosha Thero existed without much problem or challenge until 1880. Colonel Olcott and Madame Blavatsky's Theosophists came to Sri Lanka in 1880. Though the Portuguese, then the Dutch and finally the British had tried hard to suppress (post Dutugemunu) Sinhala Buddhism it was Colonel Olcott who managed to revise Sinhala Buddhism to such an extent that some call the present day Sinhala Buddhism as practiced by many of the "Sinhala Buddhists", Olcott Buddhism. Olcott Buddhism has tried to erase the Sinhala part of Sinhala Buddhism and tried to establish some kind of an international Buddhism which survives with some form of assistance from the Anglican and/or other Western cultures. The "sahavasa" (co-existence) of these various Traditions of Buddhism and for the past 500 years or so of varieties of Christianity and other religions has continued, sometimes easier and sometimes with more difficulty in this country. Sinhala Buddhism from the very beginning has absorbed various concepts from other cultures. It is very probable that the religions of Nagas, Devas and especially Yakshas had number of gods (and it must be pointed out that god and/or gods is used differently here, than is much of western civilization religious discourse, the terms are used to refer to beings or entities of an incredibly advanced nature, far beyond human, angelic and other disincarnate beings, but not of an absolute, all powerful Divine nature) either in the form of dead relatives (ne yakun) or some other "beings" and Sinhala Buddhism assimilated or absorbed all these gods into its culture. The Bodhi Vandana (worshiping of Bodhi) may be considered nothing more than the assimilation of Bharat Buddhist concepts into Sinhala Buddhist culture. Not only the gods of the Nagas and the other tribes but even Vedic gods have, in some areas and to some degree been absorbed to the Sinhala Buddhist culture. When these gods from other cultures, including those from Hindu culture later, were absorbed into the Sinhala Buddhist culture the Sinhala Buddhists wanted them to be (Sinhala) Buddhist gods (some believe that there was no Hinduism before Sankaracharya and Hinduism is seen by some as an amalgamation of Vedic religion, Buddhism and Jainism. Vedic religion with "yagas" and "homas" and animal sacrifices is different from Hinduism and some argue that the concept of Ahinsa was absorbed into Hinduism (what is called Hinduism, by some in the West is more properly the Sanatan Dharma Tradition when referring to religions) from Buddhism and Jainism.). The gods thus absorbed were Buddhist gods after the assimilation and they (the gods) all worshiped Buddha. It was not a pantheon of Gods with Buddha at the head, as some western sociologists have claimed, but a pantheon of gods that worshipped Buddha. It has to be emphasized: contrary to what these western sociologists think, the Sinhala (Theravada) Buddhists, in general, did not consider the Buddha to be a god. For the Sinhala Buddhists the Buddha was only an "uththareethara", i.e.: a "human being" who had "lived" and attained Nibbana.
For an example of this type of assimilation: the god Vishnu is a case in point. Vishnu in Vedic religion and Hinduism is a form of Brahman and in that sense an immortal being. But in Sinhala Buddhism the god Vishnu is neither immortal nor a form of Brahman. The god Vishnu in Sinhala Buddhism is a Sinhala Buddhist god and a Bodhisattva. He is not immortal as in Hinduism and Vedic religion and would attain Nibbana in the future. Though the same name Vishnu is used the Sinhala Buddhist god Vishnu is different from the god Vishnu in Vedic religion and Hinduism. Similarly Buddha has been assimilated into the Hindu culture in the form of an avatar of the god Vishnu. Sinhala Theravada Buddhism has not only assimilated from Vedic and Hindu cultures but from Mahayana Buddhism as well. The Mahayana Bodhisattvas are quite different from Sinhala Buddhist Bodhisattvas. The Mahayana Bodhisattvas theoretically live indefinitely in Sukhavathi and other such abodes, and thus in a sense they are immortal. In fact certain Mahayana sects have made the Buddha also to be immortal. These concepts were most probably constructed as a response to an immortal Brahman but ultimately they had to be influenced by various forms of Hinduism that were developed later in Bharat. The above are examples for assimilations into one culture from a different culture and nobody could prevent these assimilations. Buddha saasana [church], while assuring to all religions the rights granted . . ." (article 9). The three major sects or orders (nikaayas) are the Siyam (11,474 monks in 1973), Amarapura (5,034 monks), and Raamanna (3,514 monks). The Siyam Nikaaya is divided into four or six sub-sects and the Amarapura Nikaaya is said to have twenty-six sub-sects, which do not seem to possess much unity. There is no central unifying organization. Even more than the ordinary temple monks, who devote their energies to social works, the five hundred or so forest-dwelling monks, whose hermitages are centers for training in meditation, enjoy high popular regard. In many temples, shrines are provided for the worship of devas such as Vishnu, Kataragama, and Naatha. As far as is known, Buddhism was first introduced when Mahinda, said to be the son or younger brother of King A'soka, established the Sangha at the start of the reign of King Devaanampiya Tissa (ca. 250-210 bce). The king built the Mahaavihaara in the capital Anuraadhapura, and the Sangha centered there was long recognized as the orthodox school of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. The Buddhism of South and Southeast Asia inherited the Mahaavihaara tradition and thus owes its origin to the establishment of this monastery.
In the later half of the eighteenth century, the upasampada ordination in Sri Lanka was barred to all except the members of the landed aristocracy. This was a result of royal decree probably issued with the support of at least a section of the Sangha. However, this was a flagrant defilement of the letter and the spirit of the Buddha's instructions. The conferring of the upasampada ordination is dependent only upon such conditions as the candidate being a man, free from government service, free of debt, free of contagious diseases, and upon his having his parents' consent, etc. Members of the lower castes had now only the possibility of becoming novices (samanera), a condition that created dissatisfaction. A sizeable section of ordained bhikkhus also disapproved of the royal order, but were in no position to defy it within the country. The only recourse for those of the lower castes desiring the higher ordination was therefore to travel to other Buddhist countries to ordain. At first, missions were sent to Thailand where Dhammazedi's reforms lived on through the ordination conferred to Thai bhikkhus in Pago and through the scores of Mon bhikkhus who had found refuge in Thailand from the Myanmar armies. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, however, Sinhalese bhikkhus began traveling to Myanmar to find the pure ordination there. The fame of the then Mahasangharaja of Myanmar, Nanabhivamsa, influenced their choice. The first delegation from Sri Lanka arrived in 1800 and was welcomed with a magnificent reception by King Bodawpaya himself. Nanabhivamsa, the wise Sangharaja, ordained the samaneras as bhikkhus and instructed them for some time in the scriptures.[45] On returning to Sri Lanka, they were accompanied by five Myanmar bhikkhus and a letter from Nanabhivamsa to the Sinhalese Sangharaja. Five bhikkhus form a full chapter and apparently the Myanmar bhikkhus were permitted to ordain bhikkhus without class distinction.

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Definitions, Premisses, and Info Index by Letter

Capital A with ring aboveÅ   Capital A with macronĀ   Capital A with breveĂ   Capital A with diaeresisÄ   Capital A with circumflex   Capital A with dot aboveȦ   Capital A with inverted breveȂ   Capital A with tildeà   Capital A with ogonekĄ   Capital AE ligatureÆ   Capital AE ligature with tildeÆ̃   Capital Glottal Stop⦾   Capital Palatoalveolar Click⊛   Regular English AA   Script Capital Lℒ   Capital L with macron aboveL̅   Capital L with dot belowḶ   Capital L with stroke, Dark L Ł   Regular English LL   Capital WHω   Capital W with macron aboveW̅   Capital W with dot belowẈ   Regular English WW   Capital Slide H with reverse solidusℋ⃥   Capital H with macron aboveH̅   Capital H with dot belowḤ   Aspirate^○   Slight Pause⚫   Very Slight Pause⚬   Regular English HH   Capital S with macron aboveS̅   Capital S with dot aboveṠ   Capital SH sign∫   Capital SKΣ   Regular English SS   Hard and Deep Capital DД   High and Light Capital D∇   Regular English DD   Capital O with ring aboveO̊   Capital O with macronŌ   Capital O with breveŎ   Capital O with diaeresisÖ   Capital O with solidusØ   Capital OE ligatureŒ   Capital O with Cyrillic Round OmegaѺ   Capital OIꙔ   Capital O with ogonekǪ   Capital O with double oo topტ   Regular English OO   Capital EZJHʑ   Capital Z with macron belowẔ   Capital Z with dot aboveŻ   Regular English ZZ   Capital K with macron aboveК̅   Capital K with dot below К̣   Capital Hard KHχ   Capital KHƙ   Regular English KK   Capital V with macron aboveV̅   Capital V with dot belowṾ   Regular English VV   Capital G with macronḠ   Capital G with dot aboveĠ   Capital GNΓ   Capital GRЖ   Capital GW   Capital Uvular Voiced ImplosiveϘ   Regular English GG   Capital rolled R with macronЯ̅   Capital rolled R with dot aboveЯ̇   Capital R with macron aboveR̅   Capital R with dot above Ṙ   Capital R with ogonek R̨   Regular English RR   Capital C with cedillaÇ   Capital CHЧ   Regular English CC   Capital N with macron aboveN̅   Capital N with dot belowṆ   Capital N with tildeÑ   Capital NGŋ   Capital NG with macron aboveŋ̅   Regular English NN   Capital Y with macron above Ȳ   Capital Y with dot aboveẎ   Capital Y with yaw aboveЎ   Regular English YY   Capital J with macron aboveЈ̅   Capital J with dot belowЈ̣   Regular English JJ   Capital U with a ring aboveŮ   Capital U with macronŪ   Capital U with breveŬ   Capital U with circumflex aboveÛ   Capital U with diaeresisÜ   Regular English UU   Capital F with macron aboveF̅   Capital F with dot aboveḞ   Regular English FF   Capital Q with macron aboveQ̅   Capital Q with dot aboveQ̇   Regular English QQ   Capital B with macronB̅   Capital B with dot belowḄ   Trilled B   Regular English BB   Capital M with macronM̅   Capital M with dot belowṂ   Capital M with tilde M̃   Capital MB   Capital MGⱮ   Regular English MM   Capital X with macron aboveX̅   Capital X with dot aboveẊ   Regular English XX   Capital I with macronĪ   Capital I with breveĬ   Regular English II   Capital T with macron aboveT̅   Capital T with dot belowṬ   Capital TH voicedΘ   Capital TH voicelessÞ   Capital TSЦ   Capital TSCHЩ   Regular English TT   Capital E with macronĒ   Capital E with breveĔ   Capital E with circumflexÊ   Capital schwa Ə   Regular English EE   Capital P with macron aboveP̅   Capital P with dot aboveṖ   Capital pT   Regular English PP

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