Special incidents on Poya Days

Vesak (full moon Poya day in May) The Buddhist calendar begins with the month of Vesak. On Vesak Day, Buddhists world over commemorate the triple anniversary of Sakyamuni Siddhartha Gautama The Buddha. Triple anniversary because The Buddha was born, attained Supreme Enlightenment at the age of thirty five, and after a successful ministry of forty five years attained Parinirvana or passed away on a Vesak (May) full moon Poya Day. It was also on a Vesak full moon Poya Day, in the eighth year of his enlightenment, that The Buddha made his third and final visit to Sri Lanka. On this full moon Poya begins the 2541 year of the Buddha.

Poson (full moon Poya day in June) It commemorates the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka by Arahat Maha Mahinda (son of King Asoka of India) at Mihintale in the third century B.C. Ven Mahinda established the Dispensation of The Buddha (Buddhasasana) in Sri Lanka

Esala (full moon Poya day in July) Commemorates the deliverance of the first sermon to the five ascetics and setting in motion the Wheel of the Dhamma (Dhammachakka) at Sarnath Benares, India. The essence of this sermon is the explanation of the Four Noble Truths: The Noble Truth of Suffering or dissatisfaction or conflicts (Dukkha), the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering and the path leading to the cessation of suffering. And The Noble Eight-fold Path:

Nikini (full moon Poya day in August) During the month of August the conducting of the first Dhamma Sangayana (Convocation) is commemorated. This was held three months after the passing away of The Buddha. Five hundred Arahat Theros participated in the convocation which was held over seven months in the cave at the foot of the Rajagahanuvara Vebhara Rock

Binara (full moon Poya day in September) Commemorates The Buddha's visit to heaven to preach to his mother and celestial multitude. Also the commencing of the Bhikkhuni (nun's) Order. Pajapati Gotami approached The Buddha and implored him to establish the Bhikkhuni Order.

Vap (full moon Poya day in October) The significant events commemorated during this month are: the conclusion of The Buddha's preaching of the Abhidhamma for three months to his mother in the Heavenly realm (devaloka), King Devanampiyatissa of Sri Lanka sending envoys to King Asoka requesting him to send his daughter Arahat Sanghamitta Theri to Sri Lanka to establish the Bhikkhuni Sasana (Order of Nuns).

Ill (full moon Poya day in November) Celebrates the obtaining of Vivarana (the assurance of becoming a Buddha) by the Bodhisatta Maitriya and the commissioning of 60 disciples by The Buddha to disperse his teachings. Also the conclusion of the three month retreat (vassana).

Unduvap (full moon Poya day in December) Arrival of the Bo-tree sapling. This was brought to Sri Lanka from India by Buddhist Theri Sanghamitta, and it is this very tree that is venerated by Buddhists in Anuradhapura. It is also the oldest documented tree in the world. Sanghamitta Theri established the Bhikkhuni Sasana (the Order of Nuns).

Duruthu (full moon Poya day in January) In honour of Lord Buddha's first visit to Sri Lanka. This visit too took place in the first year of The Buddha's Supreme Enlightenment.

Navam (full moon Poya day in February) Celebrates the following events in Buddhist history: Entrance into the order of two leading disciples of The Buddha (Sariputta and Maha Moggalana), The Buddha proclaims for the first time a code of fundamental ethical precepts for the monks. The Buddha announces that within three months His Parinibbana (death) will take place

Medin (full moon Poya day in March) Commemorates the visit of The Buddha to his home to preach to his father King Suddhodana and other relatives and show them the path to enlightenment and final deliverance.

Bak (full moon Poya day in April) It commemorates the second visit of The Buddha to Sri Lanka which took place in the fifth year of his Supreme Enlightenment

Buddhist Pirith Chantings, Sermons Apps From S-Lon

Android Apps:

Pirith book
Pirith Potha provides you with a ready list of playable Buddhist chants or “Pirith”. The full sermons are playable through the speaker or the earphones of your mobile phone. You can listen to Buddhist Pirith chants for spiritual relaxation, good blessings and meditation. The app features 17 Pirith chants from “Maha Piritha” to “Seevali Piritha” to “Bodhi Puja” streamed directly from pirith.org. V2.0 of Pirith Potha allows you to stream Pirith files directly from pirith.org or download them onto your mobile device to be played anytime, anywhere offline.

Seth Pirith
The Seth Pirith Application allows the users to listen to popular buddhist chants while on the move.
Buddhist Chants(Pirith) is a proven way to calm your mind and soul.

The list of chants(pirith) is as follows :
- Seth Piritha Part 1
- Seth Piritha Part 2
- Seevali Piritha Part 1
- Seevali Piritha Part 2
- Antharaya Niwarana Piritha

Pirith & Gatha
This is a very valuable application for Buddhists containing a set of Buddhist Pirith & Gatha. You can listen to Pirith and read Gatha by downloading the App once to your device and access the content offline whenever you need it. All Pirith Audio and Gatha were obtained from the Buddhist Cultural Center.

This application is a CSR initiative by S-lon Lanka (Pvt) Ltd co-ordinated by Rediffusion Y&R, Sri Lanka.
Application Design & Development powered by Extrogene Private Limited.

                                 

Loweda Sangarawa
Loweda Sangarawa is a book written by ven. Veedagama Maha Maithri thero to describe the buddhist teachings in the sinhala language to make it easy for people to understand the buddhism. These verses are written in simple sinhala poetry such that any one can understand the meaning.

Dhamma Padhaya
DhammaPadaya is a book which includes teachings of Lord Buddha. This book considers as the bible of the buddhist people. This application provides a sinhala translations of the teachings included in the original Buddhist book which was written in "Pali" language.

Apple IOS Apps:

Pirith & Gatha

Buddhism in Sri Lanka

Introduction of Buddhism

According to traditional Sri Lankan chronicles (such as the Dipavamsa), Buddhism was introduced into Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BC by Venerable Mahinda, the son of the Emperor Ashoka, during the reign of Sri Lanka's King Devanampiya Tissa. During this time, a sapling of the Bodhi Tree was brought to Sri Lanka and the first monasteries and Buddhist monuments were established.

 Among these, the Isurumuni-vihāra and the Vessagiri-vihāra remain important centers of worship. He is also credited with the construction of the Pathamaka-cetiya, the Jambukola-vihāra and the Hatthālhaka-vihāra, and the refectory. The Pali Canon, having previously been preserved as an oral tradition, was first committed to writing in Sri Lanka around 30 BC.

The Mahavamsa (Chap. XXIX) records that during the rule (165 BC - 135 BC) of the Greco-Bactrian King Menander I, also known as Milinda, "a Greek ("Yona") Buddhist head monk" named Mahadharmaraksita (literally translated as 'Great Teacher/Preserver of the Dharma') led 30,000 Buddhist monks from "the Greek city of Alasandra" (Alexandria of the Caucasus, around 150 km north of today's Kabul in Afghanistan), to Sri Lanka for the dedication of the Great Stupain Anuradhapura, indicating that Greco-Buddhism contributed to early Sri Lankan Buddhism. (See also Milinda Panha.)

Theravāda subdivisions

Over much of the early history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, three subdivisions of Theravāda existed in Sri Lanka, consisting of the monks of the Mahāvihāra, Abhayagiri Vihāra, and the Jetavana Vihāra. The Mahāvihāra was the first tradition to be established, while Abhayagiri Vihāra and Jetavana Vihāra were established by monks who had broken away from the Mahāvihāra tradition. According to A.K. Warder, the Indian Mahīśāsaka sect also established itself in Sri Lanka alongside the Theravāda, into which they were later absorbed. Northern regions of Sri Lanka also seem to have been ceded to sects from India at certain times.

In the 7th century, the Chinese monk Xuanzang wrote of two major divisions of Theravāda in Sri Lanka, referring to the Abhayagiri tradition as the "Mahāyāna Sthaviras," and the Mahāvihāra tradition as the "Hīnayāna Sthaviras." Abhayagiri Vihara appears to have been a center for Theravadin Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna teachings; Xuanzang writes:

The Mahāvihāravāsins reject the Mahāyāna and practice the Hīnayāna, while the Abhayagirivihāravāsins study both Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna teachings and propagate the Tripiṭaka.

In the 8th century, it is known that both Mahāyāna and the esoteric Vajrayāna form of Buddhism were being practiced in Sri Lanka, and two Indian monks responsible for propagating Esoteric Buddhism in China, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra, visited the island during this time.

Accounts of Chinese pilgrims

In the 5th century, Faxian visited Sri Lanka and lived there for two years with the monks. Faxian obtained a Sanskrit copy of the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya at the Abhayagiri Vihāra, c. 406. The Mahīśāsaka Vinaya was then translated into Chinese in 434 by Buddhajiva and Zhu Daosheng. This translation of the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya remains extant in the Chinese Buddhist canon as Taishō Tripiṭaka1421.

The 7th century pilgrim Xuanzang first learned for several years at Nālandā, and then intended on going to Sri Lanka to seek out further instruction. However, after meeting Sri Lankan monks in Chola who were refugees, he decided not to visit:

... At the time of Hiuen Tsang's visit the [capital of Chola] was visited by 300 Bhikshus of Ceylon who had left the island in consequence of famine and revolution there. On the pilgrim telling them of his intended visit to Ceylon for instruction, they told him that there were no Brethren there superior to them. Then the pilgrim discussed some Yoga texts with them and found that their explanations could not excel those given to him by Śīlabhadra at Nālandā.

Abolition of other Theravāda traditions

Before the 12th century, more rulers of Sri Lanka gave support and patronage to the Abhayagiri Theravādins, and travelers such as Faxian saw the Abhayagiri Theravādins as the main Buddhist tradition in Sri Lanka. The trend of Abhayagiri Vihara being the dominant Theravāda sect changed in the 12th century, when the Mahāvihāra gained the political support of King Parakkamabāhu I(1153–1186), and completely abolished the Abhayagiri and Jetavana Theravāda traditions. The Theravāda monks of these two traditions were then defrocked and given the choice of either returning to the laity permanently, or attempting re-ordination under the Mahāvihāra tradition as "novices" (sāmaṇera). Parakkamabāhu also appointed a saṅgharāja, or "King of the Sangha," a monk who would preside over the Sangha and its ordinations in Sri Lanka, assisted by two deputies.

Lineage continuity

Sri Lanka has the longest continuous history of Buddhism of any Buddhist nation, with the Sangha having existed in a largely unbroken lineage since its introduction in the 3rd century BC. During periods of decline, the Sri Lankan monastic lineage was revived through contact with Myanmar and Thailand.

Colonialism and Christianity

From the 16th century onward, Christian missionaries and Portuguese, Dutch and British colonizers of Sri Lanka have attempted to convert the local population to Christianity. In 1813 the American Ceylon Mission (Protestant) is set up in Jaffna. In the late 19th century, a national Buddhist movement started, inspired by the American Buddhist Henry Steel Olcott, and empowered by the results of the Panadura debate between a Christian priest and the Buddhist monk Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera.

Mahāyāna legacy

Veneration of the Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva has continued to the present day in Sri Lanka, where he is called Nātha. In more recent times, some western-educated Theravādins have attempted to identify Nātha with Maitreya Bodhisattva. However, traditions and basic iconography, including an image of AmitābhaBuddha on his crown, identify Nātha as Avalokiteśvara. Andrew Skilton writes:

... It is clear from sculptural evidence alone that the Mahāyāna was fairly widespread throughout [Sri Lanka], although the modern account of the history of Buddhism on the island presents an unbroken and pure lineage of Theravāda. (One can only assume that similar trends were transmitted to other parts of Southeast Asia with Sri Lankan ordination lineages.) Relics of an extensive cult of Avalokiteśvara can be seen in the present-day figure of Nātha.

Early reports by Europeans from the 18th century describe the Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka as being engaged in the recitation of mantras, and using mālā beadsfor counting, as practiced in Mahāyāna Buddhism.

Bhikkhuni ordination

A few years after the arrival of Mahinda, Bhikkhuni Sanghamitta, who is also believed to be the daughter of Emperor Ashoka, came to Sri Lanka. She started the first nun's order in Sri Lanka, but this order of nuns died out in Sri Lanka in the 11th century.

In 1996, 11 selected Sri Lankan nuns were ordained fully as bhikkhunis by a team of Theravāda monks in concert with a team of Korean nuns in India. There is disagreement among Theravāda vinaya authorities as to whether such ordinations are valid. In the last few years the head of the Dambulla chapter of the Siyam Nikaya in Sri Lanka has carried out ordination ceremonies for hundreds of nuns.

Buddhist monastic groups

The different sects of the Sri Lankan Buddhist clergy are referred to as Nikayas, and three main Nikayas are:

• Siam Nikaya, founded in the 18th century by Ven. Upali Thera, a Siamese monk who was invited by the King Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Kandy, and on the initiative of Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thero.
• Amarapura Nikaya, founded in 1800 with higher ordination obtained from Myanmar (Burma)
• Ramanna Nikaya, founded in 1864 by Ambagahawatte Saranankara.

Within these three main divisions there are numerous other divisions, some of which are caste based. There are no doctrinal differences among any of them.

What is Buddhism?

Buddhism is a non-theistic religion that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly known as the Buddha, meaning "the awakened one". According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end their suffering through the elimination of ignorance and craving by way of understanding and the seeing of dependent origination and the Four Noble Truths, with the ultimate goal of attainment of the sublime state of Nirvana, by practicing the Noble Eight fold Path (also known as the Middle Way).

Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized:

1. Theravada ("The School of the Elders") and 

• Theravada has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar etc.).

1. Mahayana("The Great Vehicle").

•  Mahayana is found throughout East Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan etc.)

 And includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, and Tiantai (Tendai). In some classifications, Vajrayana practiced mainly in Tibet and Mongolia, and adjacent parts of China and Russia is recognized as a third branch, with a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, while others classify it as a part of Mahayana.

Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. One consistent belief held by all Buddhist schools is the lack of a Creator deity. The foundations of Buddhist tradition and practice are the Three Jewels:

1. the Buddha, 
2. the Dharma (the teachings), and 
3. the Sangha (the community). 

Taking "refuge in the triple gem" has traditionally been a declaration and commitment to being on the Buddhist path, and in general distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhist. Other practices may include following ethical precepts; support of the monastic community; renouncing conventional living and becoming a monastic; the development of mindfulness and practice of meditation; cultivation of higher wisdom and discernment; study of scriptures; devotional practices; ceremonies; and in the Mahayana tradition, invocation of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.