The Great Monk

Ven Sobitha Thero

“The terror of the missionaries….more wrangler than ascetic…the boldest, the most brilliant and most powerful champion of Sinhalese Buddhism.” This is how Colonel Henry Steele Olcott described Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera, a leading voice in the movement for Buddhist revival in the 19th century.

In the 20th century there was the Most Venerable Madihe Pannasiha Maha Nayaka Thera whose lone voice was heard far and wide in his effort to “develop the world along with the development of man.” And then there was Gangodwila Soma Thera who travelled to every nook and corner of the country in a bid to make Sri Lanka a better place to live in.

We were fortunate to have had Venerable Maduluwawe Sobitha Maha Thera – Sobhitha Hamuduruwo to everyone – in the latter part of the 20th century and the early part of the 21st to shout at the leaders when they were on the wrong track. He succeeded in his valiant effort to change the system and work towards minimising, if not completely eradicating, corruption, nepotism and wastage. He was watching the situation and was not entirely pleased with the outcome. And now there is a huge vacuum.

Two postings on my Facebook three days ago made me realise how Sobitha Hamuduruwo was accepted and respected by all. One was a banner in Sinhala and Tamil by a Muslim organisation expressing their sorrow at the passing-away of the monk and the other had a few pictures showing long queues of Muslim persons waiting to pay their respects to the late Thera. What a fine gesture and a symbol of reconciliation! It was only a few months back that the Muslims were bitter against a group of Buddhist monks whom they felt were anti-Muslim.

Leaders of other faiths issued statements. Non-Buddhists spent hours to pay their respects. They put up yellow flags as a mark of respect.

The print media has been full of appreciations of the venerable monk over the past few days by scholars, professionals, politicians, trade unionists and many more. There is no need to repeat the ‘guna varnana’. Enough has been said.

Ven. Sobitha was a simple, friendly monk in spite of his busy schedule. He always found time for anyone who dropped in at the Naga Viharaya at Kotte and. Over the years I have met him a few times mainly to invite him for Dhamma sermons and he always obliged. He would turn the pages of his diary and if he had already been invited for a sermon on the day I mentioned, he would say, “Shall we make it on….” Invariably I agreed. 

At a personal level, I felt honoured when he turned up at the launch of ‘From the Cradle’ I authored for the Martin Wickramasinghe Trust on the Koggala Folk Museum. He was one of two monks who were invited by the Trust.

It was so pleasant and informative to listen to him. We rarely missed his ‘bana’ over the radio or television. He had a style of his own in delivering sermons. His voice would rise when he wanted to emphasise a point. Sometimes he could hardly be heard – he kept the voice so low.

During the campaign he spearheaded to change the existing regime, he was forceful, convincing and genuine. I can’t remember seeing him wearing even a pair of slippers when he either came to a house to deliver a sermon or participated at protest rallies or marched with the protesters. Obviously he was not even concerned about his health during the crucial months he spent to save the country from disaster.

Having donned robes as a boy of 13, Ven. Sobitha spent 60 years at the Naga Viharaya as a revered monk. His service to the nation will be remembered for ever.

May his path towards the eternal bliss of Nibbana be clear and pure!