Victorious personality in generosity: Deshabandu Alec Robertson

Deshabandu Alec Robertson was a well-reputed and respected personality who passed away 20 years ago. Although he was a descendent of the Eurasian community, he naturalised to the Sri Lankan culture which was enriched with Buddhist philosophy. He had learned the in-depth parts of the teachings of Lord Buddha which even many born Buddhists could not do.

It is encouraging to note that he not only learned Buddhist philosophy but was able to explain the comprehensive concepts in simple language to the lay people in his preachings. He participated in numerous media programs including radio and television and discussions propagating the Dhamma in its realistic form. When there were not may learned people who could explain the principles of Buddhist philosophy in English available in the country, Robertson performed yeoman service by taking the Dhamma to the ordinary people through his voluntary service. In appreciation of his unparalleled contribution to the country, the then government appointed him as a Member of Sri Lanka Parliament. 

Alec Robertson was born in Gampola on 30 October 1928, and passed away on 31 December 2002, at the age of 74. Most of his life was dedicated mainly to disseminating the plethora of knowledge on Buddhism and to spread Dhamma among those not only in the country but also among international communities. He participated very actively in explaining the Dhamma through talks, discussions and writing and distributing books and articles to Buddhist journals and newspapers. He was one of the very few scholars who could translate the principles of Buddhism into English in its correct form. 

According to Buddhist teachings, there are three main meritorious activities (punya karma) that should be practiced mainly by the lay people such as Dana (giving or generosity), Sila (morality) and Bavana (meditation).

It should be noted that dãna, sìla, bhãvanã constitute the ‘base’ of a life of a moral person.

The ‘dãna’ helps one to overcome one’s greed (lobha).

The ‘sìla’ helps remove hate (dosa) from one’s mind.

The ‘bhãvanã’ helps remove ignorance (moha) from the mind by learning Dhamma and getting rid of the wrong views (micca ditthi).

It is always a good idea to keep in mind why these are the moral actions as they help purify one’s mind:

Dana or generosity is divided into three parts as;

Gift of material nature including giving of food, clothing, shelter, etc.

Gift of fearlessness including giving hope to others, giving mental and moral assistance when people need it. 

Gift of Dhamma knowledge (Dhamma Dana) including the promotion of adherence to the Five Precepts, the Four Noble Truths and imparting Dhamma knowledge so as to eschew ignorance and bring happiness among others. 

Lord Buddha laid emphasis on the importance of Dharma dana thus stated; Sabba danam dhammadanam jinathi, which means that ‘the gift of Dhamma excels all other gifts.’ The background to this was that the Lord Buddha saw the harmful situation that the world would be exposed to by widespread ignorance. Hence the Blessed One declared that giving or sharing knowledge of Dhamma with the people was the highest Dana that one could achieve. It is therefore, important to note that giving the knowledge of Dhamma is the highest meritorious activity as outlined by the Lord Buddha – ‘Sabba danang Dhamma Danang Jinathi’. 

Roberson had achieved this great status by ‘giving Dhamma’ to many other people through his talks, writings and discussions, etc. By his Dhamma dana practices, Robertson had become a victorious personality in giving Dhamma knowledge to many other people by practicing the principle of ‘Sabba danam Dhamma danam Jinathi’. 

Many people get engaged in activities related to Dana or giving or performing the functions of generosity mainly in giving material things to others. Some people help others by way of giving mental or moral assistance but only a few would be able to give the Dhamma knowledge to others. This action requires sound knowledge of Dhamma and hence need to learn and comprehend the high order principles of Dhamma as outlined by the Lord Buddha. Alec Robertson falls into this highest category of giving Dhamma knowledge to others as he was very competent in the enormous aspects of Buddhist philosophy. Such people with sound knowledge of Dhamma who could share with others are rare and many feel even today the loss of his preaching. 

Alec Robertson had a long-term vision on propagating the pure principles of Buddhism in the world. As far back as 1990, he proposed in the Parliament to declare Tripitaka as a world heritage. Tripitaka is the traditional term for the Buddhist scriptures in which all preaching of the Lord Buddha were recorded. Although his proposal did not materialise at that time, the Government declared Tripitaka as a World Heritage in 2019 fulfilling the great vision of Roberson. 

May he be born among us again and be able to continue his Dhamma Danam until he attains the great bliss of Nibbana.