A conversation with a forest-dwelling monastic bhikkhu at the Bodhinagala forest hermitage.
Clad in deep brown robes the monastic bhikkhus walk in single file, composed, silent, and sedate. There is beauty in this simple task, a kind of tranquility and harmony that is in sync with the forest surroundings. With alms bowl in hand, the bhikkhus make their way towards the ‘Dana Salawa’ (alms hall) where the devotees wait in postures of piety, head bowed, hands clasped.
The scene is near surreal. Some of the male devotees wash the feet of the bhikkhus while the others serve the dana all the while chanting “Sadu, Sadu.”
Ven. Rahula Thera practises ‘Buddha Watha’ at a shrine
In silent procession, the bhikkhus retire to another alms hall a little distance away, sit down and prepare to partake of the food they just received. A sole brown robed figure stays behind in the ‘Dana Salawa’ to confer merit on the devotees who serve alms.
This is a moment in the daily routine of the bhikkhus of the Bodhinagala forest hermitage.
Nestling on the bank of the Kalu Ganga, near the Dobagaskanda hill in the outskirts of Ingiriya, the Bodhinagala hermitage lies beneath the leafy canopy of a rain forest reservation extending over 347 hectares. The natural rain forest shields the hermitage from the outside world, providing picture perfect serenity for the meditating bhikkhus.
When I was a schoolboy in Botalegama, an adjoining village of Dombagaskanda, I used to hear the reverberation of Hevissi (drum) sound from the Bodhinagala forest hermitage in the early hours of the morning and evening. In those days, I had a fixed lens small camera and used to visit the hermitage to shoot the daily life in the hermitage. Each time I visited the hermitage, I used to see one bhikkhu, slender in build and fair in complexion, always walking in front of the group of bhikkhus when they moved towards the alms hall. That was in the 1980s. However, during my recent visit to the hermitage, I decided to talk to this lone bhikkhu and find out more about his life.
Kuti surrounded by trees
Ven. Rahula Thera in a pensive mood at his kuti
Up a stone pathway is his kuti (cell), furnished with a narrow bed, a table and a low stool. The walls are adorned with pictures of the Buddha. The kuti is surrounded by huge trees, which provide both ample shade and a sense of absolute calm. The silence of this serene scene is occasionally broken by the sound of a hornbill or a monkey.
The bhikkhu, 76-year-old Ven. Thibbotugoda Rahula Thera, who has been living in the Bodhinagala forest hermitage since 1966, is the most senior resident of the hermitage. Welcoming me to his humble abode, he recounts the extraordinary story of journey to the hermitage and a life spent in meditation.
He has stopped making Pindapatha because of inability to climb the staircase due to his aging health. The devotees bring dana to the alms hall and offer to the bhikkhu. But he does his day-today-work being in the hermitage.
Born to a Buddhist farming family at Thibbotugoda, Horana in 1948, Somawardena Kaluarachchi, as he was then known, had his primary education at the Welikala Primary School in Pokunuwita. He then joined Sri Palee Collage, Horana, and continued till ordinary level education. When Somawardena Kaluarachchi was a small boy, he used to frequently visit his grandmother’s house next door, because of the plethora of books available there. Among the books he most liked to read were Buddhist Jathaka stories.
Being the only son in a family of eight, his father gave everything to him. They had a number of acres of paddy lands, so they were fairly well to do. He went to school by a bullock-cart owned by his father.
Interest in the doctrine
Ven. Rahula Thera feeds dogs at the hermitage
He studied up to the ordinary level, and dropped out, opting to study the Buddhist doctrine and enter the bhikkhuhood. He had always associated with the village temple where he had learnt a lot about Buddhism.
“Soon I began to read more Buddhist books and I found myself being interested in the forest hermitage in Ingiriya. One day, I visited the hermitage with my father and met the Chief bhikkhu. I told him I would like to enter the bhikkhuhood. My parents gave permission to me to be a bhikkhu,” once called Somawardena recalls, while sitting on a stone slab in front of his kuti.
His dreams were realised in 1966, when at the age of 19, he was ordained as Thibbotugoda Rahula under the guidance of Ven. Olaboduwe Dammakirthi Thera, the Chief Incumbent of the Bodhinagala forest hermitage. He lived in the hermitage as a samanera for several years, studying meditation practices with five bhikkhus, before he attained Upasampadha in 1971 at the Asgiriya Temple in Kandy.
“Soon I became a bhikkhu of the hermitage. I was provided everything I wanted as a bhikkhu. Devotees gifted robes. My family members and relatives came to see me from time to time. Even today, my sisters who are old now, visit me regularly,” he said.
Since becoming a monastic bhikkhu, Ven. Rahula Thera has been following a timetable for daily routine for meditation, study and worship, which usually lasts until 10 p.m. Insight meditation practised usually sitting still lasts for one and a half to two hours twice a day. The daily program also includes a few domestic duties, with priority being given to cleanliness. ¬¬¬So, the timetable includes a daily bath, which is a must unless indisposed.
In the past 40 years, Ven. Rahula Thera has spent his monastic life practising insight meditation, part of which is widely used Anapanasathi, the concentration on rhythmic inhalation and exhalation of breath. Though seemingly simplistic, this highly effective exercise hones consciousness and concentration to a fine edge, focusing the mind on an almost involuntary body function.
Pindapatha
Cleaning the hermitage’s kitchen
“My day starts at 4.a.m. At 6.00 a.m. I walk (Pindapatha) for breakfast and around 9.30 a.m. have a bath and get ready for the midday meal Pindapatha, which is at 10.a.m at the alms hall. All the bhikkhus in the hermitage gather in the upper alms hall from where we go pindapatha to the lower alms hall, which is a little distance away, where devotees offer alms to our begging bowls. We return to the upper alms hall and partake of our midday meal with all the bhikkhus. After dana, we rest for a little while and read the Dhamma books, which are gifts of the devotees,” he said, elaborating on the daily schedule which rarely varies.
Ven. Rahula Thera has been in charge of the Dhamma Chetiya in the hermitage for several years and he is responsible for holding the daily Buddha Pooja. “Around 7.00 p.m., the devotees who come to offer alms the following day, take part in this Buddha pooja called ‘Buddha Watha’, which takes about one hour. After finishing the day’s work, I go to sleep at around 10.00 p.m.,” he said.
So, do the monastic bhikkhus ever venture into the outside world? Being Vipassanadhura bhikkhus, Ven. Rahula said, he and his fellow bhikkhus are mainly in contemplation, and that with Vippassana Bhavana, insight meditation, being the dominant and central theme, they live mostly in secluded forest hermitage complexes call Aranya.
They do not take part in religious activities outside of the hermitage, but if someone invites them to preach a sermon, they will accept it.
