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Buddhist Preaching and Sinhala Religious Rhetoric: Medieval Buddhist Methods to PopularizeTheravādaAuthor(s): Mahinda DeegalleSource:
Numen,
Vol. 44, No. 2 (May, 1997), pp. 180-210Published by: BRILLStable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3270298
Accessed: 19/04/2010 01:20
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BUDDHIST PREACHINGANDSINHALARELIGIOUSRHETORIC:MEDIEVALBUDDHIST METHODSTOPOPULARIZE THERAVADA1
MAHINDADEEGALLESummaryBuddhistpreachingsone of themostneglectedareasinmodernscholarship.InBuddhistsocieties,thoughvarieties ofpreachingrituals arefound,existingscholarlyliteraturecontainsonlyscatteredandofteninadequateormisleadingreferences toBuddhistpreaching.Since both historiansofreligionsandBuddhologistshave tendedtoignorethe roleofBuddhistpreachersandpreachingnTheravadaBuddhism,thispaperstressestheimportanceofpayingattention to'preaching'indevelopingaholisticunderstandingfSinhala Buddhism.Focusingontheterm'bana,'thispaperexamines thedevelopmentof Buddhistpreachingin Sri Lanka.It demonstrates hewaybanahasfunctioned in thepopu-larizationof Theravadasince the thirteenthcentury.First,throughanexaminationofinscriptions,it establishesthedevelopmentof thetermbana as animportantreligio-historicalcategoryin Sinhala Buddhism.Second,itexamines thespecificus-ageof theterm banainthesense ofpreachingnthe thirteenthcenturyPjdavaliya.Finally, focusingontheButsarana,anearlythirteenthcenturySinhalatext whichcontainsextensivereferences tobana,it examines thewayVidyacakravartinno-vatedTheravadaBuddhistintellectual frameworkbyemployinganunconventionaltermsuchas'kama'(desire)todescribe Theravadareligiousconceptsinordertopopularizethem.Itarguesthat Buddhistpreachingdevelopedandgrewin the con-textof Sinhalabanapot,andfunctions as a richcultural,educational,andreligiousresourceinfluencingtheattitudesandpracticesof Sinhala Buddhists.
Max Weberremarkedhat "twotypesofinfluences,...thepowerofpropheticcharismaand theenduringhabitsof themasses,influ-ence the workofthepriestsintheirsystematization."2Weberpointedoutveryforcefullytheimportanceofnegotiationswiththelaityinreligiousestablishments.Hewroteiftheprophetwas "to continuetolive oninsomemanneramonglargenumbersofthelaity,he musthimselfbecometheobjectof a cult."3He believed that the teach-ingsoftheprophetwhich were"mostappropriate"oraparticular
?KoninklijkeBrill,Leiden(1997)NUMEN,Vol.44
 
BuddhistPreachingcommunitywould surviveamongthelaitythrough"aprocessofse-lection."IndiscussingSinhalaBuddhism andpreachingtradition,theimportanceand influence ofthelaityinthedevelopmentofdoc-trinalaspectsaswell aspracticesofTheravadacannot beignored.Yet,fora holisticunderstandingfSinhalaBuddhism,PeterBrown'ssuggestionis alsoextremelyimportant.WithreferencetoreligiousnegotiationsinLatinChristianity,Brown wrote:
[I]nordero understanduch achange[inthecultofsaintsinLatinChristianity],inall itsramifications,we must setaside the "two-tiered"model. Ratherthanpresentthe rise of the cultofsaintsintermsofadialoguebetween twoparties,thefewand themany,let usattempttosee it aspartof agreaterwhole.4
Itisimportanttosee Buddhistpreachingtradition inSri Lankafroma holisticperspectivesincesuchaperspectivewillprovideacomprehensiveunderstandingofreligious negotiationsintheme-dievalBuddhistworld.SriLankanTheravadaBuddhistsidentifyBuddhistpreachingas'bana'(30).5Thispaperexamines thedevelopmentof Buddhistpreachingin latemedieval Sri Lanka.Inthisparticularcase,'latemedieval'denotesthehistoryofBuddhismin SriLanka from thethirteenthhroughfifteenthcenturies.6n thehistoryofBuddhisminAsiaingeneralandinSinhala Buddhismnparticular,hethirteenthcenturywasaturningpointbothinterms of doctrinaldevelopmentsandinthechanging geographicalshapeofBuddhism.7In the caseof SriLanka,thethirteenthcenturymarks agreatrevivalof vernac-ularBuddhistliterature. Within a little over acentury,siximpor-tant Sinhalaprosetexts8 hadbeenproducedfortheuse of SinhalaspeakingBuddhistsof the island.Thesereligiousclassics,known asbanapot(preachingexts),portrayagreatrenewalofpopularreligios-ity amongBuddhistswho lived inlocalitiesaroundDambadeniyanSri Lanka.Iwillarguethat Sinhalabanapotofthethirteenthcen-turyhave beeninstrumentalnthedevelopmentof a Sinhalastyleofpreaching(bana)traditioninSri Lanka. Thesevernacularreli-giousclassicshaveprovided necessarytextual resources and rhetori-calstrategiesorBuddhistpreachers.Furthermore,he bana traditionhaspopularizedTheravadadeology among peasant laycommunities181
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