{"id":8458,"date":"2024-10-31T17:35:26","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T16:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/?p=8458"},"modified":"2024-11-22T19:44:50","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T18:44:50","slug":"visiting-the-site-of-the-buddha-relics-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/2024\/10\/31\/visiting-the-site-of-the-buddha-relics-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Visiting the site of the Buddha Relics in Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Our visit to Haburugala Aranya Senasanaya, a humble forest monastery tucked away near a jungle and the village of Haburugala in southern Sri Lanka turned out to be an unexpected highlight of our trip.<\/p>\n

Arriving under the blazing midday sun, I was struck by how modest the monastery was\u2014a small Dharma hall, a few kutis (monks\u2019 huts), a Buddha statue perched atop a large rock, and a statue of a monk, likely Arahant Mihindu or Mittakala Arahat and some construction work. It was nothing like the larger temples I had imagined, yet its simplicity left a profound impression.<\/p>\n

This visit wasn\u2019t originally part of our plan. In fact, it was the donation of Buddha relics by Venerable Sulakhana, the abbot of this monastery, to Tilorien Monastery in Belgium, where I\u2019m connected, and a suggestion from Venerable Vimala, the resident Bhikkhuni, that sparked the idea. They had mentioned that if I ever had the opportunity to visit this monastery, I should report back to them. Initially, I didn\u2019t think it would be possible, as it seemed far from my itinerary. But when the time came, everything fell into place effortlessly. Our driver, Rohan, who is also a Buddhist, assured us that it wasn\u2019t far and could easily be added to our route, despite the mountainous and forested terrain.<\/p>\n

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While walking around in the monastery, our driver asked some construction workers if it would be possible to speak with a monk, and soon a monk came out. He greeted us and explained to us the setup of the monastery. He said that there are around 26 stupas spread across this jungle region, making it a significant archaeological site. Two stupas had been excavated, and Buddha relics were discovered inside, some of which had been donated to Tilorien Monastery. The monk also mentioned that there are currently eight monks residing at the monastery, though most were away on their alms rounds, so we didn\u2019t have the opportunity to meet Venerable Sulakhana.<\/p>\n

As we explored the monastery, I felt the weight of its historical significance\u2014linked to Arahant Mihindu\u2019s foremost student, Mittakala Maharahat, who had enlightened thousands of monks here centuries ago. The peaceful surroundings and the ongoing, quiet construction seemed to reflect the enduring spirit of monastic life in its purest form. Though there wasn\u2019t much to see materially, the deep connection to the Buddha\u2019s teachings made the place feel spiritually significant.<\/p>\n

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Looking back, what truly struck me was how naturally everything came together. I hadn\u2019t planned much\u2014even the entire trip to Sri Lanka and the 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat idea was sparked by a conversation with Dhamma friends at Tilorien Monastery\u2014yet one event flowed into another without any force. It was a perfect reflection of equanimity, a core Buddhist teaching. Life unfolded on its own, just as it often does when we let go of control and simply observe.<\/p>\n

By Upekkh\u00e3<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our visit to Haburugala Aranya Senasanaya, a humble forest monastery tucked away near a jungle and the village of Haburugala in southern Sri Lanka turned out to be an unexpected highlight of our trip. Arriving under the blazing midday sun,…
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8458"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8512,"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8458\/revisions\/8512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samita.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}