The Most. Venerable Talalle Dhammaloka Nayaka Thera passed away in Singapore, while attending the World Sangha Council. The funeral will take place on January 5 at Vidya Vidyalaya in Mt. Lavinia.

The Venerable Monk had an illustrious ordained life and passed away at the age of 86 years. We are grateful to him and bow our heads at his feet in reverence. He was well educated having passed the Pundit Pracina with honours and later passed the BA degree in Sri Lanka and London. He was a teacher of Buddhism in Government Service for a number of years, and retired at 55 years and devoted his life entirely to the living of a pious life, full of compassion, serving the community both here and abroad in the establishment of the Buddha Sasana.

As the Chief Incumbent of Tapodanaramaya, Mt. Lavinia Ven. Tallele Dhammaloka, was well-known and was appointed as the Deputy Adhikarana Sangha Nayaka of the Western Province. He was well versed in Dhamma and Vinaya, and amongst his many contributions I would like to point out his unique contribution towards establishing the Bhikkhuni order in Sri Lanka.

In 1994 the Venerable monk and his great friend and colleague who knew each other for over half a century, first discussed the feasibility of reestablishing the Bhikkuni order which disappeared in Sri Lanka nearly 10 centuries ago. He made investigations in China regarding the prevalence of the unbroken lineage of the Bhikkuni order. They discovered that according to Chinese history, the order came from Sri Lanka in the 6th century A.D. and since has spread to Korea, Japan, Taiwan and other countries. In fact all the Bhikkhunis in the world today are descendants of the Sri Lanka Bhikkhunis.

It is a well-known historical fact that Ven. Theri Sanghamitta brought the Bhikkuni order to Sri Lanka in the 3rd Century BC and the order flourished in Sri Lanka for over ten centuries until the fall of Anuradhapura. There is no historical evidence to indicate that the order reached Burma and Thailand, this is a regrettable fact.

Having ascertained these facts, the Venerable Vipulasara Thero sent me to Korea to study the Bhikkuni Vinaya procedure. I stayed 3 months at the Bhikkhuni Temple in Seoul, Korea and translated the Vinaya ordination procedure into Sinhala. It was found that the dual ordination ceremony was similar to the practice in Sri Lanka and their Dharmagupta Vinaya is a branch of Theravada Vinaya, and the rules were identical. Actually they had more minor rules in addition.

Due to the effort and conviction of these monks the first ordination of 10 Sri Lankan nuns took place in Sarnath, India in 1996 in the presence of a large number of Sri Lankan monks. (by the Korean Maha Sangha).

The Venerable Talalle Dhammaloka Maha Thera who fully understood the need for the fourfold society constituting of Bhikkhu, Bhikkuni, Upasaka, Upasika, for the proper establishment of the Sasana, as was the wish of the Buddha, gave his fullest support. But a great controversy arose in Sri Lanka over the press for and against the re-establishment of the Bhikkhuni order. It was at this point that our Most Venerable monk stepped in, to argue over the press, according the Vinaya, how anyone could disagree. He challenged to show cause as to how the Bhikkuni Sangha cannot be recognised. According to his private diary there is mention that “Upto now I have not received any valid answer to support their dissension.”

In the year 1998 a second ordination took place at Buddha Gaya India, and 20 Dasasil Matas were ordained.

I participated at this ceremony translating the Vinaya procedure into Sinhala. It was conducted in Chinese, and then translated to English. These Bhikkhunis under the leadership of Ven. Inamaluwe Sumangala Thera, later gave ordination to other nuns at Dambulla.

Our Most Venerable Talalle Dhammaloka Thera, stepped in again to ensure that the proper ordination, according to the Pali tradition is taking place. He helped in the selection of candidates, what are their qualifications, their education and training under a respected teacher? How they can be trained and so on. They erected many chapter houses - Simamalaka, in different places. eg., Avissawella, Kurunegala, Ehaliyagoda, Matara, Mahiyangana, Gorakana and so on to give ordination according to tradition. At his own chapter house at Tapodanaramaya, Mt. Lavinia two ordinations were held and women from Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, America, Korea and other countries received ordination in the English medium as well. There are about 400 Bhikkunis now.

The Venerable published a very important booklet under the heading “Mahaprajapati Gotami and Bhikkuni Sasana in Sri Lanka” and eventually the contrerversy died down. The Bhikkhunis conduct their services in Various parts of Sri Lanka. But official recognition has not been granted by the state.

What we understand by establishing the Sasana is, to uphold the virtue, concentration and wisdom of the Buddha. There is no sexual differences or differences due to caste and creed and nationality in the dispensation of the Buddha. In fact the Buddha never preached to Buddhists, they were all non-believers who later became Buddhists. Therefore the fourfold society has a duty to live the Dhamma and teach the Dhamma and in that way establish the Sasana of the Buddha.

It must be noted that both in India and Sri Lanka, there was the Golden Age when the fourfold society flourished. The ample acheological reserves give evidence to our ancient glory. It mst be the intention of every Buddhist to usher in a Golden Era again, by living the Dhamma, and thereby establish the sasana.

This is the only way we can pay tribute and show our gratitude to this great monk who appeared from heaven to rescue the Bhikkuni order. May he look after us from his heavenly abode and may he achieve the highest Bliss of Nibbana.

Posted by my good friend Ven. Bhikkuni Kusuma - M.A., Ph.D.

Tag: Talalle Dhammaloka