Ven. Siri Saranankara (1902-1966) - Peace Activist

Researcher's Note: The Ven. Udakendawela Siri Saranankara was a fully ordained Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka who won the 1958 Lenin (formerly 'Stalin') Peace Prize for his anti-imperialist work in Sri Lanka. He appears to have encountered Marxist-Leninism in Indiaand to have been influenced by the anti-British Movement that developed in that country. Although he met both Gandhi and Chandra Bose, he steered clear of Bose and tended to gravitate toward the Soviet Union (Bose, although sometimes associated with Socialism in India, was in fact an ally of Hitler's Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperialist Japan, and was a rightwinger supposedly fighting for India's freedom by collaborating with fascism). Of course, Gandhi was certainly not a Socialist, but many around him were. The Ven. Saranankara was part of a Sangha that was imbued with Socialist ideas, objecives and ideoogies, which is not surprising considering the Buddha's objection to greed, hatred and delusion. His expressed thinking is typical of a Marxist-Leninist influenced by the Dhamma and is very worthwhile studying. This is the final chapter in a rare book published in English in Sri Lanka. It was one book amongst many recommend to me by my Sri Lankan Buddhist Master - Mangala Thero of the Ganga Ramaya Temple (near Beruwela). The following extract is quoted from WA Abeysinghe’s book entitled Essays on Buddhism and Buddhist Culture, S Godage and Brothers, (1993), Chapter 6 - Udakendawela Siri Saranankarar - The Veteran Peace Champion, Pages 54-64. ACW (17.3.2020)