Test of Faith?

This post comes along with a host of others on the local Blogsphere. Since this is holy ground I don't want to tread on anything in my attempt to gravel at this mystery with my limited knowledge of Buddhism. Yes yes, I'm a Buddhist too.

So we all know that there have been "rays" in many Buddha statues around the country, causing many traffic jams and an insurgence of people to temples. There have been many arguments presented, and I'm merely going to give you my opinions on those, rather than side with one party.

What do 'they' see?

1. The most simple is that it's a trick of the mind, when you stare at the Statue, around the region of the neck of Lord Buddha. This can be true as the robe is of "Orange" colour, and the skin of the Lord Buddha, is depicted in a "light yellow" colour. So experts argue that, staring at these two colours, your bound to see "green". Which supposed to be the colour of the "rays" that people see.

Scientific Explanation (Copied off an Email I got)

The sensitive area in eye is known as retina. This retina consists of large number of small sensitive cells. When you look at the edge of the two colors, the cells in the orange area saturates to the color orange while the cells in the yellow area saturates to the color yellow. When a cell is saturated to a color, it takes some time to come to the normal state. If you look at some other color before that cell get normalized, the cell would not be able to identify that color immediately. As a result of this you would see a different color in that region.

Basically if you stare long enough at the center line between the 2 colours, you see a shade of green invading from the center line towards the yellow side. Looks like it's rising from the center line.

2. People have seen the air floating around/up the same area of the statue. People argue the same happens when you see a "mirage". So is this all a mirage?

What is the symbolism behind all this?

1. Something "Good" happening :

Well Sri Lankan folk law states that the birth of "Diyasena Kumaraya*" will be marked with such unusual happenings like "Budu Ras" from all the Temples and a "Sal Mala" of a notable size (As big as a cart wheel) on the Tree near the "Kirinda Devale" are a few. Arguments against this are that he's due, 2500 years after the birth of the "Lord Buddha". In other words he's 50 years late. Well my opinion is how sure are we of the counting and tracking of years, after all our history is just a bunch of folk tales, written into "Mahawansa".

* For those who aren't familiar with "Diyasena Kumaraya" he's supposed to be a prince that will bring Buddhism to what it was, rescue the faith, maybe unite the country, and also future "Lord Buddha" some argue. (Some argued it was Mahinda, coz he was born in 1946, fat lot he has achieved..)

Anyways there's a nice song detailing the wait for the prince and the situation of Buddhism in this country by Gunadasa Kapuge. I've included the lyrics for you guys to go through. Gives you something to think about.

These happenings have also been justified by some saying it's the Perahera period.

2. Something "Bad" happening :

Well there is reportedly a "Buddha Statue" in the "Maligawa" that sweats** when something "Bad" is going to occur. This was supposedly the case just before the "Maligawa" was attacked by the LTTE. Inside sources say that there is no change in this "Buddha Statue".

**Sweat/Perspire means the statue gets a moisture covering of some sort. I believe the statue is a relatively small statue made of stone, kept inside the chambers of the tooth relic it self.

With the waging war, it could be easily argued that its a sign of "Bad" things to come, rather than "Good" things to come.

After all rumours are that, the LTTE want another uprising like the '83 to justify their cause, and hope to ignite it, by setting off something close to all Sinhala/Buddhist hearts and souls. Many of my friends and I have debated possible targets like "Anuradhapura", "Polonnaruwa", "Maligawa" again, or massacring of "Several Bikkhus".


Unanswered Questions ?

1. Many are asking how come this is not seen in statues made of stone? Eg: "Awkuna", "Samadhi", these statues are also considered heritage and high in religious value. Many people have seen "Budu Ras" emitting from the "Samadhi" statue but those people have been meditating nearby and in some sort of an attained state, not the common folk. So is that "Budu Ras" and the one seen these days different?

2. Smart Observers have claimed that the phenomenon can also be observed in other statues. Eg: "Sariyuth Thero"?

3. If this is only a phenomenon in the eye .. how come nobody saw this before? It's been like that for centuries. A answer maybe that, one person would have noticed this recently, and got people to stare long enough to see it, and basically it spread like a wild fire. (A similar argument is being formalized for the Alien sighting in SL, people actually didn't know till they saw "Bhavatra"). A priest has come forth an stated that "Green" isn't the colour for "Budhu Ras".

4. What is the actual Colour of "Budu Ras" is it the stereo type "yellow"? I have a few friends who've seen similar rays, in "Ruvanvalisaya" where they conduct a "Pichcha Mal Pooja" with an offering of 100,000 flowers.

5. Is this only happening in Temples? Nope. This phenomenon have been taken place in churches, kovils all over the world, not only is Sri Lanka. However some have been proved as hoax.


My conclusion
Although some might argue that we are soo easily fooled by such things, specially the innocent "Upasaka Amma's", I believe that if something increases your faith towards something there is not harm in it. However Lord Buddha him self has taught us not to believe everything you see, and get rid of all those illusion, or "mithyadushtikathwaya". You can argue on both sides, so I'll let you guys decide on your own, for your selves. I just wanted to present my thoughts on this issue. Not to make you a believer, or a non-believer. (ok.. ok.. maybe I wanted you to listen to the song.. you got me there!)

Listen to the Streaming of "Dampiyawa" - (Real Player Req. - 11th Song on the list.)