Abstract
This essay presents the story of U Dhammaloka's anti-missionary preaching tour of Ceylon in 1909, organized by Anagarika Dharmapala. Drawing on the versions of the tour as it is represented in Dhammaloka's sermons, Dharmapala's personal diaries, and Ceylonese media reflections of the views of Christians, competing Buddhist organizations and colonial authorities, I bring to light an instance of cross-border cooperation at the margins of the Buddhist revival in the early twentieth century. This story reveals the complexities of marginality, pointing out the ways in which an Irish ex-hobo turned Buddhist monk rhetorically inhabited the edges of multiple spheres. This interpretation illustrates that, rather than finding this debilitating, Dhammaloka took advantage of his ambiguous belonging, drawing from different sources and allegiances to establish himself as an authority in his own right – a dissident orientalist on a mission to save the Orient.
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