The Transformation of Buddhism during British Colonialism

Abstract

In order to understand the changes that occurred in the Buddhist Sangha (monastic community) in Sri Lanka during and after colonialization by the British, it is first necessary to understand the situation of Buddhism prior to colonialization as well as the relationship of Buddhism to secular power and the idea of civil law.Location is crucial to understanding the position of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Buddhism definitively changed the Indian model's relationship of the Sangha to the political order. From the earliest times Sri Lankan Buddhism was connected to kingship and to the geographic space of the island of Sri Lanka, in a way that seems unique in Buddhist history. In Sri Lanka the Buddhist king was not answerable to a ‘god’, but was elected by the Sangha and other high ministers and was required to patronize the Sangha and enforce social stability.In his critique of Clifford Geertz, Talal Asad claims that religion is not just a symbolic system but a system of power, in many cases, one that is totalizing in character. Asad's argument can be demonstrated in Sri Lanka, where the implantation of a ‘secular government’ during colonial times by the British profoundly altered the relationship between Buddhism and the inhabitants of Sri Lanka. The modern idea of religion as divorced from power succeeded in dislodging the influence that Buddhism had over Sri Lankan politics, but only for a short time.