Shivani Bothra
I will now discuss the Sinhalese bhikkhus within the Sarvodaya movement as a comparison to the role of the Terapanth ascetics, in the Anuvrat Movement. Both the sramanic traditions engaged ascetics within their movements as the "agents of change."
Buddhist Bhikkhus
Terapanth Monks and NunsSarvodaya points to the ancient and traditional role of Buddhist bhikkhus as "the active leaders for social progress."[79] Right from the beginning, Sarvodaya's aim was to reawaken the society, which included the bhikkhus. From time to time, bhikkhus were also trained to develop their leadership qualities. A renowned Buddhist scholar Ratnapala notes that: "bhikkhus needed to learn modern approaches to modern problems."[80] The bhikkhus in return worked in close collaboration with Sarvodaya workers, including the introducing of the goals to the community people and teaching of dhamma during family gatherings. Ariyratne reminded his followers from the old canon, Vinaya Pitaka, in which the Buddha sends his bhikkhus from place to place to spread the dhamma: "For the benefit of the many, for the welfare of the many, out of compassion for the world."[81] Ariyaratne sought to justify the concept of engaged Buddhism for social activism and to realize his goal by engaging the sangha. Such a relationship of bhikkhus to the movement has been positive in advancing the Sarvodaya Movement.
Even though the Anuvrat Movement was a dream of the solo charismatic monk, but his entire monastic community supported him. The leadership of the movement remained with Tulsi and the responsibility of spreading the activities was gradually dispersed among the other monks, nuns and the laypeople. As the movement expanded, branches and sub-branches were formed to efficiently manage the enterprise. Even then, it was not isolated from the ascetic communities, primarily because the ascetics are bequeathed with the philosophical background for convincingly explaining the concept and benefits of taking vows to the lay community.
From my observations, I understood that individuals felt pride in accepting the Anuvrat vows in an auspicious setting or in the presence of monks and nuns. If that is so,
then what roles do the laypeople have in the movement's activities? According to one senior Anuvrati: "The lay community possess great organizational skills and the capacity to secure funding for the effective functioning of the Anuvrat activities. But they were not successful role models in inspiring others to accept the Anuvrat vows."[82] Therefore, the above statement implies that the source of inspiration lays within the ascetic community as they continue to influence whoever comes in their contact.
From several of my Indian interviews and informal discussions, it seemed to me that the movement lost focus and was diverging in different directions. Some of the respondents were sympathetic while some others were bitter in their responses about the present status of the movement. Eventually, Terapanth activities increased significantly under the banner of the Anuvrat Movement. Some respondents chorused the following statement: "Over time however, the focus shifted to Preksha Meditation and Science of Living and interest in the Anuvrat Movement declined.[83] Such statements led me to conclude that initially, though both these innovations were conceived within the Anuvrat Movement with the intention to strengthen it, they ended up diverting focus away from the original purpose of taking vows. Moreover, people also found meditation as a more effective approach to remedying their everyday problems than accepting vows.
What has become clear from the monastic community is that they have responded better in fulfilling the requirement of teaching meditation to the lay followers than in explaining and promoting Tulsi's practice of taking vows. In my own experience, I wondered why no monk or nun ever approached me to become an Anuvrati, like I had been approached several times for the practice of meditation. When I asked this question during my research, I was told that the monks and nuns just assumed that I was a practicing Anuvrati already.
In succinct summation of this section, I bring in the quotation of an Indian professor of Philosophy from my interviews, who articulated the effective role monks and nuns play in inspiring the masses: "Monks and nuns are in a blissful state without any possession, their way of living makes a statement of simplicity. They have the moral authority to preach, and their impact will be far more extensive and deeper. A common person is impressed and has a sense of reverence for them."[84] In this manner, the statement made by the professor is in akin to the trajectories of how the monastic community have influenced the progress of the movement in the past and may be able to influence its success in the future.
