Buddhist icon
Dhammananda dies at 87
By
Oon Yeoh, The Buddhist Channel, Aug 31, 2006
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- Leading Buddhist leader,
K Sri Dhammananda, died on Thursday in hospital after a long
illness. He was 87.
Ven K Sri Dhammananda was there to witness Malaysia's
declaration of independence on August 31, 1957
Dhammananda, who was popularly referred to as "Chief", had been
critically ill for the past six weeks after suffering from a
stroke.
Last week he was flown back to Kuala Lumpur after spending three
weeks at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. He suffered a
second stroke shortly after returning from Singapore and has been
slipping in and out of consciousness since then.
A leading figure in the Buddhist community in Malaysia and
Singapore, Dhammananda arrived in Malaysia in 1952 from Sri Lanka
(then known as Ceylon) to help tend to the spiritual needs of the
Singhalese community in Kuala Lumpur.
Shortly after his arrival he was summoned by the High Commissioner
to Malaya Sir Gerald Templer who asked him to teach Buddhism among
the Chinese communities in the New Villages set up by Templer to
help check the spread of Communism.
Thus began his missionary work, lasting over half a century, which
eventually spread throughout the whole of Malaysia and later,
Singapore as well.
As recent as a few months ago, he was still giving his regular
Friday evening religious talks, something he has done continuously
since the 1950s.
Dhammananda is the Chief Monk of the famous Maha Vihara Temple in
Kuala Lumpur and is technically the head of the Theravada
denomination in Malaysia and Singapore.
In Buddhism there are two main denominations: Theravada and
Mahayana.
Most Theravada Buddhist practitioners in these two countries are
English-speaking because of Dhammananda's influence. He taught in
English.
The other main branch of Buddhism in Malaysia and Singapore is the
Mahayana school, whose devotees are mainly Chinese speaking and
whose teachers are mainly from Taiwan.
"He's such a towering figure in the Buddhist community here that
he's widely referred to as the 'Chief' by everyone regardless of
which denomination they belong to," says Charlie Chia, 51, a
veteran Buddhist teacher.
"In Malaysia, there is only one icon for Buddhism, and that's the
Chief," says Lim Kooi Fong, founder of the Buddhist Channel, a
non-denominational website. "Being that Malaysia is his adopted
home, perhaps it's significant that he died on independence
day."
Ven. Dr K Sri Dhammananda Maha Nayaka Thera
1919 - 2006
