A man who gave me courage and inspirationPresident Jayewardene is well known for his strong support of Japan. In his address representing Ceylon at the San Francisco Peace Conference in 1951, he renounced war reparations, quoting a verse from the Dharma Sutra (Dhammapada): "hatred ceases not by hatred, but by love." It is also remembered that he attended the funeral of the Showa Emperor in 1989.
Japan's Prime Minister at the time of the San Francisco Peace Conference, Shigeru Yoshida, wrote of President Jayewardene in his memoirs, titled Memories of Ten Years, "I couldn't help but think that here was a true friend of Japan."
There is an expression "great faith is none other than the Buddha-nature; that is, the Buddha-nature which is none other than Tathagata." In fact, I have long respected President Jayewardene as a man truly possessing such "great faith" (what is called daishinjin in Japanese) in this sense of the Way of Buddha.
In the following day's edition of the same newspaper, I again came across a small headline -- Cornea of Deceased Sri Lankan President Bequeathed to Japan.
The late former president, being sympathetic towards Japan as he was, had apparently left instructions to his team of doctors in his will that after his death his cornea should be used to help Japanese visually impaired individuals. According to the article, one cornea has already been transported to Japan, whereas the other was set to be used to aid people in Sri Lanka. By the way, President Jayewardene passed away at the ripe old age of 90.
Although it is a story going back 25 years, I once traveled through Sri Lanka while I was on a pilgrimage of sacred Buddhist sites. After visiting the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in the Sri Lankan city of Kandy, I decided to take a stroll around the city at evening. At the end of a dark road, I came across a man sitting surrounded by many plates burning with votive lights. When I inquired, he told me that he was paying homage to a much beloved Sri Lankan politician who had passed away that day by offering 108 votive lights. The flickering of the lights breaking through the tropical dusk could only begin to express the man's feelings.
Perhaps it was because I was young, or that I was on a religious pilgrimage at the time, but I was so moved by the scene in front of me that burning tears streamed down both of my cheeks, with no way for me to stop them.
In Sri Lanka today, one can surely encounter people offering votive lights for the deceased former President Jayewardene. Indeed, as I have learned, the name of this country, Sri Lanka, means "resplendent land."
These selfless acts shown by President Jayewardene, just as is expressed by the Buddhist verse "the fragrance of a virtuous man goes against the wind," will undoubtedly be remembered and talked about from generation to generation, succeeding time and place.
Indeed, all that I am thinking to myself right now is that I want to be at least one person to offer votive lights in Japan for Mr. Jayewardene, a man who gave me so much courage and inspiration.
A light held up high
a man lets me walk before him
guiding me down the dark path (Poet Unknown)
(*a man＝Sakyamuni)
November 3, 1998
Koetsu Shimoyama