March 9, 2017; Pictures of dhātu added June 10, 2017; Revised September 7, 2017; February 6, 2018; desanā on jhāna/magga phala added April 28, 2018; revised #4, #5 on July 18, 2020; new #7 on December 12, 2020; February 16, 2021; latest update on September 6, 2021; latest update on December 18, 2022 (#5); July 6, 2023 (#9)
1. It is with great sadness that I report the Parinibbāna of my Noble teacher, Waharaka Abhyaratanalankara Thero a month ago, on February 9, 2017.
▪Even though he had not confirmed attaining Arahanthood, several years before passing away, he declared that he would not be reborn again. That means he would at least reach the Antara Parinibbāna state; see the video below.
▪The Antara Parinibbāna state is reached when someone dies with three saṁyojana of kāma rāga, rūpa rāga, and arūpa rāga removed. (But without the removal of māna, uddhacca, and avijjā saṁyojana. Then one cannot grasp a new bhava in any of the 31 realms).
▪The gandhabba would still survive the death of the body and come out and stay alive until the kammic energy for the human bhava is exhausted. Since a new bhava cannot be grasped, anupadisesa Nibbāna will occur. That is explained at the discussion forum “Antara Parinibbāna” and in the post, “Gandhabba State – Evidence from Tipiṭaka.”
▪From the accounts below, it appears that he did attain Parinibbāna (i.e., bypassed the Antara Parinibbāna state) at the dying moment.
2. When the news came out first, it was unclear whether the Thero had passed away or whether he was in Nirodha Samāpatti. Breathing stops while one is in Nirodha Samāpatti, but the body does not get cold. The body was warm for six days but started to get cold. Therefore, his death was not declared for six days.
▪Even though I made trips to Sri Lanka in 2014 and 2015, I did not get an opportunity to meet him because he was not well.
3. He was the first person to extract the true meanings of many critical Pāli words in the Tipiṭaka in recent times— after hundreds of years.
▪His Paṭisambhidhā Ñāṇa (the knowledge to extract the meanings of words) was at the same level as many renowned Arahants at the time of the Buddha.
4. As I discussed in the post, “Four Conditions for Attaining Sotāpanna Magga/Phala,” one has to learn the correct Dhamma from a Buddha or a true disciple of the Buddha. He was able to bridge a gap that will hopefully last until the end of the Buddha Sāsana (Ministry) of Buddha Gotama, i.e., for 2400 years from now for a total of 5000 years.
▪I am grateful to his followers in Sri Lanka (Ven. Attidiye Sudheethadheera and others) who made recordings of thousands of hours of his desanās over the years. They have organized those recordings here: “WebLink: waharaka.com: Waharaka Sadaham Desana” (updated September 11, 2017).
▪Unfortunately, those are available only in the Sinhala language. I will try to convey these teachings in English on this website.
▪I was able to meet Ven. Walasmulle Abhaya and Ven. Attidiye Sudheethadheera (both laypeople then) on a trip to Sri Lanka in early 2014 and 2015. They provided me with many desanā recordings before they became available online. I am also grateful to Dr. Neranga Abeysinghe, with whom I had many discussions. He also updated me on recent events of Waharaka Thero’s last days.
▪Ven. Walasmulle Abhaya conducts regular desanās and meditation sessions. Recordings of those at: “WebLink: Nirapekshathwayemaga.”
▪September 7, 2017: I came to know about Ven. Rathupasketiye Vimukthirathana in Sri Lanka. His desanas (in Sinhala) at: “WebLink: youtube: Ariya Asankathaya.”
▪August 15, 2019: I have forgotten to add a link to a good set of English desanas: “WebLink: youtube: Dharmayai Obai Sermons – English (From 2017-07-30).” I have not met this Venerable, but these desanas are based on Waharaka interpretations.
▪July 18, 2020: Cultivating jhāna is an excellent way to make progress on the Path. However, initially, those jhānā are anāriya in nature. As one makes progress, they will be converted to Ariya jhāna. Some people may falsely beileve that getting into jhāna necessarily means magga phala. Furthermore, even the first Ariya jhāna requires the REMOVAL of kāma rāga. See, “Samādhi, Jhāna (Dhyāna), Magga Phala.”
5. April 28, 2018: Here is a desanā by Waharaka Thero where he presents clear evidence that jhāna is not necessary to attain magga phala (it is in the Sinhala language; listen to it around the 3-minute mark):
WebLink: Download “Are Jhāna Required for Magga-Phala (ධ්යාන සහ සමාධි (ක්ෂණික, අර්පණා, උපචාර))”
▪However, cultivating jhāna is an excellent way to progress on the Path, even after (or especially after) getting to the Sotāpanna stage.
▪The main point Thero makes is that we know that there are jāti Sotāpannas born in the human realm. But if a jhāna were REQUIRED to attain the Sotāpanna stage, then that person WOULD NOT be born in the human realm, but in a Brahma realm corresponding to that jhāna.
▪Furthermore, listening to the correct Buddha Dhamma or attaining jhāna does not make one a Sotāpanna. Devadatta listened to many discourses from the Buddha but could not attain the Sotāpanna stage of Nibbāna.
▪The critical point is that without comprehending Tilakkhaṇa, just being able to get to jhāna is of no use. But one can use jhāna effectively to comprehend Tilakkhaṇa. The best way to verify that one has attained Ariya jhāna is to check whether one has lost any desire for all sensory pleasures (including sex.)
6. Last but not least, I must also express my gratitude to Ven. Meevanapalane Dhammalankara, who had been in close association with the Waharaka Thero. I first came across these correct interpretations when I came across one of his desanās on the internet on July 30, 2013.
▪Ven. Meevanapalane Dhammalankara’s desanās at “WebLink: Sirisaddharmaya”
7. December 12, 2020: I listened to a series of desanas from Susila Thero over the past few weeks. He is in Sri Lanka, and these discourses are in Sinhala. These are excellent and provide deep insights.
▪Those who understand the Sinhala language can follow these discourses at “Lowthuru Arana ලොව්තුරු අරණ“
▪I will, of course, incorporate those new insights in my posts.
▪December 15, 2020: The contents in the above long discourses have been separated into topics at the following website (also in Sinhala.) I am not sure how well that is done. “දහම් ආලෝකය-Dham Alokaya“
8. September 6, 2021: I listened to a series of desanas by a 16-year old Sri Lankan over the past few months. He recently became a bhikkhu by the name of Ven. Botale Siri Ariya Vimutti.
▪It is apparent to me that to teach Buddha Dhamma with such insight at such a young age, he is likely to be a Jāti Sotāpanna.
▪Those who understand the Sinhala language can Google “Ven. Botale Siri Ariya Vimutti” to find his discourses or follow these discourses at:
9. July 6, 2023: Recently, I came across the following set of discourses in the Sinhala language: “WebLink: youtube: Nibbida නිබ්බිදා“
▪These discourses go to deep levels of Buddha Dhamma, and I am highly impressed.
10. June 6, 2017: I received some pictures of “dhātu” collected after the cremation of Waharaka Thero’s body. Some of an Arahant’s bones become crystallized. These are called “dhātu,” and they cannot be destroyed by fire or anything else. I selected the following two pictures out of many sent by Ven. Attidiye Sudheethadheera and Dr. Neranga Abeysinghe.
11. By the way, here is a historical picture of the “Tooth relic” of the Buddha kept at the “Daladā Maligāwa” in Kandy, Sri Lanka:
▪Such Dhātu of the Buddha or an Arahant are considered to be indestructible up to the end of the current “Buddha Sāsana,” which will last roughly another 2500 years.
12. Here are two youtube videos of the funeral of the most venerable Thero (the speech by Mr. Chandana Siriwardhana — where he stated the possibility of Antarā Parinibbāna of the Thero — is in Sinhala language):
Weblink: youtube: FULL VIDEO : Last rites of Waharaka himi waharaka abayarathanalankara himi