Community Profile: Georgia's sri lanka community
By Liane Tsai
Families and students from the island known as “India’s teardrop” are attracted to Georgia because of its warm climate and southern hospitality. “There are about 100 Sri Lankan families all over Georgia,” commented Dr. Ananda Pathiraja, a psychiatrist from Augusta. “The main reason why people come to Georgia is to get a higher education. Some people who came early on were doctors who like the South. In the summer, it is hot and is more like Sri Lankan weather; people like to be in a place where it is more like Sri Lanka.”
Bhante Wajirabuddhi, the Abbot of the Georgia Buddhist Vihara Temple in Lithonia, came to Atlanta specifically to open a temple. “I wanted to serve the community,” he explained. He went to Los Angeles when he first arrived in the United States “and found so many temples, communities and organizations. I looked for where there was no community and there was no temple and I came to Atlanta.”
Established in June 2000, the Georgia Buddhist Vihara is dedicated to
the promotion of the Theravada Buddhist teachings through the practice
of meditation, study of Buddhist scriptures, dhamma school for children,
and regular religious ceremonies.
“Before the temple, we could not impart to the children the Buddhist concepts we learned at home and also we were not able to impart to them the cultural values we brought here,” commented Dr. Amare Amarasinghe, a psychiatrist who provides psychiatric consultation to the Metro State Prison.
Bhante Wajirabuddhi explained that the Sri Lanka culture and values are all related to the Buddhist teachings. “The parents love their children and children respect their parents,” he commented. “That is the most important value we have. Other cultures do have this value, but our Sri Lankan community respects that value more than any other.”
Hospitality is another Sri Lankan value. “If someone comes to your home, they are welcomed and offered food and whatever they want,” Bhante Wajirabuddhi said. “If a new student comes to Georgia to take a course, when they land in Atlanta, if they don’t have any friends, they come to the temple and stay here for a few days and find their feet,” Amarasinghe added. “That kind of hospitality is a given; we don’t charge or anything like that.”
The extended family is also very important. Pathiraja commented that “Sri Lankans basically go for family unity. Respect and taking care of your elders is a very big thing. If you are the oldest or the person who has made it, you try to help people who are not privileged or are younger. You have a duty to help those who may not be as fortunate.”
According to Pathiraja, the first Sri Lankans who arrived in Georgia were professionals like doctors and educators while the people who came recently are mainly students. Other Sri Lankans are in real estate, buy or sell jewelry, own companies that provide environmentally friendly erosion and sediment control and gardening products made from coir, or import Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka.
Priests from the temple will go to housewarmings and visit hospitals when people are ill. When new businesses are started or someone moves into a new house, a priest may be invited and given alms. The priest will perform some chanting and wish luck to the new house or business. Buddhist priests are also invited to peoples’ homes to remember deceased relatives or people close to the families; alms are offered and the priest will talk about the impermanence of life.
“In Buddhist doctrine, life does not end with this life, it goes on with birth and rebirth. Life and rebirth - it’s a continuous cycle. We call it dukkha or suffering,” explained Amarasinghe. “Our goal is to end suffering by following the noble eightfold path. In the process, if the deceased person has not acquired enough merit in their lives, we can do good things and transfer merit to the deceased people to cut short the birth and rebirth cycle. Priests are people who have given up their worldly things; we venerate them for that. To sustain their lives, we give them food and by doing so, we acquire some merit for ourselves.”
The two major holidays observed by Sri Lankans are Vesak and the Sinhalese New Year. Vesak celebrates Buddhist’s birth, his enlightenment and his passing away. Amarasinghe explained that the three events of Buddha – the day he was born, the day he attained his Buddhahood, and the day he passed away – all happened on a full moon day in the month of May. To commemorate these three events, there may be talks about Buddha for the children, stories may be told about the day he attained his Buddhahood and his passing away, and lanterns are made and then suspended on trees surrounding the temple.
The Sinhalese New Year falls in April. Children participate in traditional Sri Lankan sports and games such as tug of war, cricket, balancing lima beans on spoons, kana muttiya bidima (which is similar to hitting a piñata with a pole), and a bun eating contest.
Since the tsunami, the Sri Lankan community has been involved in fundraising to help the victims. Eardley and Valerie Panditaratne considers themselves “one of the pioneer families in Atlanta” are active in the fundraising. The church Valerie attends, St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Smyrna, collected 400 pounds of medical supplies which were sent to Sri Lanka. An additional 800 pounds of medical supplies have since been collected and will be sent to Galle Hospital for the maternity ward.
Raksha, a non-profit organization which provides services to the South Asian community held a fund raiser for the tsunami victims. Eardley personally carried the money to Sri Lanka and spent two weeks visiting the affected areas. The money Raksha sent will be used to build houses for the fishermen. “The people who were affected were the poorest among the poor,” Eardley stated. “The poor people in Sri Lanka dwell in huts by the sea coast by the beach. It’s convenient for them to go fishing and keep their boats there. Their houses were completely demolished and many lost their lives.”
Bhante Wajirabuddhi said that the temple and the Sri Lankans community came together to raise funds and send containers to Sri Lanka. Jaliya Wickramasuriya, a tea importer and nephew of the Sri Lankan prime minister, carried medicine, tents, towels, sheets, powdered milk, tin food, medical items and shoes and personally handed out these items in the affected areas. He started at the western province and went into the deep south, visiting five camps in the coastal area. “After coming back, we realized what they need is housing. The Buddhist temple started a fund raising,” he commented. “Everyone in the Sri Lankan community including Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and other communities and are helping with the fundraising and trying to build some houses in the affected areas.”
Since the community is very small, there are no Sri Lankan restaurants or grocery stores. The Wickramasuriyas shop at Indian stores which carry Sri Lankan groceries such as tinned goods and bottled foods. They frequent the DeKalb International Farmers market where they can purchase coconut milk, tapioca, jack fruit, and del fruit and other produce similar to Sri Lankan vegetables and fruits that are not available in regular grocery stores.
Bhante Wajirabuddhi, like other monks, stays away from all attachments such as marriage and worldly possessions. He devotes his life to Buddhism and practicing Buddha’s path. “I am very happy with what I am now, serving the community and practicing Buddha’s path. It’s a very peaceful life.” His wish for the community is that “we all live together peacefully and happily and help and look after each other.” The Panitaratne family echoes the Bhante’s sentiments; their vision is “for us all to get together like one community and for everyone to live in peace and harmony.”
Place of Worship
http://www.gbvihara.org/ Georgia Buddhist Vihara
1683 South Deshon Road
Lithonia GA 30058
Tel. (770) 482 9913
ga@gbvihara.org - email
Sri Lankan News
Sri Lanka Express
12922 Osborne St.
Arleta, CA 91331
818-897-7035
srilanka.express@verizon.net
www.infolanka.com – Gateway to Sri Lanka
www.lakbima.com – Global link to Sri Lanka
http://www.srilankannews.net/ - Sri Lankan news
http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/index.jsp collection of headline news
from various Sri Lankan newspapers
http://info.lk/slnews/ Sri Lanka News Web
http://www.lacnet.org/slnews/ A comprehensive list of Sri Lankan news-related
web sites
http://www.lanka.net/ Sri Lanka web servers with links to online newspapers
Sri Lankan Embassy
http://www.slembassyusa.org/ - Sri Lankan Embassy website
Dhammika.Semasinghe@slembassyusa.org - Sri Lankan Embassy Tsunami related
assistance
Additional Contact
Kevin Grady, Honorary Consul General of Sri Lanka to Atlanta
404-881-7164
grady@alston.com
Miscellaneous
http://www.raksha.org/ direct services include crisis intervention, information
and referrals, interpretation and translation, legal and general advocacy,
individual and family counseling with children and adults encompassing
a variety of issues facing the South Asian community
http://www.chandrage.com/ - Sri Lankan recipes and guide to Sri Lankan restaurants in the US