REMODELLING BUDDHIST BELIEF AND PRACTICE
creative, proactive engagement with Western influences. Sri Lankans were not
simply the informants of Western orientlists nor were they mere ciphers for
Western needs or mimics of Western practices. They were agents, acting albeit
Within the stifling power relationships of imperialism. And the new configuration
of Buddhism that resulted did not mean existing practices were eclipsed or
that the 'modernists' were complete$ united. Multiple witnesses to Buddhism
continued.
That Buddhist modernism was neither the sole creation of the West nor the
East ! can be illustrate{ I believe, by the judicious use of the British writers in this
study, many of whom interacted with Sri Lankan Buddhists. Their representations
of Buddhism did not arise in an empty space, drip-fed by Western orientalist
translations of the texts. They had a referent on the ground. Whether it was
Clough and Harvard spending hours with the monastic Sangha or Childers
corresponding enthusiastical with Vaskaduvd Subhuti, or Diclson watching a
Pdtimokkha recital the British were in dialogue, to use a contemporary but rather
anachronistic term. They did not always 'hear what was said to them. The 'maps'
they consequently made of Buddhism were partial, conditioned by where they
placed their attention.5 That a doctrine was not mentioned by them did not mean
that it was not present in the tradition. Nevertheless, what they wrote, if cautiously
used, provides valuable data about Sri Lankan Buddhism, data that can help chart
developments in the nineteenth century and answer the key question of this
section: when did modernist emphases start to appear and where did they come
from?
To begin my exploration I will survey how the British representation of some
key Buddhist themes developed during the century. I will then ask whether we can
learn anything from this about the presence within, or the entry into, Buddhism,
of 'modernist' or 'Protestant' emphases. Lastly, I will look at source material
written by Sri Lankans, utilized by the British, that problematizes theories that
link Buddhist modernism solely with Western needs and orientalist scholarship.