Island Hermitage
| Island Hermitage | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Website | |
| information page | |
Island Hermitage on (Polgasduwa) Dodanduwa Island, Galle District, Sri Lanka. Polgasduwa Island Hermitage is a Forest Monastery is the famous place founded by Ven. Nyanatiloka in the 1911. Excellent English and German library. It is a secluded place to live the life of a monk, study and meditate in the Buddhist tradition. Currently Venerable Anuragoda Piyaratana Mahāthera is the chief monk in residence, while the incumbent Venerable Vajirārāma Siridhamma Mahāthera lives in Kandy.
The Island Hermitage was the first centre of Theravāda Buddhist study and practice set up by and for Westerners. Its many prominent residents, monks and laymen, have progressed from Buddhist studies and Pali translations to actual meditation practice, from merely hearing and knowing about Buddhism to actually living and experiencing the Dhamma. Thus the Island Hermitage forms an essential link with Theravāda Buddhism in the West. Today there are no Western monks, only Sri Lankans.
Location
The Hermitage is located in Ratgama Lake, a salt-water lagoon about two kilometers from the coast near Dodanduwa. It is 105 kilometers south of Sir Lanka's principal city, Colombo, and about 12 kilometers north of the provincial capital, Galle.
The hermitage consists of two islands: Polgasduwa and Metiduwa (or Meddeduwa). Characterised by rich jungle vegetation and abundant bird, animal and reptile life, and despite being infested with mosquitoes and snakes, it is a peaceable place, and far removed from the comfortless caves in rocky or desert landscapes often associated with hermit dwellings, being an island on the large Bolgoda Lake (about two-and-a-half miles across and brackish as it connects with the sea). The terrain of the island is hilly; the ground is overrun by a jungle of scrub and thorn-bushes with creepers growing over the palm-trees at the water's edge. The few paths that are cut through the island are arched with wild creepers. The kuṭis were made of brick and mortar; sanitation was primitive; life was modest; sewing their robes and dyeing them from the boiled juice of the bark of trees. An Island in a lagoon, thus quite humid - hot. Nice for studies, normally only few duties and a lot of independent practise possible. which has been established for over eighty years for males only. It is possible for sincere meditators (male only) to stay an the island to study and practice traditional Theravada meditation.
Staying
As part of maintaining the natural beauty and ecology of the Island Hermitage and the Forest Monk tradition, tourists are no longer allowed to simply drop in at the hermitage. Now, visitors need to write in advance to receive personal invitations which permit them to arrive by Island Hermitage boats for a day visit or a longer stay. What to bring: Clothes: Do not wear bright coloured or flashy clothes. For overnight stays: sheet, blanket or sleeping bag, white "upasaka" clothings: white shirt and white sarong or white trousers, torch with spare batteries, umbrella, alarm clock, passport with valid visa, mosquito repellent. If one wishes to stay, please write to the Austrian monk, Ven. Nyanasanta.
Daily routine
- 5.30 to 5.30 AM - the daily routine includes voluntary group sitting in the meditation hall
- 6.00 - breakfast
- 11.00 - main meal
- 6.30 PM - gilanpasa (a cup of tea served)
- 8.30 to 9.30 - voluntary group sitting in the meditation hall
History
Among the early Western residents were the Venerables Vappo, Mahanama, Assaji and Bhaddiya. The founder dāyaka or lay supporter was William Mendis Wijesekera. He and other lay supporters from around Dodanduwa conveyed alms food and other requisites to the hermitage by boat every morning. In 1913 a dānasāla (refectory) was constructed. It was not until 1914 that the Island Polgasduwa actually came into the legal possession of the Sangha, having been bought and donated from Ven. Nyanatiloka's Swiss supporter, Monsieur Bergier. Since that time, though interrupted by two world wars, Western as well as Sinhalese monks and laymen have lived, studied, practiced, and spread the Dhamma from the Island Hermitage. On the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German monks were first permitted to stay at the Island Hermitage under surveillance. However, after four months, they were taken into civil internment in Sri Lanka and then sent to Australia. When Ven. Nyanatiloka was finally able to return to Sri Lanka in 1926, he found his beloved Island Hermitage in utter ruin and had to rebuild it all anew. As soon as the restoration was completed and it was making rapid progress the Second World War broke out in 1939. The Ven. Nyanatiloka and his German disciples were again interned in camps first in Sri Lanka and then in India. They were allowed to return in 1946. This time the Hermitage remained in a well preserved and even improved condition and was enlarged to include the adjacent small island of Metiduwa which had been used for some time, but was now acquired and donated by Lady Evadne de Silva, a long time supporter of Ven. Nyanatiloka. Although there have not been any great scholar monks in residence in recent years, the Island Hermitage does still have one further great asset for those inclined to study: a well stocked library with a fairly full collection of Pali texts in Roman Script and English translations of the Buddhist scriptures.
Abbots
- Venerable Nyanatiloka: 1911-1957
- Venerable Nyanaloka: 1957-1976
- Venerable Anuragoda Piyaratana Mahathera: 1976-?
Well-known monks who lived there
- Venerable Mahinda (Tibetan) - a famous poet in the Sinhalese language, with his poems still included in Sinhalese school books.
- Venerable Nyanadhara (German).
- Venerable Nyanasisi.
- Venerable Nyanaponika (German) - closest disciple of Ven. Nyanatiloka, the editor of his works, and his literary heir. He established the Buddhist Publication Society in Kandy.
- Venerable Nyanasatta (Czechoslovakian) - had several publications in Esperanto as well as English to his credit.
- Venerable Venerable Soma (Sri Lankan) - known for his scholarly works, in his later years the his thoughts turned more to poetry.
- Venerable Ñāṇamoli (English) - a great scholar and translator of some of the most difficult Pali texts of Theravaada Buddhism.
- Venerable Ñaṇavīra (English) - known as the author of Notes on Dhamma and who apparently attained sotāpatti, or Stream-entry.
- Venerable Nyanavimala (German) - especially known for his walking tour (carika) throughout Sri Lankafor for 25 years.
- Venerable Nyanajivako (Serbian) - writer and philosopher.
- Venerable Bodhesako (American) – writer and editor of Ven. Ñaṇavīra's works. He established the Path Press.
.svg){kind=small}
