Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Siam & Southeast Asia
เปิดตำนานสยามกู้พุทธ! ศรีลังกาวิกฤต 400 ปีอาณานิคมโหดร้าย เกือบสิ้นศาสนา
Summary
Sri Lanka was once a great Buddhist civilisation, then spent over four hundred years under Western colonial rule that nearly ended the religion there.
Colonial policy destroyed temples, killed monks and compelled conversion, leaving the island without an ordination lineage for three hundred years.
King Kīrti Sri Rājasiṃha asked Siam for help. Thai monks made the journey, and the Siyam Nikāya was founded — still the largest order in Sri Lanka.
Key points
An ordination lineage can genuinely be broken
Ordination requires a quorum of monks. With none left, a tradition cannot restart itself.
Three hundred years is longer than it sounds
Long enough for the practical knowledge to go, not merely the ceremony.
Siam could give because it had not been colonised
The capacity to help was a direct consequence of having kept its independence.
The order’s name still records the event
Siyam Nikāya announces its own origin, and it is still in use.