Bhante Vimalaramsi awarded Sasana Tilaka

[mirco]

Most Venerable 'Bhante' Vimalaramsi Mahathera was bestowed the title ‘Sasana Tilaka’, the clear teacher of the three signs.

For the strong leadership, for spreading spiritualism, for contribution to the wellfare of Buddhist religion and for your many accomplishments and principled actions, on behalf of our nation the Supreme Sangha Council of Bangladesh is proud to confer you Sasana Tilaka.

Given at the Visaka Puja Celebration Committee held on May 17, 2011, 2555 BE.

:-)

[Viscid]

Any previous recipients of the 'Sasana Tilaka' title are seemingly ungooglable, which makes its prestige dubious.

[daverupa]

I found some photos here, which should be viewable even without a Facebook account. The album has the following text: "Venerable Dharmeswar has come from Bengladesh and has stopped in Missouri to present Bhante Vimalaramsi with the title "Sasana Tilaka"." The document can be read there, though with some difficulty given the resolution.

[mirco]

*

[mirco]

Any previous recipients of the 'Sasana Tilaka' title are seemingly ungooglable, which makes its prestige dubious.

There are more things in heaven and earth, than G00gle knows. :-).

[Viscid]

Yes, that's a very pretty piece of paper.. but what does being a 'Sasana Tilaka' mean, exactly? Who else is or was a 'Sasana Tilka?' Why was it given to Vimalaramsi particularly, on the other side of the planet, and not some other teacher? What sort of relationship does he have with the Supreme Sangha Council of Bangladesh? What authority does the 'Supreme Sangha Council of Bangladesh' have?

Knowing these sort of things defines the relevance of receiving such a title.

[mirco]

Yes, that's a very pretty piece of paper.. but what does being a 'Sasana Tilaka' mean, exactly? Who else is or was a 'Sasana Tilka' historically? Why was it given to him and not others?

Yes, I'd like to know that, too.

Maybe you can ask His Holiness Dharmasen Mahathero, the Sangharaj of Bangladesh.
e-mail: hhhdharmasenmahathero@yahoo.com

What relationship does he have with the Supreme Sangha Council of Bangladesh?

Zoom in and have a look :-)

[Viscid]

From the certificate:

We can get clear idea [sic] about Bhante Vimalaramsi if we quote the comment of Kathleen Anderson, PhD, a member of the Seattle Buddhist Community. "This is really a special and joyous time for all of us. Venerable Vimalaramsi is a most gifted and dynamic meditation teacher and a beautiful and loving human being. We are prepared to host many additional friends and visitors beacuse he will reach far beyond our traditional community, especially when it gets out that in his new position he is basically the Head of Buddhism in our country now."

Yup.

[cooran]

Hello all,

Some interesting facts about Bangladesh:

Bangladesh Country Profile:
Religion based Population : Muslim (89.7%), Hindu (9.2%), Buddhist (0.7%), Christian (0.3%), Animist and believers in tribal faiths (0.1%

More at:
http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/bd_pro.htm

with metta
Chris

[Cittasanto]

From the certificate:

We can get clear idea [sic] about Bhante Vimalaramsi if we quote the comment of Kathleen Anderson, PhD, a member of the Seattle Buddhist Community. "This is really a special and joyous time for all of us. Venerable Vimalaramsi is a most gifted and dynamic meditation teacher and a beautiful and loving human being. We are prepared to host many additional friends and visitors beacuse he will reach far beyond our traditional community, especially when it gets out that in his new position he is basically the Head of Buddhism in our country now."

Yup.

head of buddhism in America?

good luck with that BV.

[Ytrog]

Whoever this title comes from or how much prestige it carries doesn't really matter in my opinion. It is a token of respect and a very nice thing to give.
Titles are also a good thing to let go of as well :)

[Virgo]

Not to sound overly critical but for a document meant to represent the "Supreme Sangha Council of Bangladesh" (sounds important) and which in a way represents the Three Jewels in general, and which happens to be written in English, and is also meant to be presented to a native English-speaker, shouldn't the English on the document be... better?

Kevin

[bodom]

Lots of well known monks hold titles such as the above. For instance...

In 1996, Bhante G received the title of Chief Sangha Nayaka Thera for North America. This acknowledged his status as highest-ranking monk of his sect in the United States and Canada.

http://www.bhavanasociety.org/teacher/b ... gunaratana

[Viscid]

Not to sound overly critical but for a document meant to represent the "Supreme Sangha Council of Bangladesh" (sounds important) and which in a way represents the Three Jewels in general, and which happens to be written in English, and is also meant to be presented to a native English-speaker, shouldn't the English on the document be... better?

Kevin

A lot of the text on the document is actually just plagarized from a press release that the Venerable's own community put out in 2006: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/12/prweb493822.htm

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

Well they didn't impeach him... I suppose that's good.



Metta,
Retro.

[mirco]

Whoever this title comes from or how much prestige it carries doesn't really matter in my opinion.
It is a token of respect and a very nice thing to give.

This ios how I see it.

Titles are also a good thing to let go of as well :)

Well, that is, what he practises. He never talks about his titles, although he also holds 'High Holiness' and 'Sayadaw Gyi'.

He wants everyone around him to call him 'Bhante' only.

It's just that people like me for instance, can't let go of that stuff an somehow need to mention it from time to time.

:-)

[mirco]

head of buddhism in America? good luck with that BV.

How could someone be that?

But he is the "first USA Representative for the World Buddhist Supreme Summit Council which meets every two years. Upon approval he was inaugurated into this lifetime position on November 1, 2008 in the New Royal Grand Hall of Buddhism in Japan. The Summit represents 32 countries where Buddhism is taught through the three main schools of buddhism. The summit was originally formed in 1998 when H.H. the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Ven. Dr. Enshinjoh of Japan, and the H.H. Sangha Raja of Thailand came together with this idea. The summit seeks to re-examine the fundamental teachings and practice of the Buddha in order to help the three schools of Buddhism to recognize their commonalities in this 21st Century."


May there be many holesome summits :-)

[Brizzy]

Where is all the above anger coming from?
A Buddhist monk receives an obscure award and people become upset.
I could understand people becoming a little bit ratty regarding dubious winners of grander prizes like the Nobel peace prize (Obama?, Arafat?), but to get such strong reactions about this is strange. If people have problems with Bhante V, then I am sure that there are other threads in which one can take issue with him. Methinks some people have an agenda.
As far as the award goes, good for Bhante V. One thing that is indisputable is that over the last decade Bhante V has generated debate and been the catalyst for some people to re-evaluate, re-read and reconsider the suttas/vinaya as the only Buddhavacana. Hopefully those people that reject anything he says outright have at least inquired into the suttas.

Metta

[Viscid]

Where is all the above anger coming from?

Well the OP presented it like it's some big deal. Bhante V holds 'controversial' views and a title which bestows him with authority deserves some scrutiny.

The title looks like a genuine gesture of gratitude from the Bangladeshi-American community for the dhamma and retreats Bhante V has hosted. Nothing wrong with that at all, good for him.

[tiltbillings]

Hopefully those people that reject anything he says outright have at least inquired into the suttas.

Hmmm. Any number of reasons not to be thrilled by Vimalaramsi, but one should not assume that those who might not find Vimalaramsi to be the cat's pajamas are not well versed in the suttas and one should not assume that Vimalaramsi had anything to do with that.