He is a model of religious harmony

November 30, 2016 By Majorie Chiew The Star

'My travel schedule is booked one year ahead. I travel 300 out of 360 days a year,' says Bhante Sujatha. 
Photo: The Star/Majorie Chiew

When a Buddhist monk took over a former church in Chicago in the United States, he made minimal changes. He was respectful of the building’s heritage.

“It’s the only temple in the world which has a statute of Buddha and two images of Jesus and Mother Mary. We practise loving-kindness, compassion and mindfulness under one roof,” says Bhante Sujatha, 49. A monk for over 30 years, he is also known as “the loving-kindness monk” in the United States.

Inside the temple stands a 3m-tall statue of Buddha, and two 4.2m-high stained glass windows with an image of Jesus and Mother Mary.

Sujatha, a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, is abbot of Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple in Woodstock, Chicago.

Nine years after using the church to teach meditation, the church authorities offered to sell the premises to him. His students donated money to buy over the building.

Town folks were worried about the future of the 150-year-old church. But Sujatha assured them that the building would be kept intact. The stained glass windows with an image of Jesus and Mother Mary were preserved.

“A Christian woman donated a big sum of money to restore the stained glass windows,” says Sujatha, during a recent visit.

Inside the Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple in Woodstock, Chicago, stands a 3m-tall 
statue of Buddha, and two 4.2m-high stained glass windows with an image of 
Jesus and Mother Mary. Photos: Handout

The Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple in Illinois is housed in a 150 year-old building that was once a church.

Sujatha says if we look at history, religion was the cause of many wars.

“We can live without arguing and fighting if we accept our differences and respect each other’s beliefs,” concedes Sujatha.

His temple is open daily in the morning and afternoon. On Sundays, it is open in the afternoon. This is out of respect for his American students (who practise meditation) who go to church on Sundays.

Occasionally, Sujatha goes to different churches when invited to give talks on loving-kindness.

“I don’t teach ism (he means, religion) to anybody. I teach Buddha’s message. I’m a ‘breathe-ist’ monk. I practise ‘b’reathe-ism’ (he teaches meditation),” says Sujatha. He has taught meditation for nine years and conducts two classes weekly.

He adds: “I’m not saying my way is the right way or my way is the high way. Maybe my way is not the right way!”

Fulfilling his calling
Sujatha was born in Kandy, Sri Lanka. At the age of 10, he told his parents that he wanted to be a monk. Initially, they were against it as he was their only son.

“They expect me to stay home, marry and take care of them until they die,” he says.

Gradually, they gave in to his wish.

At 11, he became a monk and enrolled at Sri Subodharama Buddhist Centre, a monk training school in Kandy.

“There were 120 monks aged between seven and 20. I did not miss my childhood. I played, I ran, I climbed trees. My teacher allowed me to be a child,” he says.

At 13, he served as a teacher at Subodharama for two years.

In 1993, he left Sri Lanka for Australia and taught meditation and Buddhism at Sri Lanka Buddhist Monastery in Brisbane. After four and a half years of working with ethnic Sri Lankan Buddhists, his former teacher, Venerable Mudtha Thero, asked Sujatha to join him in the United States.

After relocating to the Midwest in 1997, Sujatha helped set up the Great Lakes Buddhist Vihara in Southfield, Michigan. He was abbot for five years at this temple.

”It was a good place and I was comfortable,” he says. But he decided to leave as he did not see any self-development.

“My heart kept telling me that this was not enough. I came to the US to spread the dharma (Buddhist teachings) but I was only serving a small community,” he says.

A local helped him to write an e-mail which he sent to 50 churches around the country. Two and a half weeks later, he got e-mails from two churches which wanted to accept him.

One of his teachers coaxed him to stay. But Sujatha had made up his mind. “I told him that without risks, we cannot achieve anything in life.”

Sujatha packed up and drove for six hours to the nearest church. The priest welcomed him and told him that this was the first time he had seen a Buddhist monk.

Sujatha found a family that he could stay with. The kind couple had two children – a girl aged three, and a boy aged five.

“They became my family and the children, my first English teachers,” recalls Sujatha.

“Those were the best times of my life. I learnt about family life. I became a babysitter. I cleaned the house and cooked.”

Sujatha loves the kids who have since grown up. “One is in college and the other is about to graduate.”

Sujatha at an event where wheelchairs were given to the needy. The US-based 
Sri Lankan monk is also into humanitarian work.

Thanks to them, Sujatha now speaks impeccable English. Two years ago, one of his students, Mary Gustafson, wrote his biography, My Wish. She interviewed his parents in Sri Lanka and his students to find out what they had learnt.

He says: “I am amazed at how much my students from around the world remember what I had taught them.”

Lately, Sujatha has plans to dabble in writing.

He shares: “I plan to write a book for daily reading. I hope to complete it by this year or next year. Two of my students are working on their books on my teachings.”

A google search (www.bhantesujatha.org) reveals that Sujatha’s students have set up a blog – Morning Coffee Wisdom With Bhante Sujatha – for him to share his daily thoughts.

Life has been hectic.
Sujatha travels the world and gives talks in temples, colleges and universities. He leads retreats, and teaches about love and peace. Sujatha is also into humanitarian work.

In 2013, he was awarded the highest honour within his lineage and named the Chief Sangha Nayaka of North America in recognition of his work in spreading Buddhism across America.

“My travel schedule is booked one year ahead. I travel 300 out of 360 days a year, leaving the running of my temple to other monks and nuns,” he says.

But the tireless Sujatha prefers not to be stucked with the label “Buddhist monk”.

“I prefer to be a free spirit!” he says.