Buddhist Forest Monasteries and Meditation Centres in Sri Lanka
Buddhist Forest Monasteries and Meditation Centres in Sri Lanka
Buddhist Forest Monasteries and Meditation Centres in Sri Lanka
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Visas5In <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>, after an <strong>in</strong>tial 3 month visa, <strong>Buddhist</strong> monks get a free one year residence visa, which need only beextended annually. S<strong>in</strong>ce 2010 one needs to have an entry visa from a <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>n embassy before one enters thecountry if one wants to later apply for a residence visa. The website of the <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong> immigration states: “To obta<strong>in</strong>a Residence Visa, it is necessary to arrive <strong>in</strong> <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong> on an Entry Visa issued by a <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>n Mission abroad withthe concurrence of the Controller General of Immigration <strong>and</strong> Emigration. The fact that you wish to apply for <strong>Sri</strong><strong>Lanka</strong>n Residence Visa has to be mentioned when obta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the entry visa <strong>and</strong> necessary support<strong>in</strong>g documents hasto be submitted.” 1 The support<strong>in</strong>g documents one will need to obta<strong>in</strong> from the abbot of the monastery where one<strong>in</strong>tends to stay. One can enter the country on a one month tourist visa, which needs to be paid for onl<strong>in</strong>e (US$15) or<strong>in</strong> cash on entry <strong>in</strong>to the country ($20). 2 This tourist visa can be extended two times for a further two months, butthen one will have to leave the country to apply for a religious residence visa from a <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>n embassy abroad(not necessarily one's home country). There are no exemptions to this.In order to apply for a residence visa, one needs to get a sponsorship letter from the senior monk of themonastery where one stays or with which one is connected, then one needs to go with this letter <strong>and</strong> the so-called“application form to obta<strong>in</strong> a letter of recommendation to extend the residence visa” (available at monasteries<strong>and</strong>/or the M<strong>in</strong>istry of Buddha Sasana <strong>and</strong> Religious Affairs <strong>in</strong> Colombo) to the monk who is the secretary of thedistrict (lekhakādhikāri h<strong>and</strong>uruwo). If one applies for the first time for a residence visa, then please check whetheranother form is required from the M<strong>in</strong>istry of Buddha Sasana rather than the one to extend an exist<strong>in</strong>g visa,otherwise one might be turned away at the M<strong>in</strong>istry of Buddha Sasana. One then needs to get the application formsigned by him <strong>and</strong> stamped with his official seal. (It is best to telephone the secretary monk beforeh<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> makean appo<strong>in</strong>tment. For example, the secretary monk <strong>in</strong> K<strong>and</strong>y is only available certa<strong>in</strong> days of the week.) Then thisform needs to be signed <strong>and</strong> stamped by the secretary of the Prov<strong>in</strong>cial Council (Kacceri). (Note that if one still has apassport photo as a laymen <strong>in</strong> one’s passport that a passport photo as a monk will need to be attached to thisapplication. It will also need to be stamped <strong>and</strong> signed by the district monk <strong>and</strong> prov<strong>in</strong>cial council secretary.) Themonastery where one stays will usually help with this. When this prelim<strong>in</strong>ary paper work has been done, one cango to the M<strong>in</strong>istry of Buddha Sasana <strong>and</strong> Religious Affairs at 135 Dharmapala Mawatha (opposite Vihara Maha DeviPark) <strong>in</strong> Colombo 7. 3 (note this is no longer opposite the <strong>Lanka</strong> Vipassanā Centre) <strong>and</strong> get a recommendation letterto take to the Department of Immigration. (Don’t forget to ask for an extra application form for next year.) For thefirst time application for a residence visa, one needs to br<strong>in</strong>g along two or three passport photos. (They can beobta<strong>in</strong>ed from a shop at the Dept. of Immigration itself.) The Department of Immigration is now <strong>in</strong> Maradāna,with<strong>in</strong> walk<strong>in</strong>g distance from the M<strong>in</strong>istry of <strong>Buddhist</strong> 5 Affairs. (No. 41 An<strong>and</strong>a Rajakaruna Mawatha, PunchiBorella, Colombo 10. Tel. 011–532–9300.) However, there are plans <strong>in</strong> the near future to move this Department toBattaramulla, which is an outer suburb about a 45 m<strong>in</strong>ute/ 1 hour bus ride from central Colombo. At the M<strong>in</strong>istry ofBuddha Sasana <strong>and</strong> Religious Affairs one generally has to wait less than one hour. At the Immigration Departmentusually one <strong>and</strong> a half hours, perhaps more. The Immigration Department might ask one to come back <strong>in</strong> a few days.If you live <strong>in</strong> a forest monastery some distance from Colombo one can ask if it is possible to get the visa the sameday (usually it takes about 2 hours). One can go to the M<strong>in</strong>istry of Buddha Sasana <strong>and</strong> Religious Affairs <strong>in</strong> themorn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> go the Immigration <strong>in</strong> the afternoon.ConclusionThere are many monasteries listed <strong>in</strong> this guide, but when one has seen a couple of monasteries connected todifferent traditions, <strong>in</strong> a different areas of the country, then one has an idea of what all of them will roughly be like.There is no perfect place <strong>in</strong> saṃsāra <strong>and</strong> as long as one is not liberated from mental defilements one will sooner orlater start to f<strong>in</strong>d fault with a monastery which at first appeared to be great. There is no monastery which isperfectly quiet <strong>and</strong> where the monks are all arahants. So, this guide is not <strong>in</strong>tended as a guide to f<strong>in</strong>d the perfectplace, as a bible for restless monks. There was one user of this guide who went to many of the forest monasteries <strong>in</strong>this guide but still could not f<strong>in</strong>d the perfect conditions he was seek<strong>in</strong>g. So rather than try<strong>in</strong>g to f<strong>in</strong>d the perfectexternal place, which does not exist, it is more realistic to be content with an imperfect place <strong>and</strong> learn to deal withthe defilements that come up <strong>in</strong> one’s m<strong>in</strong>d. Nevertheless, there are particular conditions such as climate <strong>and</strong> foodwhich affect each person differently <strong>and</strong> this guide can be used to f<strong>in</strong>d a place which matches one’s physicalconstitution <strong>and</strong> temperament. It can also be used when travell<strong>in</strong>g or go<strong>in</strong>g on cārikā, a walk<strong>in</strong>g journey, so that onecan walk from forest monastery to forest monastery or stay <strong>in</strong> other places with a reasonable v<strong>in</strong>aya practice.1http://www.immigration.gov.lk/web/<strong>in</strong>dex.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=153&Itemid=198&lang=en2ww.eta.gov.lk/slvisa/visa<strong>in</strong>fo/fees.jsp3Tel. 0111-340-7401/ 011-230-7402. Fax: 011-230-7409.