SRI LANKA REVISITED
Part 4
My flight time is slowly approaching. Akitha found me an apartment for a two-week stay, and he returns to the rented room after the first period of mourning.
Subsequent conversations with Akitha bring information that his family is jointly considering taking out a bank loan (amount to be announced in a moment) for the most important posthumous ceremony - giving alms three months after death. This ceremony will take place on April 18, 2024.
Seven monks and approximately 500 mourners are expected to attend. In addition to meals, the monks will receive gifts for themselves and the temple, and other participants will receive refreshments and takeaway food packages.
All this is to ensure that the deceased's soul leaves the earthly realm peacefully, and that the immediate family returns to normal life undisturbed.
The bank loan would amount to 400,000 Sri Lankan rupees, or almost USD 1,300, or over PLN 5,000. The bank estimates how much land would need to be collateralized to obtain this loan.
So, the pain of losing his father and planning the "three-month anniversary" occupy Akitha's mind in such a way that he cannot talk about anything else.
"Almsgiving" for a Buddhist is an undeniable necessity, and there is no reason to discuss the consequences of such an action in the family in question here.
Akitha does not know our plans for possible support for the construction of a bungalow, so the conversations before my departure concern the practicalities of my stay in Sri Lanka and his ideas for obtaining a bank loan (e.g. for 15 years) and organizing the almsgiving ceremony, which is very important for the whole family.
Is it possible to comment on actions (even irrational ones in Western culture) that are of great importance to the followers of Buddhism?
Despite my internal protest, anticipating the consequences of fulfilling the duties related to the death of the loved ones, I must respect this attitude.
