Poson Reflections – By Mahinda Gunewardena

Poson Reflections – By Mahinda Gunewardena

Source : Dæhæna – June 2026

On a full moon day (now known as Poson full moon) in June, 247 BC, the son of Emperor Asoka of India, set foot on the island known as the pearl of the Indian Ocean, bringing the teachings of the Lord Buddha.

The son, Arahant Mahinda, meeting with King Devanampiyatissa in Mihintale, was the beginning of a long and enduring relationship between the people of the island, Sri Lanka, and the teachings of the Lord Buddha. The teachings have given rise to a Buddhist culture unique to the island and have been a beacon of hope and comfort to the majority of the island.

The Buddha’s teachings have remained true for some 2550 years as the steady light and constant guide to a realistic understanding of oneself and the world we live in. Today, increasingly, we are confused and misguided with the proliferation of synthetic ideas generated by automated algorithms. These processes attempt to influence our minds towards a particular view or cause, potentially leading us deeper into ignorance and delusion (Avijjā and Moha).

Dhammapada verse 12:
sārañca sārato ñatvā asārañca asārato te sāraṃ adhigacchanti sammāsaṃkappagocarā

Translation –
That which is real they know as real, that unreal, to be unreal; roaming fields of thought wellformed they at the real arrive.

Meaning –
Those who view the unreal as real and the real as unreal reach not up to the real, misled as they are.

It appears that the need for applied critical thinking (insight) is being diminished, and development of wisdom is clouded with easily accessible, artificially generated synthetic answers and solutions, ultimately, encroaching on our own very unique humanness. In such a world,

what do the teachings of the Buddha tell us?

Dhammapada verse 12:
sārañca sārato ñatvā asārañca asārato e sāraṃ adhigacchanti sammāsaṃkappagocarā

Translation –

That which is real they know as real, that unreal, to be unreal; roaming fields of thought wellformed they at the real arrive.

Meaning –
Those who view the unreal as real and the real as unreal reach not up to the real, misled as they are.

Dhammapada verse 11
asāre sāramatino sāre cāsāradassino te sāraṃ nādhigacchanti micchāsaṃkappagocarā

Translation –
Conceiving the real in unreality while seeing unreal the truly real, roaming fields of thought ill-formed: never they at the real arrive.

Meaning –
Viewing the real as real, the unreal as unreal, they, being correctly guided, reach the real.

As Buddhists in Australia and Sri Lanka prepare to celebrate Poson, it is perhaps an opportune time to seek answers diligently as to who we are.

Dhammapada verse 282
yogā ve jāti bhūri ayogā bhūrisaṅkhayo etaṃ dvedhā pathaṃ ñatvā bhavāya vibhavāya ca athattānaṃ niveseyya yathā bhūri pavaḍḍhati

Translation –

From endeavour wisdom springs, lacking effort wisdom wanes: having known this two-fold path either to progress or decline, so should one exhort oneself that wisdom may increase.

Meaning –
From energetic application springs wisdom. Enter upon the way for its increase.