Germany celebrated her national day on October 3. The German Embassy marked the occasion with a reception recalling the names of pioneering spirits who had contributed towards strengthening the links between Sri Lanka and Germany, at a leading hotel in Colombo on October 7.

The Berlin Buddhist Vihâra (called "Das Buddhistisches Haus" in German) is now the most striking symbol of interaction between the German and Sri Lankan cultures and a source of pride and inspiration for people of both countries. It is the key centre in the dissemination, learning and practice of Theravâda Buddhism in Germany and other continental European countries.

Of the many and varied figures who have left their indelible mark in making Das Buddhistische Haus in Berlin – Frohnau, the beacon for the propagation of Theravada Buddhism in Germany during the last eighty four years, two outstanding figures rise high above the rest.

They are Dr. Paul Dahlke, founder of Das Buddhistische Haus and one of the ‘most efficient and able pens’ for the Buddhist cause in Europe, and Asoka Weeraratna, founder of the German Dharmaduta Society and indefatigable Buddhist missionary who pioneered the establishment of the first Buddhist Vihara in continental Europe and the entry of the Venerable members of the Maha Sangha to propagate Buddhism in Germany and other European countries on a continuing footing. Both these figures further contributed in their own distinctive ways in opening new vistas for the strengthening of links between the people and the cultures of Germany and Sri Lanka.

This article focuses briefly on the contribution of Asoka Weeraratna to the propagation of Buddhism in Germany. He is destined to be ranked in history as one of the notable figures of Sri Lanka’s post-independence Buddhist resurgence. He will be remembered for three monumental contributions that he made to the cause of Buddhism. They are:

1) The Founding of the German Dharmaduta Society in 1952 (initially known as the Lanka Dhammaduta Society) with the principal aim of propagating Buddhism in Germany and other Western countries,

1) The establishment of the Berlin Buddhist Vihara in Germany (in 1957) with resident monks, drawn mainly from Sri Lanka, and

2) The founding of one of Sri Lanka’s finest Buddhist Forest Monasteries i.e. The Mitirigala Nissarana Vanaya (Mitirigala Forest Hermitage) in 1967

All three achievements were substantial undertakings that captured the imagination and spirit of the Buddhist public in the 1950’s and 1960’s and made Asoka Weeraratna a household name.

Asoka Weeraratna was born on 12th December, 1918 as the youngest son of P. J. Weeraratna, the proprietor of a reputed jewellery establishment in Galle. He was named Alfred by his parents who followed the general trend in colonial Sri Lanka in naming their children after members of the British Royalty. In his adult life he renounced the name Alfred and adopted the name Asoka – an apt name for the Buddhist Dharmaduta work he was to undertake later. He attended Mahinda College, Galle. (a leading Buddhist School in South Sri Lanka).

Upon the death of his father, both Asoka and his elder brother, Dharmasena became partners of the family business. In 1948 they re-located their business to Colombo. The business expanded rapidly after they had diversified it to become importers and dealers in Swiss watches. Asoka made a number of business trips to Europe in the 1950’s and imported a range of well-known Swiss watches such as Paul Buhre, Boilat, Henry Sandoz, Roamer and Enicar, and the German pen ‘Reform’. In the late fifties, P. J. Weeraratna and Sons became the largest importers of Swiss watches to Sri Lanka and a leading business establishment in the country.

Though Asoka energetically developed the family business as it was the source of his income, his main interest lay in work associated with the dissemination of the Buddha Dhamma and strict cultivation of the spiritual life through meditation and abstinence. In fact the life he led, it could be said, was fashioned in response to two fundamental questions that he would have asked himself, very early in his adult life:

First visit to West Germany

On his first business visit to West Germany in 1951 the young Asoka came across many people who had lost their families – lost their wealth – lost almost everything. It left in him a deep impression. At the time the widespread sentiment all over Germany was "kaput, kaput, alles kaput (finished, finished, everything is finished)." Asoka also realized the growing thirst in that country, which was slowly recovering from total devastation in the Second World War, for an alternative moral and spiritual philosophy, that placed a very high emphasis on peace and non-violence.

War weary Germans failing to find answers to their personal and their country’s political problems, in their own Western religious traditions, without resorting to violence, were anxiously seeking to experiment with moral and ethical ideas emanating from the East.

About the same time in post-independent Sri Lanka, Lankans for the first time after 450 years of colonial rule were beginning to dream of new vistas unfettered by the restrictions of the foreign dominated past. They were acquiring a new sense of historical destiny and a growing confidence that they were capable of playing a larger role in world affairs than hitherto was thought possible. Taking Buddhism to the West was one of these ambitious ideas which fired the energy and imagination of the public, particularly that of the Buddhist Sangha.

It was the convergence of these factors i.e. the upsurge in interest ‘ to look towards the East ’ of the Germans and ‘take Buddhism to the West ’ spirit of the Sri Lankans that led to the events that were to follow.