With this celestial dhamma as its guide, S.M.S. breaks sharply with the Sangha and contemporary Buddhist orthodoxy. The members who began the society were not content with the dhamma given by monks "which stressed going to heaven or the Brahma realms." Mr. Ratnakara says, "the common Buddhism practiced today, with its innumerable rituals, ceremonies and alms feasts has drowned the real practical aspects of the sublime dhamma." Needless to say, the S.M.S. members do not go to the temples or seek the services of the monks. They do perform some rituals of their own, however, such as a form of Pirit chanting done by lay persons and pujas to the deities who are the guardians of their society.

　　 Other significant features of this society are its emphasis on healing and its interest in social engagement. Mrs. Ratnakara has had the power to heal for about 10 years. She attributes this power to her contact with the devas, rishis and other spiritual beings, including Hippocrates, who is now a deity it seems. She also received ayurvedic advice from other spiritual sources such as a "Rishi Doctor" from India who had been the doctor for Mahatma Gandhi. He would tell her how to make ayurvedic potions to heal people and she would prepare the mixtures and plants that he

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prescribed. This "guru Doctor" had various means for healing that went beyond those of ordinary medicine, for example he could see a person's "samsara" and take that into account in healing them. She seems to have worked with the medium and this "Guru Doctor" for about 10 years. During this time, she says that she healed many people. She even tried to heal some cancer patients, but they were too ill to respond to the treatments. She relates a story about working with a Muslim couple who were unable to have children. The mother-in-law was threatening to force them to divorce unless the woman could conceive. Mrs. Ratnakara called on the medium to communicate with one of the deities to get an answer for this problem. After the medium met with the woman, she conceived and the couple had 3 children in 5 years and were very happy.

　　 In addition to this emphasis on healing, the society can also be said to have a socially engaged focus. It carries out social relief work on a small scale and has some environmental projects. These are not major aspects of the society but neither are they insignificant. The younger members of the society seem especially interested in the ecology projects and other kinds of outreach that they have undertaken.

Summary:

　　 This society and this guru express the kinds of themes that we mentioned earlier. One can see Orientalist influences in the ties to Theosophy and parapsychology. Individualism and World Affirmation are also clearly present, as are Globalism, Healing and Social Engagement. With the role of the Guru and the new ideas about the deities, it appears that S.M.S. is moving toward sectarianism more clearly than any of the other groups we have examined thus far. The formal structure of the society with its charter and by-laws suggests that they recognize and accept a sectarian status. The current leaders of the society even say that S.M.S. is not Theravada Buddhism but because of the source of its teachings it has ties to Mahayana and Vajrayana. The charter of the society reads, "The S.M.S. does not differentiate between Mahayana and Theravada teachings. Senior members study both with an open mind and accept what is true irrespective of the label." [5] The group's break with orthodox Buddhism is symbolized by its rejection of the traditional Three Gems, the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. S.M.S. has reinterpreted all three of these gems in constructing its own system. The Buddha no longer represents the sole source of the teachings; the Dhamma does not come from the canonical Tipitaka, and the Sangha has no role at all in this construct. Heavily influenced by both Orientalism and Globalism, this movement has taken on new qualities that cast Buddhism in a more humanistic light.

Guru F
　　 Our final example concerns a guru who presents another interesting case that further delineates the evolution of the meditation movement. Guru F is a retired government clerk who has been involved in the meditation revival from an early period. He studied at the Kanduboda and Nilambe meditation centers and was a friend of Guru A, Guru D and Guru Ratnakara. In fact, one of my informants showed me a photo of Guru F along with Guru A, Guru D and Guru Ratnakara at a meditation retreat in the forest (Situlpawa) in the early 70s. Now almost thirty years later. Guru F has become an extremely popular guru with an enormous following. In some ways

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he has followed a similar path to that of his old meditation companions but in other ways he has broken a new path.

　　 Guru F resembles these other gurus in his critique of orthodox Buddhism. Like Guru Ratnakara and Guru D, he notes that the Tipitaka was not written until at least 200 years after the time of the Buddha and so does not reflect the pure dhamma. He also opposes the Sangha and challenges the monks and nuns who come to his meetings. Some monks come to see him intending to debate him, but he says that after they hear him talk they leave quietly because they realize that he is speaking the true dhamma. When Buddhist nuns come to meet him, he tells them that they are "going in the wrong path." Other aspects of contemporary orthodoxy such as the rituals and pujas are also contested by this guru for the same reasons that the other gurus oppose them.