The real Buddhism taught by the lord Buddha was not a religion. It was a way of life or a philosophy. This is called Theravada Buddhism as opposed to Mahayana Buddhism. Theravada is today found in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Burma. The crux of it is to shed greed and craving for material things.

The priests at hermitages like Meetirigala practise Theravada 100%. Each priest has a small room built in the jungle. The organization which runs this hermitage has a helper for each priest.

The priests have only two meals a day. The Heel Dane (Breakfast) is at 5 a. m. and the Daval Dane (Lunch) is at 11 a. m. All their meals are 100% vegetarian and the people who cook the meals are requested to deep taste to the minimum. No food is consumed by them after 12 noon till breakfast the next morning. The photo shows the priests returning to consume their lunch after collecting their meals from the Pindusiga Hall (Lunch Hall).

The priest meditate the whole day. They areguided in the proper practise by the Chief Priest. A helper once told me that some priests go on meditating for several days - without food. The helpers are not allowed to distrub the meditation and tell the priest it is mealtime. At the mealtime if the priest is meditating the helper comes down to the Lunch Hall and collects the meal for that priest and leaves it in his room. If he does not eat it, it is discarded.

Sowan, Sakrudagami, Anagami and Arhath. When a person has reached Arhathhood he has avoided rebirth. It is believed that the Chief Priest has achieved at least the first stage. He knows when the priests under him are swaying from the correct path.