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D. A. Jayasuriya (Sinhala: ඩී. ඒ. ජයසූරිය; born 12 March 1919 - 19 January 1990), known by the honorific titles Jayasuriya Uthumano, Bhava Guru, Suriya Budhun (Sun Buddha), Guru of All Gurus, was a Sri Lankan enlightened master, Guru, a divine incarnation and a proponent of spirituality. Upon attaining the final stage of enlightenment in 1973, he began teaching meditation in Sri Lanka from 1975 and established the Universal Mind Training Centre near Kodapalu Hill, Alawwa in 1976 to further carry out his spiritual activities.^[1][2]

Much of his activities were centered around revitalizing spirituality within Sri Lanka, most of which involved uprooting traditional ideas regarding spirituality and providing students with rapid practical experience in meditation. His practices were known to be a blend of the Theravada, Dzogchen, Mahamudra and Zen traditions.^[3] Hence, his teachings cover all three Yanas of Buddhism. He is among very few enlightened masters in the human history, who arose from death or experienced Resurrection^[1][4]. One of his famous quotes is "Transcendence of death is the final attainment (මරණය අතික්‍රමණය කිරීම අවසාන අත්දැකීමයි)".

D. A. Jayasuriya was born on March 12, 1919 at Devalegama near Kegalle, Sri Lanka.^[1] His father who died in 1956 was a keen meditator. He was educated in both Sinhala and English at St. Mary's College, Kegalle. After his secondary education, he joined the Sri Lanka Light Infantry Regiment as a cadet during World War II.^[1] Military training and discipline had shaped him to be a strong individual. Later he came to Colombo at the age of 26 and was employed as a white collar worker in the Colombo port. His hard work, determination and professional engagement helped him to climb up from a wharf clerk position to a superintendent of the port authority. In the middle of his career, he met Seelawathi Weerakkody, a hospital nurse. After a brief romance, they got married and had 3 children.^[1]

Mr. Jayasuriya during his career at Sri Lanka Light Infantry Regiment.

Mr. Jayasuriya during as a wharf clerk at Sri Lanka Port Authority.

Marriage Photo of Mr. Jayasuriya and Ms. Seelawathi Weerakkody.

Mr. Jayasuriya at the time of his enlightenment had behind him a long career as a lay Buddhist activist. He had been a committee member and officeholder in many Buddhist organizations, which were important political pressure groups at that time. He was for nineteen years, the treasurer of the Varaya Bauddha Bala Mandalaya, the Buddhist activist movement in the Port of Colombo.^[1] He played an active role in promoting the erection of the Stupa Sambodhi Chaithya that still looms over the corner of Colombo, at one end of the harbor. He was a committee member of Sinhala Jatika Sangamaya (Sinhala National Association) and the Bauddha Balavegaya (Buddhist Power). Through these affiliations he had worked for the political victory of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1956 and for the cause of the Sinhala language. According to the "Buddhism Transformed", the magnum opus of Prof. Gananath Obeyesekere, Mr. Jayasuriya was surely a typical of those who spearheaded the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956) seizure of political power, a Protestant Buddhist zealot.^[1]

As the president of Varaya Bauddha Bala Mandalaya, he had organized 292 sermons, inviting prominent Buddhist teachers, monks at that time to benefit many people. He had utilized his private vehicle and his own money for this purpose instead of the society funds. Despite all these charitable and social welfare activities, deep within his conscience he knew that, none of this leads to the spiritual liberation. Upon realizing, only an inward journey can lead to this goal, time to time he practiced meditation at the port authority Buddhist shrine room.

Mr. Jayasuriya and engineer A. N. S. Kulasinghe at Colombo harbour Stupa Sambodhi Chaithya opening ceremony.

View of Colombo harbour Stupa Sambodhi Chaithya.

In 1971, despite his reluctance, Mr. Jayasuriya visited a Sathya Sai Baba bhajan group upon his wife's request out of curiosity to see how such spiritual practices were conducted^[1]. Later in 1976, he went to see Sathya Sai Baba himself and was not impressed by much of his acts involving the materialization of different objects and thus left the place dissatisfied. Although unimpressed, the practice of chanting a mantra 108 times at the bhajan caught his interest, and Mr. Jayasuriya adapted this to the Buddhist context under which he grew up with. He took to reciting the Pali formula listing the virtues of Buddha 108 times, chanting them off on a rosary. He was said to have focused on a small Buddha statue above the door in his living room while chanting the mantra^[1][2]. After a while, he came to have the image of this Buddha statue before his eyes in his concentration at all times. From that day onwards, he engaged in this activity five times daily, combining it with his other daily activities. When he did not meditate, he watched over his mind and thoughts to witness the impact of his own meditation. This naturally brought him to the practice of Mindfulness. Due to the activation of Chakras in his body from the concentration he developed, it was easier for him to witness the subtlest activities in his mind through Mindfulness.

Gradually, he experienced a spiritual development happening within him. He started to experience Psychic abilities such as encountering supernatural beings, mundane Siddhis, etc. But deep down in his conscience, he still had dissatisfaction. In addition, there were many bodily pains, but he was determined to see the end result of this development, even against his wife's will. However, he had no worldly desires about this whole experience.

On 19 November 1973, 14 days since he started the practice, Mr. Jayasuriya came to the Buddhist shrine room in Colombo Fort at 11:00 A.M. This day, due to the unbearable pain in his body, he was not in a condition to do the activity even for 30 minutes. However, with great determination, he thought, "Today, I will do this for 45 minutes".^[1] He put the alarm on his clock for 45 minutes and sat down, facing the Buddha statue in the shrine. A vibration began in his legs and moved up his body. He had an acute sensation of burning in his body. Right after the clock struck 45 minutes, his Self or so-called Subtle Bodies detached from his physical body and after a few minutes the universal energy incarnated into it.^[1][3][4] This universal energy is commonly referred to as the Primordial Energy in New Age movements and science which is the earliest energy source of universal manifestation. In Abrahamic religious context, this is commonly known as Resurrection and Divine Incarnation.^[5] On 19 November 1973, at 11:45 A.M., in the Buddhist shrine room in Colombo Fort, Mr. D. A. Jayasuriya realized this supreme truth without the guidance of any master^[1][2][3][4].

Despite her strong objection, said his wife, Mr. Jayasuriya then quit his job, having lost all interest in the material life. He also renounced marital relations. Since then, he, out of his compassion toward mankind, has devoted himself to teaching without expecting anything in return, the truth that earlier religious leaders have known about but hidden. Mr. Jayasuriya knew that one must practice and understand the mind to end birth and suffering in Saṃsāra. To attain this, he did not require a robe, leave his employment, or give up living as a layman. Neither did he memorize the big books on Abhidhamma, etc., nor did he go to the forest and lean against a sacred tree. He was able to win the battle conquering death in the Buddhist shrine room in a crowded place in Colombo Fort and set his mind free from enslavement with the realization of the ultimate truth.

In the Buddhist context, his enlightenment experience can be compared to the Bardo or union of Mahamudra experience of the Vajrayana sect.^[6] When the spiritual adept has mastery over all five Buddha bodies (Five Kayas), he can drop his subtle bodies and let the universe incarnate into his physical body. However, it is extremely rare to find an individual who incarnates without the support of another master or a lineage. Moreover, Mr. Jayasuriya had witnessed four more individuals incarnate into human bodies as spiritual masters with him during his resurrection process at the same time. They have been recognized as Ajahn Chah, Osho Rajneesh, Meher Baba^[7] and Samael Aun Weor^[8] who carried out their spiritual service in the other parts of the world. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was another enlightened master of this category.^[9]

Mr. Jayasuriya's main teaching is not so much a doctrine, in fact, as a practice that he wished to promulgate: a meditative practice, which he has discovered, will lead to everlasting bliss. However, he has spoken about the science and philosophy behind this practice in several occasions without being identified with any religious context. When presenting his experience, he was extremely careful not to lead his disciples into confusion. For the sake of clarity, he based his hypothesis on Carl Jung's theories to explain the divisions of minds. In his own words, "There is conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind (uda hita, mada hita, nodanna hita), and one must get from the higher to successively lower levels. Only one-tenth of the mind is normally on top, and one must connect with the nine-tenth underneath. This connection is what practice consists of; it cannot be adequately explained in mere words, but it will be realized experientially. The greater connection of the mind manifests itself in increasing vibration. Finally, the matter becomes antimatter, dissolving into light at the height of vibration. Though essential for Enlightenment, increasing the vibration is dangerous unless undertaken under proper supervision (i.e., Mr. Jayasuriya's). The adept gradually realizes the unity of mind and matter and thus increases his power. This is because all mind is one—all minds are common—Mr. Jayasuriya's, the Buddha's, everyone's. Unlimited knowledge, unlimited value; no one can value your mind. Once you know your mind to be the Buddha's mind, you are Buddha, Enlightened".^[1]

Further he stated, "Your mind is Buddha; the pure mind is Buddha. When you join the one-tenth of mind up to the submerged nine-tenths, a light goes on (likes connecting two wires). One must practice for half an hour a day or at least a few minutes, even if ill; make a habit of it, like going to the toilet, from which nothing can stop you. When you do the practice daily, your mind moves from the gross mind to the subtler levels of the mind. More specifically, the attainment moves from the clear light of mind (prabhāsvara-citta) to golden and super golden levels followed by the black near attainment. And from this point, the quantum leap takes place where your mind (subtle bodies) leaves the physical body and the incarnation happens. This leads to everlasting bliss".^[1] At this point, the incarnated individual always resides in his heart instead of his delusional, self-centered mind.

Mr. Jayasuriya stressed that everyone should remain in the religion they were born to and commended faith as a prerequisite for his practice. "Śrāddha ho Bhakti (faith or devotion)—faith, it is hitting you. Therefore I am totally against changing religion." His view on religious authority was uncompromising and necessarily paradoxical. "Tama tamage nayakaya ("තමා තමන්ගේ නායකයා) !!!" is one of his famous statements: one is one's own master. "You are the master. Think yourself. You know what you are doing. I explain the facts; decide yourself whether it is right or wrong".^[1] An unbiased independent inquiry would lead one to become a follower of Mr. Jayasuriya's teachings.

Mr. Jayasuriya giving Samadhi transmission to his disciples.

Notice board at the meditation event organized by Universal Mind Training Center, Kodapalu Hills, Alawwa.

The public library poster depicting the meditative programs conducted by Mr. Jaysuriya.

Representation of all religions at the public sermons, respecting the source of all religions the Primordial Energy.

The primary technique of Mr. Jayasuriya's practice is based on Energy or Samadhi transmission, which takes place in close proximity between the disciple and the guru. When Mr. Jayasuriya is ready, his mind (and therefore his subtle bodies) ascends to the primordial energy through all lower energy states. When this happens, a huge energy field (Buddha field) is built up around his body and the disciple inevitably comes to penetrate his Chakras and thereby reaching the "No Mind" (clear light of mind or "prabhāsvara-citta") state first. Then this experience further deepens into higher energies leading to full Enlightenment. In this way, his meditativeness was "induced" in his students. Sometimes the disciples were asked to bring their focus on a white Buddha statue and repeat the mantra "Arahang" (අරහං) 108 times while they were absorbed in Mr. Jayasuriya's energy field. Mr. Jayasuriya went on to explain the science behind his approach, "When we focus on the Buddha statue, we do not really look at an outside object. Instead, through our eyes, we set our mind on that outside object. What you really see is your mind. Not a statue! By doing so, we insist our mind to be purified like a Buddha. While we do so, we chant a mantra to regulate our breath which gives Prana to our life. And then you are in my energy field. In this way, we take full control over our body and mind so that the realization quickly happens. This is a very scientific approach; there is only a science behind it, no magic ! But unfortunately, people worship statues."

In Buddhist nomenclature, this specific mediation approach falls under the Samatha practice, in other words, the static nature of our mind. In addition, Mr. Jayasuriya advised his disciples to witness their mind behavior while engaging in daily activities similar to what he did in daily life before his Enlightenment. This is also to witness the effect of the first practice on the dynamic nature of the mind. In this way, the mindfulness or the vipassana meditation automatically developed within the practice, although it was not explicitly taught.

Compared to incarnated masters throughout human history, Mr. Jayasuriya's specialty lies in his powerful transmission ability and the abundance of universal energy in him. However, his mind-to-mind transmission is not something novel. Similar approaches can be found in Vajrayana Buddhist sects, such as Mahamudra and Dzogchen traditions. Usually, an aspirant at the basic level has to dissipate a lot of their karmic energy to attain higher energy or consciousness levels. Such a person cannot develop meditative concentrations easily, but merely sitting in meditation with Mr. Jayasuriya can accelerate their development. Similar to Vajrayana path, Mr. Jayasuriya's approach was considered an accelerated approach to the Enlightenment. However Mr. Jayasuriya often stressed that, the transmission of Samadhi should only be done with a matured guru like him.

The lineage started by Mr. Jayasuriya has been passed down to many holders, and some of them claimed to possess the same Samadhi transmission ability.^[10][11] According to them and Mr. Jayasuriya, the transmission works differently for different individuals. For the fresh-starting individuals, through the transmission, only specific Chakras in their body got activated, while for advanced adepts, they were able to reach the subtlest levels of mind (clear light of mind) in one go. The practitioners of this lineage identify the reason to be the “Samsaric or Spiritual Maturity” of each individual.

Darshana literally means an "auspicious sight" of a holy person, which bestows merit on the viewer.^[12] Even though this term is popular in Indian culture, in Buddhist context, this technique is more specifically known as the demonstration of Dharmakaya. There is a reference to this ancient technique in Pali Cannon, where Gauthama Buddha demonstrated his 9th body to some of his disciples.^[13] Mr. Jayasuriya had a similar technique which was referred to as "Demonstration of Dharmakaya" (ධර්මකාය ප්රදර්ශණය), where advanced disciple before him witnesses Mr. Jayasuriya's golden halo and silver-gold auras around him.^[1] Moreover, some disciples even claimed to have witnessed the Sun and Moon symbols above his shoulders.^[1] The latter is referred to as the Vajrakaya, an extremely rare sign, of being only processed by a fully enlightened master with tantric qualities. If an aspirant can witness these enlightened qualities, his or her realization process is believed to be accelerated.^[1][10]

A notice board depicting non-profitable nature of Mr. Jayasuriya's spiritual work.

Mr. Jayasuriya's teaching has a significant relation to Mahayana Buddhist tradition, specifically in Zen and Vajrayana practices.^[1][2] With the final enlightenment, Mr. Jayasuriya naturally received his teachings and techniques from his enlightened wisdom. Moreover, he further proclaimed his past lives to certain disciples; interestingly, they were related to the traditions mentioned above. He recognized himself as the reincarnation of the bodhisattva Bodhidharma and later great Vajrayana master Saraha. Both of these individuals were prominent Buddhist masters in history who revitalized Buddhism in East Asia and Tibet. According to him, in both of these lifetimes, he was trained as Bodhisattvas to gain mastery over ancient and esoteric Buddhist meditative techniques. His natural wisdom is believed to be stemmed from these past life training.

According to Mr. Jayasuriya, Bodhisattva training is necessary for the spiritual adept to help others. In addition to the moral training, a Bodhisattva has to undergo rigorous yogic and spiritual training, which leads to a superior realization with Vajra like meditative concentrations (Samadhi). Only with the help of these abilities can a yogi truly help others.

Not only Mr. Jayasuriya but also a few of his disciples have their past lives related to Tibetan Vajrayana practice. Naturally, they claimed to have inherited tantric practices such as Six Yogas of Naropa. Even though this was not officially practiced or proclaimed, many of the tantric elements related to Naropa’s yoga can be found in Mr. Jayasuriya’s lineage. Despite the unfamiliarity of Rainbow Body phenomena in the traditional Buddhist practice in Sri Lanka, Mr. Jayasuriya was claimed to have realized this stage. Many of his disciples had witnessed his light bodies piercing through his bones and flesh ^[1], and this experience seems to be synonymous with the Rainbow body phenomena similar to what was processed by the masters like Padmasambhava.

Bodhisattva Bodhidharma.

Mahasiddha Saraha with other tantric practitioners.

Mahasiddha Naropa in solitude.