SINHALA RELIGION. The Sinhala of Sri Lanka are for the most part Buddhists, yet their practical religion is a composite system derived from a variety of sources, including pre-Buddhist indigenous beliefs, Indic astrology, popular Hinduism, Brahmanism, and Dravidian religion, especially that of South India. Over many years these seemingly non-Buddhist beliefs have been incorporated into a Buddhist framework and ethos. The religious beliefs that have derived from non-Buddhist sources have been labeled "spirit cults." This is a heuristically useful label if one does not make the mistake of defining them as non-Buddhist or anti-Buddhist. Some aspects of the spirit cults, such as the beliefs in pretas, or the malevolent spirits of departed ancestors, are very ancient popular beliefs that have been assimilated by Buddhism. Furthermore, Buddhist canonical texts are full of references to pious laypersons who on death have become reborn as gods, which means...