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| Sunday, 13 July 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Buddhism: Its essence and some relevant approaches by Rajah Kuruppu Printed for free distribution by the Public Trustee Dept. Commemorating the 250th anniversary of the establishment of the Siam Maha Nikaya. Reviewed by Tilak A. Gunawardhana The purpose of Rajah Kuruppu's venture is to elucidate Buddhism as simply as possible, in a concise manner. The Public Trustee has published this latest work on Buddhism. Mr. Kuruppu is a very competent lay Buddhist who is currently the president of the 'Servants of the Buddha Society'. He has also been a regular radio broadcaster, and has served as a member of the SLBC panel on Buddhism for a long time. He has been the editor of the annual 'Vesak Sirisara' for an equally long time. He retired from the public service in 1994 as State Secretary to the Minister of Finance. His background as a busy 'man of the world', to some extent, has determined his stance and choice of subject matter. After dealing with the cardinal doctrines of Buddhism, he has dealt with practical aspects of meditation, death, wealth, leisure and even nation building. The discussion of the last subjects mentioned, is a welcome departure from the normal exegetical literature, and enables the busy 'man of the world' to see the relevance of Buddha's teaching to his day to day problems. When commercialisation of almost every departent of life is the trend, not only in the West but also in the East, values inculcated by Buddhism, in our country especially, have been subjected to relentless erosion. Kuruppu who is a practising Buddhist has made a small attempt to help Buddhists to look at themselves and their problems in the light of the Dhamma. Scholars From the time Buddhism came to be known to Western scholars, apart from translations of the original texts in Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese and Tibetan, writings have appeared to cater to a general readership interested in the exotica of the East. By not understanding the original Pali or Sanskrit texts clearly, some of these authors with misplaced enthusiasm have done much damage to an understanding of the original message. Recently our own bhikkhus who were well versed in the classical languages, have tried to present the original message of the Buddha without serious distortions, in English and German mainly. Narada Thera's 'Buddhism in a Nutshell' was one such early book, followed by Rahula, Piyadassi and Saddhatissa Theras' introductions whose reliability has never been in doubt. The foreigners who lived the lives of monks in Polgasdoowa under the tutelage of the famous Nanatiloka Thera have been equally reliable interpreters of the Dhamma to the West. While laymen have also been writing in English from time to time, in journals mainly, this is the first time that a book has been published, as I mentioned earlier, from the standpoint of a lay person talking to other lay people. As such this book will be of immense benefit not only to Sri Lankans who read English but also to foreigners who would like to get acquainted with the subject as general readers, or as those interested in following the Buddha in practice. There are apart from books, a large number of centres in Britain, USA, Germany, France and elsewhere in Europe where those interested in practising Buddhism could get assistance and guidance regarding meditation especially. There are talks and discussions at these places to enable those interested to widen their theoretical knowledge as well. This book can be of benefit for these people also providing them with a useful outline, and a text for reference. |
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