7th Annual National Conference on Buddhist Studies:

Grooming the next generation of Buddhist scholars, a major aim

by Padma EDIRISINGHE

As the Dolos Maha (12 months) of 2011 marked by tumultuous world events as the Arab Spring tapered to an end, our Island now rid of war flames came to a fitting soothing end with the staging of the 7th National Conference on Buddhist Studies.

The organisations behind were the Dept. of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Sri Jayewardenepura and the Buddhist Times Trust. There was no fanfare nor beating of drums and no politicians. But the throng of saffron robed monks in the assembly almost metamorphosed the 2300 plus continuity of the sacrosanct affinity between Lanka and Buddhism cradling its denizens in modes of moral living. No less a person than Dr. S. Paranavithana opines that the Sinhala community had turned religious in its very early phase.

Anagarika Dharmapala: brilliant flow of English.

The conference itself naturally was a reservoir of topics aligned to Buddhism ranging from the abstruse to the practical, from the psychological to the mundane, from the aesthetic and cultural to the historical and the matter-of-fact with intriguing and unusual themes thrown in.Among these were 'Can an Arahat commit suicide?' And 'Was Abhayagiri Monastery a Mahayana school' and 'The chosen people.'

If one were to stretch one's imagination one would certainly feel amazed at the vast dimensions of the world of Buddhist Studies uncovered.

As Prince Siddartha rode on his horse that momentous midnight set on His Enlightenment, the mighty Himalayas brooding in the background, did he foresee that a little Island dangling by his vast country would one day be an active participant in the sphere of promoting his teachings not only for the moral uplift of mankind but also percolate into a gamut of areas that would enrich the world's corpus of knowledge in remarkable ways?

Examples

Just a few examples. The relationship between superiors and subordinates for better productivity via Buddhist Studies, Influence of Buddhism on Sanskrit drama, Adoption of early Buddhist teachings for Counselling, the adoption of Buddhist Art and Symbols in the early phase of Dravidian architectural style,Pallava period, Investigation and the emergence of positive psychology and its relation to Buddha.

The variety of topics seen through many a perspective again testify to the elasticity of the religion facilitating inroads into modern facets of knowledge .

A marked feature noticed at the conference was its wide use of English that could be attributed to a great deal of exertion by the convenor, Dr. Hema Goonatileka. Had she turned traitor to her own beloved language and got infatuated with an alien language?

Has she begun to condone the worship of the White Gods who even orchestrated genocide in our country? Let wounds heal by themselves in this world always ready for a fight. Let us not scratch healing wounds and fester them. And the sun will not set again on the vast British Empire for the simple reason that it has ceased to exist.

Predominance of English

When asked by the writer why this predominance of English Dr. Hema had this to say. "Yes. Nearly 60 percent of the research papers presented are in English. English is an entry point to the International World of Buddhist studies. At one time bhikkhus such as Ven. Waskaduwe Subuthi and Ven Hikkaduwe Sumangala who knew English were teaching Western scholars such as Rhys Davids, Childers and Fauboell. Now due to the bhikkhus' ignorance of English this role has been given up.

One of the long-term aims of the annual national conference is to groom the next generation of Buddhist scholars and considering the times, knowledge of English, a permanent legacy left by the now defunct British Empire is essential.

Better said than done. The bhikkhus both young and old performed their best. They not only presented papers in English but argued and even acted as comperes. I would not go so far as to say that the mistakes they made are quite in order. Nor would I say that they are quite pardonable because English is not our mother tongue. That trend of thinking would collapse the whole run of learning English not as a language only but as a correct language.

Accuracy

Perfection in any study should be aimed at though 100 percent accuracy is tantamount to a near impossibility. Sri Lanka especially has made a record in the early British period for a very high standard in English that had even amazed foreigners. Anagarika Dharmapala excelled in the World Parliament of religions with his brilliant flow of English. Of course, the proficiency was limited to the privileged class. But the island never resorted to low techniques as Pidgin English or Anglo Indian English to cover up its own sluggishness.

Singlish has never come to stay. England is naturally proud of her language for whose nurture stretches of time and labour have been invested. Dictionaries were compiled with painstaking labour to maintain the highest standards, a task undertaken by the best of her scholars. No one likes one's language being misused.

They naturally think it a humiliation for that language. Killing the king has come to stay paradoxically even after we are no longer under the king or queen of England. Our bhikkhus in a parallel intensive study should be well groomed in correct English, spoken or written. I am sure the resourceful woman has such a design in mind for the future.

So, here was a remarkable unit of work accomplished with the new year 2012 just peeping across the blue green mountains of Lanka. Man made venture? No. Woman made.