by  Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi This is what Bhikhu Bodhi said of Asoka Weeraratna Are Asoka Weeraratna’s services to the Buddha Sasana being deliberately sidelined at the UN Day of Vesak 2017 related stalls exhibiting services to Buddhism? Prologue Asoka Weeraratna was a man of vision who had the drive and stamina to translate his vision […]

Dr Anula Wijesundere ,Col. Anil Amerasekera Co – Chairpersons, National Joint Committee Buddhism is the national religion of Sri Lanka ever since the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka 2300 years ago by Arahant Mahinda and ready acceptance and embracement of Buddhism by King Devanampiyatissa and his subjects. It has enjoyed full state patronage right up to […]

Bhante S. Dhammika Australia Courtesy The Island May 1, 2017, 8:32 pm In an article I wrote for The Island and which was published on 21st April 2017, I highlighted several well-known details about the life of the Buddha, which most Buddhists assume come from the Tipitaka, but which in fact cannot be found there. I […]

By Kalinga Seneviratne, The Buddhist Channel, Sept 8, 2016 BANGKOK, Thailand — Mindfulness, the meditative practice, which has its roots in Buddhism as Vipassana Bhavana, encourages people to focus on the present, rather than on the anxieties of the past or future. In the previous decade, however, it has become somewhat of a fad around the […]

by  Professor Mahinda Palihawadana I think I was asked to take part in this discussion1 because I am a vegetarian and a Buddhist as well. If that is so, the impression probably was that I am a vegetarian because I am Buddhist and that in my opinion I have to be vegetarian in order to […]

ShankhNaad The greatest Crime islam committed in its whole history was the destruction of Nalanda, the world’s first University the seat of learning and wisdom, the birthplace of Wisdom and Philosophy the womb of Buddhism the fruit of culture and progressive thought and the pride of mankind east or west. Where great souls like Buddha, […]

www.biographyonline.net Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism share the same core beliefs and devotion to the life and teaching of Buddha but they do have some differences. Mahayana Buddhists believe that enlightenment can be attained in a single lifetime, and that one can guide and teach the doctrine to others while still on the course for […]

Writes Ram Madhav Courtesy  samvada.org “During this period, the majority Sinhalese had grown by 38 per cent (from 10,979,400 to 15,873,800); Sri Lankan Tamils by 20.3 per cent (from 1,886,900 to 2,270,900) and the Indian Origin Tamils by 2.8 per cent (from 812,700 to 842,300). But the Muslims grew by 78.6 per cent (from 1,046,900 to […]

Senaka Weeraratna    Throughout Sri Lanka’s Buddhist History lasting for over 2300 years Vesak has been an exclusive Buddhist Festival with only Buddhist symbols and decorations been displayed to mark the most important occasion in the Buddhist calendar. Even at worst of times during colonial rule under three Christian powers, this festive day for Buddhists […]

Dharma Voices for Animals Colombo Sri Lanka Chapter This work in progress painting by Ms. Avanti Karunaratna is expected to be finished in early May, 2017 and will be displayed to the public in time for the celebration of Vesak and holding of the UN Day of 2017 Conference in Colombo. The Paththirippuwa, which is […]

Janaka Goonetilleke Ayn Rand called her philosophy “Objectivism”, describing its essence as “the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute. When Vasgo De Gama Invaded the spice market of Calicut and […]

Senaka Weeraratna Colombo: The election for the 24th President of the Bar Association takes place on February 21, 2017 . Three candidates have presented nominations for the post of the President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), namely Anura B. Maddegoda, U.R. de Silva and R. Thangaraja. They have distributed their election manifesto […]

by Senaka Weeraratna Of all the international Buddhist Conferences held in Sri Lanka the one that stands out clearly above the rest is the Conference held in 1950, particularly because it led to the formation of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB). There was a huge need then for unity of all Buddhist schools and Dr. […]

By Ram Madhav, RSS Akhil Bharatiya Sah Sampark Pramukh Courtesy  SAMVDA New Delhi March 28: Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) – a Buddhist organisation many wish to call as Right or Ultra Right – is a new phenomenon in Sri Lanka. One may prefer to brand them in any manner one would like to. But the fact […]

රියර් අද්මිරාල් (ආචාර්ය) සරත් වීරසේකර සභාපති ජාතික රණවිරු එකමුතුව අපේ රට සිංහල බෞද්ධ රටක්‌ යෑයි කීමට අද බොහෝ දෙනා මැලි වෙති. බිය වෙති. එසේ පැවසීමම ජාතිවාදය ඇවිස්‌සීමකැයි සමහරු සිතති. අද “ජාතිවාදය” නමැති වචනයද විලාසිතාවක්‌ සේ භාවිත කරනු පෙනේ. “සිංහලයා” ගැන හෝ “සිංහල බෞද්ධකම” ගැන හෝ කතා කළ විගසම ඔහු හෝ ඇය ජාතිවාදියකු ලෙස හංවඩු ගසයි. […]

Ven. Medille Pagngnaloka Thero මුස්ලිම් අන්තවාදීන් විසින් මේ සිංහල රට ආක‍්‍රමණය කිරීමට සියලු සැලසුම් හදාගෙන අවසානය. ඒ සදහා ඔවුන් දවසෙන් දවස ක‍්‍රියාත්මක වන්නේ ඉතා සියම් අන්දමින් දෙස් විදෙස් සහය ඉතා ඉහළින් ලබා ගනිමිනි. ජනගහනයෙන් ආර්ථිකයෙන් භූමියෙන් මේ ආදි සෑම ක‍්‍රමෝපායකින්ම මෘදු ආක‍්‍රමණයක් සිදු කරමින් අනික් පැත්තෙන් සිංහලයාගේ මෙන්ම බෞද්ධයාගේ අවනතිය උදෙසා කළ හැකි සියලුම අන්දමේ […]

By Senaka Weeraratna Courtesy The Daily Mirror 2017-01-25 Secularism has become the buzz word for all those who wish to drive out Buddhism from public life in Sri Lanka, both overtly and covertly. When we refer to secularism we must be in a position to distinguish it from pseudo-secularism. What is practised in a large majority […]

By Kelum Bandara Courtesy The Daily Mirror Ven. Medagama Dhammananda Thera, the Lekhakadhikari (Chief Secretary) of the Asgiriya Chapter, speaks about the Constitution-making process and the elements to be considered in this case. In an interview with the Daily Mirror, the Ven. Thera says the foremost status is historically-bestowed upon Buddhism in Sri  Lanka. Excerpts […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror For the first time in the history of the Dimbulagala Forest Monastery, a seven-year-old Muslim boy has been ordained, said Chief Incumbent Millane Siriyalankara Thera. The Thera said the mother of the boy was abroad and his father Hameed Ismail had brought him to the monastery. He had been ordained as […]

Senaka Weeraratna Secularism has become the Buzz word for all those who wish to marginalize Buddhism from public life, both overtly and covertly. When we refer to secularism we must be in a position to distinguish it from Pseudo secularism. What is practiced in a large majority of countries in the name of secularism is […]

By Seneka Weeraratna This is an edited version of an address delivered by Senaka Weeraratna, Hony. Secretary of the German Dharmaduta Society, on September 28, 2016 in support of his resolution entitled ‘Recognition of Buddhism as an official religion in non – Buddhist countries’ at the First Plenary Session of the 28th General Conference of […]

Senaka Weeraratna Chapter Leader Dharma Voices for Animals, Colombo, Sri Lanka Chapter Christmas is meant to be the season of joy, of holiday greetings exchanged, of gift-giving, and of families united. Is Christmas truly the season of joy for all? Does gift – giving during Christmas cover all forms of life? These are valid questions, morally speaking. […]

Senaka Weeraratna The Lake House Newspaper group was established by a well-known Buddhist, D.R. Wijewardena. But recently under government control, it has been hijacked by anti Buddhist forces. The state owned flagship press Lake House acting as the spokesperson for the Government engages in a well-orchestrated campaign against the dominant religio-cultural base of the society. […]

Governing Council National Peace Council  After a two year lull that followed replacement of the former government through the electoral process, public manifestations of inter community tension have increased in recent months.  There are indications of political maneuvering behind these efforts to disturb the peace in the country and to bring ethno-religious nationalism to the […]

Michiyo Tanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The mass media in both the West and Islamic world needs to find space in order to simplify hatred. It matters not if turning a blind eye to Sunni Takfiri massacres in Syria and the nations that are endorsing this, nor that in Myanmar’s recent history […]

පුවත්පත් නිවේදනය ඉල් මස 20 වැනි දා සවස පැපිලියාන ප‍්‍රදේශවාසීන් දෙසීය දෙනෙක් පමණ ශී‍්‍ර සුනේත‍්‍රා දේවී පිරිවෙනට එක් රැස් වී පූජ්‍ය මහාචාර්ය මැදගොඩ අභයතිස්ස නායක ස්වාමීන්වහන්සේගේ අනුශාසකත්වයෙන් ද අනගාරික ධර්මසේකර තුමාගේ මග පෙන්වීමෙන් ද දෑ දම් රක්නෝ සංවිධානයේ සහායෙන් ද අධිෂ්ඨාන පූජාවක් පැවැත් වූහ.  ඔවුන්ගේ ඒකායන අදිටන වූයේ අප රණ විරුවන් ඇස් ඉස් මස් ලේ […]

PRESS RELEASE Around 200 residents around Pepiliyana, gathered at the Sri Sunethra Devi Pirivena and held an Adhishtana Pooja under the patronage of Venerable Prof. Medagoda Abayathissa Nayaka Thero with guidance from Anagarika Dharmasekara and assistance from De Dham Rakno, on the evening of 20th November.  Their sole resolve was to ensure, that this unitary […]

Adaderana A holiday resort would be built in a private land near the Sri Pada sacred area but not within its precincts, officials and Buddhist clergy yesterday confirmed. Speaking to the media, Secretary of the Ambagamuwa Pradeshiya Sabha and Chief Incumbent of the Sri Padastana and Pelmadulla Rajamaha Vihara said permission had been granted to […]

Mahinda Gunasekera By Email 84 Tambrook Drive Agincourt, Ontario M1W 3L9, Canada October 27, 2016 Hon. James Berry, MP Chair and Registered Contact All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils Copies to: Officers of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils Dear Sir, Book Launch by British Tamils Forum in association with the All Party Parliamentary […]

Dharma Voices for Animals (DVA) Colombo Chapter, Sri Lanka  Deepavali (or Diwali) is a national holiday in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Guyana and many other countries. The festival signifies the triumph of good over evil. It is one of the most important festivals of the year and is celebrated in families by performing traditional activities […]