817 years after its appalling destruction in 1197 CE, the ancient university of ‘Nālandā’ has been revived when classes started yesterday in Rajgir, Bihar State, India. The latest incarnation of ‘Nālandā University’ opened with a low-key ceremony. With only 15 students and a few faculty members, it has a lot more growth to achieve to even come close to its heydays 1,300 years ago, where an estimated 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers came from every corner of Asia to acquire knowledge and wisdom at the world’s premier university! Read more
During a funeral ceremony in ancient China, paper-made models of houses, sedan chairs, treasure chests, clothes, daily utensils, and even effigies of servants, were burnt as the cortege was leaving home for burial in the cemetery.
Read more‘Dedication of Merits’ is a Buddhist practice whereby one performs a noble, meritorious deed in kind memory of one’s departed relatives. One performs such wholesome deeds in honour of loved ones who had passed away by thinking: “Idam me ñātinam hotu, sukhitā hontu ñātayo.” – “Let this merit accrue to my departed relatives; may they be happy!”
Read moreHow to Register a Buddhist Society
Published by the Theravada Buddhist Council of Malaysia on 21 March 2014.
Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in 1891 into the ‘untouchables’, a segment of India’s population that was hitherto deprived, degraded, and often mistreated by the other castes. Yet despite his early deprivation, Dr. Ambedkar later rose in stature and prominence through hard work and fortitude to become the first Law Minister of independent India. He is also popularly regarded as the ‘principal architect of the Indian Constitution’ – a social contract that granted liberties, justice, and respectability to India’s dejected millions.
Read moreNalanda Patron’s Day will be observed over 3 days from 16 – 18 March, with a wholesome line-up of meaningful educational programmes. 18 March 2013 marks the 95th birth anniversary of our late Spiritual Advisor, Venerable Kirinde Sri Dhammananda. The late venerable was an erudite monk fondly known as the “Sangha Nāyaka of Malaysia”.
Read morePindacāra, the practice of collecting alms-food, is observed by Theravada Buddhist monks who have gone forth from ‘home-life’ to ‘homelessness’. A Buddhist monk is known in Pāli Language as a ‘bhikkhu’ - meaning ‘one who lives on alms’.
Read moreBeginning the day after the full-moon of Asalha month (around July every year), Theravada Buddhist monks are required to observe Vassana or ‘Rains Retreat’ for a duration of 3 months. The Vassana period from July-August to October-November corresponds with the monsoon season in South and Southeast Asia (which were historically Buddhist strongholds), thus making traveling very difficult and even dangerous. Monks and nuns were often invited by Buddhist communities to reside in village Aramas (monasteries and nunneries) for the duration of the ‘rains’.
Read moreRehearsing the Dhamma-vinaya
The Pāli term ‘Sangāyana’ can be translated as rehearsal or communal chanting. The purpose of a Sangāyana is to accurately preserve the original teachings of the Buddha. The reciters’ duty is to rehearse, examine, and review the Canon so that no parts of which are added, omitted or altered, and any such deviations were to be rectified. Throughout history, there had been six such formal occasions where the entire Pāli Canon was rehearsed and authenticated.
Read moreThe Pāli Language was derived from a Prakrit (folks’ dialect) of Magādha in ancient India. Its grammar is similar to those of Sanskrit and Latin. Pāli was chosen as the language to rehearse and record the Buddhist teachings at the First Rehearsal (Sangāyana) in 543 BCE. Pāli is unique among languages in that it is not used for any other purpose except to record Buddhist doctrines. Thus the meanings of its words were not ‘corrupted’ by common usage or ‘evolution’ over time.
Read more