The complete Tipitaka is 40 volumes long

___________________________________________________________

HISTORY of 

Nālandā

Nālandā
नालंदा
The ruins of Nalanda Mahavihara

Location	Bihar
Coordinates	25°08′12″N 85°26′38″ECoordinates: 25°08′12″N 85°26′38″E
Type	Centre of learning
Length	800 ft (240 m)
Width	1,600 ft (490 m)
Area	12 ha (30 acres)
History
Founded	5th century CE
Abandoned	13th century CE
Site notes
Excavation dates	1915–1937, 1974–1982
Archaeologists	David B. Spooner, Hiranand Sastri, J.A. Page, M. Kuraishi, G.C. Chandra, N. Nazim, Amalananda Ghosh
Public access	Yes
Website	Nālandā (ASI)
ASI No.	N-BR-43

Name, Nālandā derives it from Nāga Nanda referring to the name (Nanda) of a snake (naga) in the local tank.

A statue of Gautama Buddha at Nalanda in 1895.
Nalanda was initially a prosperous village by a major trade route that ran through the nearby city of Rajaguha (modern Rajgir) which was then the capital of Magadha.
Gautama Buddha  is said to have delivered lectures in a nearby mango grove named Pavarika and one of his two chief disciples, Sariputta, was born in the area and later attained nibbana there.This traditional association with  Buddha tenuously dates the existence of the village to at least the 5th–6th century BCE.
Taranatha, the 17th-century Tibetan Lama, states that the 3rd-century BCE Mauryan and Buddhist emperor, Ashoka, built a great temple at Nālandā at the site of Sariputta’s chaitya. He also places 3rd-century CE luminaries such as the Mahayana philosopher, Nagarjuna, and his disciple, Aryadeva,
at Nalanda with the former also heading the institution. Taranatha also
mentions a contemporary of Nagarjuna named Suvishnu building 108
temples at the location. While this could imply that there was a
flourishing centre for Buddhism at Nālandā before the 3rd century, no
archaeological evidence has been unearthed to support the assertion.
When Faxian, an early Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, visited Nalo, the site of Sariputta’s parinibbana, at the turn of the 5th century CE, all he found worth mentioning was a stupa.

Library

It is evident from the large numbers of texts that Yijing carried
back with him after his 10-year residence at Nālandā, that the
Mahavihara must have featured a well-equipped library. Traditional
Tibetan sources mention the existence of a great library at Nālandā
named Dhammaganja (Piety Mart) which comprised three large multi-storeyed buildings, the Ratnasagara (Ocean of Jewels), the Ratnodadhi (Sea of Jewels), and the Ratnaranjaka (Jewel-adorned). Ratnodadhi was nine storeys high and housed the most sacred manuscripts including the Prajnaparamita Sutra and the Guhyasamaja

=======================================================================================================================================

Curriculum

What FREE ONLINE E-Nālandā Research and Practice UNIVERSITY is

If  Nālandā were to claim back its glory, it will be ‘monumentally
ahead’ of its time, just like its predecessor. More importantly, it
needs Awaken One With Awareness teachings and ideals as its core identity to drive its
sense of purpose. It
has the chance to explore an ancient teaching so radically ahead of its
time and create undreamed of synthesis using tools of modern science.

At an age where information science and mind studies are flourishing,
Awaken Ones With Awareness is at the stage where its ideas, philosophy and tenets can
play a major influence in all spheres of scholarly development. Thanks
in part to the internet and free flow of thoughts and ideas, this era
provides a similar - or even more - liberal cultural traditions inherent
in the Gupta era.

How different  the new FREE ONLINE E-Nālandā Research and Practice UNIVERSITY is? Here are some ideas worth exploring.

Medicine and Pharmacology

The original Nālandā had medicine
as one of its compulsory subject. The FREE ONLINE E-Nālandā Research and Practice UNIVERSITY curriculum considers accommodating the vast trove of Asian traditional medical
systems which encompasses synthesis of indigenous Siddha, Tibetan, Indian
(Ayurveda), Chinese, Persian (Unani), and Greek. It will use the
template as derived from the Tibetan medical system, which embraces the
traditional Buddhist belief that all illness ultimately results from the
three poisons of the mind: ignorance, attachment and aversion. Tibetan
medicine follows the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths which apply medical
diagnostic logic to suffering. By synthesizing traditional medicine with
modern medical research, this faculty could become a cutting edge
pharmaceutical and medical research institute.

Neuroscience and neural networks

The scientific study of
the brain and the nervous system has increased significantly,
principally due to advances in molecular biology, electro-physiology, and
computational neuroscience. Neuroscience has grown in tandem with
Buddhist meditation, and many new research (collaborations between
scientists and meditators) have produced new evidence on how our brains
work, how thoughts arise, how consciousness works. And in the concept of
non-self (anatta), neuroscience is starting to publish theories and
evidence that there is no self to be had, no central driver to speak of,
no unchanging internal self that made all the decisions. Indeed, when
results become more accomplished, the field of neuroscience can be an
important allied health discipline, collaborating with other fields such
as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,
medicine, philosophy, physics, and psychology. Continued in-depth
research and studies in Buddhist meditation will see to the flourishing
of this field.

Quantum physics

The Madhyamika philosophers developed a
rigorous and  razor sharp method of philosophical analysis which,
together with meditation investigation, penetrated into the ultimate
nature of reality. Emptiness (sunyata), the core view which is
propounded by the Madhyamaka, is the insight that there is nothing in
the universe which exists as an independent entity in its own right. It
follows that nothing exists as a fully independent feature of reality as
was always thought by Western science up until the advent of quantum
physics. Indeed, an understanding of emptiness can throw new
perspectives onto problems of quantum interpretation. Both Buddhism and
quantum mechanics illustrate that the universe is not what he or she
perceives it to be with their five senses, and that everything is
connected in some way.  A serious and rigorous analysis of the “physics”
paradigm in Buddhist thought has been long in coming. The formulation
of discourses between modern quantum mechanics with certain aspects of
Indo-Tibetan Buddhist methodology, such as the elementary assertions of
“particle physics”, will spearhead new form of synthesis. Who knows,
apart form finding answers to big questions such as “what is the
universe” and “what is self”, students may stumble upon practical
by-products which may find useful applications, such as instantaneous
communication, quantum teleportation, quantum computers, energy
harvesters and quantum tunneling.

Informatics and Computer Science

The Awaken Ones With Awareness Tipitaka
contains an immensely rich lexicon of mind training, philosophical
teachings and psychological discourses. Nevertheless, much of it are
inaccessible to common people due to the difficulty in deciphering its
meaning. The science of informatics can play a role in developing
digital sources and tools using artificial intelligence and smart
algorithms, so that meaningful searches can be processed by users
according to their level of understanding. To be practical and useful
however, such a system needs to adhere to international standards for
information exchange and search results must be freely accessible to the
public. Apart from that, Nālandā will offer advanced courses in computer
modeling, with emphasis on researching nano technology. Tools developed
here can be used to aid research in neuroscience and quantum mechanics.
The innate classification of Buddhist knowledge fits nicely into the
algorithmic nature of computer science, and this combination would make
this to be an important department providing anchoring services to all
other faculties.

Food and Agriculture Science

Poverty and endangered health
due to lack of clean drinking water and sanitation is a major problem in
this world. If any courses were to be moved by the teachings of
loving-kindness and compassion, this area would be it. Energy and
attention should focus on areas of research in organic protein
production, cheap processing of nutritional vegan meals,
genetically modified foods (vegan variety) and membrane technology
for clean water filtering. Cross experiments in Asian vegan
cuisines, from Korean to Chinese, Indian, Sinhalese and Thai foods may
yield interesting fusion. What’s important that such research will have
to be made under the guidance of ‘ahimsa’ (non-violence), and to keep
with the first precept of respecting and non-harming of sentient life.

Law and Bioethics

As research goes into ground breaking
areas, stake holders and interest groups will be concerned on ethical
lines that can potentially be crossed. This is where a faculty for the
study of bioethics could be adjunct to other fields of research. Keeping
in line with the principles of non-violence (ahimsa), loving-kindness
(metta) and compassion (karuna), its formulation could encompass a
broader meaning such as solidarity towards the biosphere, thus
generating a “global ethics,” a discipline representing a link between
biology, ecology, medicine and human values in order to attain the
survival of both human beings and other animal species.

FREE ONLINE E-Nālandā Research and Practice  and the new world order

Bold visions and creative pursuits combined with Buddhist philosophy,
ideas and meditational practices will remake FREE ONLINE E-Nālandā Research and Practice University into a
beacon of human invention and high civilization. Like its predecessor,
having radical thinkers, innovative teachers deeply schooled in Buddhist
thoughts will enable it to take on the mantle of cutting edge research
in mind studies. It will be an unparalleled institution in this field with open mind enough
and seek the participation of great living Buddhist minds such as the
Dalai Lama, Goenka, Thich Nhat Hahn, Bhikkhu Bodhi, Ajahn Brahm,
Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Robert Thurman,
Ven Cheng Yen, Ven. Kashyap bhante, Ven. Ananda Bhante of Mahabodhi Society, Ven.Vinayarakkhita Bhamte, the promise of FREE ONLINE E-Nālandā Research and Practice University as a global learning and
research center will well be realized.