Senaka Weeraratna

5 September 2015

This
entire project led by Dr Amartya Sen must be made the basis of a wide ranging
discussion in the Buddhist world in respect to the direction, organisation,
content of teaching, and aims and objectives that this proposed Nalanda
International University is being encouraged to adopt.

The
historic Nalanda University was essentially a Mahayana Buddhist Centre of
learning and had as its Directors (or Rectors) some of the learned Buddhist
monks then existing. One reputed writer, Alexander Berzin (2002) says: “In the
Indian Mahayana Buddhist monasteries, such as Nalanda, monks studied four
systems of Buddhist tenets. Two - Vaibhashika and Sautrantika - were
subdivisions of the Sarvastivada school within Hinayana. The other two -
Chittamatra and Madhyamaka - were subdivisions within Mahayana.”

Wikipedia
says: “Nalanda was one of the world’s first residential universities, i.e., it
had dormitories for students. It is also one of the most famous universities.
In its heyday, it accommodated over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. Chinese
pilgrims estimated the students between 3,000 and 5,000. The university was
considered an architectural masterpiece, and was marked by a lofty wall and one
gate. Nalanda had eight separate compounds and ten temples, along with many
other meditation halls and classrooms. On the grounds were lakes and parks. The
library was located in a nine storied building where meticulous copies of texts
were produced. The subjects taught at Nalanda University covered every field of
learning, and it attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet,
Indonesia, Persia and Turkey. During the period of Harsha, the monastery is
reported to have owned 200 villages given as grants.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalanda

Among
some of its famous Abbots were: Shakya Shribhadra. The scholar Dharmakirti (ca.
7th century), one of the Buddhist founders of Indian philosophical logic, as
well as and one of the primary theorists of Buddhist atomism, taught at
Nalanda. Both Mahayana Buddhism and Nalanda University influenced each other.

The
old Nalanda University was a not secular University by any means. It had a
Buddhist character for over 700 years right from its beginnings in the fifth century
AD (reign of Sakraditya) until its unfortunate end in 1193, when the university
was sacked by Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turk. The Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj,
in his chronicle the Tabaqat-i-Nasiri,
has reported that thousands of monks were burned alive and thousands beheaded
as Khilji tried his best to uproot Buddhism.

The
burning of the library had continued for several months and “smoke from the
burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills.” The
last throne-holder of Nalanda, Shakya Shribhadra, fled to Tibet in 1204 at the
invitation of the Tibetan translator Tropu Lotsawa (Khro-phu Lo-tsa-ba Byams-pa
dpal). In Tibet, he started an ordination lineage of the Mulasarvastivadin
lineage to complement the two existing ones.

Nalanda International
University

Nalanda
University (also known as University of Nalanda) is the name of a proposed
university in Rajgir, near Nalanda, Bihar, India. The first academic session was
to start from 2014. The university is a plan for reviving and re-establishing
Nalanda University.

The
University of Nalanda is proposed to be established under the aegis of the East
Asia Summit (EAS), as a regional initiative. The NMG also has representatives
from Singapore, China, Japan and Thailand. The Governing Board of Nalanda
University consists of:

-       
Amartya
Sen - Professor at Harvard University.

-       
Sugata
Bose - Professor at Harvard University.

-       
Wang
Bangwei - Professor at Peking University.

-       
Wang
Gungwu - Professor at National University of Singapore.

-       
Susumu
Nakanishi - Professor at Kyoto City University of Arts.

-       
Meghnad
Desai - Emeritus Professor at London School of Economics.

-       
Prapod
Assavavirulhakarn - Professor at Chulalongkorn University.

-       
George
Yeo - Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore.

-       
Tansen
Sen - Associate Professor at Baruch College, CUNY.

-       
Nand
Kishore Singh - Member of Parliament - Rajya Sabha, India.

-       
Chandan
Hareram Kharwar - Pune university - India.

Comment

There
is a huge difference in the scope and direction of the old and the proposed new
Nalanda University.

Whereas
eminent Buddhist scholar monks were the rectors of the famed old Nalanda
University, in the proposed new set up there does not appear to be a single
Buddhist monk on the Board of Governors. The overwhelming majority of the
Governors have ‘secular’ credentials, including the leader of the Project,
Amartya Sen - Professor at Harvard University.

Lay
Buddhists are very much in the minority on the Board of Governors. There is no
Sri Lankan presence on the Board despite this country’s claim to have the
oldest continuing Buddhist civilization in the world. Most of Sen’s public
pronouncements on this subject lately have been on the wisdom and validity of ‘Secularism’
over and above the innate value and depth of the Indian Spiritual Heritage
which includes Buddhism. It shows that it pays to be a secularist for an Indian
in Western professional and academic circles. But it is tantamount to blasphemy
to downsize your own i.e. Indian wisdom and religious heritage merely to
display that one is on the right side of intellectual fashion in the West.
Amartya Sen illustrates this proposition vividly.

It
is unlikely that someone from the Middle East or Muslim country would try to
create a secular place of learning on top of a destroyed site of a reputed
Islamic Tertiary Institution. That is unthinkable.

In
Buddhist and Hindu societies ‘secularists’ have come to the fore and are now
engaged in a state of play going virtually unchallenged, downsizing the
influence and scope of the traditional religions which built the unique
civilizations that we find in India and Sri Lanka and still attract the
attention and wonder of the world.

       The fifth is subdivided into fifteen books:- 


        Khuddaka Patha (Shorter Texts)

   Dhammapada (The Way of Truth)

     Udana (Heartfelt sayings or Paeons of Joy)

   Iti Vuttaka (’Thus said’ Discourses)

   Sutta Nipata (Collected Discourses)
   Vimana Vatthu (Stories of Celestial Mansions)

   Peta Vatthu (Stories of Petas)

      Theragatha (Psalms of the Brethren)

     Therigatha (Psalms of the Sisters)

Jataka (Birth Stories)

    Niddesa (Expositions)

      Patisambhida (Analytical Knowledge)

        Apadana (Lives of Saints)

    Buddhavamsa (The History of Buddha)
   
 Cariya Pitaka (Modes of Conduct)

  
  Vinaya Pitaka 
The Vinaya Pitaka mainly deals with the rules and
regulations of the Order of monks (Bhikhus) and nuns (Bhikhunis). It
also gives an account of the life and ministry of the Buddha. Indirectly
it reveals some useful information about ancient history, Indian
customs, arts, sciences, etc. 
For nearly twenty years since his
enlightenment, the Buddha did not lay down rules for the control of the
Sangha. Later, as the occasion arose, the Buddha promulgated rules for
the future discipline of the Sangha. 
This Pitaka consists of the
following five books:- 


     Parajika Pali (Major Offences)
     Pacittiya Pali (Minor Offences)
    Mahavagga Pali (Greater Section)
  Cullavagga Pali (Smaller Section)
  Parivara Pali (Epitome of the Vinaya)

 
Abhidhamma Pitaka 
The Abhidhamma, is the most important and
interesting, as it contains the profound philosophy of the Buddha’s
teaching in contrast to the illuminating but simpler discourses in the
Sutta Pitaka. 
In the Sutta Pitaka one often finds references to
individual, being, etc., but in the Abhidhamma, instead of such
conventional terms, we meet with ultimate terms, such as aggregates,
mind, matter etc. 
In the Abhidhamma everything is analyzed and
explained in detail, and as such it is called analytical doctrine
(Vibhajja Vada). 
Four ultimate things (Paramattha) are enumerated in
the Abhidhamma. They are Citta (Consciousness), Cetasika (Mental
concomitants). Rupa (Matter) and Nibbana. 
The so-called being is
microscopically analyzed and its component parts are minutely described.
Finally the ultimate goal and the method to achieve it is explained
with all necessary details. 
The Abhidhamma Pitaka is composed of the
following works: 


   Dhamma-Sangani (Enumeration of Phenomena)
    Vibhanaga (The Book of the Treatises)
  Ikatha Vatthu (Point of Controversy)
  Puggala Pannatti (Description of Individuals)
   Dhatu Katha (Discussion with reference to Elements)
   Yamaka (The Book of Pairs)
    Patthana (The Book of Relations)

   
  Twelve Divisions of Buddhist Canons 
The content of Buddhist canons
is divided into twelve divisions, categorized by the types of forms of
literature (i.e., Sutta, Geyya and Gatha) and the context (i.e., all
other nine divisions). It is known as the Twelve Divisions. 


  
Sutta  - These are the short, medium, and long discourses expounded by
the Buddha on various occasions. The whole Vinaya Pitaka is also
included in this respect.

   Geyya  - i.e., the metrical pieces. These are discourses/proses mixed with Gathas or verses.

      
Gatha - i.e., verses, chants or poems. These include verses formed in
the Dharmapada, etc., and those isolated verses which are not classified
amongst the Sutta.

   Nidana - i.e., the causes and conditions of the Buddha’s teachings.

    Itivrttaka - i.e., the suttas in which the Buddhas tell of the deeds of their disciples and others in previous lives.

    Jataka - i.e., stories of the former lives of Buddhas. These are the 547 birth-stories.

  
Abbhuta-dhamma - i.e., miracles, etc. These are the few discourses that
deal with wonderful and inconceivable powers of the Buddhas.

  
Avadana - i.e., parables, metaphors. Illustrations are used to
facilitate the human beings to understand the profound meanings of the
Buddhist Dhamma.

   Upadesa - i.e.,
dogmatic treatises. The discourse and discussions by questions and
answers regarding the Buddhist doctrines. It is a synonym for Abhidhamma
Pitaka.

      Udana - i.e.,
impromptu or unsolicited addresses. The Buddha speaks voluntarily and
not in reply to questions or appeals, e.g., the Amitabha Sutta.

    
Vaipulya - i.e., interpretation by elaboration or deeper explanation of
the doctrines. It is the broad school or wider teachings, in contrast
with the “narrow” school. The term covers the whole of the specifically
Mahayana suttas. The Suttas are also known as the scriptures of
measureless meaning, i.e., infinite and universalistic.

    Veyyakarama  - i.e. prophecies, prediction by the Buddha of the future attainment of Buddhahood by his disciples.