Bana sermons of Prof. Dhammavihari Thera

BAMBALAPITIYA: The fourth in the series of Bana, sermons in English by Professor Dhammavihari Thera organised by the Dayaka Sabha of Vajirarama Temple, Bambalapitiya, will be held on Sunday 23rd April, from 4.00 to 5.00 p.m. at the Vajirarama Temple, Bambalapitiya.

The Trustees of the Vajirarama Temple has arranged free distribution of Professor Thera's latest book publication titled 'A Thought for the day', a 45 page book, miniature lessons in learning the Dhamma and learning to live as a Buddhist for the participants on this day.

Venerable Dhammavihari of today, better known among Buddhist scholars as Professor Jotiya Dhirasekera, was ordained as a member of the Buddhist Sangha on 18th May 1990 at the age of sixty-nine. He graduated from the University of Ceylon, Colombo in 1945, majoring in Sanskrit.

He was thereafter invited to the Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies. In 1949, he proceeded to the University of Cambridge, England where he pursued studies in Chinese, Japanese and Tibetan.

He has taught Buddhism and Pali at the Universities of Colombo (from 1946 to 1949) and Peradeniya (from 1952 to 1969). In 1964, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka awarded him the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy for his thesis on Buddhist Monastic Discipline. From 1969 to 1972, he was Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Toronto in Canada.

Since his return to Sri Lanka in 1972, he has held many distinguished academic positions such as Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Buddhism and Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies.

He is a regular broadcaster and has been involved in analyzing and critically examining issues of social and religious significance, through the media of the press, radio and the television, both at national and international levels. He has travelled extensively covering Canada, USA, England, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Oman as well as China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar.