Buddhist doctrine in encyclopaedic form
The Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopaedia of
Buddhism wishes to inform the Buddhist academic readership that the much
awaited ‘Encyclopaedia of Buddhism’ will be completed by the end of year
2009
Dr. W. G. Weeraratne
Completion of 2500 years of the Buddhist era (Buddha Jayanti) fell in
Vesak 1956. To commemorate this unique event, Buddhists all-over the
world drew up programs to celebrate the occasion in a fitting manner.
The pious Buddhists of Myanmar (Burma), under the leadership of premier
U-Nu, decided to hold the sixth Buddhist Convention (Chatta Sangayana)
in Myanmar, to rehearse and cleanse the Pali Tripitaka (The Buddhist
Canon). Elaborate arrangements were made by the Government of Myanmar
for this purpose.
State funds
Professor Emeritus G. P. Malalasekera |
A massive meeting hall was put up with State funds to accommodate the
many thousands of Buddhist clergy and lay Buddhist scholars and leaders
and other dignitaries, who were invited from other Theravada Buddhist
countries to participate in this grand historic event.
A team of many erudite Buddhist Bhikkhus and lay Buddhist scholars,
conversant with all aspects of Buddha Dhamma and its culture,
represented Sri Lanka in this convention. The Sri Lankan delegation was
led by Professor Emeritus G. P. Malalasekera, the world acclaimed
Buddhist scholar and national leader. The convention continued for
nearly two years and the whole Tripitaka was carefully rehearsed and
cleansed.
India, where Buddhism was born and nurtured, joined in this unique
celebration by volunteering to perform three grand tasks. The first of
them was to re-edit and print many Buddhist Sanskrit works composed by
reputed ancient Indian seers and scholars. The second of them was to
publish a massive compendium titled ‘2500 years of Buddhism’, under the
editorship of Professor P. V. Bapath, on many facets of Buddhism and its
culture, containing scholarly articles, written by reputed Indian
scholars. The third was to publish a large book of photographs with
descriptive notes of temples, Buddha and Bodhisattva statues, Buddhist
shrines, Buddhist art, Buddhist sculptures and paintings culled from
many countries where Buddhism and its culture spread during a long
period of time. The book was titled ‘The Way of the Buddha’. The Indian
Prime Minister at the time, Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, who was a great
admirer of the Buddha and his teachings, personally inspired and gave
leadership to these activities.
Sri Lanka which has been acclaimed as the centre of Theravada
Buddhism in the world, volunteered to undertake three major activities
as its contribution to the Buddha Jayanthi celebrations.
The first of them was to translate into Sinhala from Pali the
Buddhist canon (Tripitaka), which was first brought to Sri Lanka by
Arahant Mahinda thera in the 3rd Century BC and subsequently written
down in ola leaf books at Aluvihara in Matale in the 1st Century BC. The
translation was to go under the appellation ‘Buddha Jayani Tripitaka
Grantha Malava’. The translation was to be handled by a panel of highly
experienced and qualified Sri Lankan Buddhist Bhikkhus.
The second of them was to compile a comprehensive general
encyclopaedia in Sinhala. Professor Emeritus D. E. Hettiarachchi, the
most experienced and highly qualified Professor of Sinhala at the time,
was entrusted with the planning and execution of that project.
English medium
The third of them was to compile a comprehensive Encyclopaedia of
Buddhism in the English medium, to cover the complete range of Buddhism,
its expansion and its development from its inception, upto date. The
veteran and highly qualified Buddhist scholar and national Buddhist
leader at the time, Professor Emeritus Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera
was entrusted by the Government of Sri Lanka to plan this massive
encyclopaedia and executive the project. He was also appointed as the
pioneer Editor-in-Chief.
In the preface Professor Malalasekera wrote to the ‘Volume of
Specimen Articles’ released in 1957, he says; “Buddhism covers a vast
expanse, both of time and space.
Buddhist doctrines
The Encyclopaedia aims at giving a comprehensive account of the
origins of this world-religion and developments that have taken place
during a period of twenty five centuries. To deal with Buddhism is to
deal with a whole civilization, in fact, a whole series of
civilizations, which have influenced the lives of myriads of human
beings in many lands. A satisfactory treatment of the subject should,
thus, include information about the doctrines of Buddhism and their
growth, the story of their spread and expansion, accounts of
ramifications, descriptions of Buddhist rites and ceremonies as found in
many lands, the history of the fine arts - painting and sculpture,
architecture, music, dance and drama - under the influence of Buddhism,
in various countries; details of Buddhist shrines and places of
pilgrimage and of the vast literatures connected with Buddhism which
developed in many languages, both ancient and modern and biographies of
persons who, in the course of Buddhist history, played important roles.
Even so, the list of topics would not be exhausted.”
The office of the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism was set up in Colombo
during the latter part of the year 1955. Towards the end of that year
the office was transferred to the University of Peradeniya campus. The
Peradeniya University atmosphere was very congenial for the compilation
of the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism. The Peradeniya academic staff at that
time consisted of many professors and lecturers who were experts in Pali,
Indian Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy, Western Philosophy, Archaeology,
Indian and Ceylon history and many allied fields of study.
Art and architecture
The Peradeniya library at that time was equipped with valuable books
on Buddhism, Buddhist philosophy, Western and Indian philosophies, art
and architecture and many more invaluable books on allied subjects and
internationally recognized journals and periodicals in the allied
subjects that are indispensable for the compilation of the needed
articles for the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism.
The Encyclopaedia of Buddhism has been planned to be completed in
eight volumes and an Index volume. Each Encyclopaedia volume is to
contain approximately 900 printed pages. For the convenience of
printing, the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism has been released in Fascicles,
each Fascicle to contain approximately 230 pages. Four such fascicles
form one Encyclopaedia Volume.
Literary endeavours
A volume of specimen articles of 84 pages containing a cross section
of Buddhist Encyclopaedia articles, indicating the methodology that is
to be followed in the compilation of the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, was
released in the year 1957.
Copies of this specimen volume were sent to recognized Buddhist
scholars in Sri Lanka and foreign countries, to obtain their views of
the proposed Encyclopaedia of Buddhism project. With their approval and
blessings, the compilation was commenced and Fascicle I of Volume I was
released in 1961. Thenceforth, Buddhist Encyclopaedia Fascicles were
released through the press with a time gap of about one and a half
years.
Professor Malalasekera treated the completion of the Encyclopaedia of
Buddhism project as the climax of his literary endeavours and
achievements and he was expecting to see it completed within his
lifetime. But the massiveness of the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism project
he shouldered, did not allow Professor Malalasekera to achieve the noble
expectation he harboured. Professor Malalasekera passed away in 1973,
aged 73 years. He could complete only twelve fascicles, that is the
first three volumes of the envisaged Encyclopaedia of Buddhism. Another
fascicle, Fascicle I of Volume IV was in the process of being printed at
the time.
Dr. Saddhamangala Karunaratne of the Archaeological Department was
appointed to succeed Professor Malalasekera as Editor-in-Chief, but he
could remain in that position only for a very brief period. Professor
Emeritus O. H. de A. Wijesekera was next appointed as Honorary
Editor-in-Chief and Professor Jotiya Dheerasekera (Ven. Dhammavihari) as
Editor-in-Chief. During the tenure in office of these two experienced
and learned Professors, two more fascicles of the Encyclopaedia of
Buddhism were compiled and released. Bandula Jayawardhana who joined the
Encyclopaedia of Buddhism project at its very inception was appointed
Editor-in-Chief next, but he retired from service soon after.
The present writer has been associated with the Encyclopaedia of
Buddhism project, as an Assistant Editor, since 1960. He happened to
belong to Professor Malalasekera’s last batch of students at the
Peradeniya University, who specialized in Pali and Buddhist studies. In
1987, he was elevated to the position of Editor-in-Chief of the
Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, with an extremely depleted internal editorial
staff.
Encyclopaedia volumes
In spite of the many obstacles he had to dabble with, from 1987 to
date, he was able to complete and release 15 fascicles of the
Encyclopaedia of Buddhism.
The total number of fascicles released so far stands at 30, which
comprise 7 Encyclopaedia volumes and half of the volume VIII.
To complete the project, the last Fascicle of Volume VIII and the
Index Volume have to be printed and released.
The last fascicle of Volume VIII is now in its second proof stage and
is expected to be released in September 2009.
The encouragement and backing the present writer received from many
scholars and educationists in the field of Buddhist studies since his
appointment as Editor-in-Chief made his task pleasant and easy.
Dr. Ananda W. P. Guruge has been associated with the Encyclopaedia of
Buddhism project as the Honorary Editorial Adviser and external
contributor of several learned articles, since 1987 to date. Professor
Emeritus N. A. Jayawickrama, Professor Emeritus P. E. F. Fernando,
Professor Emeritus Y. Karunadasa assisted the Editor-in-Chief to make
the task of editing many articles, pleasant and less cumbersome. Many
scholars of Buddhism and Buddhist studies in Sri Lanka and foreign
countries assisted the Editor-in-Chief as external contributors, by
writing many specialized articles on selected headwords.
The Editor-in-Chief takes this opportunity to thank profusely the Sri
Lankan and foreign Buddhist scholars who spent their precious time and
energy to compile the invaluable articles needed for the Encyclopaedia
of Buddhism.
The writer is the Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism. |