Launch of Buddhist Ecclesiastical Law
The Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) will launch a
monumental text on "Buddhist Ecclesiastical Law" authored by the well
known lawyer and legal academic Dr Wickrema Weerasooria on February 15.
The Guests of Honour for the function are Ven Professor Bellawnwila
Wimalaratana, Chancellor, University of Sri Jayawardenapura, Chief
Justice Asoka de Silva and former Attorney General, Acting Chief Justice
and Supreme Court Judge Rajah Wanasundera.
The text provides a comprehensive coverage of the subject of Buddhist
Law in Sri Lanka and as an English text it is considered "global first".
There is no similar text in Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand (Siam) which
are the two other main countries - other than Sri Lanka - where pure
Theravada Buddhism prevails.
Dr Wickrema Weerasooria's book "Buddhist Ecclesiastical Law" -
consists of over 850 pages of 30 chapters the text will be a guide not
only to Sri Lankan Lawyers and Judges but to all global scholars in
foreign Universities which have now established Colleges of Oriental
Learning and Religion. World renowned Buddhist Scholar Dr Ananda Guruge
who now lives in the United States has highly commended the text. As an
author of over 54 texts on Buddhism, Education, History and Culture. Dr
Guruge confidently states that there is no other single book in the
world similar to this text which is over 850 pages of 30 chapters on the
subject of Buddhist Ecclesiastical Law.
In twenty of his thirty chapters, Dr Weerasooria deals with all the
important practical topics and issues that make up Buddhist
Ecclesiastical Law. The most important are the rules relating to
succession to be the head or "Viharadhipathi" of a temple. The now
Established rule of succession is pupillary succession where the senior
most pupil of the Incumbent tutor succeeds him. Next, the issue arises
as to how a bhikkhu became a pupil.
Of another we know the Vinaya rules but for legal purposes pupillage
is by Robing or Ordination. While both are required in the Buddhist
Vinaya only one is sufficient under Sri Lankan judicial decisions to
succeed to the incumbency. A robed bhikkhus (Samanera) also has the
right to succeed as the head of a temple though he is yet to be
ordained. The Sri Lankan courts have so decided.
Dr Weerasooria is a lawyer and legal academic of distinction and
repute has written over 18 legal texts. In that context, he has
selectively included in this text a very interesting account of the
judiciary, the legal profession and the early text writers on Sri Lankan
law and shown how the judges, the lawyers and text writers contributed
to the development of Buddhist Ecclesiastical Law.
Ven Professor Bellawnwila Wimalaratana Anunayake Thera commenting on
the book states that Dr Weerasooria has brought out this text on
Buddhist Ecclesiastical Law. This is the first of its kind in the entire
world. The Table of Contents shows its wide scope and coverage. It is
not about Buddhism. It is not on the Buddhist Dhamma, the Buddhist
scriptures and tenets or even the Vinaya but about Buddhist law,
especially the law governing Buddhist temples and their temporalities. |