From the 11th International Conference on Asian Studies (ACAS ICAS 11) on 17-18 November 2022, Ateneo Center for Asian Studies (ACAS)
sri lanka
For Sri Lanka: Assistance and Friendship Amidst Crisis
Sri Lankans are facing their worst economic crisis since 1948. The country’s prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, resigned on 10 May. His brother, president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is under renewed pressure to quit as well. The country is in talks with India, China, and the IMF for debt relief and further loans. And it has been less than […]
Buddhism in International Relations: Applied Dharma Concepts
This series on Buddhism and international relations by Durgesh Kasbekar is a modified series from an essay “Buddhism in International Relations” by the same author. International relations and global politics are often absent from reflections about Buddhism in academia. This series aims to provide a small corrective and highlight how Buddhism affects and is affected by international […]
The Vigil of Silence
Photo by Poorna Jayasinghe The media deals in words as a trade. Words are what media professionals sell, in a sense. Words are penned in a paper or on a website, broadcast through radio and podcasts, or spoken by a personality through the telly, smartphone and tablet, or YouTube. Yet there are those occasions in […]
Bodhgaya International Theravada Bhikkhuni Ordination January 2019
Fully accepted, fully ordained. New bhikkhunis with their teachers, preceptors and their ordaining Dual Sangha upon the completion of two full days of bhikkhuni ordinations. Photo courtesy of Kanjana Suthikul By Ven. Tathaloka Theri Sukha Sanghassa Samaggi—“Happy is the Harmony of the Sangha” [1] Buddhagaya, the site of the Buddha’s Great Awakening or Maha Bodhi, is […]
Exemplary Buddhists: Hong Kong’s Sri Lankan Community
I was unfortunately out of Hong Kong and missed my chance to attend the Sri Lankan community’s 71st celebration of Independence Day. 4 February, like the equivalent commemorations of so many postcolonial societies, is critical to modern Sri Lankan identity, and in many ways the opinion makers and influencers of Hong Kong—scholars, journalists, writers—have not […]
Sending Loving-kindness
“Did today’s guided meditation session make your mind happy and peaceful?” I asked this question to Chan Oi Wan, an undergraduate student who was enrolled in a minor course offered by the Centre of Buddhist Studies (CBS) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU). The course was called Buddhist Psychology and Mental Cultivation. 200 undergraduate […]
Celebrating Vesak at Hong Kong’s Sri Lankan Buddhist Cultural Centre
Last month, I had a truly inspiring and uplifting Vesak (the annual celebration of the Buddha’s life) among Hong Kong’s Sri Lankan Buddhist community. The families comprising the island’s immigrants and expats here come from diverse backgrounds and work in many different trades. What binds them together is a sense of community and duty to […]
Dharma Dispatch, 12-17 March 2018: Sri Lankan Conflict, International Women’s Day, FGS Celebrations
Good morning! We start with some encouraging news amidst a sad backdrop of religious and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. Buddhist monks and activists gathered in their hundreds on the streets of Colombo on Friday to protest violence between Buddhists and Muslims. The protesting monks were joined by activists that included academics, artists, and representatives of civil society […]
Kelaniya University: Looking East
I’ve long admired the monk and academic Prof. Ven. Dhammajoti, who founded the Buddha-Dharma Centre of Hong Kong, in the heart of Shek Tong Tsui near Kennedy Town. I like to call BDC one of the “big four” institutes of Buddhist Studies in our city: there’s the Centre of Buddhist Studies at The University of […]