Impact of Buddhism on Sri Lanka

2020 ◽  
pp. 18-34
Author(s):  
Sudha Jha Pathak

This paper is a historical study of the mutual exchanges in the religious and cultural traditions, in the context of Buddhism between India and Sri Lanka. As a powerful medium of trans-acculturation, Buddhism enriched several countries especially of South and South-East Asia. Though Asoka used Buddhism as a unifying instrument of royal power, he was considered as the ruler par excellence who ruled as per dhamma and righteousness ensuring peace and harmony in the kingdom. He was emulated by several rulers in the Buddhist world including Sri Lanka. Royal patronage of the Buddhist Sangha in Sri Lanka was reciprocated by support for the institution of kingship. Kingship played an important role in the political unification of the country, whereas Buddhism provided the ground for ideological consolidation. The Indian impact is clearly visible in all aspects of Sri Lankan life and identity-religion (Buddhism), art architecture, literature, language. However the culture and civilization which developed in the island nation had its own distinctive variant despite retaining the Indian flavour.

Author(s):  
Sudha Jha Pathak

This paper is a historical study of the mutual exchanges in the religious and cultural traditions, in the context of Buddhism between India and Sri Lanka. As a powerful medium of trans-acculturation, Buddhism enriched several countries especially of South and South-East Asia. Though Asoka used Buddhism as a unifying instrument of royal power, he was considered as the ruler par excellence who ruled as per dhamma and righteousness ensuring peace and harmony in the kingdom. He was emulated by several rulers in the Buddhist world including Sri Lanka. Royal patronage of the Buddhist Sangha in Sri Lanka was reciprocated by support for the institution of kingship. Kingship played an important role in the political unification of the country, whereas Buddhism provided the ground for ideological consolidation. The Indian impact is clearly visible in all aspects of Sri Lankan life and identity-religion (Buddhism), art architecture, literature, language. However the culture and civilization which developed in the island nation had its own distinctive variant despite retaining the Indian flavour.


Author(s):  
Claire Sutherland

This chapter broadens the scope of the discussion to the sea’s potential as an alternative source of concepts and ideas. It explores a different approach to thinking togetherness, rejecting ‘methodological nationalism’ and theorising belonging in non-binary ways. It considers how to rethink belonging using examples from South-East Asia and questioning political rules based on ethno-national categorisation.


Book Reviews: Political Ideas, Hobbes's Science of Politics, Adam Ferguson: The History of Civil Society, The Works of Joseph De Maistre, Rosa Luxemburg, Marxism in Modern France, Marxist Ideology in the Contemporary World, The Moral Challenge of Communism, The Principles of Politics, Pacifism: An Historical and Sociological Study, The Pacifist Conscience, Pacifisme Et Internationalisms, Non-Violent Action: Theory and Practice, The Mafia and Politics, The Honoured Society, The Foundations of Freedom, The Real World of Democracy, The Left in Europe since 1789, Conflict in Society, The Study of Society, Communication and Political Power, Greater London: The Politics of Metropolitan Reform, Guide to Decision: The Royal Commission, Tizard, A Peril and a Hope, The Scientific Estate, Cases and Materials on Constitutional and Administrative Law, Occasional Papers on Social Administration: No, Land Values, Pensions and Public Servants, Public Sector Pensions, The Responsible Society: The Ideas of Guild Socialism, The Growth of the British Party System, The Government of Northern Ireland: Public Finance and Public Services 1921–1964, An Atlas of European Affairs, Nordic Cooperation: Conference Organised by The Nordic Council at Hasselby, 2–4 June 1965, L'Union Economique Belgo—Luxembourgeoise: Experiences Et Perspectives D'Avenir, Western European Integration, Walter Hallstein: Bibliographie Seiner Veroffent-Lichungen, Europäische Gegenwart: Schriften Zur Europapo-Litik, Columbia Essays in International Affairs, European Challenge. Tuairim Pamphlet No. 11, The Uneasy Entente, The European Idea, Atomic Energy Policy in France under the Fourth Republic, Private Interest and Public Policy, Verbände Und Gesetzgebung, Wohin Treibt Die Bundesrepublik?, The Germans and their Modern History, Wirtschaft Und Politik in Deutschland, Demogratic Parties in the Low Countries and Germany, The Political Vocation, Private Power and American Democracy, The National Guard in Politics, Envoy Extraordinary, Nehru: A Contemporary's Estimate, The Philosophy of Mr. Nehru, Nehru: The Years of Power, Apprentice to Power: India, 1904–1908, Dawn of Renascent India, The Congress Ideology and Programme, 1920–47, South Asian Affairs, Number Two: The Movement for National Freedom in India, The Political Philosophy of M. N. Roy, Sarojini Naidu: A Biography, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (1884–1911), Conquest of Violence: The Gandhian Philosophy of Conflict, Gandhi and the Nuclear Age, Research on the Bureaucracy of Pakistan, Political Development in Pakistan, Buddhism or Communism, Religion and Politics in Burma, Communism in Africa, African Powder Keg, The Political Awakening of Africa, Pan-Africanism and East African Integration, Britain and the Commonwealth, Governments of the Commonwealth, Commonwealth for a Colour-Blind World, Unscrambling an Empire, A Decade of the Commonwealth, 1955–1964, The Establishment of the Department of Trade: A Case-Study in Administrative Organization, Administrative Questions and Political Answers, Planning and Forecasting in New Zealand, Decisions: Case Studies in Australian Administration, Economic Development, Politics of the Developing Nations, The Rise and Fall of Western Colonialism, The Political Basis of Economic Development, Political Oppositions in Western Democracies, Mathematics and Politics, The New Utopians, Symbols of American Community 1735–1775, The Case of Richard Sorge, An Instance of Treason, The Roots of Appeasement, Silesia, Yesterday and Today, Teuton and Slav, The Transfer of the Sudeten Germans, The Reluctant Ally, Rumania: Russia's Dissident Ally, The New Eastern Europe, Problems of National Strategy, Decision-Making for Deffnce, International Political Communication, Propaganda and the Cold War, The Effect of Independence on Treaties, United Nations and Domestic Jurisdiction, Cambridge Essays in International Law, The Inductive Approach to International Law, Politics and Power, Eine Welt Oder Keine?, The Dynamics of International Organization: The Making of World Order, International Behaviour: A Social-Psychological Analysis, Diplomatic Investigations, Theory and the International System, Annihilation and Utopia, The State of War, Nationalism Old and New, Dimensions Du Nationalisme, Protest in Tokyo: The Security Treaty Crisis of 1960, Soviet Strategies in South-East Asia, Defeating Communist Insurgency, towards Peace in Indo-China, South Vietnam: Nation under Stress, Communism in North Vietnam, Vietnam: History, Documents and Opinions on a Major World Crisis, Vietnam and the United States, Thailand and the Struggle for South-East Asia, Thailand and the United States, South-East Asia's Second Front, South Asia, International Economic Integration, Communist Economic Challenge, The Third World, The Economics of Competitive Coexistence, U.S, The Western Hemisphere Idea: Its Rise and Decline, American Support of Free Elections Abroad, The United States and Latin American Wars 1932–1942, The Unwritten Alliance, The Pan-American Federation of Labor, A Latin American Common Market?, Proceedings of a Seminar on Commonwealth Responsibilities for Security in the Indo-Pacific Region. Australian Institute of International Affairs and the Australian National University Defence Studies Project, The Anzus Treaty Alliance, Australian Policies and Attitudes Towards China, World Politics in the General Assembly, The United Nations in the Balance, United Nations: Then and now, The Glasshouse: The United Nations in Action, The Trauma of Decolonization: The Dutch and West New Guinea, De L'Impérialisme À La Décolonisation, Self-Determination Revisited in the Era of Decolonisation, The Elephants and the Grass, Afro-Asia and Non-Alignment

1967 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-289
Author(s):  
Michael Levin ◽  
J. W. N. Watkins ◽  
A. S. Skinner ◽  
Alan Ryan ◽  
John Plamenatz ◽  
...  

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