Symposia & Conferences
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Item Buddha and Jaina Dhamma for Peace and Harmony(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2017) Dissanayake, D.For us to bring peace and harmony to the world, first of all we must get rid of the terms like Buddhism and Jainism. We could trace back the "isms" to Max Weber who tried to label the Dhamma as "heterodox Hinduism" after creating "Hinduism", to pull down the entire Eastern Dhamma to the level of their own revealed "religions". First, let us get rid of the concept of "religion" as given to us by the West. In early historic Asia, there could not have been any "religions" as we know them today. There could have been individual beliefs, and also group participations in rites and rituals, but probably with no labels. The common people would not have been labeled as Buddhists or Jains or even Hindus. Even the ruling elites, or officials, would not have identified themselves as belonging to one particular practice. We find it very clearly in the life and legend of Ashoka. Let us try to convince all human beings of all faiths, that our Dhamma, Buddhist, Jain or Hindu, is a universal truth, which can be accepted by all, without denying or even compromising their own faith and practice. Let us forget all labels, but try to understand the universal truth found in Buddha and Jain Dhamma and thus bring peace and harmony to all life on earth, irrespective of their faith.Item Symbolism of Elephants in Buddhist Art and Religion(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Kejriwal, M.“It is better to live alone, there is no companionship with a fool; let a man walk alone, let him commit no sin (let him do) with few wishes, like an elephant in the forest.” - Buddha 330, Dhammapada Through theorising Buddhist teachings and the parable of elephants, one gets to know the value of elephants from a Buddhist perspective. In Asian culture, living symbols are a significant aspect of religion; the image of an elephant symbolizes wisdom and strength. The Asian elephants are admired for their memory power and intelligence. Symbols are not just a cultural creation but are the manifestation of mental creation, an inner vision, experienced at a much deeper level by Buddhists. In a Buddhist context symbolism represents certain aspects of Buddha dharma through Buddhist art. The Buddhists relate the symbolism to the karmic activity that manifests in the physical world. Elephants in Buddhism are regarded as one of the ratna of the seven royal ratna of Chakravartin King. These ratnas were used as symbols and motifs in the earliest Buddhist art of Amaravati and Nagarjunikonda stupas. Elephants in Buddhist art and religion if understood from the perspective of symbolism, carry intellectual intent apart from their socio-cultural, psychological and aesthetical aspects. This paper will be an attempt to explore the representation of elephants in Buddhist art and religion from the perspective of symbolism.Item Elephants and Gods: A Sacred Alliance(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Palande-Datar, S.K.; Khare, A.V.Stories of elephant in life and legends have captured the imagination for the countless generations of Indian subcontinent. The very form of the elephant triggers awe, delight and extraordinary grandeur, in one’s mind. Thus, it is no wonder that it has been assimilated and internalised in legends and stories of Indian subcontinent. Throughout the history, cannons of all the three main religious traditions of India are filled with mythological stories where elephants are part of central story, in association with Gods and Goddesses. Both malevolent and benevolent aspects of elephants are superbly utilised in the description of deity and/or mythological narratives. Various shilpa texts further stress and elaborate on the iconographic elephant association, brought out by these sacred texts. These iconological associations take its form in the sculptural compositions found in religious complexes across Indian subcontinent. So much so, that the very deity can be identified with the specific elephant aspect. The common examples are easily observed in the story of Ganeśa or in the form of Gaja-Lakṣmī. The paper, thus, aims at tracing this sacred alliance between elephants and religious pantheons in Brahmanical, Jaina and Buddhist traditions of India through prominent examples. It attempts to comparatively evaluate the textual narratives and sculptural art.Item Ancient Religious and Astronomical Symbols – A Reappraisal(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Srivastav, O.P.Symbols have the pivotal role in any society or any culture of mankind. You cannot think of a society without any symbols. Symbols are used to relate a tangible object with an intangible concept. Symbols give meaning to objects, so members can identify each other. As far as the importance of symbols is concerned, humans would essentially be even less organized in groups without the sets of symbols that are associated with each culture. Another significant characteristic of symbols is its concurrence with religion. Religion itself is based on a belief in the supernatural power or God. However, symbolism started playing a significant role in trying to explain the different aspects of their respective religions. Every religion has its own body of symbols which suggests the ultimate reality, the deity and other spiritual truths. There are religious symbols, like ‘swastika, AUM, Cross or the crescent moon to name a few. Buddhism is very symbolic. The whole world knows eight auspicious symbols. A variety of Hindu symbols are used in art, sacred objects and ritual. They usually signify Hindu concepts, the attributes of deities, or the gods or goddesses themselves. No religion is so replete with symbols as this ancient religion and all Hindus are touched by this all-pervasive symbolism all through the life in some way or the other.Item Buddhist view of other Religions(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Peiris, H.R.N.Religions make individuals more social friendly as its teachings mainly focusing on social responsibilities. Yet, conflict among the devotees of different religions can be seen very commonly in the modern world. Misunderstanding of one’s own religion is the main reason for these conflicts. The purpose of this research is to understand the Buddhist point of view on other religions. Documentary study is the method used in this research. The religion of a person can be defined as ones point of view on self and the world. Buddhist teachings name these views as ‘Dhitthi – viewpoint. According to Buddhist teachings, individual viewpoint on self and world can be categorized under sixty two types. Based on the effect each viewpoint is having on the individual, these sixty two types can be divided into two main groups. Without bias to any of the two groups, Buddhist teachings are encouraging individual to follow the middle path which is not leading to any extreme. For that, individual should become independent and open minded regarding the concepts of self and the world. Buddhist teachings even give the freedom to test and criticize Buddha, Doctrine, and also the followers, and also encourage individuals to check on whether the criticisms are true or false. Buddha discouraged one’s blind faith even on Buddha, Doctrine and the Disciples. He encourages to be more critical and test before to check on whether to have faith in Buddha, Doctrine and the Disciples. On the other hand, Buddhist teachings give ten reasons which should not be used to follow a religion to have faith on anything. And also gives indicators to identify the positive aspects of any religious teaching based on the outcome. The Buddha advises his followers to respect to other viewpoints. He also emphasizes that each individual has the right to have one’s own viewpoint. Others should not disturb the right.Item Role of Religious Leaders in Post -War Peacebuilding: An Analysis of John Pol Lederarch’s Peace Building Pyramid(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Herath, O.A post war period is the interval immediately following an end of a war. The end of a war is generally expected to be followed by an end to collective violence. However, post war societies often consist of certain generic features that trigger violence. Hence long lasting peace building efforts that address the root causes of the war should be implemented. Peacebuilding is known as the practical implementation of peaceful social change through socio-economic reconstruction and development and various subject experts have expressed their views on how peacebuilding should be done in a post war society. John Paul Lederach’s ideas are the most important among them because he has answered this question by using a diagram called “a peacebuilding pyramid” that describes the actors on social levels and what actions are best taken at each level. The levels are: top elite, the middle-range, and the grassroots. Religious leaders are included in middle level and the pyramid explores the role of religious leaders in peace building. The objective of the study is to understand the role of religion in a post war context. In order to achieve this objective the research has been conducted in two ways; analysing John Pol Lederach’s Peacebuilding Pyramid and collecting public opinions of a selected sample. In order to gather the data, a sample consisting of 20 religious leaders were chosen. A simple random sampling approach was used to select the sample. Both primary and secondary data were used in conducting the research. To collect the required primary data, the interview method was used and secondary data was collected using books, magazines and websites. Data has been analysed qualitatively. Among the conclusions that were derived, the major factors can be extracted accordingly; John Pol Lederach’s Peacebuilding pyramid has given better practical and effective community based interventions that can be recommended to rebuild strengths, adaptation, coping strategies and resilience and in that context religious leaders have an important role. The values contained in the teachings of great religious teachings are essential to eradicate root causes of conflicts. Additionally, attributes of religions including reliability as a trusted institution, a respected set of values, moral warrants for opposing injustice on the part of governments, unique leverage for promoting reconciliation among conflicting parties, a capacity to mobilize communities are important in promoting peace and reconciliation.