Walpola Rahula Thera | |
|---|---|
| Title | Professor |
| Personal life | |
| Born | (1907-05-09)9 May 1907 Walpola,Sri Lanka |
| Died | 18 September 1997(1997-09-18) (aged 90) Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | Theravada |
Walpola Rahula Thera (9 May 1907–18 September 1997) was aSri LankanBuddhist monk,scholar and writer. In 1964, he became the Professor of History and Religions atNorthwestern University, thus becoming the firstbhikkhu to hold a professorial chair in the Western world.[1] He also once held the position of Vice-Chancellor at the thenVidyodaya University (currently known as theUniversity of Sri Jayewardenepura). He has written extensively about Buddhism in English, French andSinhala. He wrote the bookWhat the Buddha Taught aboutTheravada Buddhism.[2]
He was born on 9 May 1907 at Walpola, a small village in the Galle district of southern Sri Lanka.[3] At thirteen, he entered theSangha. His education coveredSinhala,Pali,Sanskrit, Buddhism, history and philosophy. He studied at theVidyalankara Pirivena and at theUniversity of Ceylon, where he associated withE. F. C. Ludowyk,G. P. Malalasekera,E. W. Adikaram and other scholars. After his period at the Sorbonne, he became Vice-Chancellor ofVidyodaya University. He was noted not only for his erudition but also for his strong socialist views, as well as his belief that monks have a duty to play a role in guiding the political consciousness of the people. His bookBhikshuvakage Urumaya (Heritage of the Bhikkhu) was a strong voice in the Buddhist Nationalist movement that led to the 1956 electoral victory ofSolomon Bandaranaike. He left Vidyodaya University in 1969, due to political differences with the government of the day. Thereafter, he returned to the West and worked in many academic institutions in Europe. He returned to Sri Lanka during his last days, and lived in the temple near the New Parliament in Kotte, until his death.[citation needed]
Rahula Thera attended Ceylon university (now known as theUniversity of Peradeniya). He obtained a B.A. Honours degree (London), and then earned a Doctorate of Philosophy, having written a thesis on the History of Buddhism in Sri Lanka (Ceylon). Then he went on to study Indian Philosophy atCalcutta University and later studiedMahayana at theSorbonne. It was during his time at the Sorbonne in the late 1950s that he producedWhat the Buddha Taught, a widely read and highly influential[4][5] introductory text on Buddhism, for which he is best known.
Walpola Rahula Thera is the first Buddhist monk to become a professor in a Western University. When he became Professor of History and Literature of Religions there were no Theravada Temples in the United States. He later became a Professor Emeritus at the same university. Rahula also held positions at several other American Universities. He was a visiting lecturer atSwarthmore College and Regents Lecturer atUCLA. He became Vice-Chancellor of Vidyoda University (now Sri Jayawardhanapura University) in 1964. He was later instrumental in encouraging the formation of the first Theravada temple in the United States, the Washington Buddhist Vihara, located in Washington, D.C.
In 1950, on the recommendation ofPaul Demiéville, a member and professor at theCollège de France, he was awarded a grant by the French government to studyMahayana Buddhism as taught byAsanga, an Indian monk and philosopher from the 4th century AD. Although Walpola Rahula belonged to the "Way of the elders" (Theravada) tradition, he had expressed the wish to "learn the practice of Tibetan and Chinese texts in order to broaden hisecumenism".[6]
Rahula Thera was awarded several titles during his lifetime. The highest honorary title,Tripitakavagisvaracarya (Supreme Master of Buddhist Scriptures), was given him by Sri Kalyapi Samagri Sanghasabha (the Chapter of theSangha in Sri Lanka) in 1965, with the qualificationSri (Gracious), a title held by only two or three scholars in Sri Lanka. He was also awarded the title "Aggamaha Panditha" from Burma.
Rahula Thera wrote extensively about Theravada Buddhism. Apart from his world-renowned bookWhat the Buddha Taught, he published an enormous number of papers on Buddhism. Notable books written by him include,History of Buddhism in Ceylon,Heritage of the Bhikkhu,Zen and the Taming of the Bull andLe Compendium de la Super Doctrine (French).
He (Walpola Rahula Thero) was the first Buddhist monk to occupy a professorial chair in a western university - Northwestern University in Chicago
.svg)
