Walpola Rahula Thero (9 May 1907–18 September 1997) was a
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
n
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
monk,
scholar
A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...
and writer. In 1964, he became the Professor of History and Religions at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
, thus becoming the first
bhikkhu
A ''bhikkhu'' (, ) is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male, and female monastics (''bhikkhunī''), are members of the Sangha (Buddhist community).
The lives of all Buddhist monastics are governed by a set of rules called the pratimok� ...
to hold a professorial chair in the Western world. He also once held the position of Vice-Chancellor at the then
Vidyodaya University (currently known as the
University of Sri Jayewardenepura). He has written extensively about Buddhism in English, French and
Sinhala. He wrote the book ''
What the Buddha Taught'' about
Theravada Buddhism.
Biography
He was born on 9 May 1907 at Walpola, a small village in the Galle district of southern Sri Lanka. At thirteen, he entered the
Sangha
Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...
. His education covered
Sinhala,
Pali
Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
,
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
, Buddhism, history and philosophy. He studied at the
Vidyalankara Pirivena and at the
University of Ceylon, where he associated with
E. F. C. Ludowyk,
G.P Malalasekera,
E. W. Adikaram and other scholars. After his period at the Sorbonne, he became Vice-Chancellor of
Vidyodaya 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 book ''Bhikshuvakage Urumaya'' (Heritage of the Bhikkhu) was a strong voice in the Buddhist Nationalist movement that led to the 1956 electoral victory of
Solomon 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.
Academic career
Rahula Thero attended Ceylon university (now known as the
University 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 at
Calcutta University and later studied
Mahayana
Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...
at the
Sorbonne. It was during his time at the Sorbonne in the late 1950s that he produced ''What the Buddha Taught'', a widely read and highly influential introductory text on Buddhism, for which he is best known.
Walpola Rahula Thero 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 at
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...
and Regents Lecturer at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
. 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 of
Paul Demiéville, a member and professor at the
Collège de France, he was awarded a grant by the French government to study
Mahayana Buddhism
Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main existing branches of Buddhism, the others being Thera ...
as taught by
Asanga, 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 his
ecumenism
Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...
''".
[ Paul Demiéville, foreword to the boo]
L'enseignement du Bouddha, d’après les textes les plus anciens.
Paris, Éditions du Seuil
Éditions du Seuil (), also known as Le Seuil, is a French publishing house established in 1935 by Catholic intellectual Jean Plaquevent (1901–1965), and currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The ''seuil'' (th ...
, collection « Points / Sagesses », 1961, reprint in 1974, 1978, 2009 and 2014, passage quoted pp. 7-8. (translation into French of What the Buddha Taught). Also available on Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
Titles
Rahula Thero was awarded several titles during his lifetime. The highest honorary title, ''Tripitakavagisvaracarya'' (Supreme Master of Buddhist Scriptures), was given him by Sri Kalyapi Samagri Sangha-sabha (the Chapter of the
Sangha
Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...
in Sri Lanka) in 1965, with the qualification ''Sri'' (Gracious), a title held by only two or three scholars in Sri Lanka. He was also awarded the title "Aggamaha Panditha" from Burma.
Publications
Rahula Thero wrote extensively about Theravada Buddhism. Apart from his world-renowned book ''
What 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'' and ''Le Compendium de la Super Doctrine'' (French).
* ''
What the Buddha Taught'' (1959, )
* ''History of Buddhism in Ceylon: The Anuradhapura period, 3rd Century BC – 10th Century AD'' (1966)
* ''Humour in Pali Literature and Other Essays'' (1997, )
* ''The Heritage of the Bhikkhu: A Short History of the Bhikkhu in Educational, Cultural, Social, and Political Life'' (1974, )
* ''Heritage of Bhikkhu'' (1974, )
* ''Zen and the Taming of the Bull: Towards the Definition of Buddhist Thought: Essays'' (1978, )
* ''The Heritage of the Bhikkhu: The Buddhist Tradition of Service'' (2003, )
See also
* "
Basic Points Unifying the Theravāda and the Mahāyāna" (1967/1981), developed by Ven. Rahula
References
Sources
*
*
*
External links
What the Buddha Taught A brief biographical sketch by Udaya Mallawarachchi. From the book ''Buddhist Studies in Honour of Walpola Rahula'', 1980,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahula, Walpola
1907 births
1997 deaths
University of Paris alumni
Sri Lankan scholars of Buddhism
Theravada Buddhism writers
Sri Lankan Buddhist monks
Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhists
Theravada Buddhist spiritual teachers
University of Calcutta alumni
Academic staff of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura
20th-century Buddhist monks
20th-century Sri Lankan monks
Sri Lankan recipients of Agga Maha Pandita