Yakupitiyage Karunadasa is 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 scholar in

Buddhist Studies Buddhist studies, also known as Buddhology, is the academic study of Buddhism. The term ''Buddhology'' was coined in the early 20th century by the Unitarian minister Joseph Estlin Carpenter to mean the "study of Buddhahood, the nature of the Bud ...

. His main areas of specialization are Early Buddhism and

Theravada ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' (anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhi ...

Abidhamma.

Education and career

Y. Karunadasa obtained a First Class Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...

in 1958, a Ph.D. from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in 1963, and was awarded an honorary D.Litt. by the

University of Kelaniya The University of Kelaniya (UoK; , ) is a public university in Sri Lanka. Just outside the municipal limits of Colombo, in the city of Kelaniya, the university has two major institutions and seven faculties. History The University of Kelaniy ...

in 2002. He is an emeritus Professor of the

, where he served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and as the Director of its Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies. He has also served as the Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai Visiting professor of

at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

of the

, as Distinguished Numata Chair Professor at the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

, and as Tung Lin Kok Yuen Visiting professor of Buddhist Studies at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. Currently he teaches at the Center of Buddhist Studies of the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

as the MaMa Charitable Foundation Visiting professor. In 1997 he was felicitated with a volume of articles on Buddhist Studies written by his colleagues. In 2005 he was decorated with the title of Sri Lanka Sikhamani by the Government of

in recognition of his meritorious service to the country of his birth.

Publications

Books

*''The Buddhist Analysis of Matter'', (reprinted), The Buddhist Research Society, Singapore, 1989, pp. I-XVIII, 1986. *''The Dhamma Theory: Philosophical Cornerstone of the Abhidhamma'', Wheel Publications No. 412/413, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, 1996. *''The Atthakatha Correspondence Table'', in collaboration with Sodo Mori and T. Endo, Pali Text Society, London, 1995 Mori, Sodo, Y. Karunadasa & Toshiichi Endo (1994). Pali Atthakatha Correspondence Table. Oxford: Pali Text Society.

Atthakatha Aṭṭhakathā (Pali for explanation, commentary) refers to Pali-language Theravadin Buddhist commentaries to the canonical Theravadin Tipitaka. These commentaries give the traditional interpretations of the scriptures. The major commentaries ...

*''Theravada Abhidhamma : its inquiry into the nature of conditioned reality'' Published by Centre for Buddhist Studies,

Hong Kong University The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

, 2010 *''Early Buddhist Teachings: The Middle Position in Theory and Practice'' Published by Centre for Buddhist Studies,

, 2013

References

External links

Buddhist scholar draws crowd to campus for lecture on time and space

A Thoughtful Life: Professor Karunadasa Looks Back on His Career, Teaching, and Buddhist Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karunadasa, Y Living people 1934 births Sri Lankan scholars of Buddhism Theravada Buddhism writers Sri Lankan philosophers Alumni of the University of London Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya) Sinhalese people Sri Lankan academics Sri Lankan Buddhists Sri Lanka Sikhamani