Societies and Outreach Programmes

Peradeniya Forum of Buddhist Studies

The PFBS was formed to conduct such activities as special seminars, lectures, social events, and publications for the betterment of the members of the Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, to promote links with the past students and teachers of the Department, and to promote the good image of the Department locally and internationally. Those who wish to obtain membership please contact Prof. P.D. Premasiri, Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Peradeniya (email: palibuddhist@pdn.ac.lk )

Udana

‘Udana Outing’ (Joyful Outing) was the response to the aftermath of the tsunami on the part of a new society formed jointly by the Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies of the University of Peradeniya and the Nilambe Meditation Centre. The idea was to invite affected children and parents to Kandy, the beautiful hilly town away from the sea and the affected area to simply give them a ‘good time’.

The ‘Udana Outing’ was run and conducted by Sri Lankans for Sri Lankans. Our vision and mission was and is to empower Sri Lankans to heal Sri Lankans and to see the disaster as a challenge to those committed to the task of the betterment of this beloved country.

Five Udana Outings have been conducted where 130 children from the affected areas of the North and North East participated. The program received glowing reports from the teachers and principals of schools on the favourable responses of the children towards the benefits of the programme. The children returned home encouraged that their plight had not been forgotten.

We kept our promise to entertain them and give them good time. It was not easy as the children were not trusting us to start with and as one of the girls on the last night said in her speech ‘So many promises are made to us and we find that somehow they are not fulfilled. We have been through the war and had two years of respite. Now it’s the tsunami. We felt that we are the forgotten people or maybe not. We are encouraged to go back and to face our difficulties courageously since now we feel we are not alone’. On departing one of the teachers said ‘I have not slept since the tsunami day and these are the first nights I had of peaceful sleep since then’.

Udana has now set apart Rs. 1,000,000.00 for scholarships to new entrants to the University of Peradeniya from tsunami-affected families. The Society is also in the process of depositing Rs. 10,000.00 each for the benefit of school children who participated in the Udana Outings programme.

Society for the Integration of Science and Human Values (SISHV)

The Society for the Integration of Science and Human Value (SISHVa) is a member The Local Societies Initiatives that have societies in thirty seven countries. The Local Societiea is one of the projects intiated by the Metanexus Institutes; Metanexus Institute is a Philadelphia-based educational center that promotes the engagement between science and religion from a religious perspective. It seeks to advance research, education and outreach on the interplay of religion and science.

SISHVa takes into account the fact that in the Sri Lankan context the major religious tradition that has influenced people’s thinking and behaviour is Buddhism. While recognizing the significance of other major religious traditions that have a deeply humanizing influence the special focus of the group will be on the integration of science and human values based on the doctrinal elements contained in the Buddhist tradition.

The society seeks to make people aware of the fact that the parting of ways between those who recognize the value of science and those who recognize the wisdom contained in spiritual traditions is due to a lack of an understanding of the underlying unity and the possibility of integrating these two seemingly divergent modes of human thought. A narrow materialistic

scientism is as damaging as a narrow spiritualistic idealism. Modern man can no longer reject science. Nor can he restrict himself to a lifestyle devoid of moral and spiritual concerns.

The Society main objective is to dispel certain established myths and dogmas and open up new avenues of thinking that could lead to a more complete realization of the human potential.

In the first year of the Society held five Dialogues and numerous other activities that were attended both by the academia and the general public. The Societies is in the process of publishing the proceeding from the talks given in the various Dialogues.

The Society proposed programs for the second year :

Topics for 2006-2007

Joy of Knowledge

The Society for the Integration of Science and Human Values (SISHVa) is one among The Local Societies Initiatives established in forty different countries under the Metanexus Institute, which is a Philadelphia-based educational center that promotes the engagement between science and religion. The Metanexus Institute seeks to advance research, education and outreach on the interface between religion and science.

SISHVa takes into account the fact that in the Sri Lankan context the major religious tradition that has influenced people’s thinking and behaviour is Buddhism. While recognizing the significance of other major religious traditions that have a deeply humanizing influence the special focus of the group will be on the integration of science and human values based on the doctrinal elements contained in the Buddhist tradition.

The society seeks to make people aware of the fact that the parting of ways between those who recognize the value of science and those who recognize the wisdom contained in spiritual traditions is due to a lack of an understanding of the underlying unity and the possibility of integrating these two seemingly divergent modes of human thought. A narrow materialistic scientism is as damaging as a narrow spiritualistic idealism. Modern humans can no longer reject science. Nor can they restrict themselves to a lifestyle devoid of moral and spiritual concerns.

The Society’s main objective is to dispel certain established myths and dogmas and open up new avenues of thinking that could lead to a more complete realization of the human potential.

The Society was established in May 2005 and in the first year of its activities it held five Dialogues and one guest lecture on themes relevant to the relationship between science and human values. These activities proved to be extremely educative. The dialogues and lectures organized by SISHVa were attended both by the academia and the general public. The Society has now begun the process of publishing some of the illuminating presentations made by eminent speakers in the various lecture and Dialogue sessions.

The Society proposes to focus attention on “Religion, Science and Human Behaviour in the second year of its activities. The following topics have been selected for special study: