(IBRIC)
The International Buddhist Research & Information Center was established in June, 1995 with Bhikkhu Dhammavihari (formerly Professor Jotiya Dhirasekera) as its director. It has a number of projects in hand, including:
ACCORDING TO THE PALI CANON OR TRIPITAKA
FROM SRI LANKA
Hence this presentation from Sri Lanka where Pali Buddhist texts were committed to writing as far back as the first century A.D. These Pali texts also preserve what is generally known as the Theravada tradition as against the Mahayana of the Sanskrit texts. As source books for Buddhist studies, they have a better claim to historical antiquity and authenticity.
In this series we plan to present brief studies on the basic concepts of early Buddhism. We begin with man and the world he lives in. Drawing on the wisdom of ancient India, the Buddha starts at a relevant point in evolution of man. As the Buddha or the Enlightened One, he is more clear and specific in his analyses, and assessments and in his answers to meaningful questions put to him. Our fortnightly studies center on them. Studies in this series are presently provided by Bhikkhu Dhammavihari.
Our endeavour to teach and study the Pali language
via the Internet is to enable many more people to have easier access to
Buddhist teachings. We would therefore be introducing the language, more
from its early classical angle as used in the earlier stratum of literature.
While we would provide the entire supply of reading material through our
Tutorial-Guide-system, the students would be well advised to have access
to some standard Pali/English dictionaries. A continuous feedback from
the student body would always be highly appreciated.
Scholars who have specific questions based
on the Tripitaka texts, would be provided the nessasary data, by searching
texts and giving references to the relevant suttas. Contact: ibric@sri.lanka.net
IBRIC also intends to conduct original studies based on the machine-readable version of the Tripitaka, in collaboration with scholars worldwide. These would research into the application of Buddhist thought from the Canon to current studies in religion and philosophy, as well as to the study of the arts in Buddhist history and in the social sciences.