In the latter part of year 2002 a historic step was taken by the academic community of Sri Lanka which is interested in the promotion of Buddhist Studies as an academic discipline. That was the establishment of an association for Academics under the name of The Sri Lanka Association for Buddhist Studies. The establishment of such an association was long overdue in Sri Lanka. Associations with similar objectives had come into existence in other parts of the world long before the Sri Lankan academics thought it fit to form such a body.

At this point of time Buddhist Studies appear to be increasingly popular as an academic discipline in various parts of the world. However, it is to be noted that Sri Lanka is the only country in the world with a population that has a substantial Buddhist majority whose Buddhist inheritance can be traced back to over two thousand five hundred years. In the fifth century ACE Sri Lanka was the principal centre of Buddhist scholarship in South Asia. From that time onwards, the academic study of Theravada Buddhism, as well as the production of scholarly treatises on Theravada Buddhism, continued for many centuries until the stability of the Sri Lankan society and culture was threatened by repeated waves of foreign aggression. Sri Lanka made an epoch making contribution to the preservation of Buddhist learning by putting into writing the Theravada canon in the Pali language as early as the first century BCE. At least the Suttapitaka of the Pali canon can, with much justification, be held to be the most important source for the study of the teachings of the Buddha in its original form. The conceptual structures, ways of thinking and cultural patterns of the Sri Lankan Buddhist society have been fashioned over the centuries by its Buddhist philosophical and cultural heritage. This places the Sri Lankan scholar in a position of privilege even in the academic study of Buddhism. It is in recognition of this important fact that a considerable number of scholars from the outside world who are devoted to the academic study of Buddhism still look forward to a valuable contribution in this area of studies from Sri Lankan scholars.

In almost all Sri Lankan national universities, a place is given to academic programmes in Buddhist Studies. In addition to these, some institutions like the Buddhasravaka University in Anuradhapura, the Buddhist and Pali University of Homagama, and the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies in the Kelaniya University are specifically meant to promote such programmes. Outside the university system too, there are numerous organizations and individuals, who contribute to the dissemination of knowledge in this area by way of publications, talks, conferences, discussions etc. However, an academic body, which could co-ordinate the efforts of all these institutions, organizations and individuals was a long felt need. This need has been appropriately met by the establishment of the Sri Lanka Association of Buddhist Studies.

The future of Buddhist Studies in Sri Lanka as an academic discipline depends on the commitment of people who enter the sphere of higher education to pursue Buddhist Studies as part of a liberal arts education. The urgency is to find at least a few dedicated individuals who would have a continuing interest in the discipline to maintain high academic standards and also to open up new lines of research in the field. This aspiration can be realized only if such persons are drawn from among those who show the highest academic skills and merit. The prevailing conditions do not permit this, primarily because persons of such academic skill generally are attracted to areas of study which open to them better avenues of lucrative employment. There is, therefore, an urgent need to provide greater incentives in order to attract persons of a high academic calibre to this field of study. It is our belief that an organized body like the Association just formed has a great responsibility for creating greater awareness of this situation among concerned academics and scholars.

In a technocratically oriented world that is increasingly afflicted by conflict and turmoil due to the erosion of fundamental human values, academic discipline like Buddhist studies, could play an important role in giving philosophical and moral direction to society. All academics do not engage in the pursuit of Buddhist studies in order to seek practical moral direction for conducting the affairs of their lives. However, the academic study of Buddhism could, in a very significant way bring illumination even to those who show an interest in Buddhism with such an objective, by clearing their minds of dogmatic illusions and confused thinking. This is particularly important when one considers the extravagant claims made by some groups and individuals regarding their expertise in the knowledge of what “real” Buddhism is. No one who does not pursue certain basic norms of investigation into any field of study can make a claim to have acquired expert knowledge in it. However, it is evident that both in and outside Sri Lanka such claims are made by many with regard to Buddhism. Academic societies like ours have an important duty to be aware of such instances and appropriately respond to them.