From recent times there has been a marked increase in the numberof books published on Buddhism and related subjects in Sinhala. A majority of them are published by well known publishing houses. There are also some publishers who are either publishing only books on Buddhism or, at least, are giving preference to such publications over books on other subjects. Consequently, there are over a dozen
of new arrivals on display monthly.

What all these indicate is that books on Buddhism have a good demand, for, otherwise no publisher would venture to undertake such
publications. In fact, the general opinion of publishers is that books on Buddhism have a fast growing market, and from sales point of view they come second or third only to novels and such other literary works.

This really is a noteworthy development, specially when considered against the economic background of the average reader of such books. Most of these readers come from the middle and lower middle classes, who are already overburdened with the regularly spiralling cost of living. When compared against their buying-power the prices of books are fairly on the high side. The fact that they opt to spend even a small portion of their meagre earnings on books on Buddhism very clearly shows the urge that is there in them to widen their knowledge about Buddhism.

Just as there is a quantitative increase in numbers among the reading public the books published show a very obvious improvement in the quality of printing. The publishers now have became very conscious of the need for utilizing modern techniques and knowhow in printing and producing books with a better get-up, if they are to win over a larger clientele and survive in this highly competitive book-publishing business.

Can the same be said about the quality of contents packed within the two covers of many books so published? Certainly one comes across very authentic, thought-provoking, readable books. But such works are few and far between.

A majority of these publications are full of inaccuracies, misrepresentations, speculative views and wrong interpretations. There is no need to underscore the fact that proliferation of such writings, though it helps to swell the numbers, is a hindrance to proper understanding of Buddhism.

This regrettable situation is due to a few misconceptions and shortcomings on the part of writers, which are avoidable and remediable. Many of these writers could be categorized as enthusiastic freelancers, if we are permitted to use the phrase. Many
of them have not followed Buddhism as an academic discipline. Most of them are not familiar with the “texts”. Their familiarity with authoritative secondary literature, too is not at all commendable. They mostly take hearsay, and undependable secondary writings as their primary sources.

As we all are aware none would dare to write on geography, history or political science and certainly not on any kind of science, unless one is qualified in
such fields. Yet, none would hesitate to write on Buddhism and, that too, on any aspect of it. So, it is natural to find that what most of them write contain
not what may reasonably by determined as what the Buddha taught, but what they simply ‘think’ to be the teaching of the Buddha.

Besides, there is a widely prevalent misconception that there is unlimited freedom of thought in Buddhism,and hence, each and everyone has the right to give his/her own interpretation to the Buddha’s teaching.While they unduly extend the limits of freedom of thought in Buddhism, most of them are unaware of the fact that the Buddha did not allow misrepresentations of his teaching to go unnoticed.Whenever such misrepresentations were brought tohis notice, the Buddha immediately took steps to correct them. He took serious note of such misrepresentations and admonished the misrepresenters most sternly.

The very purpose of writing books on Buddhism gets nullified if the contents of such writings are not accurate and authoritative. This does not mean that there should be any kind of outside censuring of such writings. While encouraging writers to engage in
writing quality stuff, they should be made aware that what they write have to be accurate, factual and supported by the ‘texts’. They should be cautioned
about the gravity of their undertaking. This is very necessary in order to maximise the benefits resulting from the growing interest shown both by writers and
readers of books on Buddhism.

In this regard it is very necessary to take a few initial constructive steps. One such step is to provide opportunity, to both writers and readers, to familiarize themselves with the canonical texts and the fundamental teachings as presented in them. Similarly, it would be of immense benefit to have workshops for writers where a little bit of methodology could be taught to them. Such methodology becomes very useful is using textual references as evidence for their views.

Another very useful remedial measure is to provide more opportunities, through different media and forums, for constructive criticism of books that come out of the press. This will help to evaluate the writings, highlight the good points and point out the shortcomings. This would certainly help to generate an interest for critical and enlightened study of Buddhism. Perhaps, the provision of translations of authoritative secondary writings, too, would serve a good purpose. A few simple remedial measures on these lines would make writers become aware of the importance of being thorough and authentic in what they write. They would then take ‘writing’ more
seriously. Such steps would help to drive into them the important fact that while there is room for interpretation, that such interpretations have to be done not on pure speculation but on sound logical grounds, supported by the texts.

While helping writers to produce better books, these steps would conduce to make readers more discriminating. They would develop an instinct to distinguish the good writings from the bad ones. This would certainly contribute to advance their knowledge on Buddhism, and also have an impact on the writers.

With the help and cooperation of the membership, SLABS is hoping to initiate a few of those proposed steps.