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Story of each Vesak Celebrations |
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History of UN Day of Vesak Celebrations
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International Council of the United Nations Day of Vesak |
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International Association of Buddhist Universities |
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Officers and Location |
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For Buddhajayanti: The Celebration of 2600 Years of the Buddha's Enlightenment |
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The Most Venerable Professor Dr. Phra Dharmakosajarn is currently Rector of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU), Ecclesiastical Governor of Region II, Chief Abbot of Wat Prayurawongsawat in Bangkok, and a member of the Secretariat to the Executive Committee for the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand.
He was born on September 17th, 1955, in Suphan Buri Province, and entered the monastic life as a novice at the age of 12. In 1976, while still a novice, he completed the highest degree of traditional Pali Studies in Thailand, Pali Grade IX. In the same year, His Majesty, the King of Thailand, sponsored his higher ordination in the temple of the Emerald Buddha.
Two years later, he received his Bachelorย's degree in Philosophy, with first-class honors, from MCU. He then entered the University of Delhi, India, where he obtained the Diploma in French, an M.A., M.Phil. and a Doctorate. His Ph.D. thesis, written in English and published as: Selflessness in Sartreย's Existentialism and Early Buddhism, has been very popular and reprinted many times.
After receiving his Doctorate, he lectured for a time at MCU. In 1986, the Thai Sangha Supreme Council posted him to the Thai Buddhist Temple in Chicago, U.S.A. as a Dhammaduta (missionary monk). He returned to MCU to serve as Director of the Academic Division and later served as the first Dean of the Graduate school, Deputy Rector for Research and Planning, and Deputy Rector for Academic Affairs. His Holiness, the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, made him Rector of MCU 1997, and a year later appointed him Ecclesiastical Governor of Region II covering the provinces of Ayutthaya, Saraburi, and Ang Thong.
Apart from Sangha administrative work, he is one of Thailandย's scholar monks, and the author of more than 60 books on Buddhism and philosophy. His published works in Thai and English include, among others, History of Greek Philosophy; A Buddhist Approach to Peace; Buddhist Morality; Buddhist Worldview; and International Recognition of the Day of Vesak.
He has been invited to give Dhamma talks on Thai radio and television and has, for the past twenty years, annually delivered lectures not only throughout Thailand but also around the world, including a series of Dhamma lectures in the United States. In 1994 alone, he presented papers at the Symposium of the General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, held in Bangkok, and at the Religious Leaders Seminar, held in connection with the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, Egypt.
In August 2000, he was invited to give a lecture, entitled A Buddhist View on Conflict Resolution, to the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders at the United Nations in New York. Three months later, he delivered the distinguished lecture, Buddhism Propagation for Word Peace, at the Second World Buddhist Propagation Conference (Buddhist Summit) at Buddhamonthon, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
In recognition of his academic work and dedication to society as a whole, His Majesty, the King of Thailand, on December 16, 2003, graciously appointed him to the position of Professor of Philosophy at MCU.
He was Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Second Buddhist Summit, co-hosted by MCU and the Nenbutsushu Buddhist sect of Japan. The conference was held from November 9-11, 2000 in order to exchange ideas and techniques for propagating Buddhism, to build friendships among world Buddhist leaders and to celebrate the 72nd Anniversary of the Birth of His Majesty, the King of Thailand.
In addition, he acted as Chairman of the Organizing Committee launching the Founding Meeting of the World Council of Religious Leaders (WCRL) held at Buddhamonthon and at UNESCAP from June 12-14, 2002.
Two years later, he acted similarly as Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Board Meeting of the WCRL held, in conjunction with the World Youth Peace Summit (WYPS), at Buddhamonthon, from February 24-29, 2004. He once again acted as Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the First International Buddhist Conference (IBC) Working as One: Buddhist Unity and Cooperation, held at Buddhamonthon and at UNESCAP, Bangkok, from July 16-20, 2004, and has, since then, been the main architect and Chairman of the United Nations Day of Vesak celebrations held in Thailand. He has continued to act as Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 2nd and 3rd IBC on the United Nations Day of Vesak, in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
He is chairman of IOC for the 4th IBC on the United Nations Day of Vesak to be held from May 26-29, 2007.
Previously known as Phra Maha Prayoon Mererk, Phra Methithammaphon, Phra Rajavaramuni, and Phra Thepsophon, he was given the new title of Phra Dharmakosajarn by His Majesty, the King of Thailand, on December 5th, 2005 in recognition of his continuing contributions to the Sangha and the broader society
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The Most Venerable Professor Phra Dharmakosajarn, PhD (Delhi),
Rector, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Thailand
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Venerable Xue Chen,
Vice President, Buddhist Association of China & Buddhist Academy, Beijing, China
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Professor Le Manh That (Most Ven. Thich Tri Sieu) is not only an extraordinary
Buddhist scholar, but a national and international hero as well. His courage is an inspiration
to the Vietnamese people and the Human Rights Community worldwide.Born in 1944 in
Quang Tri provine, Ven. Le Manh That ordained at the age of twelve.He received his BA in
Philosophy and Pedagogy from the University of Saigon in 1965 and his PhD from the
University of Wisconsin in 1974 for his research on Vasubandhu.He thereafter lectured and
pursued research at the Van Hanh University and the Van Hanh Buddhist Research institute
in the fields of Indic languages and philosophy and the history of Vietnamese Buddhism.
In 1984, Ven. Le Manh That was arrested for political reasons. He was held for four
years without trial, and was sentenced to death in 1988, unjustly convicted of plotting to overthrow the People's Government. Due to national and international outrage,
Ven. Le Manh That's sentence was commuted to 20 years in prison. He served half of this time,
much of it in solitary confinement, in Camp Z230A, Dong Nai, before being released in 1998. |
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Acting Rector, Vietnam Buddhist University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
dhpgvn@vbu.vn
Member, Vietnam
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Prof. Dr. Chisho M. Namai,D.Litt.,
Former President & Director of the Research Institute of Esoteric Buddhist Culture, Koyasan University, Japan
namai@koyasan-u.ac.jp |
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Venerable Khammai Dhammasam was born in 1965 in the Shan State. He ordained
as a novice as a teenager at a branch of the Mahasi Meditation Center. He received his first
degree in Buddhist Literature from Sasana Mandaing Pali University in Burma in 1985, which
he completed in only a year. Also in 1985 he received first prize in the Shan State annual
Sangha examination. He proceeded to receive MAs at the Buddhist and Pali University of
Sri Lanka and the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies. In 2004, he received
his DPhil from Oxford for his thesis on Monastic Education in Burma and Thailand over the
last four centuries.In addition to his position in IABU, he presently serves as a trustee
of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and the Abbot of the Oxford Buddhist Vihara.
Venerable Dhammasami is proficient in Shan, Burmese, English, Pali, Thai and
Sanskrit, and competent in aural Sinhala and Laotian. He has served as a lecturer at the
Sasana Mandaing Pali University, the YMBA in Colombo, and the World Buddhist Foundation. |
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Research Associate, The Centre for Buddhist Studies, SOAS, University of London, UK. Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, University of Oxford, UK and Professor, International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University (ITBMU), Yangon, Myanmar
oxford.k.dhammasami@googlemail.com
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| APPOINTED |
July 28, 2549 |
| BIRTH DATE |
September 28, 2503 |
| BIRTH PLACE |
T. Lokklang, A. Lambalaimat, Buriram Province |
| EDUCATION |
Pali IX |
| BACKGROUND |
Bachelor of Liberal Arts, Sukothai Dharma University
M.A. (Buddhist Studies), Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya
Ph.D.(Pali&Buddhist Studies), BHU, India
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| WORK EXPERIENCE |
Permanent Academic Division Officer, 2537
Acting Director of Academic Section, 2538
Director of Academic Division, 2540
Acting Deputy Dean of Graduate School, 2540
Acting Dean of Graduate School, 2541
Dean of Graduate School, 2541 (appointed first time)
Dean of Graduate School, 2545 (appointed second time)
Acting Rector of Academic Section, 2549
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| ACADEMIC POSITION |
Associate Professor of Department of Buddhism, Faculty of Buddhism |
| AWARD |
Inventor Advantage Award (Semadhammacakkara), a kind encourging Buddhist Education, branch of Buddhist book writing |
| PUBLICATIONS |
-Mahayana Buddhism: development and its essence (Thai edition),2000
-Buddhist Philosophy: essences and development(Thai edition), 2001
-Buddhism and modern technology(Thai edition), 2002
-Tibetan Buddhist Culture(Thai edition), 2004
Translating Works:
-development of Buddhist Ethics, 1993
-Karma and Rebirth, 1992
-Development of thoughts in the pattern of ancient Indian, 1993
-Basic Buddhist Views, 1993
-Philosophy of Nargajuna, 1993
-Mahayana Buddhism, 1993
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| ARTICLES(THAI) |
-Vajarayana's analysis, 1994
-Nargajuna with contractary of time, existence, and in-existence, 1995
-Introduction to Vinayapitaka, 1995
-Philosophy of Madhyamika, 1997
-Search of Logics in Tripitaka and Buddhist Literature, 1997
-Critics of Aristotle's middle path and Buddhist Majjhimapada of Theravada, 1998
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| OFFICE ADDRESS |
Mahachulalongkornrajavityalaya University Room 101, 1st floor, Mahachula Building, Tha-Phracan, Phranakorn District, Bangkok 10200. |
| HOME ADDRESS |
Wat Pak Nam, Bhasicharoen (Phasi Charoen), Bangkok 10600 |
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Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Thailand
somjin@mcu.ac.th
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Dr. Tamas Agocs, PhD (Budapest National University),
Foreign Relations Manager & Director of East West Research Institute, Budapest Buddhist University, Hungary
agocsster@gmail.com |
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| Ven. Professor Geshe Ngawang Samten (b. 1956) is presently the Vice Chancellor of Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi, and has been Professor of Indian Buddhist Philosophy at the University before assuming the high office. He is educated both in the modern system as well as in the Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in the monastic mode. He has such important publications to his credit, as a definitive critical edition of Ratnavali with commentary, Abhidhammathasamgaho; Sanskrit and Tibetan versions of the Pindikrita and the Pancakrama of Nagarjuna; Manjusri, an illustrated monograph on Tibetan Buddhist scroll paintings, and co-authored The Ocean of Reasoning, (Oxford University Press, New York) an annotated English translation of the commentary on Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamaka Karika by the Tibetan master-philosopher Tson-Kha-Pa. And scores of papers in various learned anthologies published in India and abroad. He has been Visiting Professor in various Universities and colleges in USA and Australia. He has also been instrumental in promoting Buddhist Studies in India. Various Indian Universities have sought his guidance and advice in the matter of formulating their syllabi of Buddhist philosophy and researches. He strongly advocates to make the education system instrumental in transforming the students through inculcation of value along with development of skills in various fields. He is on numerous academic bodies, Universities within and outside India, and expert committees of the Ministries of Government of India. In 2008, he was decorated with Padma Shri by the President of India in recognition of his distinguished services in the fields of education and literature. |
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The Most Venerable Dr. Ashin Nyanissara, PhD., D.Litt.,
Chancellor, Sitagu International Buddhist Academy, Myanmar
tln3star@myanmar.com.mm
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Prof. Sumanapala Galmangoda, PhD (Kelaniya),
Director, Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies & Senior Professor, Department of Pail and Buddhist Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
galman@sltnet.lk |
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The Most Venerable Ching Hsing, PhD,
Ching Cheuh Buddhist Sangha University, Chinese-Taipei
wusungshyi@hotmail.com |
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Venerable Prof. Geshe Gnawang Samten,
Director/Rector, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, India
vcoffice.cuts@gmail.com
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Ordained at the age of 18, Venerable Prof. Preah Tepsattha Khy Sovanratana earned his B.A and M.A degrees in Buddhist Philosophy from Sri Lanka. He also received a Master degree in Public Law, a Post Graduate Diploma in Education and a Diploma in Public Administration from Cambodia. He is a Rajagana Fourth Class (Royal Title), a Vice-Rector of Sihanouk Buddhist University, Phnom Penh, and the Acting Secretary-General of Cambodian Interreligious Council. He is also a founder Executive Council Member of International Association of Buddhist Universities (IABU) and Association of Theravada Buddhist Universities (ATBU). He has presented numerous papers at inter-religious and academic conferences in Cambodia and abroad. Having won a research scholarship from the Indian Government, he is currently pursuing a PhD in Buddhist Philosophy in India. |
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Venerable Prof. Tepsattha Sovanratana, MA (Kelaniya),
Vice Rector, Preah Sihanouk Raja Buddhist University, Cambodia
sovanratana@yahoo.com
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Prof. Philip Stanley, PhD (Chicago),
Chair, Department of Religious Studies, Naropa University, Colorado, USA
philstanley@comcast.net
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Dr. Rabindra Panth, PhD (Delhi),
Director/Rector, Nalanda University (Nalanda Mahavihar), India
nnmdirector@sify.com |
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