Lunch Dana and Talk on “Compassion: Our Hearts’ Coolness” Ven. Prof Mahinda Deegalle (23 Sept. 2023)
Please join us in offering Lunch Dana to Ven. Prof Mahinda Deegalle on 23 Sept, Saturday at 11.30am, a beautiful act of generosity and stay for 1.00pm Dhamma Talk on: Compassion: Our Hearts’ Coolness.
If you wish to offer Lunch Dana, please bring Cooked Vegetarian Food and Fruits to KMBS by 10.30 am.
Please contact:Bro Jon @ 012 373 2699 & Sis Julie Tan @ 016 270 2120 (Talk) & Sis Katherine @ 016 369 3816 (Dana)
Venerable Professor Mahinda Deegalle is a Professorial Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge and Professor Emeritus in Religions, Philosophies and Ethics, Bath Spa University, United Kingdom.
He is an ordained Theravāda Buddhist monk, trained in the discipline of the History of Religions and Buddhist Studies. He graduated from the University of Peradeniya (B.A. Hons), Harvard University (MTS) and The University of Chicago (Ph.D.). He has held Numata Visiting Professorship in Buddhist Studies at McGill University, Canada (2000) and NEH Professorship in Humanities at Colgate University, USA (2013, 2014–2015).
He has conducted post-doctoral research at Kyoto University (1995–96), Aichi Gakuin University (1997–99) and International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies, Japan (1999), under Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai. He has been awarded grants by the British Academy / Leverhulme Trust, British Council and Fulbright.
He is the author of Popularizing Buddhism: Preaching as Performance in Sri Lanka (State University of New York Press, 2006) and two Sinhala monographs. He is also a co-writer and contributor for the International Committee of the Red Cross project on Reducing Suffering During Conflict: The Interface between Buddhism and International Humanitarian Law. He is the editor of several scholarly volumes:
- Buddhism, Conflict and Violence in Modern Sri Lanka (Routledge, 2006)
- Dharma to the UK (World Buddhist Foundation, 2008), Vesak, Peace
- Harmony: Thinking of Buddhist Heritage (Nagananda International Buddhist University, 2015)
- Justice and Statecraft: Buddhist Ideals Inspiring Contemporary World (Nagananda International Buddhist University, 2017)
- Dharmayātrā (NUVIS éditions, 2022)
- Philosophy, Ethics and Buddhist Practice (Buddhist World Press, 2023) and co-editor of Pali Buddhism (Curzon 1996).
He was the former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Buddhist-Christian Studies. He regularly appears in BBC1 The Big Questions, BBC World Service, Aljazeera, and Buddhist TV programmes. He has conducted fieldwork in Sri Lanka, Japan, Korea and China. He was the Programme Manager of the British Council-funded Bath Spa-Dongguk University International Study Abroad Programme in Korea (2008–2010).
His research concentrates on Buddhist Preaching, Ethics of War and Violence, Minorities and Religious Extremism, Buddhism and Politics, Diaspora Buddhism, Interreligious Dialogue and Religious Conversions, IHL, Tripiṭaka Studies, and currently researching on pilgrimage to Adam’s Peak.