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A Statement of Appreciation

Hon. Pradeep Nilanga Dela
The Chief Lay Custodian of the Sacred Tooth Relic Temple
Sri Dalada Maligawa

The World Tipiṭaka Presentation Ceremony
The Court Room, the Constitutional Court of the Kingdom of Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand

His Excellencies, the World Tipiṭaka Patrons,
World Tipiṭaka Recipients,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

As the Chief Lay Custodian of Sri Dalada Maligawa, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha, and on behalf of the people of Sri Lanka, let me first express my deepest condolence to the people of the Kingdom of Thailand on the occasion of the Royal Funeral of Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhivas Rajanagarindra, the Royal Patron of the World Tipiṭaka.

I recollect here with immense gratitude and appreciation the visit of Her Royal Highness to Sri Lanka on March 6, 2005, with the inaugural set of the World Tipiṭaka, the product of six years of deliberation of the Tipiṭaka patrons and scholars of the World Tipiṭaka project. On behalf of the people of Sri Lanka, Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranayaka Kumaratunga the then President of Sri Lanka received this supreme Royal Gift from Her Royal Highness at the BMICH, Colombo.

I also bring to your recollection that upon the request of the Honorable WJM Lokubandara, the Speaker of the Sri Lanka Parliament, Her Royal Highness as the President of the Tipiṭaka Presentation Worldwide not only gave her approval for the presentation of a second special World Tipiṭaka set to Sri Lanka, but also made arrangement to present it to His Excellency Mahinda Rajapakse the President of Sri Lanka at the Parliamentary Complex on March 6, 2006.

Now with the nomination of its General Secretary, the World Tipiṭaka Council has given me the privilege of receiving the third special set of the World Tipiṭaka for Sri Lanka, this time to Sri Dalada Maligawa, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha, in Kandy. I must mention that the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is the only institution in Sri Lanka where the presentation of the world’s first printed edition of the Tipiṭaka of the King Chulachomklao the Great of 1893 has been well preserved and was also witnessed and confirmed on March 5, 2006, by the Tipiṭaka patrons of the Kingdom of Thailand upon my request.

I am aware that the World Tipiṭaka that we receive on November 14, 2008, is the refined version of the resolution of the sixth Buddhist Council held in 1957 in Myanmar and that it comes in Roman Script for the first time, making it possible for the masses to read and recite. I am also aware that as part of the Royal Funeral Ceremony, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration together with the World Tipiṭaka Council has organized a mega World Tipiṭaka Recitation by the masses, almost for the first time in the history of Buddhism. Recitation of the Tipiṭaka is done while reflecting on the meaning. Hence in the recitation, the masses have the opportunity not only to acquire merit but also to personalize the Buddha Dhamma through understanding. Further, the recitation makes one a real participant, not a mere listener. This I consider as the future of the Tipiṭaka and also the best utilization of the Tipiṭaka, the heritage of humanity for the benefit of the masses and for building world peace. In the present literate world where the majority of people can read and write, the masses should have the opportunity of reading the Tipiṭaka as real participants. I have realized the direction that the World Tipiṭaka Council has taken in enlightening the people for building world peace.

I consider that the Supreme Gift of the World Tipiṭaka to Sri Dalada Maligawa came at the right time, as I plan to establish in January 2009 the Sri Dalada International Buddhist Academy, a unique liberal arts educational institution in Sri Lanka devoted to producing Buddhist leaders based on the teachings of the Buddha. At this institution, we plan to use the World Tipiṭaka as the standard Tipiṭaka for the study and the practice of the teachings of the Buddha, and we have made arrangements to conduct our study programmes in the medium of English. I would like on this occasion to extend an open invitation to the World Tipiṭaka Patrons to consider establishing the World Tipiṭaka Council Headquarters proper in the premise of this new Academy in Kandy so that the graduates of this new institution could specially be trained to take the World Tipiṭaka to the wider world as Buddhist leaders.

Finally, together with the members of my delegation, I join the navigator of the World Tipiṭaka Project, Major Suradhaj Bunnag, the Chancellor of the Dhamma Society Thailand and the President of the World Tipiṭaka Project, and also all the Tipiṭaka patrons and recipients who are present here today, in wishing Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana the supreme bliss of Nibbāna.

May the blessings of the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Lord Buddha be upon you! Thank you.

Major Suradhaj Bunnag
Chancellor of the World Tipiṭaka Project
Bangkok, Thailand

November 25, 2008

Dear Major Suradhaj Bunnag:

I am writing this letter in my capacity as Diyawadana Nilame (the Chief Lay Custodian) of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic and the President of the Sri Dalada International Buddhist Academy (SIBA) and on behalf of the members of my delegation, Prof. J.M. Gunadasa (Rector, SIBA), Prof. G.A. Somaratne (Director/Research and Publications, SIBA), and Mr. Gamini Bandara (Director/International Relations of Dalada Maligawa and SIBA), to express our gratitude to you for presenting a set of the World Tipiṭaka to Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy, Sri Lanka, in memory of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, the World Tipiṭaka Patron.

We are happy to state that we were highly impressed by your warm welcome and also the manner in which you and the Tipiṭaka Patrons had organized the programmes for us and other Tipiṭaka Recipients from the ten countries. We recollect with great admiration the effort that you and the Tipiṭaka Patrons of Thailand had placed in organizing: (1) the Tipiṭaka Preview and Reception at Nai Lert Park Bangkok Hotel on November 13th; (2) the Tipiṭaka Recitation at the Bangkok Town Hall; (3) the Lunch at the Grand Mercury Fortune Hotel on November 14th; (4) the Tipiṭaka Presentation and Dinner at the Constitutional Court of Thailand on the same day; (5) the Royal Cremation Ceremony at the Grand Palace on November 15th; and (6) the Farewell Dinner at Dhurakij Pundit University on the same day. Moreover, we are grateful to you for the cordial hospitality extended to us for making our stay in Bangkok comfortable and memorable.

We do hope that you would also pay us a visit in the near future to strengthen the collaboration established between the World Tipiṭaka Council and the Sri Dalada Maligawa, and we are looking forward to working towards the presentation of the World Tipiṭaka to the leading institutions worldwide and also for promoting thereby the application of the teachings of the Buddha for peace and happiness in the world.

Please convey our kind regards to all those who worked tirelessly along with you to make our stay in Bangkok comfortable and meaningful.

May the blessings of the Sacred Tooth Relic be upon you!

Yours in Dhamma


Hon. Pradeep Nilanga Dela
The Chief Lay Custodian of the Sacred Tooth Relic Temple
Sri Dalada Maligawa
Kandy
Sri Lanka

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