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Anagarika Dharmapala (1864 - 1933) was born David Hewavitarne in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka was then a British colony known as Ceylon, so Hewavitarne's state education was a Christian one: he attended Christian College, Kotte and the Colombo Academy. But the historical tide in Ceylon was beginning to turn in Buddhism's favour. In 1875 in New York, Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott had founded the Theosophical Society. They were both very sympathetic to what they understood of Buddhism, and in 1880 they arrived in Ceylon, declared themselves to be Buddhists, and publicly took the Refuges and Precepts from a prominent Sinhalese bhikkhu. Colonel Olcott remained in Ceylon and devoted himself to the cause of Buddhist education, eventually setting up more than 300 Buddhist schools, some of which are still in existence. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The term Buddha is a word in ancient Indian languages including Pāli and Sanskrit which means one who has awakened. It is derived from the verbal root budh, meaning to awaken or to be enlightened, and to comprehend. It is written in devanagari script as Hindi: and pronounced as... The cultural elements of Buddhism vary by region and include: Buddhist cuisine Buddhist art Buddharupa Art and architecture of Japan Greco-Buddhism Tibetan Buddhist sacred art Buddhist music Buddhist chant Shomyo Categories: Buddhism-related stubs ... The history of Buddhism spans from the 6th century BCE to the present, starting with the birth of the Buddha Siddharta Gautama. ... Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z The following is a List of Buddhist topics: A Abhidharma Ahimsa Ajahn Ajahn Chah Ajanta Aksobhya Alexandra David-Néel... Buddhist beliefs and practices vary according to region. ... The percentage of Buddhist population of each country was taken from the US State Departments International Religious Freedom Report 2004 [1]. Other sources used were CIA Factbook [2] and adherents. ... There are many divisions and subdivisions of the schools of Buddhism. ... -1... Several Buddhist terms and concepts lack direct translations into English that cover the breadth of the original term. ... There are a great variety of Buddhist texts. ... // Before Common Era Trad. ... 1864 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Towers of downtown Colombo Colombo is the largest city and commercial capital of Sri Lanka. ... See also: Timeline of Christianity Beliefs Though enormous diversity exists in the beliefs of those who self-identify as Christian, it is possible to venture general statements which describe the beliefs of a large majority. ... Christian College, is a school established by the Anglican Church in 1822 in Kotte, Sri Lanka. ... Royal College, Colombo was founded in 1835. ... The term Buddha is a word in ancient Indian languages including Pāli and Sanskrit which means one who has awakened. It is derived from the verbal root budh, meaning to awaken or to be enlightened, and to comprehend. It is written in devanagari script as Hindi: and pronounced as... 1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... State nickname: The Empire State Official languages None. ... Helena Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Hahn (also Hélène) (July 31, 1831 (O.S.) (August 12, 1831 (N.S.)) - May 8, 1891 London, England), better known as Helena Blavatsky or Madame Blavatsky was the founder of Theosophy. ... Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907), founder and first president of the Theosophical Society, is well-known as the first prominent person of Western descent to make a formal conversion to Buddhism. ... The Theosophical Society was the organization formed to advance the spiritual doctrines and altruistic living known as Theosophy. ... 1880 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The Triratna or Three Jewels symbol, on a Buddha footprint. ... This article is about the Buddhist concept; see Pancasila Indonesia for the Indonesian state philosophy. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Debating bhikkhu in Tibet In Pāli, a bhikkhu (male) or bhikkhuni (female) is a fully ordained Buddhist monk. ...

The young Dharmapala helped Colonel Olcott in his work, particularly by acting as his translator. Dharmapala also became quite close to Madame Blavatsky, who advised him to study Pāli and to work for the good of humanity - which is what he did. It was at this time that he changed his name to Dharmapala (meaning "Guardian of the Dharma"). . Pāli (ISO 639-1: pi; ISO 639-2: pli) is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ... Dharma (Sanskrit, roughly law or way) is the way of the higher Truths. ...

In 1891, he paid his first visit to the holy places of northern India and found them in a very neglected condition. Some of them were no more than ruins. The Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya had been restored by General Sir Alexander Cunningham, but there was no one maintaining it, and when Dharmapala arrived he decided to look after it until Buddhist monks could take over. However, the temple belonged to a Hindu abbott, and there ensued a long legal battle which Dharmapala finally lost in 1906. Meanwhile, Dharmapala founded the Maha Bodhi Society to help him in his work. Initially, this comprised the task of restoring Bodh Gaya to something of its former splendour, but the scope of the society's activities soon expanded to involve the promotion of Buddhism in India and eventually the development of Buddhism throughout the world. A natural extension of this work was to set up, in 1892, the Maha Bodhi Journal. 1891 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The temple is of bricks and towers over its environs The Mahabodhi Temple is a Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, the location where Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, attained enlightenment. ... Bodh Gaya or Bodhgaya is the place of Buddhas attainment of Enlightenment. ... Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814–28 November 1893) was an English archaeologist and army engineer, known as the father of the Archaeological Survey of India. ... Basic beliefs What can be said to be common to all Hindus is the belief in Dharma (duties and obligations), Reincarnation (rebirth), Karma (actions, leading to a cause and effect relationship), and Moksha (salvation) of every soul through a variety of paths, such as Bhakti (devotion), Karma (action) and Jnana... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Founded by Anagarika Dhammapala, the Maha Bodhi Society is a South Asian Buddhist society. ... 1892 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Anagarika Dharmapala

In 1893 Dharmapala was invited to attend the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago as a representative of "Southern Buddhism" - which was the term applied at that time to the Theravada. He was a great success and by his early thirties he was already a global figure, continuing to travel and give lectures and establish viharas around the world during the next forty years. At the same time he concentrated on establishing schools and hospitals in Ceylon and building temples and viharas in India. Among the most important of the temples he built was one at Sarnath, where the Buddha first taught. Here in 1933 he was ordained a bhikkhu, and he died at Sarnath in December of the same year, aged sixty-nine. Image File history File linksMetadata Dharmapala. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Dharmapala. ... 1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The World Parliament of Religions is an interfaith conference that was first held in Chicago from September 11 to September 27, 1893 and again in 1993. ... Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ... Theravada (Pali; Sanskrit: Sthaviravada) is one of the eighteen (or twenty) Nikāya schools that formed early in the history of Buddhism. ... Vihara is Sanskrit or Pali for (Buddhist) monastery. ... Sarnath (formerly also Mrigadava, Rishipattana, Isipatana), located 13 kilometres from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, is the deer park where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma, and where the Buddhist Sangha was founded. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Dharmapala was a leading figure in initiating two outstanding features of Buddhism in the twentieth century. He was a pioneer in the revival of Buddhism in India after it had been virtually extinct there for several centuries, and he was the first Buddhist in modern times to preach the Dharma in three continents: Asia, North America, and Europe. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... Neo-Buddhism is a modern Buddhist revivalist movement in India. ... World map showing Asia (geographically) Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia, and the worlds largest continent. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the... Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Dharmapala was the first anagarika - that is, a celibate, full-time worker for Buddhism - in modern times. It seems that he took a vow of celibacy at the age of eight and remained faithful to it all his life. Although he wore a yellow robe, it wasn't of the traditional bhikkhu pattern, and he didn't shave his head. He felt that the observance of all the vinaya rules would have got in the way of his work, especially as he flew around the world.

Dharmapala's voluminous diaries have been published, and he also wrote some memoirs.

The above was adapted from Sangharakshita, Great Buddhists of the Twentieth Century, Windhorse Publications 1996, with permission. Sangharakshita (1925-) is the founder of the Western Buddhist Order, and the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO). ...

References

• Anagarika Dharmapala, Return to Righteousness: A Collection of Speeches, Essays and Letters of the Anagarika Dharmapala, ed. Ananda Guruge, The Anagarika Dharmapala Birth Centenary Committee, Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, Ceylon 1965
• Sangharakshita, Flame in Darkness: The Life and Sayings of Anagarika Dharmapala, Triratna Grantha Mala, Poona 1995
• The Arya Dharma By Anagarika Dharmapala - Free eBook