Preface

Abstract

Welcome to the 3rd Journal of the International Association of
Buddhist Universities. This volume is long overdue, for too many
or numerous reasons, none of which should be recollected. It’s here
now, and we are excited to see it finally in print.
The IABU has been functioning for several years now, bringing
Buddhist universities together on a larger academic platform,
through the many successful academic conferences that we hold at
Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, the gracious host for
the office for the IABU Secretariat. Nearly annually, we organize
academic conferences in which around seventy academics
presenting their research or academic articles on Buddhism are
brought to the public and attending students. Each conference
has about four subthemes in which, generally each paper is given
about fifteen minutes of presentation time, followed by about five
minutes for some brief comments. Our papers in this journal have
been contributed by several professors, all of which attend and
present in our academic conferences, and it is well within our hopes
that each paper can find a home in the hearts of someone, perhaps
some young researcher, who can take up the knowledge or wisdom
in the paper and create a larger or better text – maybe be a reference
or serve as a catalyst for a thesis or a dissertation project.
The International Association of Buddhist Universities
is committed to improving the academic scholarship of Buddhist
Studies scholars. We have well-established scholars in our network,
as well as younger, aspiring scholars working equally as hard to
bring aspects of Buddhism to the interested reader.
Professor Kwee brings the knowledge of Indonesia to our
attention. The IABU has many universities from Indonesia in our
association, and such an article shares the wisdom of this ancient
Buddhist chain of islands. Professor Abeynayake’s paper is
the Keynote Speech delivered to our 2nd IABU Academic Conference
on Buddhist Philosophy & Praxis, which discusses a dilemma with
the four noble truths. Dr. Peoples contributes an article here on
a possible relationship between a philosophical-school and a group
of people that the Buddha met. Both Jana Igunma and Professor
Mahanta discuss a popular Jataka story, from different perspectives.
Dr. Peoples contributes a second piece, a fresh article on a recent
controversial figure who possesses an interesting critical-perspective
on Buddhism. Finally, Professor Lee contributes an article on
the peace work done in the United States by the Tzu Chi
organization. Please enjoy these contributions to the emerging realm
of Buddhist academia.
Please take the time to read these articles, and we hope to bring
out additional issues in a more timely manner. We also will strive
to bring out higher-quality material in the future. Our goal is to
continually improve our young association.