Tab Article

ratings: ★★★★☆ (4.6/5)
Genre: Buddhist Studies, Biography, Sri Lankan History, Pali Literature

Book Review:
Dr. Ananda W.P. Guruge's ''From the Living Fountains of Buddhism'' is a monumental work of scholarship that pays richly deserved tribute to two of Sri Lanka's greatest Buddhist savants. This meticulously researched volume shines a well-deserved spotlight on Ven. Waskaduwe Subhuti and Ven. Ambangoda Polwatte Buddhadatta, whose immense contributions to Buddhist studies have had a profound and lasting impact, both in Sri Lanka and on the international stage.

The book is divided into two major sections, each dedicated to one of these towering figures. The first part explores the life and work of Ven. Subhuti, revealing him as a key facilitator of Western engagement with Buddhism. Guruge meticulously documents Subhuti Thera's critical assistance to European Orientalists like Reinhold Rost, his contributions to Fausböll's seminal edition of the Jātakas, and his vital help in the creation of a Children's Pali Dictionary. The book also details his assistance in editing the Visuddhimagga for publication in the USA and his support for Wilhelm Geiger's foundational studies of the Mahavamsa. This section paints a portrait of a scholar who was a crucial, though often unacknowledged, bridge between Eastern knowledge and Western academia.

The second half of the book is dedicated to Ven. Buddhadatta, another titan of Buddhist learning. Guruge explores his remarkable, three-decade-long association with the Pali Text Society in London, a relationship that was instrumental in bringing Pali texts and scholarship to a global audience. It also highlights Buddhadatta Thera's role as a ''tenacious critic'' of Geiger's work on the Sri Lankan chronicles, demonstrating the rigorous and independent scholarly tradition of Sri Lanka's monastic intelligentsia.

With a preface by the Honourable E.L.B. Hurulle, then Minister of Cultural Affairs, this book is not just an academic exercise but an official recognition of national heritage. It is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of Buddhist scholarship, the intellectual contributions of the Sri Lankan Sangha, and the deep, ''living fountains'' from which modern Buddhist studies have flowed.