by Ajahn Amaro
On November 24th 2009, Ajahn Pasanno, Abbot of Abhayagīrī, was invited to attend a celebration ceremony at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, in Bangkok. The sponsoring organization, The World Tipiṭaka Project in Roman Script, had also invited members of the Sangha from Burma – including monks who could recite either two or all three of the divisions of the Pāḷi Canon – as well as senior monks from the Theravādan regions of Yunnan, in mainland China.
The principal aim of this private organisation is to provide the world with a reliable edition of the Pāḷi Canon in Roman script. To that end they have spent ten years poring over extant editions. These include the text agreed upon by the Sixth Great International Council, held in Burma over the year 2500 of the Buddhist era (1956-57), the edition produced by the Pāḷi Text Society, as well as that of S.N. Goenka’s students, and several others. Through meticulous checking and cross-checking they managed to find and correct literally hundreds of thousands of typographical and other errors. Their efforts have born fruit in what can certainly be reckoned as the most trustworthy representation of the Word of the Buddha, in the Roman alphabet.
The ceremony in Bangkok was an occasion of commitment; the group has undertaken to offer these sets of 40 volumes to various universities and monasteries worldwide, many of them going to the very same institutions that were given similar sets in 1897, but in Siam (Thai) script, by King Chulalonkhorn Chulachomklao of Siam. Last year’s ceremony was presided over by HRH Princess Chulabhorn – the youngest daughter of the current King and Queen of Thailand – and was also an occasion to dedicate the blessings of the offering to the His Holiness, Somdet Phra Ñāṇasaṃvara, the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, on his 96th birthday.
On March the 13th 2010, Abhayagīrī Monastery was honoured to receive a delegation of twenty people from The World Tipiṭaka Project, headed by the Project’s founder and primary organizer, Maj. Bunnag, and M.L. Anong Ninubon, who also celebrated her 93rd birthday that very day. The group had come to make a presentation of sets of the Tipiṭaka to The University of Washington, Seattle, as well as to Abhayagīrī. In addition they came to visit The University of California, Berkeley, particularly to view the edition of the Chulachomklao of Siam Pāḷi Tipiṭaka that had been given to that university in 1897.
As this was an auspicious and unique event many of the long-standing friends and supporters of Abhayagīrī gathered for the occasion, even though it was in the usually quiet time of the winter retreat. Many of our regular visitors also stowed their customary wardrobe of jeans and t-shirts for the day with everyone making impressive efforts to deck themselves in suitably festive attire. As befitted the occasion, the hall was also festooned with an abundance of flowers; delicate bouquets and effulgent sprays garlanded the newly-offered volumes.
The visitors began the event by showing a presentation about their project and, when all of the procedures of the presentation were complete, and reflections on the occasion had been offered, the event was closed by reciting the Buddha's first teaching – Dhammacakkappavattanasutta : The Discourse on Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma – and a communal Sharing of Blessings.
It is in the spirit of sharing blessings that this energetic and generous group have put forth the Herculean effort required to create this World Edition of the Pāḷi Canon. They see that these teachings are part of the world’s heritage of knowledge and have undertaken this endeavour in order to enable all those who wish to partake of that knowledge to be able to access it freely.
May the books that they have offered to this one small monastery serve to illuminate the hearts and minds of all who reside here, and thus help to illuminate the lives of all those with whom we are connected.
