BUDDHIST RESOURCES FOR PEACE-MAKING IN MODERN SRI LANKA
Keywords:
BUDDHISMAbstract
Hailed as a beautiful, pleasant island by foreign visitors of yore, Sri Lanka was a peaceful country with a long and checkered history and culture. Ours was a country which was home to various multi-ethnic and multi-racial groups for thousands of years. Compared with other countries in the Indian continent Sri Lanka remained a peaceful country. (Mendis. 1943) Due to its very close proximity to South India in the Indian sub-continent, this island was not culturally free from Indian influence like the other countries. (Gunasinghe. 1989) As has been pointed out by social scientists, the impact on the religious, social and political fields in the island due to its location in the Indian cultural zone is seen even in the present day. Whatever is recorded in the chronicles of old, as elaborated above, the old Sri Lankan Society remained a society free of conflict arising out of ethnic and religious issues.
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