Wednesday 19 December 2007

When wishes come true!!!(200th Post)


Dear Freinds,
I am putting below an article appeared in the Indian Express "New Nalanda would teach Buddhism and global warming"for you. I hope you'll find it interesting and inspiring.

"New Nalanda would teach Buddhism and global warming" Tuesday December 18 2007 00:00 IST
ASHWANI TALWAR
NEW DELHI: In keeping with the times, students at the new Nalanda University would study subjects like global warming and business management.That can be figured after the second meeting this week-end of the Nalanda Mentor Group - a panel headed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen – which is helping revive the famed university which drew the brightest students from across Asia and beyond. It could house upto 10,000 students. At one time, Chinese monk-scholar Xuanzang (Hsuan Tsang, for those familiar with the old way of spelling him) was among them.The new Nalanda too is being developed as an international institute. It is being revived through a collaboration of India and countries with a sizeable Buddhist presence. Heads of government discussed it at the East Asia Summit in Singapore last month, attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. By next year’s summit, they hope the framework of the international university would be ready.And later, they plan to sign an inter-governmental agreement with everyone chipping in with the money.At its peak, the University – set up near present-day Patna in the fifth century AD and laid to ruin by Bakhtiyar Khilji in the 12th – might have focused on religion and philosophy but it covered a wide range of contemporary knowledge. So would, it is hoped, the revived institute.At the week-end meeting in Tokyo, the Mentor Group proposed that the Nalanda University in its new avatar would have six schools: Buddhist Studies, Philosophy and Comparative Religions; Historical Studies, International Relations & Peace Studies; Business Management and Development Studies; Languages and Literature; and Ecology and Environmental Studies.The Mentor Group - which first met in Singapore in July and will next discuss the Nalanda revival in China – agreed that it would be “a secular academic institution.”According to the External Affairs Ministry, it resolved that the university should “draw on an understanding of the past while remaining contemporary and emphasizing its relevance to the future.”

It's a matter of great joy that famed Nalanda University is being revived and moulded as per the demands of our times. It seems one of my seven wishes (Please click this link to read about them http://abhayspeak.blogspot.com/2005/04/seven-wishes.html#links )will see the light of the day soon. Interestingly the South Asian University was also included in the action plan in the latest SAARC summit in New Delhi (April 2007)which was historic in many sense.

SAARC summit declaration no. 20
.( http://www.saarc-sec.org/data/summit14/ss14declaration.htm ) "The Heads of State or Government decided to establish the South Asian University in India. They welcomed the signing of the Intergovernmental Agreement establishing the University. They further directed that the Intergovernmental Steering Committee be set up at the earliest to complete its tasks relating to the Charter, bye laws, rules and regulations, curriculum development, business plans and other issues. They also decided to strengthen cooperation and dialogue on educational matters through development of exchanges between academics, experts, policymakers, students and teachers. They called for inter-institutional cooperation, partnerships, and other regional initiatives in the field of education."


This is what I wrote more than two years ago in April 2005 on my blog with the title "My Seven Wishes"
"My third wish is to build a SAARC University at Nalanda, the place of the world’s most ancient seat of learning where once Nalanda University existed for many centuries and attracted students from all over the world. Nalanda symbolizes the excellence in learning and knowledge. Now time has come to build a university where students from the whole South Asia can learn, live and grow together. Nalanda is just 100 KM from Patna, the state capital and Bodh Gaya, the place where Buddha got enlightenment. Bodh Gaya has an international airport which makes Nalanda easily accessible to students and scholars from all over the world. Nalanda is also part of the Buddhist Circuit which includes places like Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, Sarnath, Rajgir and Bodh Gaya. Buddhist Circuit is a major attraction for the tourists from Bhutan, Srilanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Japan and other countries where a sizable number of Buddhists live. This brings a lot of money and ideas to this region and funding for a university should not be a problem. A world class university at Nalanda will only add up to prestige and dignity of Asia."- 6th April 2005

I think it's never too late to dream. I remember from the 'Alchemist' that if you really want something then all the forces in the univerese conspire to make your wishes come true. I hope my other wishes also will have the same luck.

Cheers
Abhay

4 Comments:

Blogger Gary said...

Great news and a very interesting project. I'd love to study there.

19/12/07 9:03 am  
Blogger White Square said...

Thank you so much Gary!
I am looking forward to it since a long time. It would be great to go back where I come from!

20/12/07 2:39 am  
Blogger susan said...

Hello Abhay,
I will add my wish to yours that all this works as you hope and dream it will. As a junior Buddhist and long time student of Advaita I've come to understand that our hopes have to be for all. When this is true in our lives the daily personal problems take care of themselves.

Anbu in this season of new light.

22/12/07 8:05 am  
Blogger White Square said...

Hello Susan,
Thank you so much for your most precious gift- your wish! When wishes combine they become an all powerful force and they see the reality of the day.
Wish you and your family a very very promising New Year 2008!

1/1/08 7:17 pm  

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