The Impact of Western Education on Religion and Society in Ceylon

T HIS ARTICLE IS CONCERNED with the impact of certain educational and governmental developments of the past i50 years on Sinhalese Buddhism and related institutions in Ceylon.' No effort is made to discuss all aspects of the problem, nor is it argued that education and government are the only or sufficient determinants of recent changes. The aim is simply to examine some of the important issues and to develop a conceptual framework that will aid in the understanding of these issues; it is intended as an exploratory essay in the social and religious history of nineteenth and twentieth century Ceylon. The first problem is to specify the directions of change during the past i50 years. When is a change really new and when is it simply a repetition of earlier events? For example, is Buddhism changing towards something fundamentally new (an innovation), or towards something traditional (a renovation) ? Some Buddhists maintain that the renewed proclamation of Buddhist doctrine does not involve the introduction of any new ideas or activities, but is simply a restatement of the original, timeless truths in their pure form. Certainly it is the avowed intention of most Buddhist activists in Ceylon today to restore Buddhism to a state of pristine purity rather than to create a new religion. A prominent agency in Ceylon, the Buddhist Publication Society, makes this point most clearly (Anon. i965b: io)

Ancient history · Ceylon · Political science · Education and Islamic Studies · History