Mahinda Deegalle (Bath Spa University College)


updated: Mon, 3 Mar 2003 15:03:28 -0800 (PST)

Mahinda Deegalle
Lecturer in the Study of Religions
School of Historical and Cultural Studies
Bath Spa University College
Newton Park
Bath BA2 9BN, United Kingdom

Phone: 44/1225-875429
FAX:   44/1225-875503
Email: m.deegalle@bathspa.ac.uk
Email: dmahinda@yahoo.com

Working Languages:  Sinhala, Pali, Sanskrit, English, (French and German 
reading only) and Japanese

Teaching Interests: (1) Theravada Buddhism, (2) Japanese Religions, (3) 
Methodological Issues in the Study of Religions, (4) Ethics, 
Monastic Practices and Asceticism

Research Interests: (1) Buddhist Preaching in Theravada, (2) Mahayana Movement 
in Sri Lanka, (3) Buddhism, Conflict Resolution and Violence, 
(4) Ascetic Spirituality in Japan

Selected Publications:

BOOKS	
Budusamaya saha Sri Lankave Janavargika Ghattaanaya ('Buddhism and Ethnic 
Conflict in Sri Lanka'), ed. Mahinda Deegalle. Oslo: Buddhist Federation 
of Norway, 2003, pp. xx+378.
	
Bana saha Budusamaya ('Preaching and Buddhism'). Wadduwa: Wivekarama 
Sanvardhana Padanama, 1997, pp. xvi+102.

Pali Buddhism, edited with Frank J. Hoffman. Surrey, U.K.: Curzon Press, 
1996, pp. xiv+233.

Nirvanaya saha Sadacaraya (Nirvana and Morality). Nugegoda: Deepani Press, 
1986, pp. xii+97.

ARTICLES	
"Poetic Preaching: Monastic Strategies in Constituting Buddhist 
Communities in Modern Sri Lanka and Thailand," Constituting Communities: 
Theravada Buddhism and the Religious Cultures of South and Southeast Asia,
ed. John C. Holt, Jacob N. Kinnard, and Jonathan W. Walters 
(Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2003). 

"All Ceylon Buddhist Congress" (37-38), "Hosso Shu" (606-07), "Ontake Kyo" 
(975-76), "Sarvodaya" (1134-35), and "Young Men's Buddhist Association" (1446-47), in 
Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, 
ed. J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002).
	
"Is Violence Justified in Theravada Buddhism?" Current Dialogue 39 (2002): 
8-17.

"Textuality of the Jayamangala Gatha and Its Liturgical Role in Modern Buddhist 
Marriage Ceremony," in Buddhist Studies: Essays in Honour of Professor Lily de 
Silva, ed. P.D. Premasiri et al (Peradeniya: The Department of Pali and Buddhist 
Studies, University of Peradeniya, 2002), pp. 183-97.

"Soteriological Fundamentalism and Interreligious Dialogue," Current Dialogue 37 
(2001): 9-12.

"Asceticism: Buddhist Perspectives" (89-92), "Death Rituals" (364-67), "Marathon 
Monks" (821-22), "Music: Buddhist Perspectives" (909-11), "Sri Lanka: History" 
(1198-99), "Sri Lanka: Recent Changes" (1200), "Temple" (1238-40), and "Virtues" 
(1329-30), in Encyclopedia of Monasticism, ed. William M. Johnston (Chicago and 
London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2000).

"Buddhist Critical Attitudes for Postmodern Age," Buddhism for the New 
Millennium, ed. Lakshman S. Perera et al (London: World Buddhist Foundation, 
2000), pp. 133-39.

"From Buddhology to Buddhist Theology: An Orientation to Sinhala Buddhism," 
Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections by Contemporary Buddhist Scholars, eds. 
Roger Jackson and John Makransky (Surrey, U.K.: Curzon Press, 2000), pp. 331-45.

"Noviyat Hudijana: Local Consciousness within Disappearing Cosmopolitan 
Buddhism," Sambhasa: Vidyodaya 125 Vana Sastriya Samaru Sangrahaya, ed. 
G.D. Ratnapala et al. Vol. 10. (Battaramulla: Pirivena Education Branch, 
Ministry of Education and Higher Education, 1999), pp. 483-503.

"A Search for Mahayana in Sri Lanka," Journal of the International 
Association for Buddhist Studies, 22 (2) 1999: 343-57.

"Buddha's Rock: Mahayana Legacy at Buduruvagala," Journal of Pali and 
Buddhist Studies 12 (1998): 103-15.

"Mahayana Ideas within Theravada?" Buddhist Studies 27 (1998): 99-118.

"Marathon Preachers: The Two-pulpit Tradition in Sri Lanka," Asiatische 
Studien 52 (1) 1998: 15-56.

"A Bibliography on Sinhala Buddhism," Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 1997 
(on-line journal) http://jbe.la.psu.edu; http://www.jbe.gold.ac.uk

"Buddhist Preaching and Sinhala Religious Rhetoric: Medieval Buddhist 
Methods to Popularize Theravada," Numen 44 (1997): 180-210.

"Buddhist Principles of Democracy: An Exploration of Ethical and 
Philosophical Foundations," Buddhist Studies 26 (1997): 89-107.

"Innovations in Theravada Buddhist Rituals," Journal of Indian and 
Buddhist Studies 46 (1997): 685-692.

"Reconsidering Buddhist Preaching: Bana  Tradition in Sri Lanka," Recent 
Researches in Buddhist Studies: Essays in Honour of Professor Y. Karunadasa, ed. 
K. Dhammajoti, Asanga Tilakaratne and Kapila Abhayawansa (Colombo and Hong 
Kong: Y. Karunadasa Felicitation Committee and Chi Ying Foundation, 1997), pp. 427-53.

"Vernacular Buddhism: Neglected Sources in the Study of Sri Lankan Theravada," 
Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies 9 (1997): 69-101.

"Buddhist Preaching in Sri Lanka: Sinhala Rhetoric in the Popularization 
of Theravada," Sri Lanka Journal of Buddhist Studies 5 (1996): 30-41.

"Buddhist Preaching: Rethinking of History of Religions Categories," 
Transactions of the International Conference of Eastern Studies 41 (1996): 42-59.

"Introduction," (with F. Hoffman), Pali Buddhism, ed. Frank J. Hoffman and 
Deegalle Mahinda (Surrey, U.K.: Curzon Press, 1996), pp. 1-13.

"The Moral Significance of Buddhist Nirvana: The Early Buddhist Model of 
Perfection," Pali Buddhism, ed. Frank J. Hoffman and Deegalle Mahinda 
(Surrey, U.K.: Curzon Press, 1996), pp. 105-116.

"The Origins of Mahayana Buddhism," The Buddhist 61 (1990): 12-21.

Key Words
Preaching, bana, Theravada Buddhism, nirvana, violence, Mahayana, Sri Lanka, 
Pali Buddhism, Vernacular Buddhism, Democracy, Sinhala Buddhism, Two-pulpit, 
Buddhology, Buddhist Theology, Buduruvagala, Jayamangala Gatha, Ethnic Conflict 
in Sri Lanka, Asceticism, Buddhist communities, Interreligious Dialogue, 
Critical Attitudes