Asanga

Saturday, 26 January 2013

Asanga: Founder of Mahayana Yogacara Buddhism

Ape Thaththa - Asanga Priyamantha Pieris

Young Monk & Future Tibetan Spiritual Leader, Asanga Rinpoche

Young Lama & Future Tibetan Spiritual Leader, Asanga Sakya Rinpoche

Profiling a Young Global Leader - Asanga Abeyagoonasekera

Labunath Neth Yuga - Asanga Priyamantha (D'Mix Collection)

Asanga & Malani Bulathsinhala - Sanda Diya

Athithaye - Asanga Priyamantha Peris (NEW SONG)

Sanda Nawath Kamak Nethe-Asanga Priyamantha Pieris

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Ayodhya
Ayodhya pronunciation (help·info) (Sanskrit: अयोध्या, Urdu: ایودھیا, IAST Ayodhyā), also known as Saket (Sanskrit: साकेत, Urdu: ساکیت ) is an ancient city of India adjacent to Faizabad city in Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh. As a result of rapid settlement and development Ayodhya has been merged to Faizabad city. Ayodhya is the birth place of the Hindu deities Rama and Swaminarayan. It used to be the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom. This Hindu holy city is described as early as in the Hindu Epics. Ayodhya has an average elevation of 93 metres (305 feet).
Ayodhya is located on the right bank of the river Saryu, as it is called within sacred precincts. Just 6 km from Faizabad, Ayodhya is a popular pilgrim centre. This town is closely associated with Lord Rama, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The ancient city of Ayodhya, according to the Ramayana, was founded by Manu, the law-giver of the Hindus. For centuries, it was the capital of the descendants of the Surya dynasty of which Lord Rama was the most celebrated king. Ayodhya during ancient times was the capital of the Rama Empire and known as Kaushaldesa.

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Bodh Gaya
Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous for being the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained Enlightenment (Bodhimandala).
The place-name, Bodh Gaya, did not come into use until the 18th century BCE. Historically, it was known as Uruvela, Sambodhi, Vajrasana or Mahabodhi. The main monastery of Bodh Gaya used to be called the Bodhimanda-vihāra (Pali). Now it is called the Mahabodhi Temple.
For Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar, Lumbini, and Sarnath. In 2002, Mahabodhi Temple, located in Bodh Gaya, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The surrounding town, by contrast, is dusty and somewhat noisy. A new development plan has been proposed to "ensure a sustainable and prosperous future" for Bodh Gaya, but has become controversial because such a plan may require the relocation of whole neighborhoods.

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Bodhi Tree
Coordinates: 24°41′45.29″N 84°59′29.29″E / 24.6959139°N 84.9914694°E / 24.6959139; 84.9914694
The Bodhi Tree, also known as Bo (from the Sinhalese Bo), was a large and very old Sacred Fig tree (Ficus religiosa) located in Bodh Gaya (about 100 km (62 mi) from Patna in the Indian state of Bihar), under which Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher later known as Gautama Buddha, is said to have achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi. In religious iconography, the Bodhi tree is recognizable by its heart-shaped leaves, which are usually prominently displayed.
The term "Bodhi Tree" is also widely applied to currently existing trees, particularly the Sacred Fig growing at the Mahabodhi Temple, which is a direct descendant planted in 288 BC from the original specimen. This tree is a frequent destination for pilgrims, being the most important of the four main Buddhist pilgrimage sites. Other holy Bodhi trees which have a great significance in the history of Buddhism are the Anandabodhi tree in Sravasti and the Bodhi tree in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Both are believed to have been propagated from the original Bodhi tree.

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Gandhara
Gandhāra (Sanskrit: गन्धार Gandḥārā, Urdu: گندھارا Ghandhāra, Pashto: ګندارا, Punjabi: گندھارا, Persian: ویهیند) is the name of an ancient kingdom (Mahajanapada), located in modern day northern Pakistan and parts of eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau (see Taxila) and on the Kabul River. Its main cities were Purushapura (modern Peshawar), literally meaning "City of Man", Varmayana (modern Bamyan) and Takshashila (modern Taxila).
The Kingdom of Gandhara lasted from the early 1st millennium BC to the 11th century AD. It attained its height from the 1st century to the 5th century under the Buddhist Kushan Kings. The Hindu term Shahi is used by history writer Al-Biruni to refer to the ruling Hindu dynasty that took over from the Turki Shahi and ruled the region during the period prior to Muslim conquests of the 10th and 11th centuries. After it was conquered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1021 CE, the name Gandhara disappeared. During the Muslim period the area was administered from Lahore or from Kabul. During Mughal times the area was part of Kabul province.

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India
India (ⁱ/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.

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Japan
Japan ⁱ/dʒəˈpæn/ (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.

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Kushinagar
Kushinagar (Hindi: कुशीनगर, Urdu: کُشی نگر), Kusinagar or Kusinara is a town and a nagar panchayat in Kushinagar district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Gautama Buddha is thought to have attained Parinirvana after his death.
As of 2001^[update] India census, Kushinagar had a population of 17,982. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Kushinagar has an average literacy rate of 62%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 70%, and female literacy is 54%. In Kushinagar, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.It is 20km (south) away from Padrauna, 55km (east) from Gorakhpur, and 35km (north) from deoria.
In ancient times, it was known as Kushavati (Jatakas). It finds mention in epic Ramayan as the city of Kusha the son of Ram, the famous king of Ayodhya. Kushinagar was a celebrated center of the Malla kingdom of ancient India. Later, it would be known as Kushinara, one of the most important four holy sites for Buddhists. At this location, near the Hiranyavati River, Gautama Buddha attained Parinirvana (or 'Final Nirvana') after falling ill from eating a meal of a species of mushroom, or possibly pork.

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Lumbini
Lumbinī (Sanskrit: लुम्बिनी, "the lovely") is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi district of Nepal. It is the place where Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama, who as the Buddha Gautama founded the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha lived between roughly 563 and 483 BCE. Lumbini is one of four magnets for pilgrimage that sprang up in places pivotal to the life of the Buddha, the others being at Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya and Sarnath.
Lumbini was where the Buddha lived until the age of 29. Lumbini has a number of temples, including the Mayadevi temple, and others under construction. Also located here is the Puskarini or Holy Pond where the Buddha's mother took the ritual dip prior to his birth and where he, too, had his first bath, as well as the remains of Kapilvastu palace. At other sites near Lumbini, earlier Buddhas were, according to tradition, born, achieved ultimate awakening and finally relinquished earthly form.
In the Buddha's time, Lumbini was situated between Kapilavastu and Devadaha. It was there that the Buddha was born. A pillar now marks the spot of Asoka's visit to Lumbiní. According to an inscription on the pillar, it was placed there by the people then in charge of the park to commemorate Asoka's visit and gifts. The park was previously known as Rummindei, two miles north of Bhagavanpura.

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Pakistan
Pakistan (ⁱ/ˈpækɨstæn/ or ⁱ/pɑːkiˈstɑːn/; Urdu: پاکستان) (Urdu pronunciation: [paːkɪˈst̪aːn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان), is a sovereign country in South Asia. It sits at the crossroads of the strategically important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west and north, Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and it shares a marine border with Oman.
The territory of modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures, including the Neolithic Mehrgarh and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and has undergone invasions or settlements by Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, Afghan and Sikh cultures. Thus the area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Indian Mauryan Empire, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, the Mongol Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Durrani Empire, the Sikh Empire and the British Empire. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and India's struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent nation for Muslims from the regions in the east and west of India where there was a Muslim majority. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic. A civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh.

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Peshawar
Peshawar (Pashto: پېښور Pēx̌awar; Hindko: پيشور Pishōr; Urdu: پشاور Pishāwar; Persian: پیشاور‎ P īshāwar; pronunciation (help·info)) is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as NWFP), and the administrative centre and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated in a large valley near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass. Known as "City on the Frontier", Peshawar's strategic location on the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia has made it one of the most culturally vibrant and lively cities in the greater region. Peshawar is irrigated by various canals of the Kabul River and by its right tributary, the Bara River.
Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities. In the last three decades, there has been a significant increase in urban population, in part due to internal migration of people in search of better employment opportunities, education, and services, and in part because of the influx of Afghan refugees and other people displaced by military operations and civil unrest in neighboring regions. Peshawar is the major educational, political and business center of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

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Sarnath
Sarnath is the deer park where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma, and where the Buddhist Sangha came into existence through the enlightenment of Kondanna. Sarnath is located 13 kilometres north-east of Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, India. Singhpur, a village one km away from the site, was the birth place of Shreyansanath, the eleventh Tirthankara of Jainism, and a temple dedicated to him, is an important pilgrimage site.
Isipatana is mentioned by the Buddha as one of the four places of pilgrimage which his devout followers should visit, if they wanted to visit a place for that reason.
Mrigadava means "deer-park". Isipatana is the name used in the Pali Canon, and means the place where holy men (Pali: isi, Sanskrit: rishi) landed.
The legend says that when the Buddha-to-be was born, some devas came down to announce it to 500 rishis. The rishis all rose into the air and disappeared and their relics fell to the ground.^{[citation needed]} Another explanation for the name is that Isipatana was so called because sages, on their way through the air (from the Himalayas), alight here or start from here on their aerial flight (isayo ettha nipatanti uppatanti cāti-Isipatanam). Pacceka Buddhas, having spent seven days in contemplation in the Gandhamādana, bathe in the Anotatta Lake and come to the habitations of men through the air, in search of alms. They descend to earth at Isipatana. Sometimes the Pacceka Buddhas come to Isipatana from Nandamūlaka-pabbhāra.

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Tripitaka Koreana
The Tripitaka Koreana (lit. Goryeo Tripitaka) or Palman Daejanggyeong ("Eighty-Thousand Tripitaka") is a Korean collection of the Tripitaka (Buddhist scriptures, and the Sanskrit word for "three baskets"), carved onto 81,258 wooden printing blocks in the 13th century. It is the world's most comprehensive and oldest intact version of Buddhist canon in Hanja script, with no known errors or errata in the 52,382,960 characters which are organized in over 1496 titles and 6568 volumes. Each wood block measures 70 centimeters in width and 24 centimeters in length. The thickness of the blocks range from 2.6 to 4 centimeters and each weighs about three to four kilograms. The work is stored in Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple in South Gyeongsang province, in South Korea.
The name "Goryeo Tripitaka" comes from "Goryeo", the name of Korea from the 10th to the 14th centuries. It served as reference for the edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon.
The Tripitaka Koreana was first carved in 1087 during the Third Goryeo-Khitan War. The act of carving the woodblocks was considered to be a way of bringing about a change in fortune by invoking the Buddha's help.

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Alex Wayman
Alex Wayman (January 11, 1921 – September 22, 2004) was a Tibetologist, and Indologist, and worked as a professor of Sanskrit at Columbia University.
After finishing his B.A. (1948), M.A. (1949) and Ph. D. (1959) at the University of California, Los Angeles he came to Columbia as a visiting professor in 1966. In 1967 he was made professor of Sanskrit and remained in this position until his retirement in 1991.
Wayman wrote many books on Buddhism, especially Tantric Buddhist themes, and on Buddhist logic.
Alex Wayman in the German National Library catalogue (German)

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Ananda
Ānanda was one of the principal disciples and a devout attendant of the Buddha. Amongst the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda had the most retentive memory and most of the suttas in the Sutta Pitaka are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha's teachings during the First Buddhist Council. For that, he was known as the Guardian of the Dharma.
According to the Buddha every Buddha in the past and to come will have two chief disciples and one attendant during his ministry. In the case of Gautama Buddha the pair of disciples were Sariputta and Mahamoggallana and the attendant Ānanda.
The word 'Ānanda' means 'bliss' in Pali, Sanskrit as well as other Indian languages. It is a popular Buddhist and Hindu name, but popular also among Muslims in Indonesia.
In the Kannakatthala Sutta (MN 90), Ananda is identified with the meaning of his name:
Ānanda was the first cousin of the Buddha by their fathers, and was devoted to him. In the twentieth year of the Buddha's ministry, he became the Buddha's personal attendant, accompanying him on most of his wanderings and taking the part of interlocutor in many of the recorded dialogues. He is the subject of a special panegyric delivered by the Buddha just before the Buddha's Parinibbana (the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (DN 16)); it is a panegyric for a man who is kindly, unselfish, popular, and thoughtful toward others.

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Anuruddha
Anuruddha was one of the five head disciples and a cousin of Gautama Buddha.
Anuruddha was the son of Sukkhodana and brother to Mahanama. Since Sukkhodana was the brother of Suddhodana, king of the Sakyas in Kapilavastu, Anuruddha was cousin to Siddhartha, (Gautama Buddha). He was a kshatriya by birth, enabling him to be raised in wealth. Anuruddha returned to his home town two years after the enlightenment of Gautama Buddha, preaching his ideas to the Sakyan kingdom. Together with his 3 cousins Bhaddiyam, Ananda, and Devadatta and their barber Upali, to become ordained by the Buddha at the Anupiya Mango Grove.
Anuruddha acquired "divine vision" (dibba-cakkhu) and was ranked foremost among those who had the ability. Sariputta assigned the eight thoughts of a great man for Anuruddha to use as a meditation topic. Journeying into the Pacinavamsadaya in the Ceti country to practice, he was able to master seven, but could not learn the eighth, which Buddha taught him. Anuruddha developed insight and then realized arahantship.

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Asanga
Asaṅga (Sanskrit: असङ्ग; Tibetan: ཐོགས་མེད།; Wylie: Thogs med; traditional Chinese: 無著; pinyin: Wúzhuó; Romaji: Mujaku) was a major exponent of the Yogācāra tradition in India, also called Vijñānavāda. Traditionally, he and his half-brother Vasubandhu are regarded as the founders of this school. The two half-brothers were also major exponents of Abhidharma teachings, which were highly technical and sophisticated hermeneutics as well.
Asaṅga was born as the son of a Kshatriya father and Brahmin mother in Purushapura (present day Peshawar in Pakistan), which at that time was part of the ancient kingdom of Gandhāra. Current scholarship places him in in the fourth century CE. He was perhaps originally a member of the Mahīśāsaka school or the Mūlasarvāstivāda school but later converted to Mahāyāna.
In the record of his journeys through the kingdoms of India, Xuanzang wrote that Asaṅga was initially a Mahīśāsaka monk, but soon turned toward the Mahāyāna teachings. Asaṅga had a half-brother, Vasubandhu, who was a monk from the Sarvāstivāda school. Vasubandhu is said to have taken up Mahāyāna Buddhism after meeting with Asaṅga and one of Asaṅga's disciples.

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Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th/6th century CE. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Ch'an (Sanskrit: Dhyāna, Japanese: Zen) to China, and regarded as the first Chinese patriarch. According to Chinese legend, he also began the physical training of the Shaolin monks that led to the creation of Shaolinquan.
Little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend. There are three principal sources for Bodhidharma's biography: Yáng Xuànzhī's (Yang Hsüan-chih) The Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang (547), Tánlín's preface to the Two Entrances and Four Acts (6th century CE), and Dàoxuān's (Tao-hsuan) Further Biographies of Eminent Monks (7th century CE).
These sources vary on their account of Bodhidharma being either "from Persia" (547 CE), "a Brahman monk from South India" (645 CE), "the third son of a Brahman king of South India" (ca. 715 CE).Some traditions specifically describe Bodhidharma to be the third son of a Tamil Pallava king from Kanchipuram.

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Buddhaghosa
Bhadantācariya Buddhaghoṣa（Thai: พระพุทธโฆษาจารย์, Chinese: 覺音）was a 5th-century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. His best-known work is the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, a comprehensive summary and analysis of the Theravada understanding of the Buddha's path to liberation. The interpretations provided by Buddhaghosa have generally constituted the orthodox understanding of Theravada scriptures since at least the 12th century CE. He is generally recognized by both Western scholars and Theravadins as the most important commentator of the Theravada.
Limited reliable information is available about the life of Buddhaghosa. Three primary sources of information exist: short prologues and epilogues attached to Buddhaghosa's works; details of his life recorded in the Mahavamsa, a Sri Lankan chronicle; and a later biographical work called the Buddhaghosuppatti. A few other sources discuss the life of Buddhaghosa, but do not appear to add any reliable material. His name means "Reverend Teacher" (Bhadanta+ācariya) and "Voice of the Buddha" (Buddha+ghosa) in Pali.

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Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Sino-Mongolian word далай (dalai) meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ bla-ma (with a silent "b") meaning "chief, high priest".
In religious terms, the Dalai Lama is believed by his devotees to be the rebirth of a long line of tulkus who are considered to be manifestations of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara. Traditionally, the Dalai Lama is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. The Dalai Lama is often thought to be the leader of the Gelug School, but this position belongs officially to the Ganden Tripa, which is a temporary position appointed by the Dalai Lama who, in practice, exerts much influence. The line of Dalai Lamas began as a lineage of spiritual teachers; the 5th Dalai Lama assumed political authority over Tibet.
For certain periods between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lamas sometimes directed the Tibetan government, which administered portions of Tibet from Lhasa. The 14th Dalai Lama remained the head of state for the Central Tibetan Administration ("Tibetan government in exile") until his retirement on March 14, 2011. He has indicated that the institution of the Dalai Lama may be abolished in the future, and also that the next Dalai Lama may be found outside Tibet and may be female. The Chinese government was very quick to reject this and claimed that only it has the authority to select the next Dalai Lama.

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Gandhara
Gandhāra (Sanskrit: गन्धार Gandḥārā, Urdu: گندھارا Ghandhāra, Pashto: ګندارا, Punjabi: گندھارا, Persian: ویهیند) is the name of an ancient kingdom (Mahajanapada), located in modern day northern Pakistan and parts of eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau (see Taxila) and on the Kabul River. Its main cities were Purushapura (modern Peshawar), literally meaning "City of Man", Varmayana (modern Bamyan) and Takshashila (modern Taxila).
The Kingdom of Gandhara lasted from the early 1st millennium BC to the 11th century AD. It attained its height from the 1st century to the 5th century under the Buddhist Kushan Kings. The Hindu term Shahi is used by history writer Al-Biruni to refer to the ruling Hindu dynasty that took over from the Turki Shahi and ruled the region during the period prior to Muslim conquests of the 10th and 11th centuries. After it was conquered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1021 CE, the name Gandhara disappeared. During the Muslim period the area was administered from Lahore or from Kabul. During Mughal times the area was part of Kabul province.

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Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha or Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम बुद्ध; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. The word Buddha is a title for the first awakened being in an era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (P. sammāsambuddha, S. samyaksaṃbuddha) of our age, "Buddha" meaning "awakened one" or "the enlightened one." Gautama Buddha may also be referred to as Śākyamuni (Sanskrit: शाक्यमुनि "Sage of the Śākyas"). The Buddha found a Middle Way that ameliorated the extreme asceticism found in the Sramana religions.
The time of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE, but more recent opinion dates his death to between 486 and 483 BCE or, according to some, between 411 and 400 BCE. UNESCO lists Lumbini, Nepal, as a world heritage site and birthplace of Gautama Buddha. There are also claims about birth place of Gautama Buddha to be Kapileswara, Orissa or Kapilavastu at Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kośala.

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Giuseppe Tucci
Giuseppe Tucci (5 June 1894 – 5 April 1984) was an Italian scholar of oriental cultures, specialising in Tibet and history of Buddhism. During its zenith, Tucci was a supporter of Italian Fascism, and he used idealized portrayals of Asian traditions to support Italian ideological campaigns. Tucci was fluent in several European languages, Sanskrit, Bengali, Pali, Prakrit, Chinese and Tibetan and he taught at the University of Rome La Sapienza until his death. He is considered one of the founders of the field of Buddhist Studies.
He was born to a middle-class family in Macerata, Marche, and thrived academically. He taught himself Hebrew, Chinese and Sanskrit before even going to university and in 1911, aged only 18, he published a collection of Latin epigraphs in the prestigious Review of the Germanic Archaeological Institute. He completed his studies at the University of Rome in 1919, where his studies were repeatedly interrupted as a result of World War I.
After graduating, he traveled to India and settled down at the Visva-Bharati University, founded by the Bengali poet and Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore. There he studied Buddhism, Tibetan and Bengali, and also taught Italian and Chinese. He also studied and taught at Dhaka University, the University of Benares and Calcutta University. He remained in India until 1931, when he returned to Italy.

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Khema
Khema was one of the two chief female disciples of Buddha (the other being Uppalavanna).
The name Khema means well-composed and she was quite beautiful. The nun belonged to the royal family of Magadha and was one of the chief queens of King Bimbisara.
She did not want to meet the Buddha as she knew he did not care much about beauty, and she was very self conscious about hers. She heard about the Buddha from her husband who encouraged her to hear his sermons and told her how beautiful Buddha's monastery was. Very interested in seeing beautiful things, decked out in royal splendor, she went to the monastery of Lord Buddha. There Buddha saw her approaching and created an exceptionally beautiful maiden by his side, whose beauty surpassed her own. Khema was captivated, seeing this, Buddha slowly aged the maiden :
Khema was finally willing to listen to Buddha, after his sermons, she attained full enlightenment, she became an arahant. With her husband's permission, she joined the order of nuns.

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Mahapajapati Gotami

Mahāpajābatī Gotamī (in Pali; Mahāprajābatī Gautamī in Sanskrit) was the first woman to request ordination from the Buddha and to join the Saṅgha. Mayadevi and Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī were the Koliyan Princess and was sisters of Suprabuddha . She was both the Buddha's maternal aunt and adoptive mother, raising him after her sister, Queen Maya (Mahāmāyā), the Buddha's birth mother, died.
An eminent Therī, Mahāprajāpatī was born at Devadaha, in the family of Suppabuddha, as the younger sister of Mahāmāyā. Mahāprajāpatī was so called because, at her birth, augurs prophesied that she would have a large following. Both sisters married King Śuddhodana, leader of the Śākya. When Mahāmāyā died, seven days after the birth of the Buddha, Pajāpati looked after the Buddha and nursed him. She raised the Buddha and had her own children, Siddhartha's half-brother Nanda and half-sister Sundari Nanda, but it is said that she gave her own children to nurses and herself nursed the Buddha.
When her sister, Queen Maya, died, Mahapajapati Gotami decided to attain Ordination. Mahapajapati Gotami went to the Buddha and asked to be ordained into the Sangha. The Buddha refused and went on to Vesāli. Undaunted, Gotami cut off her hair and donned yellow robes and with a large number of Sakyan ladies followed the Buddha to Vesāli on foot. Upon arrival, she repeated her request to be ordained. Ananda, one of the principal disciples and an attendant of the Buddha, met her and offered to intercede with the Buddha on her behalf.

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Mahākāśyapa
Mahākāśyapa (Sanskrit; Pali: Mahākassapa; Japanese: Maha Kasho or Makakasho) or Kāśyapa was a brahman of Magadha, who became one of the principal disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha and who convened and directed the first council. Mahākāśyapa is one of the most revered of the Buddha's early disciples, foremost in ascetic practices. He is often depicted in statuary together with Ananda, each standing to one side of the Buddha.
Zen purports to lead its adherents to insights akin to that mentioned by Śākyamuni Buddha in his Flower Sermon in which he held up a white flower and just admired it in his hand. Mahākāśyapa smiled faintly, and Śākyamuni Buddha picked that disciple as one who truly understood him and who was worthy to be his successor.
The words of the Śākyamuni Buddha addressed to Mahākāśyapa are described below:
I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa.

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Nagarjuna
Acharya Nāgārjuna (Devanagari:नागार्जुन, Telugu: నాగార్జున, Tibetan: ཀླུ་སྒྲུབ་ klu sgrub, Chinese: 龍樹, Sinhala නාගර්පුන) (ca. 150–250 CE) was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The Mādhyamaka school was in turn transmitted to China under the name of the Sānlùn School (Ch. 三論宗, "Three Treatise School").
Nāgārjuna is sometimes credited with developing the philosophy of the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, and being associated with the Buddhist university of Nālandā. In the Jodo Shinshu and Shingon schools of Buddhism in Japan he is considered the First Patriarch. In some Mahāyāna traditions, Nāgārjuna is regarded as a second buddha.
According to most available accounts, Nāgārjuna was originally from Southern India. Archaeological discoveries at Amarāvatī confirm the fact that Nāgārjuna maintained a friendship with the Sātavāhana king Gautamīputra Śātakarṇi, to whom he addressed his Letter to a Friend (Skt. Sahṛd-lekhā). On this basis, Nāgārjuna is conventionally placed at around 150–250 CE.

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Nagasena
Nāgasena was a Brahmin who became a Buddhist sage lived about 150 BCE. His answers to questions about Buddhism posed by Menander I (Pali: Milinda), the Indo-Greek king of northwestern India (now Pakistan), are recorded in the Milinda Pañha.
Sanskrit in origin, Nāga means king cobra, snake, serpent, or dragon, and also can refer to snake-human hybrids, an ancient super-race who were the mythological founders of many Asian countries. Sena means army. Therefore the name can be translated as "Army of Nāga" or "Host of Dragons", signifying a very powerful supernatural presence.
There is almost universal agreement that this text was later expanded by numerous other authors, following the "Question and Answer" pattern established in the early books. The version extant today is very long, and has signs of inconsistent authorship in the later volumes. There is no agreed-upon point at which Nagasena's authorship may be said to end (and the work of other hands begins), nor has this been perceived as an inherently important distinction by monastic scholars.

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Nichiren
Nichiren (日蓮) (February 16, 1222 – October 13, 1282) was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myōhō-Renge-Kyō in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Nam-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō as the essential practice of the teaching. Nichiren Buddhism includes various schools with diverging interpretations of Nichiren's teachings. While virtually all Nichiren Buddhist schools regard him as a reincarnation of the Lotus Sutra's Bodhisattva Superior Practices, Jōgyō Bosatsu (上行菩薩), some schools of Nichiren Buddhism's Nikkō lineages regard him as the actual Buddha of this age, or the Buddha of the Latter day of the Law.
Nichiren was born on February 16, 1222 in the village of Kominato, Nagase District, Awa Province (within present-day Chiba Prefecture). Nichiren's father was Mikuni-no-Tayu Shigetada, also known as Nukina Shigetada Jiro (d. 1258) and his mother was Umegiku-nyo (d. 1267). On his birth, his parents named him Zennichimaro (善日麿^?) which has variously been translated into English as "Splendid Sun" and "Virtuous Sun Boy" among others. The exact site of Nichiren's birth is believed to be submerged off the shore from present-day Kominato-zan Tanjō-ji (小湊山　誕生寺), a temple in Kominato that commemorates Nichiren's birth. In his own words about his birth, Nichiren stated that he was "the son of a chandala family who lived near the sea in Tojo in Awa Province, in the remote countryside of the eastern part of Japan."

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Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava Tibetan: པདྨ་འབྱུང་གནས།, Wylie: pad+ma 'byung gnas (EWTS), ZYPY: Bämajungnä); Mongolian ловон Бадмажунай, lovon Badmajunai, Chinese: 蓮花生大士 (pinyin: Liánhuāshēng), Means The Lotus-Born, was a sage guru from Oddiyāna who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighboring countries in the 8th century.
In those lands he is better known as Guru Rinpoche ("Precious Guru") or Lopon Rinpoche, or, simply, Padum in Tibet, where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha.
He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as "a second Buddha". He was born into a Brahmin family of Northwest India.
Padmasambhava said:
His Pureland Paradise is Zangdok Palri (the Copper-coloured Mountain).

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Paramartha
Paramārtha (Sanskrit: परमार्थ Paramārtha; traditional Chinese: 真諦; simplified Chinese: 真谛; pinyin: Zhēndì) (499-569 CE) was an Indian monk from Ujjain in central India, who is best known for his prolific Chinese translations which include Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośa. Paramārtha is considered one of the greatest translators of sutras in Chinese Buddhism, along with Kumārajīva and Xuanzang.
Paramārtha was born in 499 CE in the autonomous kingdom of Malwa in central India, at the end of the Gupta Dynasty. His given name was Kulanātha, meaning "savior of the family", and his parents were Brahmins belonging to the Bhāradvāja clan. His Buddhist name of Paramārtha means "the ultimate meaning," parama: uppermost, artha: meaning. In the Buddhist context, this refers to the absolute, as opposed to merely conventional truth.
Paramārtha became a Buddhist monk in India and received support from royalty for his travels to spread the teachings of Buddhism. He most likely received royal patronage from Bālāditya II or Kumāragupta III. The Maukhari ruler Dhruvasena I may have also supported Paramārtha, as his kingdom was a well-known bastion of the type of Yogācāra teachings advocated by Paramārtha.

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Punna
Purna Maitrayani-putra, also called Puṇṇa, was an arahant and one of the ten leading disciples of the Buddha.
When asked by the Buddha what he would think if people were to assault or kill him, each time Puṇṇa explained how he would find himself fortunate. As a result, the Buddha commended Puṇṇa on his self-control and peacefulness. Puṇṇa went on to establish a thousand lay followers in the Buddha's teaching. Upon Puṇṇa's death, the Buddha discerned that Puṇṇa had attained final Nibbana.

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Rāhula
Rāhula (born c. 534 BC) was the only son of Siddhartha Gautama (Pāli Siddhattha Gotama), later known as the Buddha, and his wife Princess Yasodharā.
Accounts of his life differ in certain points. The following is that given in the Pāli Canon.
Prince Siddhartha was preparing himself to leave the palace. One account claims that when he received the news of his son's birth he replied Rāhu jāto, bandhanam jātam — "A rāhu is born, a fetter has arisen." Accordingly the child was named Rāhula, meaning "fetter", or "impediment", recognizing that the child could be a tie that bound him to his wife Yashodhara, a binding that may impede a search for enlightenment. Others, however, feel rāhu does not mean "fetter" in this sense. The second account, found in the Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya, is that Rāhula received his name in accordance with an eclipse of the moon, caused by the snake Rahu.
Supporting the first account, in the Dhammapada, the pleasure and joy that a man receives in his wife and children is called a "soft fetter" that ties individuals to life and suffering, not just through eventual loss and separation of loved ones but more deeply and subtly may act as ties to cyclic existence (samsara).

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Sariputta
Śāriputra (Sanskrit: शारिपुत्र) or Sāriputta (Pāli) was one of two chief male disciples of the Buddha along with Maudgalyayana (Pali: Moggallāna), counterparts to the nuns Khema and Uppalavanna, named the two chief female disciples. He became an Arhat "foremost in wisdom" renowned for his teaching and is depicted in the Theravada tradition as one of the most important disciples of the Buddha.
Śāriputra came from a Brahmin family and had already embarked on life as a spiritual ascetic when he encountered the teachings of the Buddha. Śāriputra had a close friend Mahāmaudgalyāyana (Pāli: Mahāmoggallāna), another wandering ascetic. They both renounced the world on the same day and became disciples of the sceptic Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta before converting to Buddhism.
After hearing of the Buddha's teachings from a monk named Assaji (Sanskrit: Asvajit), Śāriputra sought out the Buddha and became an adherent to his teachings. These two are often depicted together with the Buddha, and several sutras regard interactions between Śāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana (who became renowned among the early Buddhists for his mastery of supernatural powers).

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Sthiramati
Sthiramati (Sanskrit; Tibetan: blo gros brtan pa) or Sāramati was a 6th century Indian Buddhist scholar-monk. He was based primarily in Valābhi (present-day Gujarat), although he is thought to have spent some time at Nālandā. He was renowned for his numerous and detailed commentaries on Yogācāra and Abhidharma works by Vasubandhu and others, as well as for a commentary on the Kaśyāpa-parivarta.
Takasaki (1966: p. 62) is certain that the author of the embedded commentary (verse and prose) to the core text (verse) of the Ratnagotravibhāga [RGV version as per Johnston, et al. (1950)] is Sāramati through his analysis of the RGV with the Dharmadhātvaviśeṣaśāstra.

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Upali
Upali (Sanskrit उपालि upāli) was a monk, one of the ten chief disciples of the Buddha. Before joining the order, he worked as a barber. He asked the Buddha if a person of "low birth" such as he could join the order. Buddha ordained him before the princes and asked the princes to pay homage to Upali, who by then had become an Arhant with Buddha's sermons while Buddha was getting a hair cut. He became the chief disciple in knowing the rules of the order and the foremost disciple in keeping precepts.

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Uppalavanna
Uppalavannā (蓮華色比丘尼)was considered to be amongst the two chief female disciples of the Buddha, the other being Khema.
She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant and was known for her great beauty. Her name means "one with the hue of the blue lotus".
She was the daughter of a businessman from Savatthi (Shravasti). She was named Uppalavanna because her complexion was that of a blue lotus. She was so beautiful that when she came of age, powerful and wealthy suitors sent messengers to her father asking for her hand. Not wanting to displease so many people, he suggested that she become a bhikkhuni. She agreed and became a nun. She quickly progressed in meditation and became an Arahant (fully liberated).
Buddha declared her to be the foremost in supernormal powers among the nuns.
Samyutta Nikaya V.5, the Uppalavanna Sutta, is attributed to her:

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Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu (Sanskrit: वसुबन्दु; traditional Chinese: 世親; pinyin: Shìqīn; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་, Wylie: dbyig gnyen) (fl. 4th c.) was an Indian Buddhist monk, and along with his half-brother Asanga, one of the main founders of the Indian Yogācāra school. However, some scholars consider Vasubandhu to be two distinct people. Vasubandhu is one of the most influential figures in the entire history of Buddhism. In the Jodo Shinshu branch of Buddhism, he is considered the Second Patriarch. In Zen, he is the 21st Patriarch.
Born a brahmin Vasubandhu was said to have been the half brother of Asanga, another key personage in the founding of the Yogacara School. He was also, as well as his elder half brother Asanga, one of the ‘Six Ornaments’(i.e. six great commentators on the Buddha’s teachings). He resided at Kausambhi (near modern Allahabad) where he was trained in the orthodox Sarvastivada Order of Buddhism, which had its seat at Kausambhi. He was contemporaneous with King Chandragupta I, the father of Samudragupta. This information temporally places this Vasubandhu in the fourth century CE.

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Walpola Rahula
The venerable Prof Walpola Sri Rahula Maha Thera (1907–1997) was a Buddhist monk, scholar and writer. He is considered to be one of the top Sri Lankan intellectuals of the 20th century. In 1964, he became the Professor of History and Religions at Northwestern University, thus becoming the first bhikkhu to hold a professorial chair in the Western world. He also once held the position of Vice-Chancellor at the then Vidyodaya University (currently known as the University of Sri Jayewardenepura). He has written extensively about Buddhism in English, French and Sinhalese. His book, What the Buddha Taught, is considered by many to be one of the best books written about Theravada Buddhism.
He was born in 1907 at Walpola, a tiny village in southern Sri Lanka. At thirteen, he entered the Sangha. His education covered Sinhala, Pali, Sanskrit, Buddhism, history and philosophy. He studied at the Vidyalankara Pirivena and at the University of Ceylon, where he associated with E. F. C. Ludowvk, G.P Malalasekera, E. W. Adikaram and other luminaries. After his period at the Sorbonne, he became Vice-Chancellor of Vidyodaya University. He was noted not only for his erudition but also for his strong socialist views, as well as his belief that monks have a duty to play a role in guiding the political consciousness of the people. His book Bhikshuvakage Urumaya (Heritage of the Bhikkhu) was a strong voice in the Buddhist Nationalist movement that led to the 1956 electoral victory of Solomon Bandaranaike. He left Vidyodaya University in 1969, due to political differences with the government of the day. Thereafter, he returned to the West and worked in many academic institutions in Europe. He returned to Sri Lanka during his last days, and lived in the temple near the New Parliament in Kotte, until his death.

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Wikipedia Persondata
wn.com/Wikipedia_Persondata
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (Chinese: 玄奘; pinyin: Xuánzàng; Wade–Giles: Hsüan-tsang Sanskrit: ह्वेनसांग) (c. 602 – 664) was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator who described the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period. Born in Henan province of China in 602 or 603, from boyhood he took to reading sacred books, including the Chinese Classics and the writings of the ancient sages.
While residing in the city of Luoyang, Xuanzang entered Buddhist monkhood at the age of thirteen. Due to the political and social unrest caused by the fall of the Sui dynasty, he went to Chengdu in Sichuan (Szechuan), where he was ordained at the age of twenty. He later traveled throughout China in search of sacred books of Buddhism. At length, he came to Chang'an, then under the peaceful rule of Emperor Taizong of Tang. Here Xuanzang developed the desire to visit India. He knew about Faxian's visit to India and, like him, was concerned about the incomplete and misinterpreted nature of the Buddhist scriptures that had reached China.

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Śuddhodana
King Suddhodana (Sanskrit: Śuddhodana) was the father of Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha. He was a leader of the Shakya people, who lived in northern India and southern Nepal. Suddhodana's father was Sihahanu. Suddhodana won a battle against his father, thus gaining permission to marry the two sisters of his cousin, Suprabuddha, of the Koliya clan. Suprabuddha in turn married Suddhodana's two sisters. Siddhartha, later Buddha, in turn married his cousin, Yasodhara, daughter of Suprabuddha and his father's sister. Suddhodana's consorts, Mayadevi and Mahaprajapati of Devadaha Kingdom located in southern Nepal and northern India on the bank of the river Anoma, were in turn Buddha's mother, and step-mother.
The sage Asita visited Siddhartha when he was just a baby, and was surprised when the infant prince placed his feet on top of the sage's head. After Asita examined the prince’s feet, he kneeled and paid homage to the infant. King Suddhodana copied his action and said, “Son, this is my first act of obeisance.”. Siddhartha later received his name from the Five Forest Brahmana, Kaundinya, Mahaanaama, Baspa, Asvajita, and Bharika, who later became Buddha's companions during his ascetic practices, and his first five followers after his enlightenment at Bodh Gaaya and his first sermon (Dharmacakraptavatana sutra - Turning of the Wheel of Law) at Sraavastii.

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Asanga: Founder of Mahayana Yogacara Buddhism

by Cale Bakken with instructor Rev. Dr. James Kenneth Powell II, opensourcebuddhism.org Th...

published: 26 Aug 2008

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Asanga by Kevin Volans

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published: 24 Apr 2010

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Ape Thaththa - Asanga Priyamantha Pieris

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Asanga - Kevin Volans, for solo drums

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published: 20 Apr 2009

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Young Monk & Future Tibetan Spiritual Leader, Asanga Rinpoche

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Young Lama & Future Tibetan Spiritual Leader, Asanga Sakya Rinpoche

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Profiling a Young Global Leader - Asanga Abeyagoonasekera

www.weforum.org...

published: 06 Dec 2012

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Nehara peiris and Asanga SDS 10-05-2008

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published: 11 May 2008

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Labunath Neth Yuga - Asanga Priyamantha (D'Mix Collection)

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published: 12 Jul 2011

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Asanga & Malani Bulathsinhala - Sanda Diya

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dakinna aasaii by asanga priyamantha(komali)

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Asanga for multiple percussion by Kevin Volans

My multiple percussion for my Graduate recital on March 16, 2010....

published: 22 Mar 2010

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Asanga Gallery

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published: 29 Jul 2012

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www.asangasulptor.com asanga@asangasculptor.com...

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AboutAsanga

A short bio about Asanga Sculptor www.asangasculptor.com...

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Asanga Services

Servicing Chefs Artistic needs. Specialising in: Ice sculpting Ice bars Bespoke food scu...

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ASANGA INTERVIEW AT KRETA （2/4）

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Interview with Asanga Welikala on JS Tissainayagam-s bail /* Sri Lanka */

Tamil journalist JS Tissainayagam was enlarged on bail today pending the appeal of his con...

published: 12 Jan 2010

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ASANGA INTERVIEW AT KRETA （3/4）

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ASANGA INTERVIEW AT KRETA （1/4）

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ASANGA INTERVIEW AT KRETA (4/4)

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published: 09 Feb 2010

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Dr Nimal Gamage with Dr Asanga Nugasevana interview by Pushpa Ramya

Talk about cosmetic surgery diet and exercise, laser hair removal, liposuction, www.youtub...

published: 10 Sep 2012

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Mama Zimbi interviews Dr. Asanka and Kwamena Idan on their secret love lives

For your daily private personal advice on love, relationships, marriage and from me Akumaa...

published: 11 Jan 2012

author: Akumaa Mama Zimbi

Renew GSP plus scheme and Emergency Rule in Sri Lanka Part 01

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published: 17 Apr 2009

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Renew GSP plus scheme and Emergency Rule in Sri Lanka Part 02

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Renew GSP plus scheme and Emergency Rule in Sri Lanka Part 03

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Good Morning Mala - Asanka Sahabandu from Deep D collection

Good Morning Mala - Asanka Sahabandu the Sinhalese one of we no speak americano DOWNLOAD F...

published: 09 May 2011

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Bruno Baumann: Interview with The Dalai Lama/ Entrevista a El Dalai Lama (VOS)

Bruno Baumann- Austrian writer, explorer, photographer, expert in Asia- interviews The Dal...

published: 17 May 2009

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kusa paba movie with Nirosh Lakmal

Nirosh Lakmal with kusa paba movie Kusa Paba කුස පබා - Starring: Jackson Anthony, Pooja Um...

published: 29 Feb 2012

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OLeg Fake Phone Intervie at BigW

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published: 26 Jun 2009

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Asanga Gallery

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published: 29 Jul 2012

author: AVMCSTUDIOS

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author: AVMCSTUDIOS

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photo: AP / Mohammad Hannon

In this Sept. 14, 2012 file photo, Libyan military guards check one of the burnt out buildings at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, during a visit by Libyan President Mohammed el-Megarif to express sympathy for the death of American ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and his colleagues in the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the consulate.

There are bigger issues to worry about than Benghazi

The News Tribune

25 Jan 2013

Republicans wanted nothing more than to summon Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Capitol Hill and grill her about the tragic fiasco in Benghazi. Sadly for them, they got their wish. Clinton’s smooth and confident performance at Wednesday’s Senate and House committee hearings was fun to watch. When her would-be inquisitors asked serious questions, she gave serious answers. But when Sen ... Fat chance ... Benghazi ... Perhaps not ... ....(size: 4.8Kb)

photo: White House / Pete Souza

A bronze bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is visible in the foreground as President Barack Obama meets with senior advisors, in the Oval Office, Feb. 4, 2010.

Same Bibles, Different Theologies and Histories

WorldNews.com

24 Jan 2013

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. In the world of politics and imagination, theater usually trumps theology while history is most often vanquished by histrionics. President Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony for a second term reflects this truth, specifically as he uses two historic bibles-one belonging to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and another used only by Abraham Lincoln ... "With malice toward none; with charity for all."....(size: 7.3Kb)

photo: AP / Themba Hadebe

Zambia's Emmanuel Mayuka, left, is challenged by Nigeria's Godfrey Oboabona, right, during their African Cup of Nations Group C soccer match at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, South Africa, Friday Jan. 25, 2013.

Africa Cup of Nations - Nigeria v Zambia & B Faso v EthiopiaLive

BBC News

25 Jan 2013

Live text commentary as Zambia face Nigeria and Bukina Faso play Ethiopia in Group C of the Africa Cup of Nations. To get live updates & watch our video coverage you must enable Javascript. Watch My Cup of Nations - Daouda Diakite Watch My Cup of Nations - Jacob Mulenga. 25 January 2013 Share this page. print. Get involved. To get involved contact us in any of the following ways Send us a text ... Live Reporting. In Summary ... 1430.  ... ....(size: 17.2Kb)

photo: USAF / Tech. Sgt. Chad Chisholm

File - A staff sergeant marshalls an MQ-9 Reaper after it returned from a mission Dec. 1, 2010, at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.

UN launches major investigation into civilian drone deaths

Antiwar

24 Jan 2013

Ben Emmerson QC addresses reporters in London (Photo. TBIJ). A UN investigation into the legality and casualties of drone strikes has been formally launched, with a leading human rights lawyer revealing the team that will carry out the inquiry. The announcement came as the latest reported US drone strike in Yemen was said to have mistakenly killed two children ... In total some 25 strikes are expected to be examined in detail ... He added....(size: 7.1Kb)

photo: UN / Martine Perret

File - Health Officers of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) with the support of the World Health Organization help the Ministry of Health to monitor and coordinate the national response to the human cases of the H1N1 influenza virus, 7 May, 2009.

Swine flu infected 'fifth of people'

BBC News

25 Jan 2013

At least one in five people, including half of schoolchildren, were infected with swine flu during the first year of the pandemic in 2009, according to data from 19 countries. It is thought the virus killed 200,000 people around the world. A World Health Organization-led study looked for evidence of the body's immune system fighting the virus ... Anti-bodies ... ....(size: 2.1Kb)

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In Sri Lanka, an unsolved murder

The Hindu

08 Jan 2013

It was exactly four years ago that Lasantha Wickrematunge was murdered ... Four years down the line, no one has been convicted for Lasantha’s murder. All the suspects have been set free ... But a court later released all of them) ... Editor, murdered for his views 4 yrs ago ... Ms. Jansz had accused the new owner of the paper, Asanga Seneviratne, of asking her to stop carrying articles critical of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers....(size: 3.2Kb)

Fears for Sri Lanka's outspoken Leader

BBC News

27 Dec 2012

The murder has never been solved ... Controversial apologies ... The new owner, with a 72% stake, is a businessman, Asanga Seneviratne, who is president of the national rugby union and appointed the president's son as captain of the national team ... Yet recent remarks by the new owner, Asanga Seneviratne, in the magazine "Echelon" suggest the Leader may find it difficult to continue targeting the higher authorities so fiercely ... ....(size: 8.2Kb)

The world is a transit lounge

The Times of India

02 Nov 2012

In the 15th chapter of the Gita, there is a description of a tree which is upside down. The branches are in the ground and the roots are in the sky. What could be the significance of this?. This is a symbol to signify that your origin is the Divinity, the consciousness. That is your root. The mind and all its paraphernalia are like the branches ... So, it says, 'Asvattham enam su-virudha-mulam asanga-sastrena drdhena chittva' (BG 15.3) ... ....(size: 3.1Kb)

Sri Lankan paper apologises to minister after he threatened its editor

The Guardian

22 Oct 2012

A Sri Lankan newspaper has apologised to a minister for reporting that he had threatened its editor with death - even though she recorded him doing so. Let's disentangle that bizarre turn of events ... People will kill you ... It was acquired by Asanga Seneviratne, an ally of the president ... Source. IFEX ... ....(size: 2.8Kb)

VelocityDC Dance Festival offers a smorgasbord of troupes and styles

The Washington Post

20 Oct 2012

And puppies. Loading... Comments Weigh In Corrections?. Recommend. Personal Post. Asanga Domask performing "Narilatha Kolama.". These folks were playing hardball ... (Hear, hear .) ... If it was slightly jarring to see a gentle work of classical Indian dance (from Asanga Domask) follow a tense urban love triangle (Company E’s “Y”), the sheer abundance of solid-quality art more than compensated ... Christopher K ... NW ... ....(size: 4.0Kb)

Sri Lanka: Newspaper apologises to defence minister for publishing his death threat (Article 19)

noodls

19 Oct 2012

Press release. In a shocking turn of events, Sri Lankan newspaper The Sunday Leader has formally apologised to defence minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa for reporting that the minister had threatened the then editor with death ... The new owner, Asanga Seneviratne almost immediately sacked the newspaper's editor, Frederica Jansz, after she refused to prevent her reporters from criticising the government ... distributed by ... (noodl. 16298826) ....(size: 3.4Kb)

Upcoming DC events to look forward to in October

The Examiner

11 Oct 2012

Related topics. upcomingWPASAlanis Morissette. Advertisement. Pumpkin everything still seems to be the highlight of everyone's Fall. But it is also the return and the premiere of some great festivals, fairs, and events. Here are some of the best events coming up in October. WPAS Fall Arts Fair. October 21, 2012 ... The festival features" Step Afrika!, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Asanga Domask, Farafina Kan, Jane Franklin Dance, and many more ... ....(size: 9.3Kb)

Australia denies asylum to Sri Lankan editor facing government death threats

Canberra Times

06 Oct 2012

A SRI Lankan newspaper editor - threatened by a senior government official and brother to the President that she would be killed - has had an asylum claim to resettle in Australia rejected ... The interview, on speaker phone, was heard by several witnesses. He said. ''Ninety per cent of the people in this country hate you ... Jansz was sacked as editor after a 72 per cent stake in The Sunday Leader was bought by Asanga Seneviratne ... ....(size: 5.7Kb)

Case dismissed: death threats not persecution

Canberra Times

05 Oct 2012

Death threats … Frederica Jansz whose application to resettle in Australia has been turned down. Photo. Abeetha Sandesh Pathirana ... The interview, on speaker phone, was heard by several people. ''Ninety per cent of the people in this country hate you,'' Mr Rajapaksa said. ''They hate you ... Ms Jansz was sacked after a 72 per cent stake in The Sunday Leader was bought by an associate of the Rajapaksa family, Asanga Seneviratne ... ....(size: 6.3Kb)

Editor of Sri Lanka's most 'outspoken anti-government' newspaper sacked

Newstrack India

22 Sep 2012

Tweet. Colombo, Sept 22 (ANI) ... Jansz said the new owner, Asanga Seneviratne, wanted her to 'curb her style of writing and compromise her credibility' ... (ANI). Post comments.. ) .. ).. Comments.. HOME . . . . . . .. . . .. ....(size: 1.8Kb)

Sri Lanka Sunday Leader editor Frederica Jansz sacked

BBC News

21 Sep 2012

The editor of Sri Lanka's most outspokenly anti-government newspaper says she has been dismissed after it was was bought by a businessman who wanted it to change its editorial line ... 'Telephone tirade' ... Ms Jansz said the new owner, Asanga Seneviratne, wanted her to "curb her style of writing and compromise her credibility" ... ....(size: 2.1Kb)

SRI LANKA: A threat to the safety of Dr. Nimal Devasiri

Scoop

23 Jun 2012

Saturday, 23 June 2012, 1.23 pm. Press Release. Asian Human Rights Commission. A Statement from the Asian Human Rights Commission. SRI LANKA. A threat to the safety of Dr. Nimal Devasiri of the University Teachers Union ... Last night, a jeep without a proper licence plate was seen parked near his house ... Illangakoon, the Inspector General of Police, Professor Asanga Tilakaratne, President of the AFTU-CU stated. ... Nirmal Ranjith on June 19, 2012 ... ....(size: 3.0Kb)

Sri Lanka: The Rights Of Women In The Post War Conflict

Scoop

06 Jun 2012

Wednesday, 6 June 2012, 3.19 pm. Press Release. Asian Human Rights Commission. Sri Lanka. The Rights Of Women In The Post War Conflict -- The Constitution And Its Guarantees. Munasinghe Prasadika Sandamani LLB(Col), Attorney at Law. Introduction ... With this aim in mind the post war conflict experiences of women have been discussed ... Alan, 2007) ... 2008) ... 9 Sri Lanka’s Post war Constitutional Reforms Debate by Asanga Welikala, 8.Augast 2011....(size: 22.8Kb)

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Japanese wood statue of Asaṅga from 1208 CE.

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Asaṅga (Sanskrit: असङ्ग; Tibetan: ཐོགས་མེད།; Wylie: Thogs med; traditional Chinese: 無著; pinyin: Wúzhuó; Romaji: Mujaku) was a major exponent of the Yogācāra tradition in India, also called Vijñānavāda. Traditionally, he and his half-brother Vasubandhu are regarded as the founders of this school. The two half-brothers were also major exponents of Abhidharma teachings, which were highly technical and sophisticated hermeneutics as well.

1 Early life
2 Meditation and teachings
3 Abhidharma Samuccaya
4 Questions of authorship
5 References
6 External links

Early life [link]

Asaṅga was born as the son of a Kshatriya father and Brahmin mother^[1] in Purushapura (present day Peshawar in Pakistan), which at that time was part of the ancient kingdom of Gandhāra. Current scholarship places him in in the fourth century CE. He was perhaps originally a member of the Mahīśāsaka school or the Mūlasarvāstivāda school but later converted to Mahāyāna.^[2]

In the record of his journeys through the kingdoms of India, Xuanzang wrote that Asaṅga was initially a Mahīśāsaka monk, but soon turned toward the Mahāyāna teachings.^[3] Asaṅga had a half-brother, Vasubandhu, who was a monk from the Sarvāstivāda school. Vasubandhu is said to have taken up Mahāyāna Buddhism after meeting with Asaṅga and one of Asaṅga's disciples.^[4]

Meditation and teachings [link]

Asaṅga spent many years in intense meditation, during which time tradition says that he often visited Tuṣita Heaven to receive teachings from Maitreya Bodhisattva. Heavens such as Tuṣita Heaven are said to be accessible through meditation, and accounts of this are given in the writings of the Indian Buddhist monk Paramārtha, who lived during the 6th century CE.^[5] Xuanzang tells a similar account of these events:^[3]

“

In the great mango grove five or six li to the southwest of the city (Ayodhya), there is an old monastery where Asaṅga Bodhisattva received instructions and guided the common people. At night he went up to the place of Maitreya Bodhisattva in Tuṣita Heaven to learn the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, the Mahāyāna-sūtra-alaṃkāra-śāstra, the Madhyānta-vibhāga-śāstra, etc.; in the daytime, he lectured on the marvelous principles to a great audience.

”

Asaṅga went on to write many of the key Yogācāra treatises such as the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, the Mahāyāna-samgraha and the Abhidharma-samuccaya as well as other works, although there are discrepancies between the Chinese and Tibetan traditions concerning which works are attributed to him and which to Maitreya.^[6]

[edit] Abhidharma Samuccaya

Main article: Abhidharma-samuccaya

According to Walpola Rahula, the thought of the Abhidharma-samuccaya is invariably closer to that of the Pali Nikayas than is that of the Theravadin Abhidhamma.^[7]

Questions of authorship [link]

The Tibetan tradition attributes authorship of the Ratnagotravibhaga to him, while the Chinese traditions attributes it to a certain Sthiramati or Sāramati. Peter Harvey finds the Tibetan attribution less plausible.^[8]

References [link]

^ Tsoṅ-kha-pa Blo-bzaṅ-grags-pa, Robert A. F. Thurman (Page 28)
^ 'Doctrinal Affiliation of the Buddhist Master Asanga' - Alex Wayman in Untying the Knots in Buddhism, ISBN 81-208-1321-9
^ ^a ^b Rongxi, Li. The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions., Numata Center, Berkeley, 1996, p. 153.
^ Rongxi, Li. The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions., Numata Center, Berkeley, 1996, pp. 154-155.
^ Wayman, Alex. Untying the Knots in Buddhism: Selected Essays. 1997. p. 213
^ On Some Aspects of the Doctrines of Maitreya (natha) and the Asanga - Giuseppe Tucci, Calcutta, 1930.
^ Dan Lusthaus, Buddhist Phenomenology. Routledge, 2002, page 44, note 5. Lusthaus draws attention to Rahula's Zen and the Taming of the Bull.
^ Peter Harvey, "An Introduction to Buddhism." Cambridge University Press, 1993, page 114.

External links [link]

Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (type in "guest" as userID)
Vasubandhu: Entry at the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Distinguishing Dharma and Dharmata by Asanga and Maitreya By: Thrangu Rinpoche

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Persondata
Name	Asanga
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	300
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

http://wn.com/Asanga

http://ru.wn.com/Асанга

http://fr.wn.com/Asanga

http://de.wn.com/Asanga

http://it.wn.com/Asaṅga

http://hi.wn.com/असंग

http://pl.wn.com/Asanga

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asanga

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

Kevin Volans is a composer associated with the post-minimalist movement in contemporary composition. He was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa on July 6, 1949, and even though he has spent most of his life outside his native country, is the best known South African composer active today.

In 1972, he graduated from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg with a Bachelor of Music degree, followed by post-graduate education at the University of Aberdeen. From 1973 to 1981 he lived in Cologne, where he studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen at the Musikhochschule. During this period he served as Stockhausen's teaching assistant in 1975–76 (Taylor 2001).

During this period of time, along with his contemporaries Walter Zimmermann and Clarence Barlow, he became associated with the musical movement called the "New Simplicity" that would later influence post-minimalist composition. This was a reaction against the complexities and hyperbole of the new music scene in Germany in the mid-1970s, and it proved to be highly influential.^{[citation needed]}

After conducting several field recording trips in 1979, Volans began writing pieces based upon African compositional techniques. This characteristic made him one of the most distinctive composers on the European new music circuit at the time. Some of his works such as Matepe and the first version of White Man Sleeps utilize early music instruments including harpsichord (tuned in African tuning) and viola da gamba.

The first of his compositions to reach a wide audience was a new version of White Man Sleeps, made at the suggestion of the Kronos Quartet in 1985. This version reorders the movements of the original version, and uses conventional western tuning. The Kronos Quartet's album of that name (which however features only three of Volans's five movements) became a best-seller, and White Man Sleeps has been taken up by many choreographers, notably Siobhan Davies. Volans followed it up with Hunting: Gathering, his second quartet, written for Kronos in 1987.

Volans was Composer-in Residence at Queen's University Belfast from 1986-89. Thereafter he has made his home in the Republic of Ireland and in 1994 became an Irish citizen. His notable students include Justinian Tamusuza.

The works of the late 1980s and early 1990s show a move away from the direct influence of African music towards a highly personal sort of minimalism. Part of this may have been the influence of the American composer Morton Feldman, who was a close friend; but the language of the compositions this era, including the orchestral work One Hundred Frames (1990), the striking two-piano work Cicada (1994), or the Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments (1995) are identifiably his own. Central among them is an opera, The Man with Footsoles of Wind, premiered in London in 1993, and based on an idea by his friend, the English novelist Bruce Chatwin. The work of visual artists such as Philip Guston, Jasper Johns and James Turrell figure among Volans's influences in these years.

A close working relationship with the London-based Duke Quartet led Volans to write more for the string quartet medium, including the fifth quartet, Dancers on a Plane (1994) and the sixth quartet (2000). For much of the late 1990s he concentrated on dance collaborations with such choreographers as Jonathan Burrows and Siobhan Davies. Since 2000, however, he has devoted most of his energy to orchestral works; since his fine Cello Concerto of 1997 he has written a Concerto for Double Orchestra, a Trio Concerto which received its UK premier as part of the Soundwaves Festival 2007, and a second Piano Concerto, subtitled "Atlantic Crossing", which was premiered by Marc-André Hamelin in November 2006.

Publications [link]

Volans, Kevin. 1971. "The Klavierstücke: Stockhausen’s Microcosm". Unpublished BMus Essay: University of the Witwatersrand.
Volans, Kevin. [n.d.1978]. "Conversation with Walter Zimmermann". In Feedback Papers Reprint 1-16, 1971-1978, [ed. Johannes Fritsch]. Cologne: Feedback Studio, 338-341.
Volans, Kevin. [n.d.1978]. "Interview with John McGuire". Feedback Papers Reprint 1-16, 1971-1978. Cologne: Feedback Studio, 347-349.
Volans, Kevin. [n.d.1978]. "Monkey Music 2: Paraphrase". Feedback Papers Reprint 1-16, 1971-1978. Cologne: Feedback Studio, 354-355.
Volans, Kevin. [n.d.1978]. "Understanding Stockhausen". Feedback Papers Reprint 1-16, 1971-1978. Cologne: Feedback Studio, 407-409.
Volans, Kevin and Johannes Fritsch. [n.d.1978]. "Interview with Pauline Oliveros". Feedback Papers Reprint 1-16, 1971-1978. Cologne: Feedback Studio, 352-353.
Volans, Kevin. 1985. Summer Gardeners: Conversations with Composers. Durban: Newer Music Edition.
Volans, Kevin. 1986. "A New Note". Leadership [Cape Town], March, 79-82.
Volans, Kevin. 1989. "Dancing in the Dark". New Observations, May, 67, 4-5.
Volans, Kevin. 1994. "On Top Form: Minimalist John Pawson’s Redesign of a Grand Dublin Residence … ". Image, October, 32-34 and 38-39.
Volans, Kevin. "A Dialogue Between Collaborators". Dance Theatre Journal 12(4), 14-15.
Volans, Kevin. 2001/2. "White Man Sleeps: Composer’s Statement". NewMusicSA: Bulletin of the International Society for Contemporary Music - South African Section, First Issue, 5-7.
Volans, Kevin. 2008. "Inaudible Music". In Discontinuity, Paradox & Precision. Birmingham: Ikon Gallery.
Volans, Kevin. and Hilary Bracefield. 1987. "A Constant State of Surprise: Gerald Barry and The Intelligence Park". Contact 31, 9-11.

References [link]

Ballantine, Christopher. 2001/2. "Christopher Ballantine reviews Cicada". NewMusicSA: Bulletin of the International Society for Contemporary Music - South African Section, First Issue, 7-8.
Blake, Michael. 1992. "Volans, Kevin". In Contemporary Composers, eds. Brian Norton and Pamela Collins, 951-952.
Blake, Michael. 1993. "Almeida opera: Kevin Volans and Julian Grant". Tempo 186, 52-53.
Bräuninger, Jürgen. 1998. "Gumboots to the Rescue". South African Journal of Musicology: SAMUS 18, 1-16.
Chatwin, Bruce. 1989. "Kevin Volans". In What Am I Doing Here? 63-69. London: Picador.
Clarkson Fletcher, J., J. Dazeley, J. Taylor and E. Wetherall [n.d.1998]. "Towards New Models for the Analysis of Post-serial and Post-tonal Music, with Particular Reference to Kevin Volans’ White Man Sleeps". In Proceedings of the 25th Annual Congress of the Musicological Society of Southern Africa, Grahamstown, August 1998, ed. W. Lüdemann, 7-18. [Stellenbosch: Musicological Society of Southern Africa.]
Fox, James. 1988. "Staging Songlines: Interview". Village Voice 18(12), 138–9, 199 and 202.
Gaisford, Sue. 1999. "How We Met: Elizabeth Chatwin & Kevin Volans". The Independent (London), 4 July.
Gann, Kyle. 1988. "Fear of Symmetry: Boston Composers and Kronos Quartets". Village Voice, 23 February.
Gann, Kyle. 1998. "Consumer Guide". Village Voice, 1 September.
Gilmore, Bob. 2006. "Wild Air: The Music of Kevin Volans". The Journal of Music in Ireland 6(6), 22-29.
Grözinger, Jürgen. 2006. "'Zur Freiheit Führen Viele Wege’: Der Componist Kevin Volans über Afrika und die Musikalische Avantgarde". Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 5, September/October, 16-17.
Loppert, Max. 1993. "Volans: The Man Who Strides The Wind". Opera, 68, 1102–1104.
Marcus, Bunita. 1989. "Preface". New Observations 67, 2.
Olwage, Grant. 1999/2000. "Who Needs Rescuing? A Reply to 'Gumboots to the Rescue'”. South African Journal of Musicology: SAMUS 19, 105-108.
Potter, Keith. 1982. "Repetitive Music Again (and Again)". Classical Music 28 August 1982.
Pooley, Thomas M. 2008. "Composition in Crisis: Case Studies in South African Art Music 1980-2006". Unpublished MA Dissertation: University of the Witwatersrand.
Rörich, Mary. "Three Rhythmic Etudes. Dublin: Black Sheep Edition, 2002; Three Structural Etudes. Dublin: Black Sheep Edition, 2003" [score review]. South African Journal of Musicology: SAMUS 25,151-154.
Scherzinger, Martin. 2004. "Art Music in a Cross-cultural Context: The Case of Africa". In The Cambridge History of Twentieth-century Music, eds. N. Cook and A. Pople, 584-613. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Scherzinger, Martin. 2004/5. "Of Sleeping White Men: Analytic Silence in the Critical Reception of Kevin Volans". NewMusicSA: Bulletin of the International Society for Contemporary Music - South African Section, Third and Fourth Issue, 22-26.
Scherzinger, Martin. 2008. "Who’s 'White Man Sleeps'? Aesthetics and Politics in the Early Work of Kevin Volans". In Composing Apartheid: Music For and Against Apartheid, ed. Grant Olwage, 209-235. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.
Taylor, Timothy D. 1995. "When We Think about Music and Politics: The Case of Kevin Volans". Perspectives of New Music 33, 504–536.
Taylor, Timothy D. 2001. "Volans, Kevin". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.
Taylor, Timothy D. "Volans, Kevin". Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy, http://www.grovemusic.com
Walton, Christopher. 2002/3. "Kevin Volans String Quartets Nos. 1, 2 & 6". NewMusicSA: Bulletin of the International Society for Contemporary Music - South African Section, Second Issue, 22-24.

External links [link]

Persondata
Name	Volans, Kevin
Alternative names
Short description	South African composer
Date of birth	1949
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

http://wn.com/Kevin_Volans

http://nl.wn.com/Kevin Volans

http://ru.wn.com/Воланс, Кевин

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Volans

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

This article is an autobiography, or has been extensively edited by the subject or an institution related to the subject. Please help edit it to conform to Wikipedia's neutral point of view, in line with the discussion on the talk page. (February 2012)

Asanga Abeyagoonasekera

Born	Colombo, Sri Lanka
Occupation	Government Administration
Years active	2004–present

Asanga Abeyagoonasekera is presently the Executive Director of the Premiere National Think Tank namely Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS).^[1]^[2]

Prior to this, he was the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Agency^[3]^[4] the only Government Foreign Recruitment Agent 2010-2011. Soon after the Asian Tsunami in 2004 which destroyed all fishery harbours, he was appointed Chairman of the Ceylon Fishery Harbours Corporation (CFHC)^[5]^[6]^[7] at the age of 27 and served until 2010. He was the youngest ever appointed for all three positions. Before joining the Government sector he was in telecommunications sector, Sri Lanka Telecom & Hutchison Lanka.

1 Education
2 Personal life
3 References
4 External links

Education [link]

He holds a BSc in Computer Science, MBA from Australia, Executive Education from Harvard Kennedy School and was awarded for his outstanding academic achievement from Golden Key International Honour Society. His primary education was at S.Thomas' Preparatory School & Ananda College.^[8]

Asanga was selected as a Young Global Leader in 2012 by World Economic Forum, Davos,Switzerland.

Personal life [link]

He is the only son of late Hon. Ossie Abeyagoonaskera who was the leader of Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya (SLMP), presidential candidate and Member of Parliament from Colombo District, Sri Lanka. Asanga's father was assassinated by a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide attack in 1994.

References [link]

^ Island.lk: Asanga Abeyagoonasekera appointed Executive Director of LKIIRSS
^ Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies website
^ Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Agency website
^ Target.lk: Asanga Abeyagoonasekera Assumes Duties As Chairman Of Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Agency
^ Sunday Times Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka aims to make the best tuna in the world
^ Business Today: When You See a Barrier, Just Cross It Over
^ Lanka Business Online: Going Deep - Sri Lanka starts whale watching
^ www.kadirgamarinstitute.lk/media/press_release/press_2012%2003%2005.pdf

External links [link]

Facebook

Persondata
Name	Abeyagoonasekera, Asanga
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth	Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death

http://wn.com/Asanga_Abeyagoonasekera

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Contents

Early life [link]

Meditation and teachings [link]

[edit] Abhidharma Samuccaya

Questions of authorship [link]

References [link]

External links [link]

http://wn.com/Asanga

Related pages:

http://ru.wn.com/Асанга

http://fr.wn.com/Asanga

http://de.wn.com/Asanga

http://it.wn.com/Asaṅga

http://hi.wn.com/असंग

http://pl.wn.com/Asanga

Publications [link]

References [link]

External links [link]

http://wn.com/Kevin_Volans

Related pages:

http://nl.wn.com/Kevin Volans

http://ru.wn.com/Воланс, Кевин

Contents

Education [link]

Personal life [link]

References [link]

External links [link]

http://wn.com/Asanga_Abeyagoonasekera