President’s condolence on Dr Guruge’s passing away

Saturday, 9 August 2014 00:07 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed his condolences on the passing away of Dr Ananda W. P. Guruge at Rosemead, California, USA. Dr Guruge was an erudite speaker and writer on Buddhism, who did a yeomen service to propagate the teachings of Buddhism abroad, the President said in his condolence message. Dr Guruge was an immense strength to Sri Lanka’s relentless fight against disinformation campaigns by interested parties, in his positions as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka to UNESCO, France, and the United States of America from 1985 to 1994, the message said.

At UNESCO, he made an invaluable contribution to project Buddhism and culture of Sri Lanka internationally, and was instrumental in obtaining UNESCO recognition of several heritage sites in Sri Lanka, the President recalled. Following is the full text of President Rajapaksa’s Message of Condolence: I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing away of Dr Ananda W P Guruge at Rosemead, California, USA. An internationally renowned Buddhist scholar Dr Guruge was an erudite speaker and writer on Buddhism, who did a yeomen service to propagate the teachings of Buddhism abroad. He also served the country with distinction as a diplomat in the distinguished positions he held as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka to UNESCO, France, and the United States of America from 1985 to 1994. In these positions he was an immense strength to Sri Lanka’s relentless fight against disinformation campaigns by interested parties. At UNESCO, he made an invaluable contribution to project Buddhism and culture of Sri Lanka internationally, and was instrumental in obtaining UNESCO recognition of several heritage sites in Sri Lanka. Recognizing the high scholarship of Dr Guruge, the University of the West, USA, invited him to be the Dean of Academic Affairs. Earlier, he served as Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies at the California State University, much honour to the country in both these distinguished academic positions. A former Civil Servant, Dr Guruge served in different capacities in the administration including the position of Additional Secretary, Ministry of Education, and made valuable contributions to the progress of education in the country. His active participation in international Buddhist leadership saw Dr Guruge being elected Vice President of the World Buddhist Fellowship, and Chairman of the World Buddhist University Council. He has authored 53 books on Buddhism, more than 175 research articles on Asian History, Buddhism and Education and also translated the ancient Sri Lankan chronicle Mahavamsa into English. Dr Ananda Guruge’s demise leaves a void that will be extremely hard to fill in the field of Buddhist studies and research. I convey my heartfelt condolences on this sad occasion to the members of his bereaved family. May he attain the eternal bliss of Nibbana!