(By Tsem Rinpoche and Pastor David Lai) Ven. Dr. Walpola Rahula Maha Thera is widely acclaimed to have been one of the greatest luminaries amongst Sri Lankan scholars of the 20th century. He was a fully ordained monk of the Theravada tradition, an erudite scholar and author of a number of important books on the Dhamma (or Dharma in Sanskrit). In 1964, he broke new ground by becoming the first ordained monk, bhikkhu (or bhikshu in Sanskrit), to hold a professorial position in a western institution. In this case, it was Northwestern University of the United States of America. He became a Professor of History and Religions and he also held the esteemed position of Vice-Chancellor at Vidyodaya University, which has since been renamed to University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Aside from his career as a professor, he wrote prolifically on various aspects of Buddhism in Sinhalese, English and French. His seminal treatise, What The Buddha Taught, is widely acclaimed by fellow intellectuals, scholars and fellows to be the best resource ever written on Theravada Buddhism. “Outwardly, he was a man of steel and for that reason, he was hated by many. But inwardly, he was a man of sympathy, consideration […]