The Light of the Dhamma (PDFs of past issues)
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Free DownloadAuthor: Pariyatti
Publisher: Union of Burma Buddha Sāsana Council
Publication Date: 1952-01-01
Product Type: PDF
Pages:
ISBN 13:
ISBN 10:
Language: English
SKU:
SKU:TRLD00
Description
Description
Each volume of Light of the Dhamma contains 2-4 PDF issues and download sizes vary.
- One (1952-53)
- Two (1953-54)
- Three (1955-56)
- Four (1957)
- Five (1958)
- Six (1959)
- Seven (1960)
- Eight (1961)
- Nine (1962)
- Ten (1963)
1956 represented the 2,500th anniversary of the teachings of the Buddha. To commemorate this event and to reinvigorate the Sasana (the teaching of the Buddha), a recitation of the entire Tipitaka (the written documentation of the entire collection of the Buddha s teachings) was held in Rangoon, Burma (later renamed Yangon, Myanmar). Twenty five hundred bhikkhus from Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia participated in the recitation, which spanned several years. Lay attendees from over 30 countries attended various portions of the council.
It is a popular belief among Theravada Buddhists that the Buddha s teaching is destined to last for 5,000 years following his lifetime. Additionally, this belief holds that the second half of this Sasana will see a strong resurgence of the spread of the Dhamma throughout the World. In light of this event, a publishing organization was formed in Burma to help the spread of these teachings. It was formed in Rangoon and called The Union of Burma Buddha Sasana Council. This organization began publishing the The Light of the Dhamma in October, 1952 and continued to publish the magazine in fairly consistent quarterly installments until mid-1963.
The invaluable writings of The Light of the Dhamma offer a wide selection of articles submitted to the editors. Among the notable writers whose works were found in its pages are many Venerable Mahatheras, as well as lay writers. Topics of these articles included updates on the Council s recitation, various aspects of the Buddha s teachings, and practical application of these teachings in day-to-day life.
The accompanying electronic texts represent an exhaustive effort to re-publish these works. These texts are now mostly 50 years old and in various stages of decay. The original texts were first copied to avoid damaging the originals and to minimize the bleed-through effect of the aging pages. The copies were then scanned using Optical Character Recognition technology which captured the majority of the Roman script, English characters. The texts were then analyzed word by word for proper translation, including the insertion of the appropriate diacritical marks for Pali words found in the original texts. All pictures and tables were then scanned in and placed appropriately to accurately represent the original formatting. Lastly, they were converted to pdf formats, proofread again and then uploaded to this site.
The expressed intent of the original publishers of this magazine was to propagate the teaching of the Buddha with no monetary remuneration involved. These publishing entities and their editorial boards have long-ago dissolved. These works were originally published with no copyrights, and we believe that they would approve and endorse these measures that we have taken to preserve their monumental efforts. The objective of Pariyatti in making these works much more widely available through digital media is a continuation of those efforts to spread the teaching of the Buddha and to propagate the Sasana.
May All Beings Be Happy.
VIPASSANA PRODUCTS
Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. More information about Vipassana as taught by S.N. Goenka is available at www.dhamma.org.
The tag Vipassana identifies products that are directly related to this tradition and differentiates them from other Theravada resources available on our site. While the main emphasis in Vipassana meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka is on actual practice, this product may provide inspiration and guidance to a Vipassana meditator.
We also carry titles from the Theravada tradition, as we feel that by exploring the wider world of the Theravada texts, which include the Buddha’s discourses, commentaries, and scholarly articles and treatises, meditators have an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the Dhamma and thereby enrich their meditation practice. This kind of intellectual exploration also helps a meditator to gain an understanding of the evolution and historical context of their meditation tradition. This understanding in turn deepens their practice and understanding of the Dhamma.
Disclosure: Pariyatti is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Q: Why have you decided to partner with Amazon for the printing and distribution of your books?
A: Pariyatti is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to help disseminate the words of the Buddha.
The generosity of our customers and donors (donations make up ~25% of our revenue) is what has allowed Pariyatti to cover our annual shortfall, and permitted us to continue operations. We strive to continue to find ways to make best use of this hard-earned money, generously donated by so many to Pariyatti. One of these is to explore ways to optimize our operations.
Our goal is to disseminate Dhamma content. The choice of working with a given distribution partner is solely based on whether they can provide you, our customer (no matter where you live) with the item(s) you ordered in an accurate, timely, and reliable manner.
With the advent of eBooks and the internet, the entire book publishing and distribution industry has faced significant challenges. With these industry changes, and Pariyatti's additional challenges in serving a niche market with low sales volumes, it has been financially difficult to staff our own warehouse and operations. Year after year, the costs of maintaining our own warehouse has far exceeded the income.
By focusing on what we do best (such as make Dhamma content available at low or no cost), and partnering with others who have already built robust printing, packing, and delivery systems, we free up resources that can be redirected towards expanding Pariyatti's offerings for you.
We are always on the lookout for creative ways to make Dhamma content as widely and freely available as possible. If you have any ideas along these lines, please feel free to be in touch via director@pariyatti.org .