K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera

K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera (18 March 1919 – 31 August 2006) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk and scholar.

What Buddhists Believe (1993)

 * Full text online


 * A person who is on his way to spiritual growth must try to reduce his own selfishness and his strong desire for acquiring more and more. He should reduce his strong attachment to possessions which, if he is not mindful, can enslave him to greed. What he owns or has should instead be used for the benefit and happiness of others: his loved ones as well as those who need his help.
 * "Real Charity"


 * To depend on others for salvation is negative, but to depend on oneself is positive. Dependence on others means surrendering one's intelligence and efforts.
 * "No Self Surrender"


 * If man is created by an external source, then he must belong to that source and not to himself. According to Buddhism, man is responsible for everything he does. Thus Buddhists have no reason to believe that man came into existence in the human form through any external sources. They believe that man is here today because of his own action. He is neither punished nor rewarded by anyone but himself according to his own good and bad action. In the process of evolution, the human being came into existence. However, there are no Buddha-words to support the belief that the world was created by anybody. The scientific discovery of gradual development of the world-system conforms with the Buddha's Teachings.
 * "The God-Idea"


 * Intellectuals tend to spend too much of their valuable time in study, critical analysis and debate. They usually have little or no time for practice.
 * "Is Buddhism a Theory of a Philosophy?"