Dedication
This book is dedicated, on the occasion of the
10th anniversary of the founding of the Dharma Bijaya
Buddhist Vihara, to all its founders and the generous supporters of
our efforts to further the work of the propagation Buddhadhamma in
the United States.
Acknowledgment
This book would not have been possible without the
assistance of several people.
First, I wish to thank Stan Levinson for the
time-consuming and detailed tasks of typing, revising, and editing
this entire book; and Joseph V. Peries who created the beautiful
artwork on the front cover. I would also like to thank Dr. Rohith
Gunawardena and Dr. Elizabeth Columa Nirenberg for their comments
and suggestions on the final draft from a western perspective.
I must also thank Ven. Dr. Ratanarsara, Ven.
Lenagala Sumedhananda and Ven. Pannila Ananda, whose continued
advice and spiritual support enabled me to carry out this project as
well as other Buddhist activities in this country.
Finally, I am grateful to Dr. Gamini and Sandra
Jayasinghe, Victor and Chintana Lingtong, Dr. Victor Coronado,
Ronald and Cathy Bogan, Dr. Manbir and Heidi Singh, and D. Scott and
Ana Kadin for supporting the publication of this book.