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Article: Devoted to conservation: scientists in Sri Lanka have drawn inspiration from history and teamed up with Buddhist monks in an attempt to spread environmental awareness and to put into practice a progressive form of forest management.
- Article from:
- Geographical
- Article date:
- February 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Circle Publishing Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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One of the best-known stories in Sri Lankan history tells of how, in the third century BC, King Devanampiya Tissa was converted to Buddhism by an Indian prince, Arahath Mahinda. Legend has it that the king was hunting when they met, and Mahinda told him that Buddhists should respect the natural world and asked him to lay down his weapons. "Oh great king," he said, "the birds of the air and the beasts have an equal right to live and move about in any part of this land as thou. The land belongs to the people and all other beings and thou art only the guardian of it." So moved was the king by these words that he not only became a Buddhist, but created the world's first ...