Page 60 - The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand Vol.XIII-2021

The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
Volume XIII – 2021

interdependent such that no thing can stand alone and derive its very essence and
identity from itself alone. Another crucial element from the Buddhist legacy is the
realization that all of the unethical actions that human beings used to perform
through the millennia do stem from selfish attitudes based on the misunderstanding

that there is a self, an ‘I’ that one needs to cherish and protect. Hence humans
have become enslaved to their own mistaken sense of the ‘I’ here, which according
to Buddhism is the cause of all evils and all the miseries in the world. As Shantideva,
one of Nalanda’s most illustrious alumnus, said: “All those who are unhappy in the
world are so as a result for their own happiness. All those who are happy in the
23
world are so as a result of their desire for the happiness of others.” This is perhaps
Nalanda’s most enduring legacy.

References
Beal, Samuel,1969. The Life of Hiuen-Tsang by Shaman Hwui Li. London: 1884.

Reprint. Delhi.

Choudhary, Sujit Kumar, 2008. “Higher Education in India: a Socio-Historical
Journey from Ancient Period to 2006-07.” The Journal of Educational Inquiry
8.1(2008): 50-72.

Davidson, Richard J. et al., 2003. “Alterations in Brain and Immune Function
Produced by Mindfulness Meditation.” In: Psychosomatic Medicine 65.4
(2003): 564 – 570

Fuller, Steve, 1997. Science. Buckingham: Open University Press,

Hongladarom, Soraj, 2013. “A Tool for Equality and Justice: Thailand’s BIOTEC and
Its Culture.” In: East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International

Journal 7.1(2013): 87-101.
Hongladarom, Soraj, 2004. “Growing Science in Thai Soil: Culture and Development

of Scientific and Technological Capabilities in Thailand.” Science, Technology
and Society 9.1 (2004): 51-73.

23 Shantideva, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life, Chapter 8, Verse 129, p. 106

A Reflection on Nalanda Monastery as an Inspiration for Promoting Scientific and Technological Capabilities in
50 Thailand