Historical Background
The idea of starting a university offering courses in different Buddhist traditions was first raised by Professor Karunadasa when he taught at the Than Hsiang Buddhist Research Center in Penang in 1996. The Center had started running courses offered by the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka in 1994. The Professor saw an interesting mixture of different Buddhist traditions in this part of the world and felt that we really had the unique background to embark on an international Buddhist College project.
After some preparatory work which included citing a good location for this university, Ven. Wei Wu, the abbot of Than Hsiang Temple had the opportunity to meet with Professor Karunadasa, Ven. Anuruddha and Ven. Dhammajoti in Sri Lanka during the sixth executive committee of the World Buddhist Sangha Council in April 1999. At the meeting, it was felt that the timing was right for starting the International Buddhist College in Thailand.