Asanga Tilakaratne holds a Ph.D. from the University of Hawai’i, and is the former senior chair Professor of Pali and Buddhist Studies and founding Head of the Department of Buddhist Studies at University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. In addition, he is the former director of the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Kelaniya. He is a recipient of the Senior Commonwealth Fellowship (Oxford University). Professor Tilakaratne has taught in many universities in different parts of the world, and has published, in Sinhala and English, on Buddhist studies. Currently, he teaches at Nalanda University, Rajgir, Bihar, India.