The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2148 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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stiv
dins, following this, were also called Vaibh
ikas; dissenters split off to form the
Sautr
ntika
school.
Sarvodaya
(‘The Awakening and Welfare of All’)
.
Buddhist-based rural self-development movement, initiated in
ri Lank
and mainly found there. The movement is based on
ramad
na
, community work projects, and is sometimes known as Sarvodaya Shramadana. The concept was endorsed by
G
ndh
, but the specifically Buddhist movement began in 1958, when a young teacher, A. T. Ariyaratne, encouraged his pupils to engage in a fortnight's holiday work camp, starting from the needs as perceived by the destitute villagers themselves. Many other schools and colleges followed this example, and before long
bhik
us
were involved. As the movement grew and became formalized, it took care to keep decision-making decentralized, establishing Village Awakening Councils (
samhiti
) which administered their own budgets and decided their own programmes. About a third of all
ri Lank
's villages became involved; and in 1981, Sarvodaya Shramadana International was instituted, with a concern, not only for Third World development, but for errors in developed societies as well.

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