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Speeches given by Mr.Bandaranaike on Culture and Religion.

A speech on Religion and Human progress

When I was invited by the University Buddhist Brotherhood to deliver the 10th Anniversary lecture, I must confess that, while feeling honoured by the invitation, I felt a great deal of diffidence in accepting it. An association like yours, particularly on an occasion like this, has a right to expect an address from one who has specialised in and made a deep study of the subject. In my case, I am only an amateur, interested in the subjects of religion and philo¬sophy, snatching a few spare moments in the course of a busy life to do a little reading and a little thinking on such matters as an intellectual relaxation from the ordinary routine of politics.

The subject I have chosen, " Religion and Human Progress ", you will observe, has a far wider scope than if it were restricted solely to some Buddhist topic. I wish to deal with Buddhism and its place in the world today against the background of the history of the religious idea and the service it has rendered to human progress in general.

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