The Buddha instructs his followers, “As the wise test gold by burning, cutting and rubbing it, so, bhikshus, should you accept my words- after testing them, and not merely out of respect for me."

This injunction captures the essence of the Nālandā Tradition: a discipline that encourages rigorous debate, critical thinking, and the testing of ideas through reason and logic.

Rather than accepting what is taught with passive obedience, the Nālandā Tradition insists that even the Buddha’s words must withstand scrutiny. His Holiness the Dalai Lama reminds us that regarding the Buddha as our teacher also means seeing ourselves as students- obligated to study, question, and reason.

The Nālandā Tradition originates from the ancient Nālandā Mahāvihāra, established in the 5th century CE during the Gupta period. Once the world’s foremost centre of learning, it thrived for over seven centuries until its destruction by Bakhtiyar Khilji in the 12th century. At its height, Nālandā housed more than 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers, with scholars arriving from across Asia to study subjects ranging from Buddhist philosophy and logic to medicine, mathematics, and astronomy. It embodied the spirit of inquiry that India once offered the world.

Today, the revived Nālandā University, formally established by the Act of Parliament, 2010 and supported by the East Asia Summit countries, seeks to reclaim that intellectual legacy. Functioning from Rajgir since 2014, close to the ancient ruins, it now offers programmes in Buddhist and Hindu Studies, Philosophy, History, Mathematics,........

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