Dr. Peter Della Santina, a scholar, teacher and practitioner of Buddhism passed away suddenly on Saturday, 14 th October 2006. At the time of his death, he was giving a course in “Mahayana Buddhism” for the International Buddhist College (IBC) off-campus students doing their M.A. in Buddhist Studies at Than Hsiang Temple, Penang.

Mrs. Santina (Dr. Krishna), son, Siddhartha, daughter-in-law, Mimmi, friends, students, Dharma brothers and sisters attended Dr. Peter D. Santina's funeral on Thursday, 19th October 2006.

May he have a safe journey to a happy realm. Please transfer your merits to him and other sentient beings.
Dr. Peter Della Santina

Dr. Peter Della Santina was born in USA and received his B.A. in religion from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA. He obtained his MA in Philosophy from the University of Delhi, India; followed by a Ph.D in Buddhist Studies from the same University in 1979.

He had spent many years studying and teaching in South and East Asia. He was the Coordinator of the Buddhist Studies project at the Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore, a department of the Ministry of Education from 1983 to 1985. More recently, he was a senior fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in Simla, India and taught Philosophy at the Fo Kuang Shan Academy of Chinese Buddhism in Kaoh-shiung, Taiwan.

For more than twenty-five years Dr. Santina had been a student of His Holiness Sakya Trizin, leader of the Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism. He had published several books and articles in academic journals including “Nagarjuna's Letter to King Gautamiputra” (Delhi 1978 & 1982), “Madhyamaka Schools in India” (Delhi1986) and “Madhyamaka and Modern Western Philosophy” (Philosophy East and West, Hawaii 1986). His widely read book “The Tree of Enlightenment” serves as a basic guide for those new to Buddhism and the Mahayana and Vajrayana Traditions.
To PETER ,

D rinking tea, teaching softly,
E ach word clealy he explained.
L ay Buddhist cultivates daily,
L earned he is, never vain.
A lthough blind you are steadily
S eeking ways to a better plane.
A ll you have done, left behind –
N otes and books, the Dharma on.
T eachers like you, rare to find;
I n rare meetings, we chance upon.
N ever will we forget those times,
A ll of us, your class responds.

Poem penned by Bro. Ooi Chooi Seng
23 October 2006