ARAKAN INDOBHASA Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from December, 2009

Pre-Buddhist Indian Culture (1)

Lecture I Introduction: The cultural heritage of India is not only one of the ancient cultures like Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece, but it is most extensive and varied in its nature. Throughout India’s ancient history there were many peopleand races temporally visited the land, many times they permanently settled down within its boarder and mixed with the indigenous people of its land. In due course their intermixture made possible to evolve a distinct and unique culture. India embraced all cultures and let them strive and grow naturally in its own time and space. Different peoples came to India from pre historic times right down to recent centuries and have co-operated in building up a great culture which doesnot seek to exclude anything, but is all inclusive and doesnot take up an attitude which would deny to any people its right of self expression. As a matter of fact, the culture of India a synthesis- a synthesis of not only blood and race, but, also of speech and of ways of think

The Basic Doctrine of Mahayana (5)

The Fourth Council Next, I am going to talk about the fourth Buddhist council. The fourth Buddhist council took place after quite a bit later, probably at the end of the 1st cen. C.E. Now, I don’t think I have to tell you- most of you are familiar with Buddhism and the Buddhist usage. A lot of people use A.D. rather than the nomination C.E., which is the abbreviation of the word Common Era; we don’t use the A.D., which you find in other tradition. A. D. stands for Latin word Anno Domini which means the year of the lord. And by the same token B.C.E. is used in the Buddhist context, which stands for Before Common Era, instead of B.C. meaning Before Christ. The Thais still continue to use the Buddhist year. For example the millennium, the 2000C.E. was the Buddhist year 2543. The fourth council took place probably in 100 C.E. We dated it at that point of time, because it was held under the auspice of the King by the name of Kanishka who was a central Asian King. He was a Kushana Ki

Nobel Peace Prize proposed for Master Cheng Yen

The China Post, December 4, 2009 Taipei, Taiwan — This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to President Barack Obama of the United States, albeit he doesn’t seem to have done anything to contribute to world peace. Well, that may be the reason why a German Nobel laureate on a brief visit to Taipei is planning to nominate Venerable Dharma Master Cheng Yen for that prize next year.

The basic Doctrines of Mahayana (4)

§ 2. The Second Council Now the second council took place hundred years after the lifetime (Parinibbana) of the Buddha. The occasion for the second council was again the disciplinary issues. These issues did not go away. The first council supposed to settle the disciplinary issues by saying we retain all the disciplinary rules including the minor ones. The second council was called because the monks from the Vajjian country were practicing ten breaches of the monastic discipline. They were guilty of ten breaches. The most important one (among the ten) was handling of gold and silver. They were guilty of handling gold and silver. The next among the others were quite minor issue, for example, practice of carrying salt in a hallowed horn. We know even during the lifetime of the Buddha there began to appear relatively settled monastic establishments, for example the Jetavana monastery that was donated by Anathapindika.

The basic Doctrines of Mahayana (3)

2. The Buddhist Councils Next the most complicated phases of the evolution of Buddhism are the history of the Buddhist councils. They are very complicated issues regarding the emergence of the Mahāyāna. Actually we do not know with a degree of certainty how many councils were held. There were at least three councils and six being the maximum. We normally talk about four councils. The fourth one is not recognized by the Ceylonese tradition. At the minimum we can talk about three councils. We are not going to treat the councils in extensively although I will deal here certain aspects of the councils, which are relevant with this course.

The basic Doctrines of Mahayana (2)

3.3. The Intellectual Climate within the Buddhist Community The second point I want to talk about the intellectual climate within the Buddhist community during the lifetime of the Buddha. Actually, this intellectual climate was not limited to the Buddhist community. It was common to other communities as well in India during 6th cen. B.C.E. This period was very dynamic time in India. It was the time of great intellectual, social, economic and political changes and upheaval. There were new ideas, new social institutions, new economic classes and new political form of organizations. That was a great time of change. A great time of ferment, a very fertile time so far as the ideas and social institutions and so forth were concerned.But particularly there were three factors or characteristics that were typical to Buddhist community during the lifetime of the Buddha.

The basic Doctrines of Mahayana (1)

1. The Origin of the Mahāyāna (Transcribed from Dr. Peter Della Santina’s Lecture to IBC students, 2005) I want to talk about the origin of the Mahāyāna, because, it is important that we look into theorigin, the beginning, and the root of the Mahāyāna. We don’t necessarily need to classify and identify Buddhism (or ourselves) as Theravāda, Mahāyāna or Vajrayāna, because Buddhism is a whole. In fact, Buddhism is an integrated system. One cannot practice the Mahāyāna without practicing the Theravāda. One cannot practice Vajrayāna without practicing the Mahāyāna and the Theravāda. So there is really no need for a radical, an absolute division between the Buddhist traditions. This division or the separation between the various Buddhist traditions unfortunately is the result of historical and geographical circumstances.

Freedom From Religion: Buddhism Wins Best Religion in the World Award

In light of the ongoing Freedom From Religion Foundation case, I found this news item interesting. Linda Moulin | 15.07.2009 | 16:55 Tribune de Geneve In advance of their annual Leading Figure award to a religious figure who has done the most to advance the cause of humanism and peace, the Geneva-based International Coalition for the Advancement of Religious and Spirituality (ICARUS) has chosen to bestow a special award this year on the Buddhist Community. “We typically prefer an under-the-radar approach for the organization, as we try to embody the spirit of modesty found in the greatest traditions,” said ICARUS director Hans Groehlichen in a phone conference Monday. “But with organized religion increasingly used as a tool to separate and inflame rather than bring together, we felt we had to take the unusual step of creating a “Best Religion in the World” award and making a bit of a stir, to inspire other religious leaders to see what is possible when you practice compassion.”