Buddhism and its rediscovery in India
(Continuation of the article "Tyranny of Caste system deep - rooted in
India" published on June 26, 2005).
"There are no mundane things outside of Buddhism, and there is no
Buddhism outside of mundane things". Buddhism flourished and grew in India
and beyond, with its universal appeal and dominated the Indian scenario for
around one thousand five hundred years.
Against the popular belief that Siddharth's leaving home or his
renouncement - Mahabhinishkraman - was because of the sight of an old and
ill person and a dead body, which detached him from the pleasures of the
mortal world, his renouncement was due to political reasons that show his
strong belief in non-violence, tolerance and peaceful co-existence. (Rajnikant
Verma in Lumbini to Kushinara pg. Nos. 10 to 15).
It was this peace of mind, of soul, that brought Ajatshatru, King of
Magadh, to Buddha after he had conquered the Lichchivi Republic. And the
same realisation of Samarat Ashok after he had achieved everything - from
the throne of the great Magadh Empire to victory over one of the strongest
Republics - the Kalinga. And thus he gave the biggest boost to Buddhism,
some 300 years after Gautam Buddha. He opened State coffers for the spread
of Buddhism and Dhamma beyond the contours of the sub-continent.
From Buddha's times to Ashok and later Harshvardhan in the 7th century
A.D. and Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar in the 20th century A.D., when he converted
to Buddhism with around five lakh followers, what appealed to Kings and
masses of Asia, Europe and Africa, were the principles of non-violence,
forbearance, peaceful co-existence and equality.
Where the Kings came to Buddhism for inner peace, the mass appeal of
Buddha's preachings was because he denounced the rigid social order and the
scriptures that were quoted in support of it by the sawarna - the upper
caste.
But as Buddhism spread far beyond the subcontinent, the Manu mentality
overpowered it in India after about one-and-a half millennium. The
conservatives hit back and even demolished many Buddhist sites. Buddhism
slowly slipped into oblivion in India.
In his talks, Mr. Rajnikant Verma, the ex- Chairman of Acharya Narendra
Dev Antarashtriya Boudh Vidya Shodh Sansthan, Govt. of U.P., Lucknow and
author of From Lumbini to Kushinara said that the world would not have known
the riches of Buddhism in India had it not been for the efforts of the
Sinhala Buddhist monks.
It was they who rediscovered the Buddhist sites during the late 19th and
early 20th century A.D., most important amongst them being Ven. Anagarika
Dharmapala. Facing a lot of resistance from the conservatives in India and
with the help of the British archaeologists, they first discovered Sarnath
known as Rishipattan near Benaras in U.P. This was the place where Buddha
gave his first sermon and converted five Brahmins who left him during the
sadhna.
But for the Singhalese monks, the world would have only known that
Buddhism originated from India as many Buddhist sites were converted to
temples by the Manu-iet conservatives.
The glaring example is the controversial Gaya temple in Bihar, India. The
architecture, historical events, cultural synthesis, the
institutionalisation of Buddhism and the development of Buddhist Sangh,
(which is also the only source of learning about the functions of Ganarajya
or the democracies in India more than six hundred years before Christ) and
the original philosophy of Buddhism would have been lost, perhaps forever,
had it not been for the efforts of the Singhalese Buddhist monks.
Even today, in the country of its birth - India - Buddhism is mostly seen
in just the textbooks. The conservatives even today fear the conversion of
the masses into Buddhism and try to prevent it. Perhaps once again India and
the world need to rediscover this democratic, egalitarian way of life, not
the way that it exists but certainly the way that Buddha preached it.
The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. The religion which
is based on experience, which refuses dogmatic. If there's any religion that
would cope the scientific needs it will be Buddhism."
Concluded
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