Evolution and Spread of Buddhism
Before, coming to nuts and bolts of Dhamma, let me state few historical facts, some related to geography and some to language.
Word of Buddha reached China 700 years after Parinibbhana and was memorized in Sanskrit.
It reached Burma and Thailand 1000 or more years later, probably by sea route and was memorized in Pali,
Nepal or the Magada State is landlocked and Buddhism did not reach Tibet until 1200 years or more.
One should assume that all these countries had some form of a belief system and were not conducive, if not antagonistic to imported or foreign ideas.
China is a good example.
Things were recorded in Matale, Aluvihara in Ceylon 1700 years later, after the passing away of Buddha.
My point here is, with passing away of time and cultural influence and errors in memory chain, nothing called Pure Dhamma existed but colossal literature, that include Dhammapada, which gives an insight, to the Teaching of Buddha.
What excited me was that the discussion on the Beauty of the Mind and its Behavior.
Every volitional action is related to the Mind and many years of me studying Medicine did not prepare me to understand the Mysterious Nature of Mind.
Prudently, I postponed digging into Dhamma in my young years.
I bought a huge dictionary of Buddhism and it had more than 10 pages on the word Dhamma.
Before, coming to nuts and bolts of Dhamma, let me state few historical facts, some related to geography and some to language.
Word of Buddha reached China 700 years after Parinibbhana and was memorized in Sanskrit.
It reached Burma and Thailand 1000 or more years later, probably by sea route and was memorized in Pali,
Nepal or the Magada State is landlocked and Buddhism did not reach Tibet until 1200 years or more.
One should assume that all these countries had some form of a belief system and were not conducive, if not antagonistic to imported or foreign ideas.
China is a good example.
Things were recorded in Matale, Aluvihara in Ceylon 1700 years later, after the passing away of Buddha.
My point here is, with passing away of time and cultural influence and errors in memory chain, nothing called Pure Dhamma existed but colossal literature, that include Dhammapada, which gives an insight, to the Teaching of Buddha.
What excited me was that the discussion on the Beauty of the Mind and its Behavior.
Every volitional action is related to the Mind and many years of me studying Medicine did not prepare me to understand the Mysterious Nature of Mind.
Prudently, I postponed digging into Dhamma in my young years.
I bought a huge dictionary of Buddhism and it had more than 10 pages on the word Dhamma.
From the very beginning, I knew, most of the English and French translators got them wrong somewhere down the line, having not studied Pali in depth.
However, I have veneration for the German erudite who translated Pali into English and German. Not only that they initiated the opening of the Buddhist Publication Society, in Kandy, Ceylon.
The Tibetan approach, I never liked and trying to become a Modern Buddha with the glamour of TV screens is an alien concept. After all, I hate China for subduing Dalai Lama and invading Tibet for no reason other than economic and expanding its Silk Road Initiative.
I think Coronavirus was the befitting curse that befell on China for decades to come and its Silk Road dream of economic strangle will peter out, in real terms and in real time.
I hate Mao Zedong and Carl Marx for destroying thousands of years of Chinese Culture.
In that case, President Putin is much wiser, who sticks to Orthodox Church.
The long preamble is essential and many Mahayana and Hinayana traditions are a utter waste.
However, I have veneration for the German erudite who translated Pali into English and German. Not only that they initiated the opening of the Buddhist Publication Society, in Kandy, Ceylon.
The Tibetan approach, I never liked and trying to become a Modern Buddha with the glamour of TV screens is an alien concept. After all, I hate China for subduing Dalai Lama and invading Tibet for no reason other than economic and expanding its Silk Road Initiative.
I think Coronavirus was the befitting curse that befell on China for decades to come and its Silk Road dream of economic strangle will peter out, in real terms and in real time.
I hate Mao Zedong and Carl Marx for destroying thousands of years of Chinese Culture.
In that case, President Putin is much wiser, who sticks to Orthodox Church.
The long preamble is essential and many Mahayana and Hinayana traditions are a utter waste.
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