980 Some Musings on Gautama Buddha's Birth Day,

Today (10th May 2017) is the birth anniversary (Buddha Jayanti) of Gautama Buddha, the Founder of Buddhism. Birth year: 623 BC. It is celebrated on Vaisakha Pournima which is the full moon day, of the Lunar month of Visakha. The Lunar month of Visakha got its name from the practice of calling as name of the Lunar month, by the name of the star on which Moon will be in conjunction with (=appears visually nearer to) the star Alpha Librae, in the Constellation Libra (Indian Equivalent: Tula, or a weighing scale/balance). Indian name of the star Alpha Librae is 'Visakha'. Pournami = pUrNa='full', i.e. the Full Moon Day. This Visakha Paurnami is not only regarded as the day on which Gautama Buddha was born, but also, as the day on which he received his enlightenment. The day is also regarded as the day on which he attained his parinirvANa (passed away). In addition, the day also is the birth anniversary of Buddha's Mother Yashodhara. Trigger for me to write this particular blog post:- India recently celebrated the 125th Birth Anniversary of Late Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Architect of Indian Constitution. Our Readers may be aware that he embraced Buddhism during the later part of his life. Babasaheb Ambedkar was a Great Leader of the Pre-Independence Era, whose contemporaries and compatriots were Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Netaji Subas Chandra Bose et al.

Of late, a tendency has developed among the politicians of India, for political gains, to ritualistically garland the statue of Ambedkar on his Birth and Death Anniversaries, bathe it with milk, deliver lofty speeches on the occasion etc. etc.

In the States of Maharashtra, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh, an additional practice developed to invite Buddhist Monks to carry out Buddhist Prayers, preaches and speeches. Historically, Buddhism has been on a wane in India since the 8th Century CE. Today, Buddhism exists in India, its Birth-land, by and large, only for name sake, though the Tibetan Buddhist Refugee Leader Dalai Lama has been trying his best to revive the lost religion.

Amaravati (also known as dhAnya kaTakam, dharaNikoTa), the Capital of the State of Residual Andhra Pradesh, used to be a seat of Mahayana Buddhism, of the period 2nd Century BC to 2nd Century CE. During the said period, Andhra Pradesh was full of Buddhist Viharas (Hostels for Buddhist Monks), Chaityas and SthUpAs (Buddhist Memorials built on the Relics of Gautama Buddha). While Andhra SAtavAhana Kings of those days patronized Vedic Religion, their Queens patronized Buddhism and Jainism. Even today, we can see everywhere in Residual Andhra Pradesh, the ruins of Buddhist SthUpAs, chaityas, vihAras. Jaggaiahpeta, Bhattiprolu, Gummadidurru, are a few place names where such ruins can be seen. Andhra Pradesh is a big Treasure Trove of Buddhist, Jain, Kakatiya, Vijayanagara, Chalukya, ChOLa sculptures of such a magnitude and intensity that, wherever we dig either to build a house or dig a well, some sculpture or other will get unearthed beneathe the mounds of dilapidated villages.

21st Century

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Nara Chandra Babu Naidu, has shown some inclination to develop Amaravati and Nagarjuna Konda (also known as Sri Parvata) as International Buddhist Tourist Centres. He has used the 125th Birth Anniversary Function of Baba Saheb Ambedkar, to highlight the importance of Buddhism in the History of Andhra Pradesh, etc. etc.

ybrao-a-donkey's personal views not intended to be imposed on others

In this part of India, during the rule of Bahamany Sultans (invaders/migrants from Iran), during the rule of Nizam Shahis (Turks --from Mohd. Ghori to Ibrahmi Lodi , and Moghuls --Babar to the last Moghul Emperor Bahadur Shah Jaffer), hundreds of Telugu people were already converted to Islam through abductions, violence and inducements. During the British Rule, hundreds of thousands of Telugu people were converted to Christianity through inducements, malicious propaganda=). Now, the people of this area, is already a mix of people practising these three Religions. As if these three religions are not enough, do we still need, revival of the defunct religion Buddhism here?

Though Hindus suffer from an age old malice of casteism, which they are striving to eradicate by continuous efforts, we should not forget CONVERSIONS OF PEOPLE INTO ALIEN RELIGIONS is not a solution for the malices of the Native Culture. Conversions will only aggravate the complexities of the problem.

PERCEIVED MERITS OF BUDDHISM OVER OTHER RELIGIONS, ARE ONLY ILLUSORY AND IMAGINARY

Missionaries of all religions, to which Buddhist Missionaries possibly are not exceptions, exaggerate the merits of their own religion, and try to impress upon and exert their influence on the minds of the listeners, so as to make them convert into their religion. They forget to notice or realise that those other religions whose merits they have not sung, also contain similar, or sometimes even better tenets, following which would / might have made them better individuals , without converting their religions.

Example: Desire is the cause for all miseries

The second of the four Noble Truths of Buddhism says:

"... Suffering arises from attachment to desires. ..."

Also called 'samudaya' or 'tanha' according to Buddhism. Attachments arise from desires. Cravings make the desires and attachment to desires.

What does Bhagavad Gita , a part of Mahabharata Epic say? I have placed on internet, a moderated version of my perception of Bhagavadgita at my blog Click here to go to http://bhagavadgitayb.blogspot.in/2007/07/chapter-2-soul-and-body-sankhya-yoga.html

Sanskrit Poet Veda VyAsa. Period approx. estimate: 2000 years BC.
SY 62 (Chapter No. 2, SAnkhya yOgA (path of Numbers), Verse No. 62)
dhyaayatoo vishayaan pumsa:
samgas teeshu upajaayatee
samgaat samjaayatee kaama:
kaamaat kroodhoo abhijaayatee

SY 63 (2 / 063)
kroodhaad bhavati sammooha:
sammoohaat smrutivibhrama:
smrutibhrams`aad buddhinaas`oo
buddhinaas`aat pran`as`yati
Approx. Engl.: When a person thinks of worldly pleasures, attachment is born. From the attachment is born the desire and lust. From the desire and lust are born the anger. (SW 62).

From anger, is born temptation and obsession. From the obsession is born, the loss of memory and consciousness. (Translator's comment: Not loss of consciousness of body, it is the consciousness of soul. ).
When consciousness of soul is lost, a person loses his discriminating wisdom and intellect. A person without intellect becomes imbecile and condemned. (SW 63).

So, it is clear, Buddhism has tried to reiterate and reformulate what Bhagavad Gita taught at least 1500 years ahead of Buddha.

Is going to Forest and undertaking rigorous penance necessary to understand a simple basic truth? [=DESIRE IS CAUSE OF MISERY]

An illiterate person belonging to Working Class (Proletariat), who toils 24/7/365 amidst dust/sweat, and who slogs to earn 2 square meals a day for his belly and the bellies of his wife and children, may not have the time and the endurance to appreciate and understand this truth. But a person of Buddha's calibre, does he need six years of so called 'Great Penance' to appreciate and understand this truth?

DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE TUNNEL VIEW OF 'SINGLE PROPHET RELIGIONS' and the 'COSMIC VIEW OF INDIAN CULTURE'

Indian Culture encompasses several concepts, sometimes, diametrically divergent concepts, because it is 'PLURALIST' i.e. permits multiple views and perspectives. Arguments and pleadings take place between/among these divergent views. Hence, Hinduism cannot be viewed as a Religion (=with wider meaning 'way of life', narrow meaning of 'going to 'X' Prayerhouse and praying to 'Y' God. Those restrictive views can be found in 'SINGLE PROPHET RELIGIONS' like Islam, Christianity etc. Indian Culture is like a 'Composite Admixture' like Anona Squimoza, or a bunch of grapes, or a cluster of bananas. Hence, coexistence of rival theories either in embrace or in conflict, has become a historical truth. There were conflicts between the Indian Culture which included Sacrifice of animals to placate Gods, and the Buddhism which castigated animal sacrifices.

POLYTHEISM

Polytheism is also a part of this integration of Multiple Cultures with Multiple Gods and Goddesses. The real questions are only 'Whether there is God(s)/Goddess(es) at all?' 'What are acceptable definitions of God(s)/Goddess(es)'?. 'Multiple Gods/goddesses' is not an issue at all. Ans: If there can be thousand rivers on this Earth, there can also be Thousand Gods and Goddesses. In other words, once we concede that God(ddess) exists, the question of 'single or multiple' loses its value.

ANIMAL SACRIFICES

A part of Indian Culture improved itself, by stopping 'animal sacrifices' substituting them with offerings of flowers and fruits, and went even to the extent of absorbing Buddhism into its fold, by including Gautama Buddha as the 9th incarnation, of the 10 incarnations of Lord VishNu, popularly known as daSa avatArs. Probably, idol worship might have had either Buddhist or Jain origin. That too was absorbed by Indian Culture. Wearing ochre robes also might have been borrowed from Buddhism.

One word of caution in reasoning

If we consider that ghastly slaying of animals in abattoirs or in homes is not wrong, then offering the meat of the animals to the God(ddesses) cannot be considered ignoble. Basically, both perform 'violence', and 'cruelty to animals'.

I, quite often, view the 'kalyANOtsavam' program of the deity Shri Venkateswara of TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India), on SVBC TV CHANNEL. The program starts at about 12 noon, and ends at about 12.55 pm. It is a great Audio-Visual delight, keeping aside whether there are superstitions or not. 'Audio-Visual Joys' are to be kept aside from truth-seeking explorations and searches. These joys are comparable to looking at serene scenery of a rainbow or a glacier or at Aurora (Northern Lights). We need not link to religion, and be cynical to everything enchanting.

Back to kalyANotsavam (wedding ceremony of Lord Venkateswara): One important element of the wedding ceremony is 'lAja hOmam' (sacrifice of popped corn/rice/jowar). 'Fire' is regarded as God named 'Agni'. He has two wives 'svAhA' and 'svahA'. The chants made by priests during the offerings use the word 'svAha', to give importance to both the sexes of the Element Fire. Offerings to Supreme God are sent through the Fire God. Wedding ceremonies of ordinary citizens in some cultures of India, invariably perform these hOmams (sending offerings to Supreme God(ddesses through Fire God) for about one hour.

Whenever, I see fire ceremonies in weddings, I recall the messy Horse sacrifices of the Vedic Period, Ramayana Period, Mahabharata period, where the Priests used to pour the fleshes of numerous animals and birds into the sacrificial. Now, the magnitude has been substantially reduced. Now, only a few apUpams (a sweet tasty delectable preparation made from flour, clarified butter and jaggery. This can be prepared in homes also. In Telugu language this is called 'appam' 'appacci'.) and popped grains (Sanskrit: lAja. Telugu: pElAlu). Now, the hOmams (fire ceremonies) have become more 'viewable' with 'no disgust', though there is still some wastage of precious food stuffs by dropping them into raging fires.

The common unavoidable ingredient both in the ancient vEdic sacrifices and the present wedding ceremonies of Temples as per vaikhAnasa Agama / pancharAtra Agama (Scriptures of Worship Methods) is profuse induction of 'clarified butter'. One question torments me: Can a poor country like India afford to waste clarified butter in this manner, particularly when India is compelled to import dairy products also.

This is a 1000 page subject. As this blog post has become lengthy, I shall come up with another blog post on Buddha's 6 years penance and his subsequent 35 years post-enlightenment life style.

To continue adding / deleting / modifying. सशेष. ఇంకా ఉంది.

742 (Part 11/10) of Sri Venkateswara, Lord VishNu, Goddess Lakshmi. Now: Alien Religions through reckless conversions can destroy Indian Culture

This is Part 11 of the series of our explorative studies on various probabilities of history and origin of the Lord Venkateswara's (Balaji) shrine at Tirumala-Tirupati. This is in continuation of our blog posts 508, 511, 512, 513, 584, 597, 631, 739, 740, 741. For those who wish to study them (studying them will broaden our frame of thinking-i.e. perspective.), here are the links: To go to 508- Part1/10. To go to 511- Part2/10. To go to 512- Part3/10. To go to 513- Part4/10. To go to 584- Part5/10. To go to 597- Part6/10. To go to 631- Part7/10. . To go to 739- Part8/10. . To go to 740- Part9 /10. . To go to 741- Part10 /10. .

Question: You say that you oppose conversion of Indians into alien religions. This is nothing but intolerance.

Answer: 1. First of all, there is no definition of what constitutes tolerance and what else constitutes intolerance. These are all subjective terms. In Telugu language translation of Vyasa's Epic Mahabharata, by Telugu Poet Tikkana, there is a Telugu verse, which gives us a rough indication of what we can follow as 'justice' and 'ethics':-

orulE yavi onarincina
naravara tana manambunaku apriyam bagu tAn
orulaku avi sEya kuniki
parAyaNamu dharma pathamula kellan.

English: If something done by a person to us- hurts us, THE GREATEST DUTY, JUSTICE AND ETHICS FOR US WILL BE, NOT DOING THE SAME THING TO OTHERS.

Prove your hypotheses with practical example:

Answer: Rev. Barrows was 2nd in Command of the persons who organised the World Parliament of Religions held at Chicago in 1893, which was attended by Swami Vivekananda and others from India. Rev. Barrows, apparently, wanted to popularise and publicise Christianity as the principal religion of the World, at the Chicago Congress. It might have worked, or it might not have worked, we can't say.

I also get an impression that Rev. Barrows wanted to use Mazoondar of Brahmo Samaj, and Swami Vivekananda, as his tools. But this, apparently did not work.

After completing his principal task of participating in the World Parliament of Religions, Vivekananda ought to have returned to India, and continued his work in this poor country India. Instead, he chose to stay there for some years, make some dollars, giving some lectures. In the process, he started converting American Aristocratic Women into Ramakrishna cult of Hinduism. Actually, Hinduism is neither a formal religion , nor it has formal provisions for conversion of others into Hinduism. This conversion might have caused some bruises to Rev. Barrows.

Rev. Barrows too toured India, on his mission of Converting Indians into Christianity. It is difficult to say how far Rev. Barrows succeeded. But, bitterness resulted between Swami Vivekananda and Rev. Barrows.

ybrao-a-donkey's humble opinion: Even now, it is high time that Organisations such as Ramakrishna Math, Iskon, etc. which have their branches abroad, should openly declare that they will not convert anybody into Hinduism, unless there are very very strong exceptional reasons such as court orders. Simultaneously, they should demand that Alien Religions are not to venture in India for converting Indians into alien religions.

Question: What is its relevance to your previous blog-posts about Aryan Migration from Arctic (Scandinavia, Latvia, Lithuania, Old Prussia etc.), and the adoption of Latvian Gods into India?

Ans: The main problem with large scale conversions by alien religions is, they not only destroy the native culture, but also ALL EVIDENCES OF NATIVE HISTORY. One straight question which European Governments and the American Government have to answer: What was the History of Europe before entry of Christianity into Europe, from Israel? Christianity is a West Asian Religion. Why did the Romans destroy entire pre-christian history of Europe? What was the History of America, before the migration of Europeans into United States? Didn't the Native American Indians have any history of their own at all? Why should the American History start with Columbus or George Washington? Today, we can't get the Ancient or Medieval Histories of America or Europe, without Religious colors.

One happy future of Aryan migration from Nordisca into India from about 5000 BC to 0001 A.D. seems to be, that they had not been controlled from abroad. May be because, there were long gaps of distance. There were no transport facilities. There were no communications. Consequently, the migrant Aryans, though may be unwillingly, merged into Indian Society, borrowed heavily from Indian Culture, and also lent heavily to Indian Culture. The aggregate result of all that exchange is, India today has a composite culture, which some people call "Hinduism" (not Hindu religion), and some others call "sanAtana dharma". Whatever terms are employed, the Culture has had some merits, and some very very painful demerits such as untouchability, oppression of lower castes etc. Whatever be the past of India, today India is a country of MIXED-RACIALITY.

But, the present two alien religions which are converting people into their religions on a massive scale, using money as baits, making false promises, making negative propaganda and spreading falsehoods against Indian culture, have done great damage to Indian Lives during the last 1000 years, and even after India gained independence, they are continuing their activities which are harmful and injurious to India. Congress, and other so self-declared Secular parties have encouraged, and are encouraging the Conversions, in the name of protection to minorities. Some political parties like BJP, Shiva Sena are using these DISHARMONIOUS CONDITIONS for gaining political power to themselves.

It is, therefore, highly essential that the conversion activities of alien religions are to be stopped. Alien Organisations are controlled from abroad both formally and informally.

Example for formal controls from abroad: Who appoints Arch Bishops and , Bishops in India? Can't Indian Dioceses elect their own Arch Bishops and Bishops?

Example of informal controls: Donations from Saudi Arabia, for running Madrasas and building prayer-houses.

International Religious interferences, can infringe into sovereignities of countries. They harm the DEMOCRATIC and REPUBLIC character of countries. Sometimes, guidelines from alien Institutions can violate the internal security of the recipient countries. There will also be confusion in the minds of the followers of alien religions, whether to follow the secular guidelines of the Government of the Native country, or to follow the guidelines of alien Religious Heads? Unity of Command is an important prerequisite for survival of any Republic. Members of the Republic cannot be controlled by outsiders.

Question: Can you say something about the Bhaja Cave picture posted by you above?

Ans: -The picture is reported to belong to the OLDEST TEMPLE in India, in Bhaja Caves, Maharashtra, near Lonavala. It is said to belong to 400 B.C. i.e. about 2500 yrs. old. The picture shows, inter alia (among other things), a woman playing a double-drum percussion instrument, which looks like a tabla. On the right side, we can see a long wind-piped instrument, may be something like a shehnai (called 'nAda svaram or sannAyi' in South India). The Bhaja Caves, according to experts, belong to HinayAna Buddhism, track of Buddhism. In the previous blog posts, we have seen that the same caves contained the chariot of Sun God (sUrya), and the elephant-riding Indra (parjanya), which I have tried to link to Latvia-Lithuania-Old~Prussia-Sudovia-Esthonia, and only partially succeeded.

One question which repeatedly is haunting my mind is: Could the HinayAna Buddhism also have come from Europe, along with Aryans? Was Buddha (or Siddhardha in his early life) also a European? After entry into India, could the HinayAna Buddhism have developed into MahAyAna Buddhism? In my earlier blog posts, I have expressed a view that the culture of Ancient Indians was nearer to Ancient Jains of Tamil Nadu (Not SvEtAmbara modern Jainism). For this reason only, I was tempted to subscribe to the view that Sri Venkateswara's Temple at Tirumala was a Jain Shrine taken over by VishNu worshippers (same Aryans who spread from Lapland to Latvia to Iran/Iraq to Afghanistan to Punjab to Malva to Maharashtra to Karnataka and finally to Tamil Nadu). BukkarAya Sandhi

(Truce made by the Vijayanagara King Bukkaraya between Jains and Shri VaishNavas, about the surrender of Tirumala Temple by Jains to VaishNavas, in exchange for protection to Bahubali at SrAvaNa BeLagola)

, supported this idea.

Though Adolph Hitler tried to possess the ThunderFire or Thunderstone symbol of SVASTIK and the ARYAN word, as Germanic, the Baltics seem to have a better claim to the Svastika. It is true that Svastik is used all over the world, for the last several thousand years. It may be true that we cannot attribute it only to Baltics.

But what made me to wonder is: The presence of Svastik Sign in the foot-prints stone sculptures of Buddha, in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh. Period approx. 2nd Century BC to 2nd Century AD. Of course, hundreds of thousands of Indians believe that Svastika is a purely Indian sign, which spread all over the world, with Indian Migrations to SE Asia, and Europe. Right now, my mind still is bent on believing that Svastik is Baltic only. We have to study in greater depth, but it will take indefinite period of time, because the pre-Christian Histories of Scandinavia, North Sea countries, Baltic countries, have been destroyed by the Christian Rulers. The Histories of most of these countries, now start with VIKINGS of the 8th Century A.D.

Till now, my mind continued in the belief that Buddha was from Bihar-Nepal. My doubts about that theory sprouted when the Talibans in Afghanistan destroyed the Bamiyan Buddha Caves in Kandahar. The general prevailing impression seems to be, that Buddhism spread into north-west direction from Bihar-Nepal, along the Ganga-Yamuna route to Kandahar, probably by Ashoka's Feudatives. We can also examine a view that Hinayana Buddhism too has come from Europe into Afghanistan, and further spread Eastwards and Southwards in India, and developed into Mahayana Buddhism at Amaravati and Nagarjuna Konda.

IMPORTANT: These are all only possibilities and probabilities. I am not formulating anything.

Subject to corrections and deletions. To continue. सशेष. ఇంకా ఉంది.