Nalanda University reopens after hundreds of years!

[DESERT FIGHTER]

I had a pet monkey once..

I was forced to release it in the wild ..;(

I miss you lil jimmy ..

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

I didnt know about Sun wukong.
Btw lord hanuman was supposed to've swallowed sun in hindu mythology so should the sun in his name(SUN wukong) refer to that incident?

LOL no, the Chinese surname "Sun" has nothing to do with the actual Sun.

The Monkey King predates the English language by hundreds of years anyway.

Sun Wukong (or Son Goku) is simply his name. Just as Hanuman was his name in India.

oops @Chinese-Dragon so you have almost accepted it.

You and i 've finally proved that buddhism has hindu deities and that Buddhism branched out of hinduism.In short China has a majority of hindus.

The relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism is a fact of reality, why would I have a problem with that?

I don't think you will find any Chinese or Japanese person who is worried about the relationship between Buddhism and Hinduism, if anything we embrace the connection.

In fact we are the ones pointing out the similarities.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Then you've not been to Thailand....
The Hindu deities are in almost every aspect of daily Thai life. There is a Shrine to Shiva at the Erawan Hotel in Bangkok. Erawan (in Thai language) is the Three Headed Elephant belonging to Indra. There is a Ganesha Shrine on the grounds of the World Trade Center as wellas a Shrine to Brahma, in Bangkok.
Not just this, there are many references to Brahma in buddhists texts.Infact in the Buddhist texts Brahma reappears often in the human form of an ageless youth by the name of Pancasikha.There also mentions of Indra as sakka and other gods like varun,agni etc ,of course they are not known by the same name as in hinduism.
This is lord ganesha's statue in Doi Suthep Temple in Chiang Mai,Thailand.

View attachment 46222

@Bang Galore

i strongly believe that Buddhism has essentially branched out from hinduism.

And heres one more pic
View attachment 46223

With due respect: it is hard to say conclusively whether Buddhism has branched out from Hinduism or not. It may be easier to say that Buddhism was inspired out of Hinduism. One school of thought even believed that it was a reformist movement against some practices in Hinduism just as Sikhism also sought to be. Or the Brahmo Samaj was, to the extent that Brahmos do not marry under the Hindu Marriage Act but under the SMA; but few if anybody classifies them as a separate religion. Undeniably all religions which originated in this region freely took inspiration from each other and they do not even deny that fact.
Of course to define Hinduism as a single religion itself is hard enough to do. Probably; it can be thought of as a huge umbrella of religions or philosophies of existence. Which can be explained (at least to some extent) by the description of Dr.S.Radhakrishnan; which I quoted in an earlier post in this thread:
"(Hinduism is) a movement, not a position; a process, not a result; a growing tradition, not a fixed revelation". in his book 'The Hindu view of Life'.
I do consider that description to be both quite accurate and appropriate.

Not surprisingly; the other religious ideas that took birth here also imbibed those ideas.

Thanks for the picture of the Ganesh in the Erawan Hotel grounds. I have seen that many years ago while as a (short-term) resident in the Hotel, but had forgotten all about it.

Now, @Chinese-Dragon again brings us another dimension of the incorporation of this visual motif into Buddhism.
This thread is getting better and better; thanks to all of you!

 

[DarkSeid]

Then you've not been to Thailand....
The Hindu deities are in almost every aspect of daily Thai life. There is a Shrine to Shiva at the Erawan Hotel in Bangkok. Erawan (in Thai language) is the Three Headed Elephant belonging to Indra. There is a Ganesha Shrine on the grounds of the World Trade Center as wellas a Shrine to Brahma, in Bangkok.

Simply it was due to the influence of Hinduism to Buddhism in later times. In conservative Buddhism, worship of god hadn't been a part of life. Some call it as protestant Buddhism which adopts some cultural aspects of Hinduism. This two beliefs are followed by separately. Hence,most of the time there are separate places constructed for gods called as devala.

Read this,

The end of the Anuradhapura era & Hindu influence​

King Kashyapa 1 made Sigiriya his capital. As a result, for a period of about eight years, Anuradhapura was not the capital city. But Mugalan, who came to the throne next, made Anuradhapura the capital once more. From that time till 1017, no ruler wanted to change the capital. The invaders however, did not like Anuradhapura. They broke down and destroyed the temples there and plundered all the wealth. They ruined the city, abandoned it and made Polonnaruwa, the next capital. They named it Jayanathapura.

It became a part of the Chola empire. These foreigners were not Buddhists. They were Hindus. One aim of King Raja Raja was to conquer countries and spread Hinduism. In Sri Lanka too, the Cholas tried to achieve this ambition. By this time, there were people who had been followers of Hinduism for generations. One thing they lacked badly was administrative powers. Some of them were wealthy and held high office under the king.​

Hinduism in Sri Lanka, has a longer history than Buddhism. During the period before King Devanampiyatissa, Hinduism flourished here. King Pandukabhaya, who made Anuradhapura the capital city, was also a follower of Hinduism. The kings, who were engaged in the struggle for power to ascend the throne, brought in Tamil soldiers. Some of them never went back. They settled down here. There were a lot of people who descended from these Tamil soldiers. They set up villages here.

Almost all of them were Hindus. They built Hindu devales and for some of these the Sinhala kings too helped. Many kings had been in the practice of getting Hindu religious ceremonies like Yaga, performed. With all this, they were not as powerful as the Buddhists. But with the spread of Chola power, Hindus became very powerful and the Buddhists were cornered. The Chola rulers made the devale the most important centre. The high place the temple occupied, all these years, was taken by the Hindu religious centres. Buddhist temples were neglected.

​

They started building new devales, even on temple grounds. With this came Hindu influence, on our art and architecture. The 'Shiva Devale' of Polonnaruwa is one of them. Most of the gods and goddesses respected in Hinduism, influenced Sri Lankans. They also started worshipping gods like Vishnu. Shiva, Ganesh and Murugan and goddesses like Luxhmi, Durga and Pattini. It did not take long for the belief in these gods to spread here.

The Buddhists embraced the worship of these gods. They publicly performed poojas for these gods. The Hindu priests who were Brahmins, did not follow the simple life style of the Buddhist priests. They were used to enjoying the luxuries of life. Moreover, they believed in the caste system. They led household lives, got married and had children, who also became Brahmin priests. They learnt from the Vedas and the Vedantas.

Hinduism is in the Sanskrit language and Sanskrit spread in Sri Lanka. Due to all this influence of Hinduism, very soon, the power of the Sinhala people decreased in Pihiti Rata. It came under Chola rule. The Cholas oppressed the Sinhala people and collected taxes. The poor became poorer and the Cholas on the other hand did all they could to stabilize their power. They even erected a fortress.​

This fort was built in a place called 'Rakpankata' in Polonnaruwa. From here, they wanted to spread their influence not only in Malaya Rata and Maya Rata but also in Ruhuna. The Sinhala people in Pihiti Rata who could not tolerate Chola oppression, left their villages and fled to the Ruhuna. The people in Ruhuna were sad to hear of the suffering they underwent. They began to hate the Cholas.

 

[Yogijaat]

We go for Monkey Gods instead (similar/based on Hanuman), like Sun Wukong.

In Japanese that is pronounced as Son Goku. Which you might be familiar with, if you have heard about Dragonball.



Sure, and apparently he is quite popular over there as well.

Son Goku was my childhood idol. I always wanted to throw beams like him ka-me-ha-me-ha

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Sun wukong was supposed to be the next hero released for dota...ice frog still has not released it!!! He is there in LoL though Thats how I knew of him

Yeah he is in League of Legends.

Though it doesn't seem fair to have an actual Monkey God as a playable character. Seems overpowered.

That is one freakin awesome monkey god

Yep, and that golden staff he carries is supposed to weigh around 8 metric tons.

Don't ever want to fight with a God.

 

[Contrarian]

What a great read this thread!

 

[Yogijaat]

Yep, and that golden staff he carries is supposed to weigh around 8 metric tons.

Don't ever want to fight with a God.

The golden staff must be gada that hanuman carries

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

What a great read this thread!

Quite refreshing isn't it?

Especially after all the vicious "sectarian" arguments/conflicts (to put it lightly) that occur regularly all over this forum.

Which is the reason why religious threads are usually banned on these forums.

The golden staff must be gada that hanuman carries

That seems likely.

Too bad Son Goku gave up his staff quite early during Dragonball. He only used it when he was a kid.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

I had a pet monkey once..

I was forced to release it in the wild ..;(

I miss you lil jimmy ..

Now, now, now....; do not think too much about lil jimmy the Monkey.
His spirit and soul have entered you and become a complete part of you.
And it shows bright and shining...... we can see it clearly in you.
So don't fret or feel sad.
Lil jimmy still lives.....as you.

 

[DarkSeid]

Not just this, there are many references to Brahma in buddhists texts.Infact in the Buddhist texts Brahma reappears often in the human form of an ageless youth by the name of Pancasikha.There also mentions of Indra as sakka and other gods like varun,agni etc ,of course they are not known by the same name as in hinduism.

These concepts are too complex to understand and very deep.
Buddhist cosmology of the Theravada school - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

as @SarthakGanguly said;

'Branching out' is our perception. It need not be your perception. We are comfortable with each other's beliefs. If you think Buddhism is entirely diff (I know you don't but let's just say), no one will take much offence. There are similarities, there has been a great deal of mixing and intermingling. You can call them sister faiths or anything else if you wish. This is the advantage with eastern faiths. Buddhism is incomplete without reference to Hinduism as is Hinduism without Buddhism. This is a bond we share, something that is so foreign to so many.

& Respect, End of this discussion.

 

[Daedalus]

hinduism is a way of life

I have been making the same argument with my friends from a long time, mostly when we get drunk and become spiritual.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Quite refreshing isn't it?

Especially after all the vicious "sectarian" arguments/conflicts (to put it lightly) that occur regularly all over this forum.

Which is the reason why religious threads are usually banned on these forums.

That has everything to do with how you approach religion and religious ideas.
If you approach with an open mind (as in the Middle Path) then there is no problems; but if you approach with "attitude" (like dog matism and bigotry); then that can become reason(s) for even blood-shed.

I have been making the same argument with my friends from a long time, mostly when we get drunk and become spiritual.

Then get drunk more often.
It seems to be good for you!!!

 

[dravidianhero]

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? We are essentially dumber than people who lived in the 6th century BCE........

True indeed.It amazes me that even today there are crores of people around the world who are backward in their thinking than some people of 500bc.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Troll!!!

How am I trolling?

I did have a monkey ... It was a baby when I bought it home.. My family forced me to release it ... With thei taunts etcs..

Now, now, now....; do not think too much about lil jimmy the Monkey.
His spirit and soul have entered you and become a complete part of you.
And it shows bright and shining...... we can see it clearly in you.
So don't fret or feel sad.
Lil jimmy still lives.....as you.

I can see porkys spirit in you talkin with all it's "oinkin" glory..

 

[Capt.Popeye]

@Chinese-Dragon and @Contrarion; may be you guys spoke too soon; when you spoke about the absence of "pollution" on this thread.......
Chinese-Dragon when you spoke about Sun Goku did you send a prayer to Avalokiteshwara?
Because as soon as you did-----Lil jimmy our familiar monkey popped in here!
CD, can you tell us about how Sun Goku and the Elephant are viewed in Chinese Buddhism? This was something completely new to me.