Nalanda University reopens after hundreds of years!

[Indrani]

There is a famous quote attributed to the great Hindu thinker Adi Shankara whose philosophy was a very complicated one called Advaita (non-dualism). When he was asked about the practice of praying to God in temples (something that contradicted his essential philosophy), he voiced his approval and said " there is no purpose in burdening a man's head with more knowledge than he can handle" (further - praying to God in temples has no effect but is essentially a harmless exercise)

You should stop spreading disinformation. Praying to gods in temple is in no contradiction to Advaita. Basic philosophy of Advaita is all that exists is God, so the statues too are God. Adi Shankara also wrote Bhaja Govindam, song for Krishna. Now where does according to your understanding Krishna fit into Advaita?

 

[Capt.Popeye]

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.

That DH; is simply connected to how Humans direct their Minds to develop. It is a matter of choice. If you wish to develop, only then will the development will follow; inevitably.

 

[Indrani]

Both are dharmic religions and that is the point of similarity. But Buddhism teaches us to believe in ourselves and it is a philosophy of atheism. Then how can you say 'Buddhism branched out of hinduism'.

Hinduism also teaches us to believe in ourselves and also it has a philosophy of atheism included in it.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

@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.

The Monkey King is one of the most famous and loved personalities in all East Asian culture.

Most famous for the epic "Journey to the West" based on Xuanzang's journey to India. And also for works based on that story, such as Dragonball.

As for the elephant God based on Ganesha, that is a Japanese deity, so unfortunately I can't tell you very much about it.

All I know is that it is a popular Buddhist deity in Japan. And that it was based on Ganesha, whereas the Monkey King is more related to Hanuman.

 

[Indrani]

You never heard about the rivalry between shaiva and vaishnava??


Did caste system exist at the time of buddha??

Buddha's supposed contempt for Brahmins and Vedas is supposed to be tolerance, Brahmins supposed dislike of Buddha is supposed to be intolerance and so goes the Marxist thinking in India.

 

[TejasMk3]

@Bang Galore WRT Caste and Buddha
I've heard many people arguing back and forth about this, here was one of the articles used to show he did not attack the caste system
Koenraad Elst: The Buddha and Caste
What you guys think?
And wiki mentions castes for buddhists in India Tibet

 

[DarkSeid]

Hinduism also teaches us to believe in ourselves and also it has a philosophy of atheism included in it.

ok, are there any followers in that philosophy now and how do it practice in India?

The Monkey King is one of the most famous and loved personalities in all East Asian culture.
Most famous for the epic "Journey to the West" based on Xuanzang's journey to India. And also for works based on that story, such as Dragonball.
As for the elephant God based on Ganesha, that is a Japanese deity, so unfortunately I can't tell you very much about it.
All I know is that it is a popular Buddhist deity in Japan. And that it was based on Ganesha, whereas the Monkey King is more related to Hanuman.

It would be great, if you can tell us things about Shaolin temples and their present situation too.

 

[Yogijaat]

@Bang Galore WRT Caste and Buddha
I've heard many people arguing back and forth about this, here was one of the articles used to show he did not attack the caste system
Koenraad Elst: The Buddha and Caste
What you guys think?
And wiki mentions castes for buddhists in India Tibet

Caste system wasn't facing criticism during the time of buddha so it's hard to say buddha was against the caste system
and this is an excerpt from megasthene(greek explorer) account of india

This is a great thing in India, that all the inhabitants are free, not a single Indian being a slave. In this the Lacedaemonians and the Indians are alike. However the Helots are slaves to the Lacedaemonians and perform servile offices; but among the Indians no other Indian at any rate is a slave.

It is not lawful for anyone to marry a woman from another caste; for example, for husbandmen to marry from the class of artisans or the reverse. It is not lawful for the same man to exercise two trades, or to exchange from one caste into another; for instance, he may not cease to be a shepherd and become a husbandman, or cease to be an artisan and become a shepherd. Only a man from any caste is allowed by them to become a wise man(Brahmins), because the duties of the wise men are not easy, but the most severely laborious of all.

http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Indica.html
We all know what caste system has become nowdays

 

[Indrani]

ok, are there any followers in that philosophy now and how do it practice in India?

Well you see it in this thread itself. Half the Indians here are atheists, yet still they consider themselves Hindus. They seem more aligned to the Carvaka school of thought which is very similar to materialism and atheism in the Western sense. A lot of practicing Hindus would fall in the category of agnosticism tough.

Ganesha is worshiped in Japan too. Are you serious? I thought our only connect was Buddhism but it seems Hinduism reached there as well.

Ganesha is the diety at the entrance of every Japanese temple. They are great worshipers of Saraswati too.

 

[Indrani]

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.



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.

It is the Indian Marxists who have a problem with Buddhism being related to Hinduism. They invested a lot of political capital in making sure that the Buddhists hate Hindus so that the Hindus could be denied any moral victory over Islamists as belonging to a benign faith which co-existed with its sister faiths.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

It would be great, if you can tell us things about Shaolin temples and their present situation too.

Shaolin Temple? Sure.

Originally founded by a guy called Bodhidharma (supposedly a Buddhist monk from India), it became the birthplace of Shaolin kung fu and Zen Buddhism.

It's still doing well today, you can visit the place as a tourist, some areas are open to the public.

About applying to be a Shaolin monk at the temple, I have no idea. The thought never crossed my mind, I can't give up my worldly possessions and become a monk.

 

[liall]

This Buddha is known as Ryozen Kannon in Japan. If I am correct, in Japanese Buddhism, Ryozen Kannon is the Buddha of Compassion.

So are Japanese Buddhists vegetarian?

 

[scorpionx]

It is the Indian Marxists who have a problem with Buddhism being related to Hinduism. They invested a lot of political capital in making sure that the Buddhists hate Hindus so that the Hindus could be denied any moral victory over Islamists as belonging to a benign faith which co-existed with its sister faiths.

Which Indian Marxist had said so?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

So are Japanese Buddhists vegetarian?

Usually only Buddhist "monks" practice vegetarianism, not regular citizens.

Buddha himself did not necessarily have a problem with meat eating or vegetarianism, to my knowledge.

But monks will avoid it anyway.

 

[Aepsilons]

You're welcome.
Discussions like this are very refreshing even enlightening without getting into the realm of bigotry and dogmatism.
And we have so many great contributors like @Chinese-Dragon, @Gibbs and @Nihonjin1051 (among others) helping us to learn something.

I am always awed at the beauty of how religions are passed from the progenitor source to new an distant lands. I am amazed at the shear fact that Japan, presently, remains a Shinto-Buddhist nation , at how China remains a culturally Taoist-Buddhist nation, the same for South Korea and many other nations in South East Asia -- the vibrancy of the Buddhist school of thought -- be it Mahayana to Thervada. Yet Buddhism hails from South Asia [India-Nepal].

Back to the original point of the thread, its good that India is revitalizing her cultural history , cultural awareness and the identity of its people. This thread has been a richly educative one and i really enjoyed the contributions of our Sri Lankan, Indian, Pakistani, Chinese colleagues. This truly is a microcosm of world thought. This is what I TRULY admire about PDF.

@Aeronaut , @WebMaster , @scorpionx @Chinese-Dragon et al.