Nalanda University reopens after hundreds of years!

[Indrani]

I am not sure if Habib or Thapar had said anywhere that Hindus were killers and destroyers of Buddhists but there are plenty of evidences of Buddhist-Hindu disharmony in 17th and 18th century Tibetan texts and Buddhists monks like Taranath had pointed out antagonism between Tirthikas and Sramanas several times in his History of Buddhism in India. They may not have been at each others throat but they were definitely not in their best of terms either.

Ohh okay, so a community which existed together for 1500 years have some disagreement and are not at each other's throat either in one location, but that becomes the basis of the claim of how Buddhists and Hindus hated each other? I think you have gone through this argument earlier on and were directed to a site where people debunked Jha's views, no?

 

[ExtraOdinary]

This is one in clementown Near Graphic Era ?

Yeah. This one is relatively new though and has become a picnic spot more or less. There is a much older (and peaceful) Buddhist Monastery mostly staffed by Tibetan monks, next to the famous Sai Baba Temple. Last went there as a kid.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

"Brahmans with their heads shaven" of course were Buddhists . This incident perfectly explains why there are almost no historical records of any thing prior to 11th 12th centuries because these illiterate barbarians destroyed everything civilised they saw.

The great library of Nalanda was said to have burned for three whole months after the invaders set it on fire.

What a tremendous loss of knowledge.

That's why a lot of Nalanda's history comes from Chinese sources like Xuanzang and Yijing. Because the written sources in India were destroyed.

And the invaders probably did not even realize how much irreplaceable knowledge they tragically and wantonly destroyed, out of their ignorance and spite.

 

[proud_indian]

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.

i think vegetarianism is mainly derived from and practiced in JAINISM

those who don't know about Jainism, It's is another indian religion and has many similarities and practices similar to Buddhism

Jain vegetarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jain vegetarian diet is practiced by the followers of Jain culture and philosophy. It is one of the most rigorous forms of spiritually-motivated diet on the Indian subcontinent and beyond. The Jain cuisine is completely vegetarian and also excludes onions and garlic, similar to the shojin-ryori Buddhist cuisine of Japan.

@Nihonjin1051 @Chinese-Dragon
you heared about Jainism

can you tell me something abt shojin-ryori that mentioned above

 

[scorpionx]

Ohh okay, so a community which existed together for 1500 years have some disagreement and are not at each other's throat either in one location, but that becomes the basis of the claim of how Buddhists and Hindus hated each other? I think you have gone through this argument earlier on and were directed to a site where people debunked Jha's views, no?

Yes in the reign of non history thread and no, no one debunked D N Jha there.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Ghandara is particularly important because of the western influence in it's Buddhist art.. If you look at Ghandara sculptures they're are distinctly Caucasian in features.. The world should be grateful to Pakistan for preserving it's cultural heritage despite pressures and not going Afghanistan's way

Unfortunately smuggling is still a problem... But the govt is trying hard to curb the menace.....apart from that the British took several artifacts during the early 18th n 19th century... Some are now in indian museums n some on british..

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

i think vegetarianism is mainly derived from and practiced in JAINISM

those who don't know about Jainism, It's is another indian religion and has many similarities and practices similar to Buddhism

Jain vegetarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jain vegetarian diet is practiced by the followers of Jain culture and philosophy. It is one of the most rigorous forms of spiritually-motivated diet on the Indian subcontinent and beyond. The Jain cuisine is completely vegetarian and also excludes onions and garlic, similar to the shojin-ryori Buddhist cuisine of Japan.

@Nihonjin1051 @Chinese-Dragon
you heared about Jainism

can you tell me something abt shojin-ryori that mentioned above

Yes I heard Jainism is very similar to Buddhism. They are Atheistic, and known for being well-educated?

 

[Aepsilons]

The great library of Nalanda was said to have burned for three whole months after the invaders set it on fire.

What a tremendous loss of knowledge.

That's why a lot of Nalanda's history comes from Chinese sources like Xuanzang and Yijing. Because the written sources in India were destroyed.

And the invaders probably did not even realize how much irreplaceable knowledge they tragically and wantonly destroyed, out of their ignorance and spite.

Why did they have to burn the books? Truly a shame to have lost all that information....

i think vegetarianism is mainly derived from and practiced in JAINISM

those who don't know about Jainism, It's is another indian religion and has many similarities and practices similar to Buddhism

Jain vegetarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jain vegetarian diet is practiced by the followers of Jain culture and philosophy. It is one of the most rigorous forms of spiritually-motivated diet on the Indian subcontinent and beyond. The Jain cuisine is completely vegetarian and also excludes onions and garlic, similar to the shojin-ryori Buddhist cuisine of Japan.

@Nihonjin1051 @Chinese-Dragon
you heared about Jainism

can you tell me something abt shojin-ryori that mentioned above

Yes I've heard of it, and it follows a very strict diet, doesn't it? I've a classmate who is Jain and he literally eats mostly lentil soup? Isn't it true that strict Jains don't eat garlic or onions because it increase sexual desire?

 

[Levina]

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!

I would still not call buddhism as a religion with mere "influence" of Hinduism or Vedic Brahmanism (hinduism is a recent development).
Sikhs unlike hindus dont have the same deities as the hindus but Buddhism has.
And contrary to the usual assumption the Buddha esteemed the original reciters of the Vedas of old as embodying the best religious principles, to which he gave highest praise.But he was against the perversion of these principles.
While the Buddha agreed with the faith he inherited on the fundamentals of metaphysics and ethics, he protested against certain practises which were in vogue at that time. He refused to acquiesce in the Vedic ceremonialism

Another argument in support would be that we call buddha an avatar of Vishnu while Gurunanak Sahab is not.

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.

Accepted!!!
So that should mean Cholas forced Buddhists to workship hindu gods in their kingdom which extended till malaysia or so if I am not wrong. I have seen many hindu temples which were made after demolishing buddhist monasteries, so your post makes a lot of sense.


At this point I must accept that you guys (@Capt.Popeye and you) have successfully managed to confuse me.
In modern Hinduism there is so much of Buddhism and Jainism that on the popular level the distinctions between them are blurred.Ergo I am confused.


@scorpionx Yesterday I read a post of your's in which you had used a term "Gobhakshak". Could you confirm if the gobhakshak hindu brahmans became pure vegetarians after Buddhist influence??

 

[Aepsilons]

can you tell me something abt shojin-ryori that mentioned above

It is devotional food that's served in Buddhist temples.

 

[Levina]

Yes I've heard of it, and it follows a very strict diet, doesn't it? I've a classmate who is Jain and he literally eats mostly lentil soup? Isn't it true that strict Jains don't eat garlic or onions because it increase sexual desire?

Errrr
You're right that Jains dont eat garlic and onions but the reason you gave is not true.
Garlic and onions are essentially used in non-vegetarian dishes to negate its effects and ergo they're not needed in pure vegetarian food.

 

[Aepsilons]

Errrr
You're right that Jains dont eat garlic and onions but the reason you gave is not true.
Garlic and onions are essentially used in non-vegetarian dishes to negate its effects and ergo they're not needed in pure vegetarian food.

Ah, thank you for that clarification , @levina !

 

[proud_indian]

Why did they have to burn the books? Truly a shame to have lost all that information....

this is the practice they are doing for centuries and still doing in various part of world
one example is Great Bamiyan Buddha

Yes I've heard of it, and it follows a very strict diet, doesn't it? I've a classmate who is Jain and he literally eats mostly lentil soup? Isn't it true that strict Jains don't eat garlic or onions because it increase sexual desire?

The strictest forms of Jain diet is practiced by the monastic ascetics; it may additionally exclude potatoes and other root vegetables.[1]This food is called sattvic, which means that it is based on the qualities of goodness, lightness and happiness. On the other hand, onions and garlic are considered "tamasic" as they are believed to have a quality of darkness, lethargy and a putrid smell.

 

[Levina]

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

In short you would not say the same if you were in your senses.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Hopefully now that the gandhara region has been freed from talibitches insects and troops are stationed there the site will be protected... From both those insects n smuggler mofos... They dug up the artefacts n smuggled them to Afghanistan in NATO containers ... A few smugglers were busted through whih police traced an organised mafia and recovered hundreds of relics:

this is the practice they are doing for centuries and still doing in various part of world
one example is Great Bamiyan Buddha

The strictest forms of Jain diet is practiced by the monastic ascetics; it may additionally exclude potatoes and other root vegetables.[1]This food is called sattvic, which means that it is based on the qualities of goodness, lightness and happiness. On the other hand, onions and garlic are considered "tamasic" as they are believed to have a quality of darkness, lethargy and a putrid smell.

The talibitches also tried to do that in swat ... And now thankfully the few they tried to destroy have been restored :

Buddha attacked by Taliban gets facelift in Pakistan - Pakistan - DAWN.COM


Pakistan even asked the afghan talibs to spare the bamyan Buddha ..