Tuesday 14 January 2014

Where was Lord Buddha born...?


Where was Lord Buddha born...?



Even a funeral can be a knowledge hub

My last visit to Sri Lanka was in the late September 2013, for  4 days. That was to attend my father's funeral.

Being a jolly good person, he passed away without giving any burden or trouble to the others; just passed into the next phase of "Sansara" with a smiling face.....

Thus, his funeral was not filled with non-stop-crying people. There were many discussions on various topics, business and politics to philosophy and rocket science at many corners of my sister's home where the funeral took place.

Late in the evening, one day, during the funeral, a heated discussion started among two of our elders.

"Where was Lord Buddha born...?".

One of my uncles is a firm believer of the newly emerging radical theory of the "Sri Lankan birth of Lord Buddha".

There were several other relatives who were strongly against the theory. Few of them even ridiculed my uncles opinion.

Despite several invitations to give my opinion on the matter, I opted to be tight lipped. It was not a suitable platform to express my thoughts. Only a fool will jump into the middle of a battle front and shoot in both directions.


If Newton was born in Azerbaijan...

If I take you to your childhood, most of you may remember that in the middle school we learned few equations called "Newton's equations of motion". Newton is the gentleman who got a rotten apple knocked on the head. I think many of us knew that Newton was born in England.

Newton's equations give us few relationships between velocity, acceleration, displacement, time etc of an object in motion. Once you know few minimum parameters, the equations will get you the others. Of course, there are few conditions that should be satisfied.

If Newton was born in France or in Azerbaijan, would you expect a rocket to move in a path different to what is predicted by Newton's equations.......................?

Similarly, if Kirchhoff was born in Sri Lanka, instead of in Russia, would you expect the electric current to follow different laws....?

Even if Newton, Kirchhoff ........ etc were never born, still the nature's laws would hold as it did for the last many billion years.

What these scientists did was to reveal the patterns of nature which existed for all this time.


Lord Buddha the Scientist

Lord Buddha did the same; he revealed himself the natural laws that govern the universe. Even the research methodology followed by the great philosopher was not much different from what we practice today in modern science.

First Lord Buddha found the research problem; "Dukka" or "the suffering" of living-kind. Is there a way out............?

Then he did literature survey; To find the answer to "the reason of suffering", he went from teacher to teacher learning all existing theories at that time. He questioned, discussed, debated and argued with others and with himself to find the solution.

Then he executed experimental procedures; To find the path to the liberation from suffering. Coming from a wealthy royal family, he knew that the high luxury could not get him to the right way. Then he adopted the next option; extreme suffering or self-mortification. His research object was his own mind and body. Finally the experiment failed giving him few important lessons.

At the end he found the result: Following the middle path and weeks of meditation to understand the reality of universe, finally he succeeded. He understood what is "suffering". The need to prevent "suffering". The way to prevent "suffering" and what is the result of preventing "suffering".

The knowledge he gained was disseminated in a large number of sermons which we basically call "Suthra". In today's printing technology, this knowledge base goes over 17,000 pages of A4 papers in Times New Roman font, size 12.

The essence of his finding is the "giving up". Giving up the adherence to worldly or heavenly luxuries.

Lord Buddha did not make any discrimination between races, nationalities, casts or socio-economic status. As he pointed out we are simply actors on a given stage for a short period. Once we finish our part in one drama we have to move to another stage for a different drama. Our enemy on one stage may be our father or son on another stage.


The Birth Certificate

Said all above, now think again about the debate on Lord Buddha's birth certificate....?

Will the place of birth of Buddha matter for a Buddhist, for being a Buddhist?

Do the nature's laws postulated by Lord Buddha is going to be changed if someone proves tomorrow that Lord Buddha was born in Sri Lanka or Pakistan or Madagascar....?

It is a different scenario to discuss this matter with an archaeological point of view. However, going into all the trouble of finding facts just to be proud of Lord Buddha being your own countryman is absurd. Imagine, that in the next life you will be born in Iran or Papua New Guinea; are you going to alter the birth certificate of Lord Buddha accordingly.


Anti-Indian Sentiment

For the last three decades I have been witnessing the aperiodic psychological confusion that has been undergone by the so called Sinhala Buddhists with respect to attitudes of India.

As it happens in many parts of the world; India try to play the "landlord" or "regional policeman" role with neighbors as it is the most influential landscape in the region; politically, economically and culturally.

Being a victim of this aggressive attitude, Sri Lankans most often feel India as an unfriendly bully rather than a caring elder brother. This anti-Indian sentiment aggravates when the big guy escalates his aggression once in a while; eg. during air-dropped dhal saga in the late 80s and recent decisions taken by India at International Fora to vote against Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankans, especially Sinhala Buddhists strand themselves in a dilemma in such situations. In one side, they have to develop burning fire within themselves against India. On the other side, the originator of their religion, Lord Buddha and the initiator of their race, according to their bible of history, "Mahawansa", Prince Vijaya, were Indians.

The above is the main reason of looking for a Sri Lankan birth certificate to Lord Buddha and digging the graves of a Ravana to negate the claims of Indian originated race stated by Mahawansa.

Going after such new phenomena based on lame and ridiculous theories will not lead us anywhere, other than developing egoistic psyches that will disturb our mental serenity and social harmony more and more.

During the funeral, I found that my uncle was getting into further and further complications with his Buddha's birth place and Ravana theories as the others tried to dig deep into the subject. When he tries to show that Mahawansa was wrong with respect to Vijaya, he drags his all-time Sinhala hero "King Dutu Gamunu" also into jeopardy, 'cause it is the same chronicle that authenticates the heroics of Dutu Gamunu.

I have been really fascinated by the archaeological exploration that has been conducted by likes of Dr. Raj Somadeva, which gives rise to great revelations of Sri Lankan history. However, it is unfortunate that some people, who may know next to nothing about archaeology, try to interpret these findings in their own ridiculous ways in mass media even before the real scientists who conduct the research state anything.

We cannot reach, peace or prosperity by doing what we do, with hate and fury. What others do will decide their destiny. If we plan what we do, based on what others do, then we will get into a never ending path that brings us only heartaches and pain.


The overlooked Beauty of Buddhism

The Beauty of Buddhism is that the Buddhist Philosophy will remain 100% as it is, even if someone proves that Lord Buddha has never existed. This is similar to the fact that Newton's existence is immaterial for an object to follow the equations of motion.

Lord Buddha's existence only gives us lessons to be adopted for our life from the life style of this great personality. Such adoption makes us easier to practice the philosophy in day to day life and also in more spiritual way in the long run.

Buddhism says that the detachment from everything may lead to the supreme enlightenment at the end. Detaching from "everything" cannot be done overnight. It may take several or many thousands of years; many births, many deaths, many forms of life (not only 3-D forms of life).

However, we may start "detachment" or "giving up" from whatever the level we can. First the evil deeds, then extreme greed, then physical or material substances, then heavenly or spiritual entities and finally even Buddhism......


Think again.....

* Buddhism is not something to be protected; like protecting a sack of money or a gold treasure. Buddhism is to be practiced. If you mean "making it last long" by the term "protect", then the only (and only) way that you can achieve such is to practice the philosophy.

* Some people go even to the extreme, thinking that they can "protect" Buddhism by burning prayer centers, damaging mosques, stoning Muslim shops, self-immolation, harassing and harming people with different faiths etc..... What a joke...!!!!!

* Many Sinhala Buddhists believe that Sri Lanka is a special country so that Lord Buddha has given the responsibility and rights to God Vishnu to protect the country.

Incidentally, people in every country have some sort of stories to show that their country is better than the rest. Here, the irony is that what Sri Lankans believe is in total contradiction with Lord Buddha's philosophy.

Do you think that one who says everything should be given up for enlightenment will ask someone to protect something..... and for what?

If you think that Lord Buddha wanted his philosophy to be protected and maintained for many many centuries or millenniums, then you make the whole Buddhist Philosophy collapsed. May be the Buddhist followers latter wanted to do such, cause they have earthly psych (pruthahjana).

* You don't need to protect Sinhala race to safeguard Buddhism. In the contrary, If you practice Buddhism, Sinhala race (or any other community that will do such) will naturally be protected.

The word "protected" which I used above is to imply that the community will be happy, prosperous and superior in psyche. In other words the people will be protected from disasters created by extreme greed, killing instincts, sexual, political, economical or social abuses etc. It does not mean that you have a divine protection from unexpected natural calamity or man-made disaster (by other nations).

.................................

This article may be a bitter pill for many of you. However, I kindly request you to read it with patience and open mind. As a Buddhist you are trained from the very beginning to think and analyse, both logically and rationally. Don't be detached from such practice before detaching from other things .................














     



35 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Evidence to prove how rewritten Mahavanshaya made a puzzle in Ceylon History through archaeology research findings in 2011 – 2012 by Archaeology Department in SriLanka

      According to Archaeology Director General Dr Senarath Dissanayake & Deputy Archaeology Director General, Dr Nimal Perera in Archaeology Department in SriLanka,the period of 02 ancient Dagaba had drag to the period of 200 BC and 250 BC, findings reveals period of 02 Dagaba through carbon test in archaeology research which was done in 2012 in 02 archaeology research sites. This time periods had been tested in Beta Analytic Laboratory in U.S.A.

      Dagaba with history of 250 BC- Kota Vehera, Deliwala in Rambukkana

      Dagaba with history of 200 BC- Sandagiri Saya in Tissamaharama

      Third Evidence :

      Research Funds had been made by Ministry of National Heritage through Department of Archaeology in SriLanka, and the research had been done by proposer, Raj Somadeva & his team. (Research diggings had been started from 20 June 2011)

      According to findings through 02 stone inscriptions which ware found in archaeology research site in Neelagiri Seya, Dagaba was called Uththara Seevali Pabbatha in ancient time when Dagaba was built in ancient era, and also it was built by deputy king Thissa, Son of Gamini Abaya and also Grandson of King Devanampiyathissa. Further to research findings through 02nd Stone inscription The daughter of Deputy King Thissa, Queen Choola Sivalee had offered Land Tax of Kuburugama lake, Land Tax of Chithra Lake and Land Tax of Lake city to Buddhist Monks who residence in Temple of Uththara Seevali Pabbatha.

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    2. English Translation of 2nd Stone inscription which was found in Research diggings

      “Bless for Good Happenings”

      Deputy King Thissa who was Grandson of King Devanampiyathissa, and also son of Koota Kanna Gamini Abaya, his daughter, Queen Uththara Choola Seevali had offered Land Tax of Kuburugama lake, Land Tax of Chithra Lake and Land Tax of Lake city to residence, Buddhist Monks who arrived from all 4 sides in North, East, West and South of Uththara Seevali Pabbatha temple

      Mahawanshaya Author, Foreigner mixed up with King Gamini Abaya; Son of King Devanampiyathissa & King Dutu Gamunu, Son of King Kavanthissa.

      “As per the known history King Gamini Abaya had Fought with King Elara in the Battle and also Deputy King Thissa had a clash with Gamini Abaya for the throne.” according to the stone inscription which was found in Neelagiri seya research site, Deputy king Thissa was not a brother of King Gamini Abaya , he was the son of King Gamini Abaya.

      Even as per the rewritten Mahawanshaya, Author Native Foreigner; monk Mahanama says King Dutu Gamunu was one of Shakya Kings, not only that he further says Buddhist Monk Gothama arrived with 500 Buddhist Monks to the palace when “prince Dutu Gamunu” was born and also according to rewritten Mahawanshaya “Buddhist Monk Gothama had granted the disclosure of absolute for Prince Dutu Gamunu will be one of Two Chief monks of Maithree Lord Buddha’s era in one of his future births(Niyatha Vivarana).

      As Prince Dutu Gamunu was one of Shakya Kings and Buddhist Monk, Gothama arrived to the palace with 500 Buddhist monks for prince’s birthday celebration, and Buddhist Monk Gothama had granted disclosure of Absolute for the prince Dutu Gamunu saying he will be one of Two Chief monks of Maithree Lord Buddha’s era(Niyatha Vivarana) This “Buddhist Monk Gothama” cannot be ordinary Monk, He was definitely from Shakya Family in SHakya generation and also he was definitely “Gothama Lord Buddha” No Two Words.

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    3. As per the known history, ancient Ceylon was sunk in the sea in thousands years back by losing seventh eighth of the Island (7/8) by hitting very strong sea waves and as per the known history, the Island was sunk with around 14 palaces, well developed cities and more than 100.000 streets, and all ware disappeared in the sea by leaving one eighth in the Island with seven underground palaces(Poojavaliya).

      When Island was collapsed and destroyed by losing seventh eighth of the Island, Land was pushed to Indian ocean by dislocating disks of the earth. As per the known history Gods had sunk the Land as a punishment after 03 warnings to citizens to become religious again to have a spirituality in the citizens as old golden days when their behaviors had rapidly went down by turning the Island in to fantastic Island instead of powerful Island with Great enlightenment.

      When the Great Kingdom was Sunk and destroyed seventh eighth of the Island leaving behind one eighth of the Kingdom, Island was collapsed and isolated from the great history. As Kingdom is deserved to boost in the future by regaining the super power in the Island, TWO LEGENDS are due on present, Great Era is ahead, as per the Legend of Prince Diyasena, pure Theravada Buddhism will be awake just like old golden days when Lord Buddha was Live, The Kingdom will be fulfill with Buddhist Monks with Great enlightenment.

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    4. www.amazeenland.wordpress.com

      King Ashoka in India was not a Synchronous King with King Devanampiyathissa in ancient Ceylon
      As per the history in India,King Ashoka ruled in India since 268 BC to 232 BC, as per the history in ancient Ceylon King Devanampiyathissa Died in 267 BC and further to ancient Ceylon History Son of King Devanampiyathissa had ruled ancient Ceylon After King Devanampiyathissa.

      Even according to stone inscription which was found in Neelagiri seya research site in 2012, Neelagirisaya was originally called as Uththara Seevali Pabbatha and as per the stone inscription it was built by Grandson of King Devanampiyathissa, son of koota Kanna Gamini Abaya. Therefore If deputy king Thissa who was son of King Koota Kanna Gamini Abaya had built Uththara Seevali pabbatha Dagaba King Ashoka in India should be Synchronous King of King Koota Kanna Gamini Abaya, not his Father King Devanampiyathissa as Father of King Koota Kanna Gamini Abaya had died just after one year when King Ashoka became a king in India. ( Ashoka became a King 268 BC & King Devanampiyathissa died in 267 BC).
      Therefore King Dharmashoka who has done the mission of Buddhism to One in 4 ancient monarchs in ancient Ceylon “Lankapura” Kingdom Of Alakamanda should be king of Shakya Dynasty in Deva Helaya.

      “As per the known history even according to rewritten Mahavanshaya Daughter of King Dharmashoka in Jambuddeepa; Privce Sangamiththa Arrived to “Lankapura” together with Her Brother, Buddhist Monk Mihidu, A son of King Dharmashoka for the mission of Buddhism in Lankapura and These two had established Buddhism in Lankapura.”

      Accordingly If Princes Sangamiyhtha & Buddhist Monk Mihidu were Children of King Ashoka in India, their arrival would be in latter part of of King Gamini Abaya era , Son of King Devanampiyathissa or it would be in Grand son of King Devanampiyathissa era; son of King Koota Kanna Gamini Abaya.

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  2. Dear Dr Chandima

    Your thoughts are very much in line with true, practising buddhists' line of thought. But, is it a crime to question even the most strongly held beliefs with reasons? Why I raise this question is because it seems you don't think it is important to clarify a historical fact which was pushed down our throats by force by our ancestors.

    Even the fallacy of King Vijaya story. King Vijaya's existence is very mythical if one thinks about his parents and grand parents. The very beginning of the nation is shrouded with lies and mythology. However, that is not strong enough to deny ALL the subsequent recordings in Mahavamsa.

    Recently I came across very revealing and appealing claims of Lord Buddha's birth and some interesting interpretations of the doctrine of Dhamma by a monk. Controversial it may sound/look, but if you have patience to go through his sermons and his writings, they are justified to a great extent with logic and counter arguments exploring the validity/authenticity of traditional beliefs.

    As you seem to be interested in the doctrine, thought of sharing the following links that contain his sermons and writings. May be on a subsequent visit to SL, you may decide to visit and meet him.

    http://www.deshana.sirisaddharmaya.net/

    http://srisaddharmaya.blogspot.com/

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iGpCPgm1eY&list=TLvcRsFvVBQjoE4eyDoiO3mdvBwCVSOl32

    http://utube.sirisaddharmaya.net/

    Wish you insightful exploration to the doctrine of Dhamma.

    Kind regards

    Chandana

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    Replies
    1. Dear Chandana,

      First of all thanks a lot for your nice comment.

      As I have mentioned somewhere in the article, I am totally in agreement with scientific exploration of Lord Buddha's birth place and as a rationally thinking scientist, I never say that there is no chance of Lord Buddha's birth happened in Sri Lanka. In fact, archaeology was my dream career when I was young and given a second chance I would make no hesitation to take up such. I really appreciate your links and also wish good luck to the archaeologists who try their best to find a lead for the Lord Buddha's birth place in Sri Lanka.

      However, the point that I emphasized in the article is the motivation of many people in the society in proving that Lord Buddha was born in Sri Lanka. All their efforts are driven by the hatred towards India and inflation of egoistic attitudes towards the rest of the world. Such thinking patterns will not do any good for us and even jeopardize genuine efforts of scientists in finding such archaeological facts....

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  3. Ceylonese (Sinhalese, that is Sinhala Buddhists, Christians and Muslims) are fighting among them selves while India Empire , Indian Colonial Parasites and Vermin are celebrating.

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  4. Very good piece of work Dr. Chandana. This story of Buddha was born in Sri Lanka is to attract people to some remote temples. You know why.

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  5. There was a conflict between Abayagiri Vihara monks & Maha vihara monks during the period of King Prakkamabahu 1, and this era(12th century CE), pure Theravada Buddhism was in threat,and Abayagiri Vihara was struggling to protect the pure Theravada Buddhism and the Great history of the island which was bound with Buddhism more than 20 thousand year's history which was led to 29 Load Buddha's eras including Lord Buddha, Kakusada , Lord Buddha Konagama, Lord Buddha Kashshapa and Lord Buddha Gothama and finally as Abayagiri Vihara monks made a genuine effort to protect the Island even forcing to king Prakkamabahu 1 to give up his throne to protect the pure Theravada Buddhism in the Island from the King, who was no interest to hold his due responsibility to protect the Theravada Buddhism through his crown; they were defeated by the Kind together with monks in Maha vihara who influence foreign involvements to decline the pure Theravada Buddhism in the kingdom Not only that as per the known history, the history books which were stored in Abayagiri vihara library about Great history of the Island with more than 20 thousand year's history ware burned after Abayagiri Vihara was defeated by the King and the Monks in Maha vihara, as per the known history the books were on the floor up to the height of seven elephants if they were on, one another when books ware caught fire.
    By leaving behind many number of books in original Mahavansaya which were written in the past history by covering all 29th Lord Buddha's eras and the Great emperors in the great Island including King Maha Sammatha, King Ravana and many more Great emperors' eras, Mahavansaya was rewritten by the foreigner,Buddhaghosa; in 12th century CE
    This new rewritten Mahavansaya was not even completed and the author, foreigner in nearby country says in the rewritten book, he was compelled to give up the effort that he has taken to rewrite the history of the Island with the protest which was arisen among the locals in the Kingdom, not only that he started his book by saying there are many books of Mahavansaya which ware already written in the past history by locals about the history of the island, however due to there are many errors in the written history, he rewrites the history of the Island by making short its long stories and dragging short stories to long stories.
    Here there is a BIG question? how foreigner cut long stories to short stories in foreign country history ? How he says there were many errors in the written history of the Island which was led to more than 20 thousand year's history by covering all 29 Lord Buddha's eras.
    Not only that, there are many discrepancies in the rewritten Mahavansaya by adding many false information in to the history by foreigner by making effort purposely to keep away the nation from the owned great history in the Island in the future. But as Island is desire to boost, there are two Legends are due on present, and the existing generation is now questioning the history what has written by the foreigner which is far away to the reality and seek all sources that can be reached to know the real hidden history in the Island such as stone inscriptions, ancient written in palm tree leaves, ancient books and etc. but also as per the 02 Legends in the Island the Great era is ahead and no one can keep the nation in blind in the future by hiding its owned Great history in the universe.

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    Replies
    1. Below argument will prove what your have written above is a lie and egoistic statement without any scientific proof.
      Because Buddhaghosa thera visited to sri lanka in 5th Century and written one of the great piece of book in entire buddhist literature called "Saddharmaratnavali" not Mahavamsa...
      Please read that book first there is a simplified version available for your easy reference. Then you can understand what is Buddhism.

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  6. In 12th Century when foreigner rewrote Mahavansaya by leaving behind great history of the Island with previously written Mahavansaya books, Buddhagosha has purposely hidden Island history with all 29 Lord Buddha eras and it was led to complicate not only Island of Sinhale history but also nearby country, in their history they clearly say this kings are only in Buddhism books, and no records in their history records, because all were Sinhale Kings not in their country. As per the 1st chapter in rewritten Mahavansaya by Foreigner, Buddhagosha, Island of Sinhale was called Ojadeepa when Lord buddha Kakusada era, and also it was called Varadeepa in Konagama Lord Buddha’s era, not only that this Island was called Maddadeepa in Kashshapa Lord Buddha’ era, but he purposely avoided to mention how it was called in Gothama Lord Buddha’s era. The Island was called Jammadeepa in Gothama Lord Buddha’s Era. Even after Island was sunk with seventh eighth of the Island with around 14 palaces, a large number of well-developed cities and 100,000 streets ( Poojavaliya) still one “ STAR GATE ” is in live in the island and it is at Ranmasu Uyana, Anuradhapura, SriLanka. Sirisagabo Bodisathva was also born in SriLanka, he was the prince who was devoted to become a Lord Buddha in one of his future births by ending his rebirths. As he was born in a kingdom as a prince he became a king when the time came, but as he was devoted to become a Lord Buddha in future birth; he gave up his throne and went to the forest for meditation, according to known history as his brother has given a price to bring his head to palace thinking he will be return to take his throne again, Sirisagabo Bodisathva has given his head to the man who reached to him to cut his head by separating his head through mind power with the promise of his head will speak at throne room to prove this head is belong to Sirisagabo Bodisathva to get the price to the man from new King. As per the known history his head has spoken at throne room as he promised to the man. Bodisasathva can be born only in the land of Lord Buddha, not only that simply original Srimahabodiya also live in SriLanka, and also as per the Legend due on present in SriLanka, Prince Diyasena will be born to take the throne in the Island and hidden door of the Ruwanvalisaya Dagaba is naturally opened to the prince Diyasena to take the treasure which were deposited in ancient era and he will turn the country back to the Great era just like before Island was sunk by strong sea waves by losing seventh eighth of the land, and just like the kingdom with Great Emperors in ancient time with superpower, not only that,the Legend says during prince Diyasena era, Buddhism awake in the country just like the era when Lord Buddha was Live,

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  7. Chandima Sir, If you have a free time, read all titles under "ජන්බුද්වීපය (I කොටස)" . I am pretty sure it will be little interesting for you. After reading these articles, I have decided to find more evidence from Indian history regarding this.

    http://panhinda.sirisaddharmaya.net/

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  8. Load buddha wasn't born in India but Sri Lanka

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  9. Excellent peice of thought. Mr Chandana's claim is based on some writings of certain monks which are not based on credible sources. It is very unfortunate that very few people challenge these fallecies. I am going to write on this in detail. Hope your further explorations in this issue would be very useful to me. Please provide links of such writings if available. Please keep on writing.

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  10. Thank you Dr. A well written article. Please try to understand Jara, Marana (decay and Annihilation)through particle physics, and compare it with pubba , ariya pariyesana, Dajagga, Nochedan, Asatuwattu sutta, to realize if Indian or that matter any other country will distribute such high end scientific knowledge. There are many sermons of Buddha which closely relate to some of recent scientific findings. Sam buddha dwelling in science. (Samma sam Buddho vijjacharana sampanno) can it be something in this material universe which is created due to Non Science. Avijja patchchaya sankara.... Jara-Marana.

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  11. "The Beauty of Buddhism is that the Buddhist Philosophy will remain 100% as it is, even if someone proves that Lord Buddha has never existed."

    With all due respect Mr. Chandima Gomes, I must say that this statement contradicts itself. Don't you think that Nibbana, the ultimate fruit of Buddhist Philosophy is 100% meaningless without the beings who attained it. Without the actual enlightened beings to set the example, Nibbana you suggest is like the Russell's teapot.

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    Replies
    1. Dear Akhila,

      Thanks for the comment. I think your interpretation of the statement is little different from what I intended. Let me put it in this way.

      I understand that Lord Buddha is a discoverer but not an inventor. He discovered the way to get away from Sansara by doing it through himself. The path was there all the time, but no one could discover it before him. If you are with a science background; Electric charges have been following the so called Coulomb's law for all these billions of years. Coulomb simply discovered this natural phenomenon in the 18th century. The phenomenon is independent of Coulomb.

      Now imagine that somebody or many bodies discovered the Buddhist philosophy and attributed it to an imaginery character called "Lord Buddha". Will that make any difference to the philosophy?

      Such could not be true for any belief system. This is what I tried to imply.

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    4. Dear Mr. Chandima Gomes

      Thanks for the reply.

      So you're not refuting the existence of enlightened beings but simply suggesting a hypothetical situation where somebody or many bodies discovered the Buddhist philosophy and attributed it to an imaginary character called "Lord Buddha" may be also possible and it doesn't matter at all. Then it's more about the archaeological point of view like you mentioned in your article. And I think there are more than enough archaeological resources fortunately (like the facts pointed out by Mr. Chandana and Mr. Inka Wais) to gain essential knowledge to avoid imagining such hypothetical situations. I hope a person of your intellect will come to a conclusion without spending a long time just studying. And I sincerely think it would benefit you and us more.

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    5. I think the point is not that I guess the possibility of not having a person called Lord Buddha. The point that I tried to emphasize is "EVEN IF there was no such person, the Buddhist philosphy will not be null and void". On the oher hand if you consider God-based religons such as Christianity or Islam, if one can prove that there was no Jesus or no Mohammed, then the whole respective religion collapses.

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    6. Yes, the Buddhist philosophy, which is a variant of Buddhagama will not be null and void without the Buddha or the beings who attained Nibbana. Because it's only a way of making the Existence better, I think any human can preach ways of better existence (යහපත් පැවැත්ම) without the use of great historical characters and stories, take the law system for example.
      If you examine carefully you could understand that ignoring the question "Where was Lord Buddha born?" plays the greatest role in dumbing one's ability to distinguish between the clear differences of Buddhagama and Buddha Dhamma (word of the Buddha). What you fail to see right now is that all of your knowledge about Buddhist philosophy is 100% influenced by the Indian culture and Sanskritization of the word of lord Buddha. Everyone including you blindly believes in the Buddhist philosophy and never questions it's path of translation which is "Thripitaka Ola leafs > Sanskrit > Sinhala/English/German...". Indian languages like Sanskrit would not have any role in clarifying the word of Buddha if it didn't originate in India. And most people are not aware of that lord Buddha explicitly prohibited translations to Sanskrit / Chandas Vaidika language by a Vinaya law (Chullavagga Pali 2 - p. 100) to prevent the formation of a Buddhist philosophy/Buddhagama by deterioration of Buddha Dhamma.
      The most brilliant explanation about the difference between Buddhist philosophy/Buddhagama and Buddha Dhamma can be found in the following books. I kindly request you to read them.

      KNOWLEDGE (Janatho) AND EXPERIENTIAL KNOWLEDGE (Passatho)
      https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_hVGvKeiW2DvF30Fpgad_8fGDcGI9v5j
      දැනුම හා දැක්ම
      https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2m3yxwhl8zgYzliSlFROW14OGc
      විමුක්ති මාර්ගය පෙන්වා වදාළ උතුම් බුද්ධ ධර්මය භක්තියෙන් අදහන බුද්ධාගමක් කරා පරිවර්තනය වූයේ කෙසේද?
      https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B58eryIkHQavT09CQlZ3ZEtDMW8

      Delete
    7. an example to what I tried to describe in my previous comment.

      උදා: මහා පරිනිබ්බාන සූත්‍රයේ 95 වන ඡේදයෙන් උපුටා ගත් 'සංවේජනීයානං' යන වචනයේ නියම ධර්ම අර්ථය යටපත් වී ඇති අයුරු

      බුද්ධ භාෂිතය > සංස්කෘත > සිංහල යන වැරදි ක්‍රමයට අනුව

      සංවේජනීයානං > සංවේග > සංවේගය උපදවාගත යුතු / අනේ අපොයි කියා දුක්විය යුතු
      කිසිදු පදනමක් නැතිව මැද ඇති 'ජ' යන්න 'ග' යන්නක් කර සකු බසින් අරුත් සපයා ඇත. අවුරුදු 45ක් පුරාවටම සංවේගයට පත් නොවෙන හැටි එනම් සියලු දුකින් සහමුලින්ම මිදෙන අයුරු වදාළ බුදුපියාණන් වහන්සේ ස්ථාන 4 ක් දැක සංවේගය උපදවා ගන්න දේශනා කළා කීම මහා පරස්පර විරෝධී කාරණාවක්. නමුත් ත්‍රිපිටක සිංහල/English පරිවර්තනයේ දැක්වෙන්නේ එහෙමයි.

      සැබෑ මාගධී තේරුම

      සංවේජනීයානං = සං + වේ + ජ + නීයානං සංවේජනීයානං = 'රාග, ද්වේශ, මෝහ' නිසා 'ජනිත' වන සියලු 'වේගයන්ගෙන් වේදනාවන්ගෙන්' 'මිදී නිදහස් වීම'

      සැදැහැවත් කුලපුත්‍රයෙක් විසින් බුදුපියාණන් වහන්සේ උපන්, බුදුවූ, දම්සක් පැවැත්වූ සහ පිරින්වන්පා වදාළ ස්ථාන ප්‍රයෝජනයට ගත යුත්තේ ඉහත නිවැරදි ආකාරයෙන් මිසක් දුකට සංවේගයට පත්වී අනේ අපොයි කීමෙන් නොවෙයි.

      (copied from a reply I posted elsewhere)

      Delete
    8. Yes, unlike the Abrahamic religions, Buddhist philosophy/Buddhagama manages to thrive even in the absence of beings who stopped existence / attained Nibbana. That's a win over the Abrahamic religions but many educated minds tend to fail at thinking past that illusion of superiority. By "examining carefully" one can see that Buddhist philosophy's ultimate goal is only a form of better Existence (යහපත් පැවැත්ම) just like the Abrahamic religions.

      The point that I tried to emphasize here is that Buddha Dhamma is for tasting Nibbana and Buddhist philosophy is only for imagining about a Nirvana (thats what Buddhist philosophers do, they construct an image of a Nirvana in their heads and lock it away in a remote corner of mind for later use (which they never do)). A person without the slightest experiential knowledge of Buddha Dhamma may possibly not in a position to make meaningful comments about it.

      Unlike the Buddhist philosophy, Buddha Dhamma will be null and void without the beings who attained Nibbana or lord Buddha.

      Delete
  12. This is a great article and thought provoking.
    After reading comments about I thought it would be better to share the things that I know about buddha’s birth place.
    last year (2018) I visited four places in SL which stated as the places of this historical event. 3 places are already named as archaeological sites and do the excavations as funds available.

    I would recommend you to read the article below about “ The Buddha and Dr Fuhrer- an archeological scandal”

    There were no evidence to say ancient India was called as “ Dambadiva” or “Janmudveepa” but Bharat or Hindustani. The arahat Mahinda and Sangamitta had told that they have bought the Dhamma and the Tree from Dambadiva not from present day India.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/4029888/The-Buddha-and-Dr-Fuhrer-an-Archaeological-Scandal-by-Charles-Allen-review.html?fbclid=IwAR3Q1TE77J3pN6SSYYFznUXIKWEzrgkYC1kSllivhv2L_V4XA9U1WfjChhE

    please copy and paste to browser :) since it is not making link automatically.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. well said with evidence for further logical food for thoughts .

      Delete
    2. yes that is the truth. if you research Alexander cunninham and Alan fuhrer's reports how they found Gaya and Lumbini in India it's so simple for some one to understand the truth. How they made up evidence to prove those places are against any archeology rules in the world.

      Delete
  13. Nice post! This is a very nice blog that I will definitively come back to more times this year! Thanks for informative post. รับเช่าพระ

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  14. Srilanka has plenty of evidence to prove Buddha was born and lived in Srilanka but for some reason Archeology in Srilanka is so quite about any of these for some reason. But there is no evidence in India other than some made up evidences by Cunningham and Fuhrer.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dear Dr. Chandima. Good article. I also have rediculed those ලබු (ලංකා බුදුන් ) වාදීන් point by point such as 'lowest gravity' claim, 'කර්ම බීජ 'concept and that wrong interpretations of 39 verse of මහාවංස which says that Vijaya arrived on the day that Lord Buddha was passed away and Fa Hiens writings etc. They sti in my FB. But now I have stopped commenting on those bullshit because only a few people have swallowed the pill and they are mad now. I have realised that the contangious effect is now very minimal. The propaganda is also fading. People in general are not stupid.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Lord Buddha's birth place controversy is in British Courts now. Please visit "werectifyourhistory.com" for more details.

    Authors who wrote articles on Buddhist history before 2012 should rethink as the latest archaeological survey is in "Mes Aynak" which is 40km from Kabul-Afghanistan. Please google "Saving Mes-Aynak" for details.
    I have done my own research and found that there have been 3 Buddhas.
    1. Gothama Samana -Born and lived in Sri Lanka 625BCE
    2. Gautahma Muni-525BCE Eary Persia-Babylon
    3. Shakyamuni-North India 1800BCE

    ReplyDelete
  17. The ‘Buddha was born in Sri Lanka’ idea is obviously a piece of fiction carefully thought up by some evil minded individual or group to confuse the credulous unsophisticated, grievously ill informed (embarrassingly large) section of the Sinhalese Buddhist community about their religion as well as their history for some political and/or religious advantage. Those who stand to gain by this may be having a field day at present. They must be laughing their heads off in private at the silliness of those Sinhalese Buddhists who have swallowed this and other similar fabrications (such as the mythical Ravana being their progenitor) hook line and sinker.

    ReplyDelete
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