CULTURAL BUDDHISM- RESPONSES: set-5

For responses sets 1 to 4, kindly visit www.bouddhayaanam.blogspot.com

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55. S. Chandramohan:

Here are two poems on Budhist History of Kerala that is hidden:

Lynched God

 Purged from the annals of history
 vestiges being excavated of
 fallen, broken, desecrated idols
 entombed in violent memorials like Pokhran-II.

 Tales of a great soul
 lost in translation
 from Pali to Sanskrit
 scores of viharas
 spiritually usurped
 by vedic hymns.

 Bullets from saffron terrorists
 burned Bamiyans holes
 in pages of medieval Indian history
 tales of the vanquished race
 erased from the fables agreed upon.

 People of our race seek refuge,
 in a lankan island,
 like Chiang Kai Shek's defeated army in Taiwan.

 He used to meditate in
 three posters
 Padmasana, Abhaya, bhumisparsa
 but before lynching
 he lined up to the guillotine in Pranama posture.

 He descended down
 into the collective conscience of a
 a society as just one of the zillions of deities
 without a capital first letter
 India has become Brobdingnag for him,
 the miniature Gulliver among saffron gods and goddesses.

 In Malaysia
 he occasionally gets his due
 in a giant prostate deity
 as giant Gulliver in the land of Lilliput.

 His autobiography
 diluted
 divided
 deviated
 now sold as saffron history textbooks
 twice born editor
 refused to acknowledging the ghost writer.

 First global Indian
 almost has an NRI status now.


History repeats"
In my room,
I sit on my island nation
bed
and watch my room flooded with newspaper
clippings on
Khairlanji
Kilvenmani
Dharmapuri
............................................................
In circa 1473
I sit on a cliff
the only island nation
un engulfed
in a tsunami
of saffron conquests...
partially burned pages of labyrinths
broken vessels
desecrated idols
blood stained maroon rags
rise sporadically to the surface
like sudden recovery
of a forgotten memory.

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56. Argo Spier:

A short comment on the input of S. Chandramohan – poetry as tool to uncover history

Lynched God

 Purged from the annals of history
 vestiges being excavated of
 fallen, broken, desecrated idols
 entombed in violent memorials like Pokhran-II. 4

 Tales of a great soul
 lost in translation
 from Pali to Sanskrit
 scores of viharas
 spiritually usurped
 by vedic hymns. 6

 Bullets from saffron terrorists
 burned Bamiyans holes
 in pages of medieval Indian history
 tales of the vanquished race
 erased from the fables agreed upon.

 People of our race seek refuge,
 in a lankan island,
 like Chiang Kai Shek's defeated army in Taiwan. 3

 He used to meditate in
 three posters
 Padmasana, Abhaya, bhumisparsa
 but before lynching
 he lined up to the guillotine in Pranama posture. 5

 He descended down
 into the collective conscience of a
 a society as just one of the zillions of deities
 without a capital first letter
 India has become Brobdingnag for him,
 the miniature Gulliver among saffron gods and goddesses. 6

 In Malaysia
 he occasionally gets his due
 in a giant prostate deity
 as giant Gulliver in the land of Lilliput. 4

 His autobiography
 diluted
 divided
 deviated
 now sold as saffron history textbooks
 twice born editor
 refused to acknowledging the ghost writer. 7

 First global Indian
 almost has an NRI status now. 2


History repeats"
In my room,
I sit on my island nation
bed
and watch my room flooded with newspaper
clippings on
Khairlanji
Kilvenmani
Dharmapuri 9
............................................................
In circa 1473
I sit on a cliff
the only island nation
un engulfed
in a tsunami
of saffron conquests...
partially burned pages of labyrinths
broken vessels
desecrated idols
blood stained maroon rags
rise sporadically to the surface
like sudden recovery
of a forgotten memory. 13

TOTAL 59 = 5 + 9 = 14 = 1 + 4 = 5
Masculinity, a boy!

Getting to the bottom of poetic conveyance one has to depart from the mere cognitive and try to incorporate a deconstruction method that allows the use of the same 'poetic license' as which the poet has worked with when she/he wrote her/his 'message' or poem. The following is a quick analysis of the text/poem now in front of us using this in-orthodox method. I will concentrate on the 'meaning' that the 'poet' wanted to convey to the reader and the 'where and scope' of her/his poem and then I will dare the audacity of reciprocating to the poet as her/his 'reader'. Unfortunately I do not have the time to explain exactly 'how' I achieved the results. I also am NOT describing the process of deconstruction here although this too is part and parcel of the communication package and discourse between writer and reader and is important. It may become apparent though in the comment.

The poem is masculine (the number 5) and contains a hidden symmetry of 25 + 1 + 25 verses. Proof of this is the neat 'bracket verses' used by the author/poet, the first and last verses and the number of verses, 59. The source of the author/poet's thought is to be found within this domain. These 2 verses (first and last ones in the poem) forms one sentence which may contain a fact or not. Be what they may, they have the distinct quality of marking off the 'domain' in which the 'message' (the text or poem) is to be placed.

It says =

Purged from the annals of history of a forgotten memory.

In a symmetry the middle 'hinge verse' deviding the the two contrasting 'parts' contains always the 'key' to the 'message'. It is such a prominent place in a poem and a poet knows this instinctively and uses it unconciously. In the text/poem too the middle-verse in it is specific and clear in its indication.

It says =
In Malaysia.

What the author/poet is trying to convey to the reader of her/his poem is that she/he wishes the reader to understand that she/he is writing about 'something' within the 'scope' of 'Purged from the annals of history of a forgotten memory in Malaysia.' and/or has relevance to it.

The two 'images' (parts) of the symmetry are not as one would expect it to be, 2 clear 'mirrors' with the second one mirroring the first one exactly in content, rhyme and rhythm. It's as if there is a haze over the second mirror. This may be an indication that the author/poet is not so sure about the 'message' he wishes to convey. And/or that he doubts whether she/he her/himself is part of the 'forgotten memory in Malaysia'. The symmetry is cluttered, ugly and almost such as what can be referred to as 'immature'. This may be a trick used by the author/poet or just plain weakness in poetic expression on her/his behalve. The author/poet is writing not IN the 'time scape' of the 'occurrences' but seems rather to wish to be placed in that 'time scape. There is a lot of stress on her/his (own personal) effort to communicate with the reader in the text/poem. The author/poet is therefor writing 'outside' the 'time' he describes and pushes hard to have the reader think otherwise. This influence and has bearing on credibility. As also the use of 'colonial' and specific cheap references that strengthens such a conclusion influenbces the credibility. The question whether she/he indeed deals with Buddhism here becomes rather questionable. Re the time when the text/poem was written - the text/poem refers to western concepts such as guillotine (a French word that became established only since the French Revolution - 1789 to 1799) and Gulliver in the land of Lilliput (the popular Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift that was written in 1726 and amended 1735, earlier than the Revolution (Why the progression into the past?) The text/poem was therefore written after 1799 and a first evaluation may be that it was written by a 'student of history flirting with the western history and the purged annals of history of some forgotten memory in Malaysia'. Why does she/he do it? When did the story of Gulliver reached India? And the word 'guillotine'? Probably only in the mid-twentieth century. The text/poem is in its original language, namely English. It contains 20^th century schoolbook alures. This too makes it disputable whether it is a 'Buddhist text', a 'Buddhist poem' and/or a text actually dealing with Buddhism at all. Saying this is in no way making a suggestion that the meaning of the text/poem is to be diluted to an insignificant piece of writing. The mere fact that it is posted here as a commentary to the topic at hand, the 'heritage of Buddhism', makes it valuable and worth it to attend to. Its only that we now know 'where' it comes from and that we have some small insight in what the 'scope' of it may be.

Three strong verses however, almost hidden, in the text/poem seem to specify the locality or 'range' of poetic expression (ref. next paragraph for more re this) more precisely and give a better clue as to what this text/poem is about. The verses become noticeable because of their strong solid cast, alliteration and invisible rhyme. Also because they differ so completely with the rest of the verses and forms such a sharp contrast to the relaxed mode of the first mirror, one can expect the unite to be an encryption of some sort and that the author/poet have unconsciously used to 'hide' her/his 'real' message in.

diluted
divided
deviated

These three verses refer to an 'autobiography' Whose? Buddha's? No, to the author/poet's own 'biography' … written by himself, his 'autobiography'. That is, she/he refers to her/his 'poem'! Yes, it is an encryption! I am sure of it. The author/poet is not writing about the 'Purged annals of history of a forgotten memory in Malaysia' no, she/he is writing about her/his own poetry and saying that it is diluted, divided and deviated. This is what one can call the 'locality of the poet', the where she/he is 'located' in his own poetry and 'the where' of this 'location' in the general body of the Poetica Universalis, the history of poetry and/or the history of the meaning of the history of poetry. The text/poem before us is an 'art-historical' statement about locality and NOT a statement about Buddhism as such. This seems to be an obvious conclusion. The author/poet 'deviates', 'divides' and 'dilutes' Buddhism deliberately to use it to research his own locality and she/he tells us this in this strophe:

 His autobiography
 diluted
 divided
 deviated
 now sold as saffron history textbooks
 twice born editor
 refused to acknowledging the ghost writer.

The theme of the 'Purged annals of history of a forgotten memory in Malaysia' is just the setting for her/his dramatic dialogue and communication with the reader. Is the author/poet from Kerala or Malaysia? What is the relationship between Malaysian and Keralian Buddhism? The issue is about the 'where' she/he 'stands' with her/his own poetry. The 'storyline' of the text/poem is merely the 'setting' in which she/he hopes to encounter the reader. In these 3 verses the 'focus' (Greek word for 'oven' or 'furnice' and a concept used by Alchemists when they make 'gold') is prepared for 'historic' meeting between the reader and writer. And the text/poem matures and reaches the 'transformational' and magical middle-distance in the 'process of preparation' = 'creation', art indeed in these three verses. Reader and writer meet each other squarely there (in the middle of the poem). In the diluted, divided and deviated text/poem (indeed the text/poem IS like this) the author/poet presents a single and small space for her/him and the reader (these three verses) to have their secret connubial get together (licit or illicit) and to share in the collective mystic of the communicate. Poetry is the place where 'gold' is made (in the Alchemist/poet's focus). Its also the 'trading zone' for it. (Isn't this what Buddhism is also about? The making and trading of 'gold'? Nirvana or Samedi?) Amidst the rubbish and clutter of diluted verses and in a very unbalanced symmetry the author/poet reveals the secret of his locality. And in her/his revelation she/he becomes the ghostwriter who is 'refusing to acknowledging the ghost writer' (a double encryption). The reader must acknowledges the author/poet, is what theis is about. The poet seeks recognition. To put it bluntly - the text/poem is about the author/poet her/himself and NOT about the 'history' she/he seems to be flaunting. The 'history of forgotten memory' is only the first level and smokescreen.

The text/poem is a lovely wink at the reader and may in a strange way develop to achieve some acknowledgement.

Not to go into too much detail anymore, this text/poem may spark a discussion as to whether poetry is a 'usable tool' to excavate some of the heritage of Buddhism in Kerala, India (Malaysia?) Re the issue whether it is a 'Buddhist poem' one should compare it to the following poem by an anonymous Buddhist monk from Medieval times. The comparison may reveal clarity - clarity is what Buddhism always strives for, whether in India, Malaysia or elsewhere, not complex hidden symmetries with secret revelations of poetic souls and encryption. (*P.S. The text/poem we discussed above is written by a man but out of respect for the author/poet and the reader of this I do not wish to show a gender bias. It seemed necessary. In the poem below the gender issue completely evaporated, a sign of when poetry really has magnitude. Less is more! I also leave the discussion whether the text/poem is a poem or mere text open as this is irrelevant to the point I am trying to make.)

'...Lying, thinking
Last night

How to find my soul a home

Where water is not thirsty

And bread loaf not a stone

I came up with one thing
And I don't believe I'm wrong

That nobody,

But nobody
Can make it out here alone.'

- Autonomous Buddhist Monk, 16^th Century A.C.

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57. Argo Spier

Post Script to 'Poetry as a tool to uncover history'

It need to be noted that I have dealt with the text as a whole for various reasons: Firstly because it is presented as a 'unit of communication' by the poster of it. Secondly, because the theme 'history' runs through both of the what you called two poems. And thirdly, because this isn't a  forum to discuss poetry. To engage in 'language archeology' (in the case of poetry it is 'myth archeology' or psychiatry I suppose) one works with texts as they are presented to you. 

Concerning the 'two' poems: I do not agree with the poster that the text contains two poems. It contains actually 3 poems and there is also indication that two author's and three editors were involved in creating the text. The last 'editor' is the one who placed the two author's work together in its present form. The 'first poem' contains two poems - one that has the allures of being a poem and one that is still in the making. That's why the 'mirror' of the symmetry is so hazed. The 'second poem' may be viewed as a standalone and be dealt with it in this way.

A poem is not a poem because someone writes it and then claims it to be a poem. The reader in his act of reciprocation and with his effectively entering the space of middle distance of the scope of the poem, confirms when there is a possibility of it being a poem. A poem is a 'thing' that isn't a thing and it just surfaces in the work of authors. Poetry has a different set of 'rules' than 'ordinary' language. One should view it as 'organic living stuff' that gets born from the collective unconscious of a culture. The (so-called) poet is merely the tool for it; the tool to shape it in a specific language. Or the fool who is sensitive enough to 'pick up the vibes coming from the 'great collect.'

There is indication in the text that the last part of the document, the so-called 'second poem' has a source outside the English language. The date mentioned in it however is fake but there may be a time laps between the 'two' poems. 

58. K. Babu Joseph:

I think Buddhism can be regarded as a philosophy of extended existence spanning several life-cycles. One need not agree with the Buddha's concepts of self, dharma, karma, rebirth and final attainment of bliss to be able to appreciate his ethical pragmatism in promoting universal love. He was an environmentalist par excellence, as revealed by his overflowing kindness to flora and fauna. The emphasis on the self or the individual rather than the group or the collective is peculiar not just to him but to all so-called holy persons. It is a marketing technique aimed at cultured persons as well as charlatans.

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59. Ajay Sekher:

The very reason for selecting Buddhism or post Buddhisms of various sorts in the contemporary world (from cyber buddhism to womanist buddhism in the US as in bell hooks) for academic discussion in the present is part of a political emergency.  The imminent danger of pseudo majoritarian Hindutva pro-fascism is forcing the academia and media to probe alternative and indigenous modes of democratic and ethical philosophies and praxes that people can relate to; culturally and politically. As Ambedkar invoked the Buddha to develop his own path of Indian enlightenment and an indigenous model of social democracy and inclusion, the intelligentsia in the world and India in particular are politically and ethically engaging with this whole way of life and struggle that challenged and critiqued caste and Brahmanism as early as BC 6th century in north India.

 A critical understanding of Buddhisms is possible only through a deconstruction of Hindu Brahmanism and de-linking from the Meta-referential structure of Hindutva and Brahmanical ethos.  The neo buddhist movements in western India and the new dalit movements in Kerala have shown that the people at the bottom are able to engage with the philosophy and praxis of the compassionate one even after 2500 years in their own local, ingenious and plural ways.  Buddhism was able to came back to its land of birth from where it was completely erased by the 14th century by caste Hindusism through genocidal violence and bloody persecution; because of its deep cultural roots and ethical legacies in the whole way of life of the people or the subaltern (literacy, health care, self defense traditons abound...). As Ambedkar prudently pointed out the outcasts of India, the Avarnas are heirs to this egalitarian and ethical traditions that resisted internal imperialism of caste and Varna and the hegemony of the Vedas.  It can not be reduced to any "identity politics" but a realisation of historic facts and cultural realities by the excluded and marginalized people at the bottom.

De-locating Buddhisms from these cultural grass roots and the people; and their whole way of life and struggle against cultural elitism, ethnic supremacism and hegemony proper is socially reactionary, politically anti democratic, culturally hegemonic and epistemologically violent. Intellectuals imbibing Savarna social values who de-link Buddhism from the people and their lived realities in the past, present and future (if possible) are serving the hegemonic purpose of defusing the political and ethical edge of Buddhisms as counter hegemonic practices and alternative visions or liberative ideologies/world views.

 Teravada was defeated like this by disengaging it with the basic teachings of the Buddha and making it more "abstract, detached, liberal and philosophical" along with the personified abstractions of Boddhisatvas and sub deities in the iconological realm.  In this regard the intervention of Nagarjuna and other Mahayana scholars proved to be politically fatal as far as the grass root level life engagement of Buddhism was concerned.  Any attempt for such disengagement with the cultural politics and cultural history of Buddhisms, its still living and breathing roots, though buried/erased; and a celebration of the Buddha as a universal philosopher and a cosmic messiah need not be radically critiqued and checked for the purposes of the people and their lived realities.  Because the history of Buddhism in India proves that Tathagata who denied the very existence of God and the spirit was made into a God by the Mahayana school and Hindu Brahmanism was able to absorb it easily through Vajrayana practices ensuing this paradigm shift.  Thus the politics, ethics and cultural history of buddhisms in India are vital and inescapable in any academic debate on Buddhism proper or its disguised minor manifestations all across Asia and the world today.

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60. P. Madhu:

Here I respond to some of the claims made by Dr.Ajay Shekar:
 Non/anti-identitarian & non/anti-narcissist position in Buddhist thought is quite obviously prevalent. The egalitarian premise of Buddhism comes from its anti-narcissist position and not vice versa.  
Now the problem raised here is whether the name ‘kalady’ to be linked to the identitarian position of birth place of one particular historical Sankaracharya or is it to be understood as reminding the  practice of relic reverence for those perceived to be enlightened- as such relics are available elsewhere too.
There are many kaladys in Kerala & Tamilnadu... and similar such relics all over India—and places following similar practices- these have to be understood to be monuments of non-narcissism that represent all enlightened irrespective of their name, form or historical roles and even irrespective of the religious identities of the enlightened – as the enlightened do not belong to identity realms... such is the claim of many spiritual masters/scriptures irrespective of the argumentative traditions/ belief systems/ spiritual practices they ascribed to these masters.. Indian spiritual traditions/cultural practices liberate the realized from identities once they were recognized with... Since India is a land of unresolved paradoxes- the contrary also can be true.
Of course there can be political motives among people who tend to illegitimately own up the relics. Exactly, that is problematized in this discussion. 
Recognising this politics does not amount one to be overzealously labelled as “savarna” anti-dalit, pseudo-majoritarian, fascist, anti-democratic, brahminist, hegemonic and epistemologically violent- etc. etc.

That which influenced Buddha & Buddha’s influence has never gone. That was existing before, that existed through Buddha & bodhisattvas & the same still has its continuing influence in spiritual realm. Of course, it has its sustained influence in social thinking too.
 Buddhism as a religion could not continue- in India –probably because, it was never a religion. Had it continued, it would have been certainly something far different from what we imagine. Also, where ever Buddhism survived- and later labelled as religion, we hardly see its goodness! However, if we see its goodness it is not merely because of Buddism, but because of other conditions that sustained the distinct life world and Buddhism along with it! Look at Christianity, what it has to do with Jesus? Even it’s claimed positive characters hardly anything to do with Jesus or early Christianity! Needless to say its imperial, ant-ecology, capitalist modes have no links with Jesus.
However, Buddha still survives in non-buddhists in blue jeans. (Buddha in blue jeans is title of a book). In India innumerable orders of guru traditions were there- they all get transformed, disfigured, mixed with other orders & common people had a different way of absorbing them. “if you see Buddha on the road- kill him” is a zen adage ( there is a book bearing this as title too).  Buddha himself was unhappy about the sanga even in his life time- it is said even he was not hopeful of its continuation.
Buddha’s was a spiritual order. Spiritual orders flourish, decline, spread invibly, modified other orders, gets hybridized. In the Buddhist terminology, it is reborn in other orders. Its figurations cannot be satisfactorily explained by any conspiracy theory. Further, the ‘conspirators’ we identify in terms of “brahminism” “Hinduism” or “Hindutva” are modern theoretical constructs. With these constructs we make a new assemblage of history. These assemblages may be useful. But, they are interpretations and not truths. Historians and historiography are aware of this. Historians, I think, already have methods to bust such mythologies. Certainly, the construct “Hinduism destroyed Buddhism” does not stand as a valid history. Making such statement does not reduce one to “Brahmin-fascist”! No foreclosure  is good in academic thinking. It may be too much of a claim if one says that except one version the rest of thinking as in-egalitarian .
 ‘Faith’ represented by endogamic religious entity is a new marker of identity- not an ancient form of identity- so drawing a history based on religious identities hardly can be justified clearly with available data. Such production of history- will always suffer- as plenty of contradictory data is available. It appears culturally public ‘faith’ or religions appears to be  ecclectical – and continues to be so. The name ‘Hinduism’ is actually given as a label to such a larger eclectics of multiple religious, ritual practices & faiths. Yet we have no neat history that marks groups of people as ‘Hindus’ and others as ‘buddhist’ and few others as jain… all these are modern classification. Of course, there were multiple argumentative traditions. There were also multiple guru-parambaras –of eclectic faiths- or orders invented by gurus from their experiences! It has to be kept in mind, guru parambaras are not usually scriptural!  Hence any construct of  neat religious history of one religion pitching against the other- even after attempted by colonial historiographers could not last, as plenty of evidences are against such expediency.
Do historians really claim, “Theravada was defeated like this by disengaging it with the basic teachings of the Buddha”- I don’t think they do. How can one say ‘boddhisatvas and sub deities in the iconological realm’ is not part of Buddhist practice- while they are quite obviously prevalent in history? The relics we still we see are the relics of such enlightened beings later became deities! That is how what started as Buddhism looks later as ‘Hinduism’ defying stereotypes of both these constructs.

Nagarjuna beautifully strengthened anti-narcissist in his Mulamadhyamakakarika. That is a resource for anti-narcissist thinking. Any ones peruses his work can certainly benefit in developing rich methodological insight. He challenged essentialisms and their consequences logically. Still it can be a resource for non-narcissist egalitarian thinking.

Vajrayana is the least ‘brahminical’! Buddha & bodisatvas were reluctant to teach doctrines- rather they were guiding through techniques- which is still prominently there in zen practices. Lot of such techniques were shared between Kashmiri shaivism & Buddhism of north east. Indeed, tantric techniques are so much anarchic- ‘brahmanic’ orders found it difficult to accept. All the brahmanic taboos were radically made sacred in tantric techniques. Some of them are known as ‘left-hand path’! Most of the  techniques were techniques of de-programing one’s narcissus! They were techniques followers practiced to realize the void, sunyata. The ‘left-hand-path’ tantric forms of practices are radically anti castiest! A keen examination of vajrayana- would let us know it is not a link between “Buddhism” & “Hinduism”!