83. P. D. Anithamol:
The Tamil epic
Manimekhala is taken to be a work of art which exemplifies
Buddhadharma. If so, how do we understand its protagonist's transformed
attitude towardshers hereditary profession of ganika (devadasi danseuse)? Both
Maninmekhala andher mother Madhavi, before their conversion to Buddhism,
had upheld the ganikatradition as something prestegious. Whereas, when they
became Buddhist nuns,they were advised by Aravanaadikal to keep off the
practice of dancing. Because,such a life style was considered to be unethical
from the standpoint of Buddhism.Can such an instance of distancing from the
ganika practice be taken as being partof critique of Vedic/Brahmanic/
patriarchal ritualism? Or, can it be an anotherinstance ofwomen being denied of
their (sexual/artistic/professional) freedom?
Buddhadharma. If so, how do we understand its protagonist's transformed
attitude towardshers hereditary profession of ganika (devadasi danseuse)? Both
Maninmekhala andher mother Madhavi, before their conversion to Buddhism,
had upheld the ganikatradition as something prestegious. Whereas, when they
became Buddhist nuns,they were advised by Aravanaadikal to keep off the
practice of dancing. Because,such a life style was considered to be unethical
from the standpoint of Buddhism.Can such an instance of distancing from the
ganika practice be taken as being partof critique of Vedic/Brahmanic/
patriarchal ritualism? Or, can it be an anotherinstance ofwomen being denied of
their (sexual/artistic/professional) freedom?
.................
84. V. Vasanthakumari:
Buddhist Sources of Feminst Critique of Brahmanism
Buddhism,
a philosophy, besides a religion is connected with the most distinct
phenomena of our social life. Buddhism
escalated alongside an ominous parallel development of caste system.
This caste ideology sharpened by a system of Brahmins is reflected in
the purāņas.
All purāņas firmly stick to the varāśramadharma. The authors of
purāņas maintained and accepted the authority of the Vedas as they
realized that the priestly class could survive only if the varņa
system was made adequate to the society. This move culminated in the
loss of equality among the people and made the society least
egalitarian. Specific references of the wretched state of the society
resulting from caste discrimination can be seen in Skandapurāņa. In
Kāśikānda of Skandapurāņa, a Buddhist monk called Punyakirti
preaches Buddha dharma among people, highlighting the concept of
equality. He establishes that all beings from the Brahma to the
grassroots have their own existence and are equal. There is no dharma
as great as compassion and non violence. All these indicate that
violence and inequality existed at the era of purāņas.
The
Buddhist notion of donation (dāna) is too relevant even in this era
of globalisation. Punyakirti states that the highest donation one can
provide is shelter to someone - shelter to the fearful, medicine to
the sick, food to the starving, and knowledge to the seeker.
There
is also reference of a Buddhist nun Vijnanakaumudi, who vehemently
criticized the caste system. She even criticized puruşasūktam in
Ŗgveda which mentions creation. She states that the conviction that
Brahmin was born from the face of God is incorrect. If it is so, how
do the four sons born from one person become different in their
caste? Here she also questions the validity of Vedas. After hearing
Vijnanakaumudi’s words, women refused to serve their husbands,
which was considered as the noblest job in their life. Thus Buddhist
ideology could intervene in the social life existed in the era of
Puranas.
.................
85. C. P. Vijayan:
If
every possible means were tried to drive away Bhikshus and Bhishukis
from their places of congregation during the process of eviction,
capture and conversion initiated by Vaishnava/Shaiva sects for which the
kings had to be mute spectators (Kodungallur/Ochira) for fear of losing
their conferred Kshatriyahood during the dark period, it would have
been an easy job for the Brahminic clergy to instill tantra in its fold
and tarnish Buddhism's age old moral supremacy against a caste ridden
Hinduism donned by Brahmins. The Lingayat line is an example to explore
..............
86. P. J. Sunny:
THE INTERCULTURAL SYMBIOSIS IN ZEN BUDDHIST ECOSOPHICAL ONTOLOGY: A PROPAEDEUTIC
Zen Buddhism is the quintessence of East Asian philosophy since it is not the philosophy of a particular country such as India, China, Japan, Vietnam, or Korea, but rather the essence of the major religious traditions of all these countries. The study of Zen therefore requires an understanding of the cultural mapping of all these countries. World religions like Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism have had their own cultural precursors such as Judaism and Vedic thought and have absorbed indigenous cultures for the sake of expansion. But Zen Buddhism is the only religious/philosophical phenomenon that adopted, adapted, and absorbed
the teachings of other cultures, not for geographical expansion but for inner development. This paper tries to discuss how different cultural elements – tathagata-garbha, wu-wei, kami - are amalgamated in Zen Buddhist understanding of ecosophical ontology, as depicted in the corpus of Zen literature. The paper argues that these intercultural ingredients provided a trans-cultural status to Zen Buddhism.
Zen Buddhism is the quintessence of East Asian philosophy since it is not the philosophy of a particular country such as India, China, Japan, Vietnam, or Korea, but rather the essence of the major religious traditions of all these countries. The study of Zen therefore requires an understanding of the cultural mapping of all these countries. World religions like Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism have had their own cultural precursors such as Judaism and Vedic thought and have absorbed indigenous cultures for the sake of expansion. But Zen Buddhism is the only religious/philosophical phenomenon that adopted, adapted, and absorbed
the teachings of other cultures, not for geographical expansion but for inner development. This paper tries to discuss how different cultural elements – tathagata-garbha, wu-wei, kami - are amalgamated in Zen Buddhist understanding of ecosophical ontology, as depicted in the corpus of Zen literature. The paper argues that these intercultural ingredients provided a trans-cultural status to Zen Buddhism.
........
87. C. P. Vijayan:
Following are some of the questions, which may be explored in the forthcoming workshop:
Q : What prompted Max Mueller to invoke a batch of ICS recruits of Britain in 1906, destined to serve British India, to take a closer look at rural India for lessons for solution of most socio cultural problems in Britain?
Q : What prompted Kejriwal to cite the example of the township of Vyshali ,during Buddhist period in his booklet “Swaraj”?
Q : Is there truth in what some Mr.Paul , an expatriate in Japan, revealed to B.R.P. Bhaskar on a striking similarity of paddy cultivation process in Japan and Tiruvilwamala?
Q : Is it true that traditional medicinal systems got developed based on instinctive identification of body needs and the resultant consumption of minerals , mud baths , sun bath , application of urine , saliva etc as prevalent in birds and animals even today?
Q : To what extent can we find similarities in Tibetan, Chinese and Ayurvedic systems of medicine?
Q : Is Ochirakkali an annual ritual to celebrate the desecration and mauling of a prominent Buddhist centre of yore and its conversion as a Shiva temple?
Q : Is the ‘open arm fight’ staged at Mavilayi kavu in Kannur a comparable event as Ochirakkali?
Q : Was Nagananda a drama staged at Koothuparamb to impart lessons on the importance of ahimsa?
Q : Was there any study undertaken ever to ascertain and mark the caves supposedly used by monks on hill tops? If at all , what were the findings?
Q : Were all the places which have got ‘munda’, ‘palli’,’ooru’,’dharma’ tags, places of importance during Buddhist period? If so, are there chances to find more material of substance from any of these places?
Q : What can “Cherppu” give us ?
Q : “Koodalmanikyam”, “Sripadmanabha”, “Thiruvalla” and a lot other temples are supposed to have got hundreds of important documents alongside some of the palaces such as Panthalam ,Thrippunithura , Padmanabhapuram, Kowdiar and several family archives of say, Thazhaman, Arackal etc . Can any of the bodies
such as ICHR get access to these?
Q : What was the real importance of Thirunnavaya and how true is it that the ‘mamankam’ indeed was a ritual invented by vested interests for the periodical annihilation of Buddhist faith?
Q : Is ‘Ayyappa’ the only one, clad with no weapons but a chinmudra ?
Q : Is ‘putha’ or ‘pootham’ a substitute for Buddha? If then, who indeed was the substitute for ‘poothana’?
Q : Did anyone conduct any study on Kuttanad (Karumadi and Mavelikara in particular)?
Q : What more inferences can one get from Kodungallur?
Following are some of the questions, which may be explored in the forthcoming workshop:
Q : What prompted Max Mueller to invoke a batch of ICS recruits of Britain in 1906, destined to serve British India, to take a closer look at rural India for lessons for solution of most socio cultural problems in Britain?
Q : What prompted Kejriwal to cite the example of the township of Vyshali ,during Buddhist period in his booklet “Swaraj”?
Q : Is there truth in what some Mr.Paul , an expatriate in Japan, revealed to B.R.P. Bhaskar on a striking similarity of paddy cultivation process in Japan and Tiruvilwamala?
Q : Is it true that traditional medicinal systems got developed based on instinctive identification of body needs and the resultant consumption of minerals , mud baths , sun bath , application of urine , saliva etc as prevalent in birds and animals even today?
Q : To what extent can we find similarities in Tibetan, Chinese and Ayurvedic systems of medicine?
Q : Is Ochirakkali an annual ritual to celebrate the desecration and mauling of a prominent Buddhist centre of yore and its conversion as a Shiva temple?
Q : Is the ‘open arm fight’ staged at Mavilayi kavu in Kannur a comparable event as Ochirakkali?
Q : Was Nagananda a drama staged at Koothuparamb to impart lessons on the importance of ahimsa?
Q : Was there any study undertaken ever to ascertain and mark the caves supposedly used by monks on hill tops? If at all , what were the findings?
Q : Were all the places which have got ‘munda’, ‘palli’,’ooru’,’dharma’ tags, places of importance during Buddhist period? If so, are there chances to find more material of substance from any of these places?
Q : What can “Cherppu” give us ?
Q : “Koodalmanikyam”, “Sripadmanabha”, “Thiruvalla” and a lot other temples are supposed to have got hundreds of important documents alongside some of the palaces such as Panthalam ,Thrippunithura , Padmanabhapuram, Kowdiar and several family archives of say, Thazhaman, Arackal etc . Can any of the bodies
such as ICHR get access to these?
Q : What was the real importance of Thirunnavaya and how true is it that the ‘mamankam’ indeed was a ritual invented by vested interests for the periodical annihilation of Buddhist faith?
Q : Is ‘Ayyappa’ the only one, clad with no weapons but a chinmudra ?
Q : Is ‘putha’ or ‘pootham’ a substitute for Buddha? If then, who indeed was the substitute for ‘poothana’?
Q : Did anyone conduct any study on Kuttanad (Karumadi and Mavelikara in particular)?
Q : What more inferences can one get from Kodungallur?
.............
88. Ajay Sekher:
Recovery of Buddhist idols recently from Pattanam, Avittatur n Ponjasery
must be discussed as Archeological evidence of the sustined presence of
Buddhism in Kerala.
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