BOUDDHAYAANA
SANGHAM: A CULTURAL BUDDHISM COLLECTIVE:
WEB
PAGE NOTES AND RESPONSES
This
collective aims for the following
*Studies
on Buddhist cultures
Buddhist
Cultures.
Buddhism
is not a monolith of any kind. Though Buddhism has
come to be treated widely as religion, it was originated mainly as a
spirituo-ethical (ethico-spiritual) movement. Buddhism as religion
has a wide ranging expression, similarly the case with its socio
ethical thoughts and movements. All of them had revolutionary
contributions in different areas of common people's life in India and
elsewhere. But their revolutionary nature seems to have cost the very
existence of them. Now Buddhism is
said to have disappeared from India; its birth land. It
is to contest such assertions that the present collective wants to
undertake the extensive study of Buddhist cultural
expressions. Our basic hypothesis is that India is not a graveyard of
Buddhism but it continues to be a prolific (robust) playground of
Buddhisms. That is to say that, Buddhism is not a gone thing of the
past. It continues to prevail in society in the form of different
cultural practices. Of course there may have occurred many
defigurations. Sometimes they may not be even identified or known to
be Buddhist.
*Reconstruction
of Buddhism as cultural Buddhism.
The
concept cultural Buddhism is yet
to be defined adequately, this idea is proposed here basically as a
methodological perspective for understanding the varieties
of Buddhist cultures. This
approach implies that different Buddhist cultures
and movements do not follow strictly any set of institutional
doctrine or authoritative power structure. Hence
every Buddhist cultural
expression has to be accounted for its unique specificity. Because
Buddhist cultures have been independent adaptations
of some/various of the Buddhist ideas
conforming to the requirements of regional cultural and ideological
interests (needs). Therefore the cultural Buddhism would
look for learning or adapting from various Buddhist cultural
expressions as required for the contemporary engagements with the
reality of sufferings. This is to propose a sense to
cultural Buddhism as an
ideological tool for exploring the liberative concerns of every day
life.
*explore
possibilities of applying the analytical tool of cultural Buddhism
Unlike
a religious collective, cultural Buddhism collective does not aim to
preach Buddhism and engage in proselytizing, in order to form a
community of believers (faith) rather it wants to apply Buddhist
ideas and values as tools for analysis and cultural engagements.
*Providing
common forum for the interaction of different Buddhist persuasions.
This
collective does not want to promote any particular sect or school of
Buddhism instead it aims to bring together different sections to a
common platform and create a space for interaction and sharing. Hence
it may also explore possibilities of common engagements; allowing the
differences to exist.
*To
serve as an open forum for interaction of different
cultural/reform movements.
It
also aims to serve as an open forum for interaction with non Buddhist
ideologues and organizations.
...................................................................
RESPONSES:
Asoke
Chattopadhyay:
This
is a very good idea. In fact there is a crying need for such a
platform. Most of us are prisoners of our backgrounds and beliefs we
learn while growing up. Gautama Buddha had to unlearn a lot before he
"learnt" about the true path. Or maybe he saw things
differently. Can we "learn" that technique?
Vipassana
is big business today. Where it is encountered in Shantideva's
Bodhicharyavatara, it is associated with "shamatha" meaning
samadhi. Hardly anybody is interested in that kind of enlightenment
today. Yoga is just hathayoga, no emphasis on controlling one's mind.
So when we talk about Cultural Buddhism, do we discuss the evolution
of "commercial" Buddhism (e.g. Vipassana as an industry),
or influence of world finance capital on Buddhism (e.g. no. of
Hollywood stars attending Dalai Lama's events). Again, the venerable
Lama cannot be equated with Buddhism, but he certainly is very much a
public face of it. So, what can the stand of Cultural Buddhism be on
such an issue, or on the more contentious issue of Tibet, for
example? Should we discuss it at all?
Anyway,
I welcome this venture and will support it......A very necessary
step. Should be encouraged from all sides. Will write later when some
definite suggestion comes up.
..........
C.
P. Vijayan:
Indeed.
Buddhism
is a thought process rooted in careful observations of nature and its
beings.
If
a tree knows best how to stand erect when it loses a branch in a
storm - either by thickening some of its branches on that side or
growing more roots on another the other side why not human beings
when he/she is at cross roads.
If
a cat knows how to compliment its non veg meal with some grass, and a
hen gulping pebbles to strengthen its gizzard and that way enhance
digestion - Buddhism and many other faiths carry anecdotes,
observations and wonderful stories to enlighten human beings to
fathom deeper in to themselves so that life is better.
Of
course Jainism , Zoroastrianism and many other isms and other
divergences did look into the lives of other beings to give better
answers to human problems.
We
now know that the African fig tree can not exist without the fig wasp
nor the other way around as both are inter connected.
The
fig fruits contain a row of inflorescence to harness the larvae of
these wasps which in turn pollinates its flowers.
No
other faith in the world carries such minute observations to harness
a happy life of truth and well being as much as Buddhism has.
Sadly,
with such a heritage behind us, we in southern India never realized
the truth that we carry in our genes some such strings of thought
which were practiced by forefathers for centuries on end.
If
the migratory routes of birds and fish gets passed on for
generations, if eating habits , nest making habits, courtship and
child rearing practices could pass on for generations in others, well
we ourselves do carry elements of Buddhist thoughts which once held
sway in our country side for centuries.
Let
us pick up the tit bits from our own behaviour and body language.
The
simple tilting of one's head in place of saying a 'hello' in northern
Kerala, offering of a handful of rice to the Bhikshu (Saamy) who
comes and asks for 'dharmam' for his pilgrimage to Pazhani, the clean
shaven heads of male sadhus, the 'Koothu', 'Munda', 'palli',
'parappu', 'kaladi', 'thiru' tags on place names and an abundance of
individual names as Siddharth ,Rahul , Goutam etc are but firm
indicators of such a past.
There
should be an all round excavation and unearthing for fact finding in
places such as Ochira, Koodalmanikyam, Kodungallur, Mankada,
Koodallur, Ponnani, Koottanad, Kuttanad, Karunagappalli,Thrikkakkara,
An
all out effort by academicians, students and civil society at large
need to come forward and unearth our past .We have all the right to
know the real history of Kerala (not what is being dished out by the
so called historians, most of whom are not worth their salt).
...........
P.
A Uthaman:
Sensible
and relevant...
...........
Argo
Spier:
Buddhism as a thought process.
One
of the posters who gave feedback to the proposed discussion re the
collective, made a remark that puts me to serious thought. His remark
posed that Buddhism is a thought process based on observation. Now
observation, what is that? An easy answer to this may be 'Observation
is the looking at something (this something maybe a process too)
and a becoming aware at the same time of that something (or
process, if you are looking at a process) as a phenomenon and a thing
in its own right with an own purpose'. When one observes one
therefore looks at something that exists, that's 'there'. But
observing such a 'thing' (or process) is NOT a 'from here to there'
process. Observing isn't merely looking at the 'thing' (or process)
from the 'outside', it is also a 'being busy' looking at it and
therefore part and parcel of the process too. That thing (or process)
you are looking at is very closely 'tied' to your observing it. In
the case of Buddhism being a thought process, the observer is
actually in an observing thought process that observes the thought
process that Buddhism is supposed to be when he observes the thought
process of Buddhism. Now this can go on, I know, but it is not the
intention to analyse it here to its fullness. The question I want to
pose with my post is a very simple one, and I think it may concern
the debate – namely: where is Buddhism when one observes it?
Where, when one observes the thought process it is supposed to
be?
An
easy answer may be - It just doesn't exist and/or it cannot be
observed without a thought process that includes the observer. To
conclude this - it may be that the thought process of the observer is
the only vehicle that enables Buddhism to be a thought process. This
has bearing on the search for an 'adequate definition' (as another
poster mentioned) of Cultural Buddhism.
............
C.
P. Vijayan:
One
can not express or reveal exactly a thought process in words or
written texts as these have got their limitations.
The
best one could do was to narrate stories filled with with incidents
and happenings which appear similar to what they experienced.
Plenty
of additions and deletions might have happened later on.Precise
vocabulary to express some philosophical thought, at least to its
near meaning came later.
We
know that writing came in to being much much later and that does not
mean there were no thinkers then.
In
short, no point in debating as to what exactly transpired then and
how much of the outcomes of thought processes of saints and thinkers
got passed on etc.
The
residue what is hidden in all of us is what we have for an analysis
and body language with behavioral traits and comparisons for
accompanying.
The
crux of the issue is what we lost and how much have we lost already.
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