BUDDHISM MAKES A COMEBACK IN BHARAT by Francois Gautier *** Jai Maharaj posts
and/or www.mantra.com/jai
By Francois Gautier
December 1, 2000
There is little doubt that Buddha came at a time where Hinduism had
got bogged down in too much philosophical talk, rituals and casteism
-- it would need much later a Shankaracharya to give it again a new
impetus -- and Buddhism offered a simple way out of human misery to
anybody, whatever their caste and social status. This may explain why
at the beginning of our era, the entire northern and eastern India
was practicing Buddhism.
Unfortunately, after Buddha's death, his followers and disciples
gradually made of Buddhism a religion of rigid tenets, dos and
don'ts, which not only diminished Buddhism's popular appeal, but also
may have harmed India. This harm has two facets: Non-violence and
Maya.
Many Buddhists like to believe that Buddhism disappeared from India,
because it was slowly "swallowed" back by Hinduism at the hands of
the vengeful Brahmins, who had lost their principal source of income
with the self-liberation methods of Buddha. But the truth could be
entirely different. Hinduism of the Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita
always held ahinsa as one of its highest spiritual values, but at the
same time understood that violence can sometimes be necessary to
defend one's border's, women and children, in a word that Might has
to protect Dharma.
Which is why, until Buddhism made of non-violence an uncompromising,
inflexible dogma, India's borders were not only secure, but extended
from Afghanistan to Kanyakumari. But when Ashoka embraced Buddhism,
India's great protecting armor, which had worked for millennia, had
been breached. Buddhist thought also indirectly influenced great
figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, whose sincere but rigid adherence to
non-violence may have indirectly precipitated Partition.
Today, unobtrusively, Buddhism seems to be making a great comeback in
India through the Vipassana movement of Shri Goenka, who learnt the
technique in Burma from a great Master and brought it back to India
in the late sixties.
The remarkable Vipassana meditation is originally a Vedic technique,
which had been lost and which Buddha rediscovered again. In the hands
of Siddartha Gautama, it became a simple, self-liberation method,
accessible to all, regardless of their caste, religion, or social
status. Hence its immense success in Buddha's time, when Hinduism had
lost some of its appeal because of too much philosophical talk,
casteism and rituals.
Shri Goenka keeps emphasising today that his Vipassana movement is
still non-sectarian, open to all, whatever their religion and
nationality. But it appears not to have lost some of the anti-Hindu
slant that post-Buddha sects adopted (as evident in today's Sinhalese
Buddhism). At every sentence of his discourses (meditators usually
attend ten days' courses, where at the end of each day, they watch a
video tape of Goenkaji, commenting on the technique), Goenka takes a
subtle potshot at Hinduism, whether it is the "rites, rituals, Gods,
images", or the "priests" (Brahmins), who tried to malign Buddha, or
the sadhus "with their beads, matted hair, Shiva marks etc", or
Varanasi, "a holy city full of hashish and bhang." Or else, he riles
contemporary Hindu gurus and movements (without naming them openly,
but they are easily recognised): Sai Baba "with all these hospitals,
schools, etc, with his name inscribed on them"; or Rajneesh/Osho
"with this fleet of Rolls Royces"; or the Hare Krishna movement
"dancing Hare Krishna this and Hare Krishna that". . .
It is rarely mentioned today that Buddhism, like Islam and
Christianity has been a proselytising religion, even if it was done
peacefully: Emperor Ashok's missionaries went all over Asia and
converted huge chunks of territory. But Buddhism came out of Hinduism
and ultimately went back to it, as the millions of Indian Buddhists
of the beginning of our era, eventually reverted to Hinduism. This is
why Buddhists may have kept a certain resentment against Hinduism.
Shri Goenka's Vipassana meditation technique is today practiced by
millions in India, because it is such a simple and effective
procedure. But Shri Goenka's greatest fear is, that like after
Buddha's demise, when Hinduism started eating back into the core of
Buddhism, after his death (Goenkaji is nearing 80), the same thing
will happen to the Vipassana movement.
Hence, at every step, he warns his practitioners, that if they liked
the technique, they should, when they go back to the world, use it
exclusively "and not revert to rites, rituals, etc" -- meaning that
they should become Buddhists (even if he does not say so in so many
words) and shun Hinduism. But what Shri Goenka fails to see is that
on the one hand, he is promoting conversion, even if it is not in a
blatant manner; and two, that once more, someone is taking advantage
of Hinduism's great tolerance and openness.
For of course, 99 per cent of Vipassana meditators in India are
Hindus -- I have attended more than a dozen ten days' courses and I
have seen only one or two Christian nuns and never a single Muslim.
Only Hindus recognise Buddha as an avatar, Muslims consider him as an
infidel and indeed erased all traces of Him in India; and Christians
tend to think that only Jesus is the true Son of God.
We notice also the embryo of the erstwhile errors of Buddhism, which
cost India so much: a rigid and unbending non-violence -- it is for
instance forbidden to kill even a mosquito in the Vipassana ashram
premises; it is true too, that Vipassana, however efficient, is a
joyless technique, with a very strict mental set-up: segregation
between men and women is pushed sometimes to absurd limits and
everything is timed to the second, leaving very little space for
laughter and the imagination.
Again, there is an emphasis on withdrawal from this world, as Shri
Goenka keeps saying at every step that everything is "misery,
misery", "craving and aversion" and that "we are dying at every
moment." And this may again lead India towards self-neglect, at a
moment where She needs all her enthusiasm and energies.
Finally, there is no doubt that Shri Goenka is bent -- if not on
establishing a new religion -- at least on starting an irreversible
movement; the huge Vipassana temple being now built in Bombay is
proof of that.
Is he going to succeed? While the Vipassana technique is a wonderful
instrument, it should not be used to promote a new religion, at a
time when the world is trying to move away from religions towards
spirituality. And once more, we see that India is coming under
threat. Will Goenka's meditators slowly come into positions of power
and give again to India the passive, weak, non-violent turn of mind
which already in the past did so much harm to Her ?
Francois Gautier
http://www.rediff.com/news/franc.htm
More at:
http://getahead.rediff.com/news/2000/dec/01franc.htm
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
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fanabba
Thank you, Dr. Jai Maharaj Ji , for posting this important article.
All Hindus need to read this.
uNmaiviLambi
> Which is why, until Buddhism made of non-violence an uncompromising,
> inflexible dogma, India's borders were not only secure, but extended
> from Afghanistan to Kanyakumari. But when Ashoka embraced Buddhism,
> India's great protecting armor, which had worked for millennia, had
> been breached. Buddhist thought also indirectly influenced great
> figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, whose sincere but rigid adherence to
> non-violence may have indirectly precipitated Partition.
Great article actually. Especially the above paragraph which is so
apt!
I have hard Goenka. He deliberately misinterprets Hindu scriptures
including Gita. As usual, we are so passive and tolerant when
people,abuse us. Whether that is a strength or weakness it is open to
interpretation.
I think we should challenge these people openly and repectfully.
We never challenged ignoramuses and crooks like EVR, Anna, MK and
other crooks. That is why TN is brainwashed and in the state today!
Hindus must debate and challenge crooks openly from now on.
hari....@indero.com
and hindus and others how to be real indians and hindus and others .
No wonder jay stevens,aka dr. jai etc. who does the same likes to post
him.
In this case this american preaches why buddhism once was the primary
religion from afganistan to viet nam and then why it was pushed out
again and why current buddhist revival is bad.
So it seems that this american needs to preach to real indians and
hindus and others why they should listen to him.
It seems he thinks himself the only one who can save real indians and
hindus and others from themselves.
fanabba
When will will Christian Missionaries and Evangelists stop planning
the demise of Hinduism and Buddhism ?
But perhaps they should concentrate on retention than recruitment.
Islam is finding new Christian recruits.