- Its true I bellyache about what pathetic Buddhists we are in Sri Lanka , but have you ever stopped to consider what we would be called if Buddha hadn’t existed?
Well according to the standard 9 Buddhism text book we might have ended up being sorry creatures called Kesakambalists, Pakuda Kachchayanists or worst of all Belliattaputtists- (who had,if Im correct, no theory about anything!)these were apparently the major theories in India just before Buddha began to clean up all the misunderstandings.
How do I know – well last Sunday my house was overrun by kids as it usually is on weekends and one of them happened to be cramming for her Buddhism exam (this is Grade 9) I had a peep at the standard textbook and this was quite *enlightening* to say the least
So to get this clear there were 5 main theories put forward about the meaning of life,death and our ultimate agendas (in those sorry times before cable TV) and they were : - Poorna Kassapas – he said “ there is no real cause or effect in killing stealing ,making sacrifices, being good or in fact doing anything at all…”
- Makkalee Gosala who said “ Theres no reason for creatures being born, death, no reason to be clean* (arrk !) Everything has no cause or reason (basically he was a FATALIST) everything is pre planned pre decided and all creatures have to live exactly 84 eons in Samsara in misery and then find automatic Nirvana (gulp!)
- Ajitha Kesakamabala (and from his name I can visualize a real trendy young evangelist like the Siriasa Isuperistar…)who said “the four elements come together to form life (duh ! but I guess the Indians of that time thought it was pretty deep-) which elements separate and then there is death –no reincarnation(what ! you mean that’s IT?I would not give up the theory of reincarnation for anything in the world . It means I can be 16 again at some point!)
- Pakuda Kachchayana “no here and no hereafter,”(pretty much same as above)**
and finally - Sanjaya (another film star type Indian I bet-) Bellatiputta- “ who when asked about the meaning of life, death and human being -“ lokaya ho vimukthia pilibanda va kisindhu adhahasak prakasha no kaleya,” ….which is , kind of , “no comment,”….can you beat that ?bet he grew fat and rich on that theory!
personally ...There are not much of us left, but Im sure glad I got to be a Buddhist...
* anyone who dosent beleive me read page 22 of the standard Govt Buddhism text book Grade 9
** HEY! get your own theory!!
13 comments:
This is why beleive Buddhism is more of a Philospy "Way of Life", than just a simple Religion.
It has faced the challenge of time, and still manages to attract followers from various walks of life.
Simple teaching yet complex enough, if you go on thinking about it. Or viceversa.
of course, we now know that the real answer is 42.
...to the question 'how many you have men'
?
ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US
Hey whats this about 42 !!! That number has a lot of meaning to me!! Any way i think that we'd all be horny bastards if it wasnt for ethics and morals.. I also believe that a religion credits its ceator while a way of life persues the search for knowledge thru the right choice of paths available to man. Hence there is no credit in buddhism. Just advice, If only most buddhists would infact try and spend the time to understnd the pali teachings rather than just read it out like some spell. It don't work that way.. Buddha gave advice to live life peacefully. Bloody idiots these days have made buddhism a religion. What to do men.. sad yar..
oh yes also.. 42 !!! Whats this scene with 42!!! That number is © by me.. no one can use it without my permission!
PS : Al.. babes.. just to let you know.. some very very very strange people are leaving very very very strange comments in your blog :) lol :) They're amusing :D lol! Adios!
lovely to see so many interesting viewpoints. my personal religion can be summed up in three lines:
fill whats empty...
empty whats full and..
scratch when it itches.
...but then I totally respect the philosophy of Buddhism, it is just to darn LOGICAL and PRACTICAL. just so sad to see that its being twisted as most things historical are.
ps...did not by the way intend this to be a thread on serious theosophical thought. I was just amazed by the names the poor grade niners had to memorize. I have told my young proteges not to ROTE learn things but with names like "Belliattaputta"there seems to be little choice...
forty t-
ok,thats enough Very Bad Man. Im all for freedom of expression but like he said, Mr Evil has a prior claim. If you ever even try to say (censored number) again I will delete your comments and block your entry here, not to mention have a IPS put out for you and organise to freeze your bank accounts-
fort-
that does it! VBM, you've had it!
*censored*
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