LZ-128
NAMASTE
Truth is everywhere. It doesn't spread; rather, people awaken to it.
We were taught about Alexander the Great, but why not about King Ashoka?
Reigning from 272 to 236 B.C.E., Ashoka ruled from the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent on up to part of Persia. He ordered forests be preserved. He not only had hospitals built for people but for animals and saw that animals had medical care as well. Wells were dug along roads so that travelers wouldn't thirst.
Egalitarian, his citizenry could call on him anytime, day or night, whether he was on the throne or in his carriage, in the dining room, or in the boudoir.
He also sent envoys to teach the Dharma all around the Indian subcontinent and beyond. Following the Buddha's example, these ambassadors of Dharma didn't try to convert anyone, only inform.
No censorship, no inquisition, rather the demonstration of truth, with gentle, loving example.
Quick, how many Buddhist wars can you name?
Thanks to King Ashoka and King Kanishka, Buddhism flourished in India for a millennium, and the Buddha ultimately became a worldwide influence, not a mere footnote in history.
In the fifth century B.C.E., Buddhist monastics established the world's first university, in the city of Nalanda.
Courses included medicine, grammar, LOGIC, philosophy, and politics.
It provided FREE tuition and residence, it attracted thousands of teachers and students from all over the country and Asia, as far east as China and Korea, as well as neighboring Tibet and Sri Lanka. It's average peak enrollment was 10,000 students. The University continued for seven centuries, until destroyed by Bakhtiar Khilji.
In 868, Buddhist monks disseminated copies of the Diamond Sutra hither and yon, via the first printed book.
Indeed Buddhism influenced the development in printing. Korea was printing Buddhist texts with movable type two centuries before Gutenberg.
But the most important part about Buddhism is that it is NOT a religion...
In Asia, "Buddhism" is an alien term, because to them it merely refers to reality.
Because the Buddha wouldn't address certain basic metaphysical questions, his path isn't technically philosophy. Likewise, because his teachings aren't built around God or an afterlife, they aren't a religion. And his teachings about self as an illusory construction makes it tricky to categorize as psychology.
Some people prefer to call it a science, an education, or a way of life. A path.
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In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.
All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.
He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.
An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast.
No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who has said it, even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
- Buddha
NAMASTE
Truth is everywhere. It doesn't spread; rather, people awaken to it.
We were taught about Alexander the Great, but why not about King Ashoka?
Reigning from 272 to 236 B.C.E., Ashoka ruled from the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent on up to part of Persia. He ordered forests be preserved. He not only had hospitals built for people but for animals and saw that animals had medical care as well. Wells were dug along roads so that travelers wouldn't thirst.
Egalitarian, his citizenry could call on him anytime, day or night, whether he was on the throne or in his carriage, in the dining room, or in the boudoir.
He also sent envoys to teach the Dharma all around the Indian subcontinent and beyond. Following the Buddha's example, these ambassadors of Dharma didn't try to convert anyone, only inform.
No censorship, no inquisition, rather the demonstration of truth, with gentle, loving example.
Quick, how many Buddhist wars can you name?
Thanks to King Ashoka and King Kanishka, Buddhism flourished in India for a millennium, and the Buddha ultimately became a worldwide influence, not a mere footnote in history.
In the fifth century B.C.E., Buddhist monastics established the world's first university, in the city of Nalanda.
Courses included medicine, grammar, LOGIC, philosophy, and politics.
It provided FREE tuition and residence, it attracted thousands of teachers and students from all over the country and Asia, as far east as China and Korea, as well as neighboring Tibet and Sri Lanka. It's average peak enrollment was 10,000 students. The University continued for seven centuries, until destroyed by Bakhtiar Khilji.
In 868, Buddhist monks disseminated copies of the Diamond Sutra hither and yon, via the first printed book.
Indeed Buddhism influenced the development in printing. Korea was printing Buddhist texts with movable type two centuries before Gutenberg.
But the most important part about Buddhism is that it is NOT a religion...
In Asia, "Buddhism" is an alien term, because to them it merely refers to reality.
Because the Buddha wouldn't address certain basic metaphysical questions, his path isn't technically philosophy. Likewise, because his teachings aren't built around God or an afterlife, they aren't a religion. And his teachings about self as an illusory construction makes it tricky to categorize as psychology.
Some people prefer to call it a science, an education, or a way of life. A path.
--------------------------------
In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.
All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.
He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.
An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast.
No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who has said it, even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
- Buddha