Dharma Wheel

In the Bodhisattva precepts there is a precept which says that the Mahayana sutras are a teaching of Buddha Shakyamuni, if you express a contrary opinion you are breaking this precept. Why should this precept exist? The White Lotus sutra describes a schism in the Sangha that took place during the Bu...

I have said before that there are no academic proofs for this claim or view, but there are spiritual proofs, and these are not accepted by the academic world view. I.e. the Five eyes and the Six supernormal powers, these have been accepted as a basis of knowledge in the Dharma for 2500 years. Next ...

... All largely irrelevant to the question of whether there was a bodhisattvayana preceding Gautama. That’s four times I’ve asked and you haven’t responded, so I’ll assume you don’t have any evidence for this. We do know, and it’s very well documented, that there were sramana movements before, duri...

You opined: I have the impression that the Bodhisattvayana is older than the time of Siddhartha Gautama, i.e. it existed in India already at time of his propagation of the doctrine. And I asked: Would be interested to hear who asserts this, and on what textual / archeological / other basis. You fur...

There are many strands of knowledge in the world... Sure, but still: would be interested to hear who asserts this, and on what textual / archeological / other basis. Or is it your theory? Also the examples you offer also talk about some sort of eternal soul, which is definitely not the Bodhisattvay...

I have the impression that the Bodhisattvayana is older than the time of Siddhartha Gautama, i.e. it existed in India already at time of his propagation of the doctrine. It was called Bodhisattva-gana or something like that, it was not called Sangha. Gautama joined the Bodhisattva-order at some poi...

Preservation of an old motif in a scripture or object of art can not, of course, be used to demonstrate the antiquity of said scripture. This should be obvious. I have the impression that the Bodhisattvayana is older than the time of Siddhartha Gautama, i.e. it existed in India already at time of h...

I have the impression that the Bodhisattvayana is older than the time of Siddhartha Gautama, i.e. it existed in India already at time of his propagation of the doctrine. It was called Bodhisattva-gana or something like that, it was not called Sangha. Gautama joined the Bodhisattva-order at some poin...

Slightly more than ten years ago I lived in an old wooden house, that had sawdust as insulation within its walls. The outer planks were rotten in places, squirrels and other animals had invaded the walls of the house and had built their nests there. So I have had contact with squirrel youngsters on ...

It really doesn't matter much, as there are eight or nine Indian commentaries on the longer version of the Heart sutra. Indian Commentaries on the Heart Sutra from Tibetan and Chinese language Sources, English Title, Peking Tripitaka 1. Vast Explanation of the Noble Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom...

Buddha didn't forbid the conversion of people from the brahmin caste into his teaching and community, and there were brahmins in the Sangha already at the time of Buddha Gautama. This is mentioned somewhere in the pali suttas. Some scholars have argued that after the Parinirvana there was a signific...

There is an important work in this field that knows a lot more about the early Buddhist, Jain, Ajivaka and other schools of logic in India: " Kulatissa Nanda Jayatilleke (1 November 1920 – 23 July 1970) was an internationally recognised authority on Buddhist philosophy whose book Early Buddhist Theo...

May everything that breathes, all living creatures, be free from suffering and its causes!

Atleast you can find information about the chinese monk Xuanzang who visited Nalanda in India. Xuanzang [ɕɥɛ̌n.tsâŋ] (Chinese: 玄奘; fl. 602 – 664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (陈祎), was a Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator who traveled to India in the seventh century and described t...

I don't think there is such difference mentioned in the Abhidharma. Lobha is usually translated as greed or covetousness, and there are several other quite similar words like chanda, raga, tanha or trishna, pema or prema, samudaya and samyojana. Which is which is open to usage and definition.

AbhidharmaKoshaBhashyam, p. 553: 1. That which depends on a cause is an effect, something "done", "created". Destruction is a negation: how can a negation "be done" or "created"? Therefore destruction does not depend on a cause. 2. Destruction does not depend on a cause: hence a conditioned thing pe...

Encyclopedia of Tantra, 5 volumes
by Sadhu Santideva



It is not very much buddhist, but it is interesting, and relevant to the question of history.

The best explanation is that there is no perceiver-independent object anywhere in the world. And thus, if you are on the level of the Deva-realms, you will perceive a heavenly, shining and brilliant body of the Buddha. Apply this principle to the bodhisattva bhumis, and you will get the Sambhoghakay...

I recommend studying the oral traditions that still exist on this planet. Buddhism was for centuries an oral tradition not written down in books. That is the earliest phase of it. You could learn the oral traditions that there still are, it has a very different flavour to it. Once you have written ...