Brahmayana Buddhism?

General discussion, particularly exploring the Dharma in the modern world.
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hamsterdance
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:28 pm

Brahmayana Buddhism?

Post by hamsterdance »

I see now the Aryan Buddhist log ascribes to the following which they claim is from the Buddha himself.


http://www.kathodos.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
To quote the late metaphysician, Dr. A.K. Coomaraswamy: “Buddhism is most famous today for everything it originally never taught.” As such Kathodos.com does not advocate nor endorse Theravada & Hinayana, nor any form of Mahayana, Vajrayana, and certainly not Zen. None of these sectarian creations are original to earliest Buddhism.

My teachings are (to be called) Brahmayana [Path to Brahman/Absolute/The-One]” –[Samyutta Nikaya, Mahavagga verse 4] ~ Gotama Buddha
What's up with this Coomaraswamy being so down on Zen? Has anyone read his books? It sounds like he's just saying Buddhism is a variant of Brahmanism. Was Coomaraswamy a Buddhist monk or Hindu guru?
Tiger
Posts: 61
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:47 am

Re: Brahmayana Buddhism?

Post by Tiger »

Brahmins have the history of plagiarizing on other traditions and philosophies and claiming them to be theirs. Just to give some examples, Shankara learned much of his metaphysics from his Guru, who's own Guru admittedly was influenced by Nagarjuna's works, and at the end it is Shankara who calls Buddha a thief. Vishnu purana claims Buddha was an avatar of the god Vishnu who had come to this world to deviate the "demons away from the holy path of the Vedas". The arrogance of the Brahmins is probably the only thing that can contest the Buddhist fact that everything is impermanent. During the Buddha's time they were contesting that their race is the most superior, during Ashvaghosha's time, about 1000 years later, they were still contesting that they are the most superior race, during Kabir and other Saint's times, they were still scheming against other religions and proclaiming to be gods on Earth, and even today, they continue to do so. Have you ever read the Epic Mahabharata, Ramayana or Puranas? Do give it a try some day. You'll come to know that they were most likely written for the sole purpose of glorifying the Brahmins. There are episodes of Brahmins cursing even gods, worlds getting destroyed because of their super natural powers, etc etc. Krishna, even in Gita, teaches that all castes were created by him and that "each caste rather indulge in their own prescribed profession even if they may be not inclined towards it, then doing something against their caste limitation even if they have interest in it". Then there are books like Manusmriti, Vishnu smriti, Puranas, Brahmanas, etc etc, which lay down rules that are completely in favour of the Brahmins and prejudiced to the other castes. Even in the contemporary times, most of them still continue to claim to be most superior than others by birth.

Brahmins, except those who converted to Buddhism, have had nothing but contempt for Buddhists and Buddhism through out Indian history. They are somewhat similar to their cousins, Zoroastrians, who also have a similar religion where they believe that only their religion is true and was exclusively revealed for the Aryan race. Read Jiah Lal Kilam's books on the history of Kashmir which clearly shows that Brahmanism had equal hand in obliteration of Buddhism from Kashmir as did Islam. Same in other parts of India like after the invasion of Pala (Buddhist) kingdom of Bengal/Bangladesh, by Sena Brahmin Kings, Buddhism was completely outlawed and many Buddhists either fled to Tibet or were massacred. I am afraid, when the Muslims arrived there were hardly any Buddhists alive for them to have massacred them (monks and laymen alike). Otherwise, just like how Hinduism is still flourishing, there should have been at least some trace of Buddhism in India. No texts, no records of traditions, not even the remembrances about famous Buddhist saints like Nagarjuna, Bodhidharma, etc. The only things you find are ruins of Buddhist caves in the forests.

Read a particular work by Asvaghosha called "Vajra Suchi" where he refutes a Saiva Brahmin's claim that Brahmins are a superior race here

With so much contempt that the Brahmins have nurtured towards Buddhism since ancient times, and the arrogance of their own superiority, is it any surprise that this guy, who is a Brahmin himself, is now claiming, quite contradictorily, that Buddhism is false and that it is nothing new?
Namo Amitabha Buddha
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