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Dinesh

Dinesh club

Posted: 22 Sep 2013

Taken: 05 Jun 2011

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Buddha

Buddha
The end, elusive and afar,
Still lures us with its beckoning flight,
And all our mortal moments are
A session of the Infinite.
How shall we reach the great, unknown
Nirvana of thy Lotus-throne?

Excerpt: "To A Buddha Seated On A Lotus" ~ Sarojini Naidu
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 Dinesh
Dinesh club
The Western discovery of what we call “Buddhism” forms part of a long and complicated process that stretches into our time, and the assertion of some modern writers that European Orientalists “created” or “invented” Buddhism in the first half of the nineteenth century is a problem of faulty optics rather than history. The case of Diderot shows once more that the retroprojection of modern knowledge (such as the strict separation of Buddhism from Hinduism) not only is unhelpful for the reconstruction of discovery process but almost inevitably leads to the kind of “monkey show” treatment mentioned at the Outset of this chapter. Diderot was only one of many eighteenth-century luminaries who regarded “Brahmanism” as a form of “oriental paganism” that has many elements congruent with what we today call “Buddhism.” Diderot’s view presents a snapshot of any important stage in the discovery process. ~ Page 186

The Birth of Orientalism
2 years ago. Edited 2 years ago.

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