lucia
May 17th, 2010, 11:53 AM
I didn't really know where to post this............
Over in Exploring Divination Hilary’s blog on Nearing, Seeing pressed a few memory buttons that reminded me of a couple of things in India.
Lin: Nearing reminded me of the Sanskritic idea of Darsan which is about more than just being a devotee in the presence of a deity and looking; and is actually about an exchange that takes place between the eyes. As I said in my post, the deity gives darsan and the devotee receives it. I observed that this is often represented in Street Art as dotted lines between the eyes of the two. In my mind there is a relation of “overseeing” by the deity. Hilary pointed out that Lise says something similar about the eyes in ancient Chinese inscriptions of Lin: “Another old form of Lin shows connecting lines between the eye and the objects (a).”
The India button had been duly pressed and for Kuan I remembered the pillars of Asoka.
The pillars of Asoka are scattered around India, are/were around 50 feet high and along with various bits of Buddhist symbolism bear the edicts of Asoka in the popular (as opposed to “elite”) language of the day. They suggest ideas such as the mutual existence and understanding of religions. Some articles about the pillars don’t get past Asoka’s Buddhism and thus see them as religious but there is much more to them than that.
Ven S Dhammika:
“Scholars have suggested that because the edicts say nothing about the philosophical aspects of Buddhism, Asoka had a simplistic and naive understanding of the Dhamma. This view does not take into account the fact that the purpose of the edicts was not to expound the truths of Buddhism, but to inform the people of Asoka's reforms and to encourage them to be more generous, kind and moral. This being the case, there was no reason for Asoka to discuss Buddhist philosophy. Asoka emerges from his edicts as an able administrator, an intelligent human being and as a devoted Buddhist, and we could expect him to take as keen an interest in Buddhist philosophy as he did in Buddhist practice.”
These pillars were constructed along borders, trade routes, densely populated areas, pilgrimage centres and Buddhist sites. In other words wherever they would get the maximum audience or readership. They were made of a sandstone that was so highly polished they shone as if made of metal. In other words there was no way you could miss them. To see and be seen……. Kuan?
Ven S Dhammika:
“The contents of Asoka's edicts make it clear that all the legends about his wise and humane rule are more than justified and qualify him to be ranked as one of the greatest rulers. In his edicts, he spoke of what might be called state morality, and private or individual morality. The first was what he based his administration upon and what he hoped would lead to a more just, more spiritually inclined society, while the second was what he recommended and encouraged individuals to practice. Both these types of morality were imbued with the Buddhist values of compassion, moderation, tolerance and respect for all life.”
Anyway, here is the link to Dhamikka’s article which goes into good detail as to what was written on the pillars for those who are interested:
http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ashoka.html
I am not, by the way, trying to assert that these two things are “the same” as Lin and Kuan – just a remarkable connection in quite ancient thinking. Meanwhile, in the same Exploring Divination thread, there was a gentle debate about “culture” and the movement of people’s in ancient times was raised.
So, all this is a long winded way to introduce an interesting and readable essay by the multi-talented Indian economist Amartya Sen in which he talks about some of the exchanges between India and China. Here is a tiny excerpt:
Amartya Sen:
“Certainly religion has been a major source of contact between China and India, and Buddhism was central to the movement of people and ideas between the two countries. But the wider influence of Buddhism was not confined to religion. Its secular impact stretched into science, mathematics, literature, linguistics, architecture, medicine, and music. We know from the elaborate accounts left by a number of Chinese visitors to India, such as Faxian in the fifth century and Xuanzang and Yi Jing in the seventh,[1] that their interest was by no means restricted to religious theory and practices.”
Sen goes back in time to the start of Buddhism but there is no doubt that these exchanges were taking place well before then. Anyone who has been to what now constitutes the borders of India, Pakistan and China and Tibet will have a feel for what I mean. Here is a link to the essay and I hope you enjoy………………………..
http://www.cul-studies.com/english/chinastudies/200412/351.html
Lucia
Over in Exploring Divination Hilary’s blog on Nearing, Seeing pressed a few memory buttons that reminded me of a couple of things in India.
Lin: Nearing reminded me of the Sanskritic idea of Darsan which is about more than just being a devotee in the presence of a deity and looking; and is actually about an exchange that takes place between the eyes. As I said in my post, the deity gives darsan and the devotee receives it. I observed that this is often represented in Street Art as dotted lines between the eyes of the two. In my mind there is a relation of “overseeing” by the deity. Hilary pointed out that Lise says something similar about the eyes in ancient Chinese inscriptions of Lin: “Another old form of Lin shows connecting lines between the eye and the objects (a).”
The India button had been duly pressed and for Kuan I remembered the pillars of Asoka.
The pillars of Asoka are scattered around India, are/were around 50 feet high and along with various bits of Buddhist symbolism bear the edicts of Asoka in the popular (as opposed to “elite”) language of the day. They suggest ideas such as the mutual existence and understanding of religions. Some articles about the pillars don’t get past Asoka’s Buddhism and thus see them as religious but there is much more to them than that.
Ven S Dhammika:
“Scholars have suggested that because the edicts say nothing about the philosophical aspects of Buddhism, Asoka had a simplistic and naive understanding of the Dhamma. This view does not take into account the fact that the purpose of the edicts was not to expound the truths of Buddhism, but to inform the people of Asoka's reforms and to encourage them to be more generous, kind and moral. This being the case, there was no reason for Asoka to discuss Buddhist philosophy. Asoka emerges from his edicts as an able administrator, an intelligent human being and as a devoted Buddhist, and we could expect him to take as keen an interest in Buddhist philosophy as he did in Buddhist practice.”
These pillars were constructed along borders, trade routes, densely populated areas, pilgrimage centres and Buddhist sites. In other words wherever they would get the maximum audience or readership. They were made of a sandstone that was so highly polished they shone as if made of metal. In other words there was no way you could miss them. To see and be seen……. Kuan?
Ven S Dhammika:
“The contents of Asoka's edicts make it clear that all the legends about his wise and humane rule are more than justified and qualify him to be ranked as one of the greatest rulers. In his edicts, he spoke of what might be called state morality, and private or individual morality. The first was what he based his administration upon and what he hoped would lead to a more just, more spiritually inclined society, while the second was what he recommended and encouraged individuals to practice. Both these types of morality were imbued with the Buddhist values of compassion, moderation, tolerance and respect for all life.”
Anyway, here is the link to Dhamikka’s article which goes into good detail as to what was written on the pillars for those who are interested:
http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ashoka.html
I am not, by the way, trying to assert that these two things are “the same” as Lin and Kuan – just a remarkable connection in quite ancient thinking. Meanwhile, in the same Exploring Divination thread, there was a gentle debate about “culture” and the movement of people’s in ancient times was raised.
So, all this is a long winded way to introduce an interesting and readable essay by the multi-talented Indian economist Amartya Sen in which he talks about some of the exchanges between India and China. Here is a tiny excerpt:
Amartya Sen:
“Certainly religion has been a major source of contact between China and India, and Buddhism was central to the movement of people and ideas between the two countries. But the wider influence of Buddhism was not confined to religion. Its secular impact stretched into science, mathematics, literature, linguistics, architecture, medicine, and music. We know from the elaborate accounts left by a number of Chinese visitors to India, such as Faxian in the fifth century and Xuanzang and Yi Jing in the seventh,[1] that their interest was by no means restricted to religious theory and practices.”
Sen goes back in time to the start of Buddhism but there is no doubt that these exchanges were taking place well before then. Anyone who has been to what now constitutes the borders of India, Pakistan and China and Tibet will have a feel for what I mean. Here is a link to the essay and I hope you enjoy………………………..
http://www.cul-studies.com/english/chinastudies/200412/351.html
Lucia