[The author, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, who appears for his talks almost everyday on PBS TV Shows[2] in United States of America December 1, 1896 . Further more, while he was writing the book, he seems to not have been well informed of recent Lumbini archaeological finds and development also. If he had in anyways, he would have certainly written the "Founder of Buddhism, one of the world's major religions, the Buddha was born Prince Siddhartha Gautama in Nepal at the border of northeast India ” instead.]
By B. K. Rana
He sent me a brief email message also which I immediately forwarded to my email-list and, as anticipated, prompt responses arrived from a few scholars from different parts of the
world. Among those responses was a message in an
email from a renowned linguist, Professor Madhav Prasad Pokharel of Tribhuvan
University, Kathmandu, Nepal, in which
he has written, “both China and Japan have officially endorsed Lumbini of Nepal
being the Buddha birth place, however,
while doing researches in China for one year and two years in Japan, I heard
that in government prescribed books in both of those countries students are taught the
Buddha was born in India”[1].
Prof. Pokharel says there is a need for finding the truth out and making a correction
to it also.
The book in discussion and
its author, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer http://www.drwaynedyer.com/, acclaimed as one of the internationally best selling authors, a motivational speaker and named also as "Modern Master",
has discussed, in the book "Wisdomof the Ages: 60 Days to Enlightenment",
a total of 265 different thinkers
of the past and present world from:
Pythagoras and Blaise Pascal, Buddha, Lao-tzu, Patanjali to many others and down the end himself also.
A chapter in the book titled as ‘Knowing’ is dedicated to Buddhist philosophy. The chapter starts from page 5 in which the author writes: "Founder of Buddhism, one of the world's major religions, the Buddha was born Prince Siddhartha Gautama in northeastIndia ,
near the border of Nepal ".
This is flatly incorrect information. Our students must be told or taught the truth and not imparted 'false knowledge' unknowingly or otherwise.
A chapter in the book titled as ‘Knowing’ is dedicated to Buddhist philosophy. The chapter starts from page 5 in which the author writes: "Founder of Buddhism, one of the world's major religions, the Buddha was born Prince Siddhartha Gautama in northeast
The author, Dr.
Wayne W. Dyer, who appears for his
talks almost everyday on PBS TV Shows[2] in United
States of America December 1, 1896 . Further more, while he was writing the book, he seems to not have been well informed of recent Lumbini archaeological finds and development also. If he had in anyways, he would have certainly written the "Founder of Buddhism, one of the world's major
religions, the Buddha was born Prince Siddhartha Gautama in Nepal at the border of northeast India ” instead.
The book in
question was published in 1998 by Harper Collins,in other words some 14 years ago and its
first Quill edition came out in 2002 already. After these long years, discussing
this way may seem ‘partisan’ to
some of our readers. But the point here is that students deserve right information.
We need to feed them facts of human history. But neither we are telling Dr. Wayne W. Dyer deliberately
wrote “the Buddha was born Prince Siddhartha Gautama in northeast India ,
near the border of Nepal ."
Not every writer can visitLumbini Garden Nepal and read the Ashokan inscription before writing a book on
the Buddha. It is not practical also to do so. The author has utilized second hand
information available to him.
Not every writer can visit
No Confronting with the authors:
We can’t confront each and every author on the Buddha birth place and
Kapilvastu also. A Nepalese scholar, Ram B. Chhetri, currently residing
in Virginia , USA
also wrote in reply yesterday:
“ What about Jesus Christ born inChina ? We can't go on confronting people writing whatever
they feel like writing.”
The point he makes here is that people have been writing on their own ways and this is how they write; we can’t tell them do how or whatever we would be liking or thinking.
“ What about Jesus Christ born in
The point he makes here is that people have been writing on their own ways and this is how they write; we can’t tell them do how or whatever we would be liking or thinking.
It would be worth mentioning here of
Orissan scholars’ claim that the Buddha was born in Kapileshowr in Orissa, not
in Lumbini of Nepal, which has been already discredited by some Orissan historians
themselves like Karuna Sagar Behara, Kailash Chandra Dash and others also.
OnSaturday Aug 1, 2009 I had put a question to a Yahoogroups of Indologists, “Where was Buddha born?” Prof. Rajesh Kochhar, an Indologists from India
“ Orissa is very poor. It will benefit greatly from tourism if Buddha were born there? Can we not rotate Buddha's birth place like the Olympics or the cricket match venue?” He meant that the birth places of certain historical personages are always made full of controversies.
On
“ Orissa is very poor. It will benefit greatly from tourism if Buddha were born there? Can we not rotate Buddha's birth place like the Olympics or the cricket match venue?” He meant that the birth places of certain historical personages are always made full of controversies.
Steve Farmer, a very bright neurobiologist who has deep knowledge of comparative mythologies also had even put this way :
“ There is an old medievalist story about the fact that multiple Christian pilgrimage sites boasted of having the head ofSt. John St.
John
He had further added, "Maybe the same kind of resolution might be applied here, mutatis mutandis, as a variant of Rajesh's idea?”
“ There is an old medievalist story about the fact that multiple Christian pilgrimage sites boasted of having the head of
He had further added, "Maybe the same kind of resolution might be applied here, mutatis mutandis, as a variant of Rajesh's idea?”
______________
[1] "नेपालको लुम्बिनीमा अनेक अनुसन्धान गर्दै आएका, बुद्धको जन्म थलो भनेर लुम्बिनीलाई सरकारी मान्यता दिई आएका चीन र जापानका पाठ्य पुस्तकमा पनि बुद्ध भारतमा जन्मेका थिए भन्ने कुरो लेखिएकै छ र अझै संशोधन भएको छैन भन्ने कुरो मैले चीनमा १ वर्ष बस्ता र जापानमा २ वर्ष बस्ता सुनेको कुराको सत्यता पनि जाँचेर सच्याउन प्रयत्न गर्नु पर्ने र चासो राख्नु पर्ने खाँचो छ ।"
[2]Public Broadcasting
Service Television, one of the most
watched TV Channels in the USA
[3]
१. देवानपियेन पियदसिन लाजिन विसती-वसाभिसितेन
२. अतन आगाच महीयिते हिद बुधे जाते सक्य-मुनी ति (|*)
३. सिला-विगड-भीचा कालापित सिला-थभे च उसपापिते (|*)
४. हिद भगवं जाते ति लुं मिनी-गामे उबलिके कटे
५. अठ-भागिये च (||*)
Sila-Vigadabhi-Cha Kalapita Silathabhe Cha Usapapite
Hida Bhagavam Jate Ti Lumini Game Ubalike Kate
Athabhagiya Cha.
The text of the inscription in English reads: “Twenty years after the coronation, Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi (Ashok) visited this place and worshiped because here, Lord Buddha, the sage of Sakyas was born ….”.http://tinyurl.com/yf55jj9’
१. देवानपियेन पियदसिन लाजिन विसती-वसाभिसितेन
२. अतन आगाच महीयिते हिद बुधे जाते सक्य-मुनी ति (|*)
३. सिला-विगड-भीचा कालापित सिला-थभे च उसपापिते (|*)
४. हिद भगवं जाते ति लुं मिनी-गामे उबलिके कटे
५. अठ-भागिये च (||*)
Devanapiyana
Piyadasina Lajina Visati-Vasabhisitena
Atana Agacha Mahiyite Hida Budhe Jate Sakya
Muniti Sila-Vigadabhi-Cha Kalapita Silathabhe Cha Usapapite
Hida Bhagavam Jate Ti Lumini Game Ubalike Kate
Athabhagiya Cha.
The text of the inscription in English reads: “Twenty years after the coronation, Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi (Ashok) visited this place and worshiped because here, Lord Buddha, the sage of Sakyas was born ….”.http://tinyurl.com/yf55jj9’
COMMENT(S)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: KailashChandra Dash <dash.kailashchandra@
Date: Tue, Sep 25, 2012 at 9:33 AM
Subject: Re: MISTAKEN BUDDHA BIRTH PLACE IN 'WISDOM OF THE AGES' : A COURSE BOOK FOR US UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
To: The Himalayan Voice <himalayanvoice@gmail.com>
I read your views and endorse the fact that Buddha was born in Nepal Tarai zone on the border of India. But on the other hand falsely the homeland of Gautam Buddha in Odisha, has recently gained currency with the publication of a book entitled Gautam Buddha in history and Archaeology of Odisha by Ajit Tripathy, Prafulla Trpathy and C.Patel and the book containing old arguments of Chakradhar Mahapatra published by Lark Publisher, Bhubaneswar in 1912.
Despite several strong claims against Tilaurkot of Nepal as the homeland of Buddha, we cannot blindly attach importance to this type of arguments. But at the same time we should vocalize this point. Thank you for your report. I may write again for The Himalayan Voice on the narrow vision of the Odishan writers.
Kailash Chandra Dash
Reader in History