Category: Soft Power

Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi will open the inaugural Global Buddhist Summit on April 20 in New Delhi, according to Union Minister for Culture Tourism and DoNER  Shri G.K. Reddy. The International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), an organisation of the Ministry of Culture will organise the Global Buddhist Summit (GBS) at the Ashok Hotel on April 20–21, 2023. In his briefing, he stated that for the first time, notable Buddhist monks from other nations will visit India and participate in the Summit. Additionally, he said that discussions during the summit will focus on using Buddhist philosophy and thought to address current issues. Given that Buddhism originated in India, this international summit will highlight the relevance and centrality of India in Buddhism. Additionally, he stated that “Responses to Contemporary Challenges: Philosophy to Praxis” will be the focus of the two-day Global Buddhist Summit. Sh G Kishan Reddy also informed that this global summit will also be a medium to enhance the cultural and diplomatic relationships with other countries. Union Minister disclosed that Delegates from almost 30 countries will participate in this summit and around 171 delegates from foreign countries and 150 delegates Indian Buddhist organizations. Eminent scholars, Sangha leaders and Dharma practitioners from all over the world are attending the conference. There are 173 international participants comprising 84 Sangha member and 151 Indian delegates comprising 46 Sangha members, 40 nuns and 65 laity from outside Delhi. Nearly 200 persons from NCR region will also be participating in the conference including more than 30 Ambassadors from foreign Embassies.  The delegates will discuss today’s pressing global issues and look for answers in the Buddha Dhamma that is based on universal values. The discussions will fall under the following four themes: Two keynote speeches will be delivered by His Holiness Thich Tri Quang, Supreme Patriarch of Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and Prof. Robert Thurman, for Sangha and academic sessions, respectively. Religious practices with Indian roots are an integral aspect of “Ancient Dharma, the eternal way of life.” Buddha Dhamma made a tremendous impact on the rise of human civilization in ancient India. Its global dissemination caused a vast churning of knowledge and civilizations as well as the blossoming of several spiritual and philosophical traditions all over the world. The discussions are anticipated to focus on how the Buddha Dhamma’s core principles might offer motivation and direction in modern settings that promote consumerism and technological developments while also coping with a destroyed earth and civilizations that are losing their sense of purpose quickly. Religious practices with Indian roots are an integral aspect of “Ancient Dharma, the eternal way of life.” Buddha Dhamma made a tremendous impact on the rise of human civilization in ancient India. Its global dissemination caused a vast churning of knowledge and civilizations as well as the blossoming of several spiritual and philosophical traditions all over the world. The discussions are anticipated to focus on how the Buddha Dhamma’s core principles might offer motivation and direction in modern settings that promote consumerism and technological developments while also coping with a destroyed earth and civilizations that are losing their sense of purpose quickly. The Ministry of Culture recently hosted a successful international meeting of experts from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) nations on Shared Buddhist Heritage in order to re-establish trans-cultural links and look for similarities between Buddhist art of Central Asia, art styles, archaeological sites, and antiquity in various museums’ collections of the SCO countries. The meeting was organized by the IBC, a global Buddhist umbrella organization with its headquarters in New Delhi. The GBS-2023 is a similar initiative that seeks to involve scholars and leaders of the global Buddhist dhamma in discussions about issues of Buddhist and universal concern in order to develop policy recommendations to solve them jointly.

Submitted by Dr. Nilza Wangmo In Mahavamsa, it is mentioned that “When the relics are seen, the Buddha is seen.” While in Śālistamba Sūtra (Rice Seedling Sūtra) we find the Buddha Shakyamuni say, “One who sees the Dharma sees the Buddha” stressing the importance of the body relics and Dharma relics. In the Buddhist tradition, there are various classifications of Buddha: 1. Body relics 2. Contact relics (pāribhogika), i.e., objects that the Buddha owned or used or with which he closely associated, such as bowls, robes, bodhi trees 3. Dharma relics which are meant as either whole Sutras, or a Dharma verse (such as the “ye dharmā hetuprabhavā hetuṃ teṣāṃ tathāgato hyavadat, teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha evaṃvādī mahāśramaṇaḥ”meaning ‘All phenomena arises from causes, The causes are taught by the Tathagata, the cessation of the causes as well is taught by The Great Seer’, or a dhāraṇī, or any record of the Buddha’s teaching. In the case of body relics, it should be pointed out that distinctions came to be made between relics that were actual physical remains of the body, such as bones, teeth, etc. and transmogrified somatic substances that could be as small as mustard seeds and appear as jewel-like beads. These very hard glittering particles exist in a variety of colours and sizes, and are usually found in the ashes of cremation fires. The colours are said to reflect the part of the body or organ with which these particles were associated: white if they originated in bone, black if from the hair, red if from the flesh, etc. One Tibetan tradition even gives these relics different names and associates them with different families of Buddha: sharira are white, the size of a pea, and come from the head; barira are blue, the size of a small pea and come from the space between the ribs; churira are yellow, the size of a mustard seed, and come from the top of the liver; serira are red, also the size of a mustard seed and come from the kidneys; finally nyarira are green, also the size of a mustard seed, and come from the lungs, as mentioned in the book Relics of the Buddha by J. S. Strong. In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, after the Buddha Shakyamuni’s passing away, his remains were divided and distributed among the princes of eight of the sixteen mahājanapadās. A stupa enshrining the portion of the ashes was constructed by each prince near his capital. They are said to be located at 1. Allakappa (The precise location of this place is not currently known) 2. Kapilavastu 3. Kusinārā, capital city of the Malla kingdom 4. Pāvā, a major city of the Malla kingdom (located about 15 km east of Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, India) 5. Rājagaha (Rajgir) a major city of the Magadha kingdom 6. Rāmagrāma, a major city of the Koliya kingdom (According to legend, the serpent king was guarding the Ramagrama stupa, and prevented Ashoka from unearthing the relic) 7. Vesāli, capital city of the Vajji kingdom 8. Veṭhadīpa, a settlement of Veṭhadīpaka Brahmins. Some 300 years later, Emperor Ashoka opened seven of these stupas and removed the Buddha relics. His goal was to redistribute the relics throughout the Maurya Empire into 84,000 stupas which he planned to construct. According to legend, the serpent king prevented Ashoka from unearthing the relic of the Ramagrama stupa.   There are a many places in India where the Buddha’s relics are currently kept. The Piprawa Relics 1898, 1970 is now at the Delhi National Museum. In 1971, K. M. Srivastava discovered 22 bones in soapstone urns dating to 5th century BCE. The K. M. Srivastava Report on Kapilavastu and Holy Buddha Relics was filed to ASI in 1991. According to the book ‘The Return of the Buddha’ by Prof. Himanshu Prabha Ray, a Historian, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, the Taxila Relics, Mirpurkhas excavated in 1931 and the Nagarjunakonda Relics, 1932 are said to be enshrined at the Mulagandhakuti Temple in Sarnath near Varanasi, UP under the Mahabodhi Society of India. In 1963, the Devni Mori Relics is said to have been found near Shamalaji, Gujarat in a gold bottle wrapped in silk cloth within a copper bowl kept in a casket (1700 yr. old) with Brahmi inscription that reads ‘Abode of bodily relics of Lord Buddha’. It is now at the Baroda Museum in Gujarat.  The Sopara Relics, 1882 (Asiatic Society of Mumbai) and the Bhattiprolu Relic, 1892 were enshrined in Mumbai in 2006 in the central locking stone of the dome of the Global Vipassana Pagoda and was donated by Mahabodhi Society of India and the PM of Sri Lanka. The Sopara Relics were found in 1882 when Pt. Bhagvanlal Indraji, a renowned archaeologist, numismatist, epigraphist and Honorary Fellow of the ASM, excavated a Buddhist stupa at Nala Sopara near Bombay. The site itself has Mauryan associations and two Asokan edicts have been found. From the centre of the stupa was excavated a large stone coffer containing eight unique Buddhist bronzes of 8th-9th century AD. The coffer also enclosed relic caskets of copper, silver, stone, crystal and gold, along with numerous gold flowers and one of the 13 fragments of a begging bowl believed to have been originally used by Gautama Buddha. During 1958- 1962, the Vaishali Relics were found 55 km Northwest of Patna in Vaishali District in a stupa discovered under the aegis of K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute. The relics was excavated from the core of the stupa mixed with earth, piece of conch, pieces of beads, thin gold leaf and copper punch-marked coin. It is now at the Patna Museum. Similarly, the Girmar Relics, 1889 is said to be at Rajkot, Gujarat; the Bhattiprolu Relics, 1892 are said to be enshrined in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh and Kolkata under the Mahabodhi Society of India; The Lalitgiri Relics, 1986 in Bhubaneswar and a Tooth Relic, 1930 at Nagarjunakonda in Telangana.

A delegation of 24 high-ranking Bhutanese monks arrived in Kolkata on a tour of various Buddhist holy sites in India. Buddhism is not only the state religion of the Kingdom of Bhutan but also a way of life, Venerable Ugen Namgyal, the secretary of the Central Monastic Body of Bhutan, told PTI. “We try to live in the footsteps of the Buddha… For us, Buddhism is a way of life. Even our arts and architecture reflect our religious traditions,” Venerable Ugen Namgyal The International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) in coordination with the Central Monastic Body of Bhutan has organized the trip for the monks who head the Buddhist Sangha in each of the districts in the panoramic Himalaya, which lies sandwiched between India’s West Bengal and Tibet. International Buddhist Confederation is the biggest religious Buddhist confederation, based in Delhi, India. The architect of the International Buddhist Confederation is Lama Lobzang. This confederation is the first organization which unites Buddhists from the whole world. The monks, led by IBC’s deputy secretary-general Venerable Jang Chup Choden and Ven Namgyal, will visit various Buddhist sites in India, including the NagarjunaKonda in Andhra Pradesh, Buddhavanam in Telangana and Sankissa in Uttar Pradesh.   ‘Zhung Dratshang’ or the Central Monastic Body of Bhutan was established in 1620. The unification of the country, codification of the laws, and organizational development of the dual system of governance took place only after the establishment of this significant institution. According to Bhutan’s Constitution, the ‘Zhung Dratshang’ is an autonomous institution, financed by an annual grant from the royal government. India is the land of Buddhism where Gautam Buddha lived and get enlightened. This tour will link the great tradition of Buddhism in India and Bhutan. The tour will conclude on November 30.

Submitted by Phuntsog Dolma (Ph. D) Guru Padmasambhava, a great Indian tantric master of 8th century is an important figure in Buddhism. He was instrumental in establishing Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet and Bhutan and is popularly known as Guru Rinpoche means the Precious Master among his followers. Regarding his birth there is both mythical and legendary story. The first one states that Guru Padmasambhava was miraculously born as an eight-year-old boy form a blossoming Lotus flower in the Danakosha Lake, in the land of Uddiyana. His Tibetan, name is Padma Jungney, translated from the Sanskrit name Padmakara, which means “originated from a lotus.” Thus he is indeed named after his manner of birth. While in his biography titled ‘The Lotus Born: The Life Story of Padmasambhava’ recorded by one of his consorts Yeshe Tsogyal mentions that Padmasambhava was the son of the King Mahusita of Uddiyana and given the name Danarakshita who later took the ordination and given the name Sakya Senge. However, the actual location of Uddiyana is debated; some scholars locate this land to be the state of Odisha in India while others believe it to be in the Swat valley area the erstwhile undivided India and modern-day Pakistan. Interestingly, the birth of Guru Padmasambhava was prophesized by Gautama Buddha in Mahaparinirvana Sutra or Myang-hDas-mDo in Tibetan. In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Buddha Shakyamuni announced his own mahaparinirvana to the students who were with him at the time. Many of them, particularly Ananda, the Buddha’s cousin and personal attendant, were quite upset upon hearing this, so the Buddha turned to Ananda and told him not to worry. “Twelve years after my mahaparinirvana, a remarkable being with the name Padmasambhava will appear in the center of a lotus and reveal the highest teaching concerning the ultimate state of the true nature, bringing great benefit to all sentient beings.” Tibetan history credits Guru Padmasambhava as one of the founding fathers of Buddhism in Tibet along with Acharya Shantarakshita from India. He was one of the famous seventeen exceptional pandit scholars at Nalanda Monastic University in India (the great centre of Buddhist learning). Tibetan tradition records that when then king of Tibet Trisong Detsan was building a monastery, strong demonic forces caused disruption in the building of the monastery, therefore, the King in order to tame the forces invited the great Indian adepts Shantarakshita and Padmasambhava to Tibet. Later, King Trisong Detsan, Shantarakshita and Padmasambhava together built the first Buddhist monastery known as Samye Ling in Tibet where the first monk ordination ceremony was held for seven Tibetans. Besides, a school for the Sanskrit study was also established and a large number of Buddhist Sanskrit texts were translated into Tibetan language. The arrival and teachings of Padmasambhava in Tibet mark the beginning of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The name Nyingma literally means the old one, in the sense of being the earliest Tibetan tradition. Guru Padmasambhava mainly promulgated the tantric teachings. Since the study of logic and Buddhist philosophy was not well established, tantra teachings and practice were extremely kept secret. At that time, Guru Padmasambhava realized that the time had not yet arrived for many of his teachings to be revealed because very few Tibetan disciples were sufficiently ripened. In order to benefit future generations throughout the Tibetan cultural region, Padmasambhava left behind ‘Termas’, hidden teachings concealed by him and his consorts for discovery in the future by ‘Tertons’ (enlightened minds), destined to find the termas. In vajrayana buddhism, the termas can be tangible objects hidden in the earth, lakes or in the sky or intangible- those which come to tertons as revelations. In the early 8th century, Guru Padmasambhava is said to have visited Bhutan on invitation of King Sindhu Raja of Bumthang. Here also he subdued the unruly demons and malevolent forces that were creating obstacles in the way of the spread of Buddhism. Today, the figure and worship of Guru Padmasambhava dominate Bhutanese Buddhism and most sacred sites including the two most holy places in Bumthang and Paro are dedicated to him. Thus, during his lifespan Guru Padmasambhava travelled across Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and the different Himalayan regions of India where he founded the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Today, the imprints of Guru Padmasambhava in these countries are existing in the form of monuments, relics and folklore associated with his spiritual and religious activities. Thus, among his followers he is considered an enlightened force who exists beyond spatial and temporal constructions, beyond birth and death. The annual Hemis Festival in Ladakh commemorates the birth anniversary of Guru Padmasambhava. Similarly, in Bhutan, the annual Tseshu festival is celebrated on the tenth day of the months in Bhutanese calendar to honour Guru Padmasambhava. Over the centuries, Guru Padmasambhava’s teachings have spread far and wide, and his influence has grown from just the Himalayan region to other parts of the globe. While it is highly impossible to encapsulate his life and work in few pages, it is safe to say that the world owes its knowledge of Vajrayana Buddhism to Guru Padmasambhava, the precious teacher. Today, the great Indian tantric master is credited with having spread the message of Lord Buddha to the countries and regions located in the Himalayan belt, including Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal in India and in Nepal and Bhutan and Tibet to the north.

Submitted by Phuntsog Dolma, Ph. D After the Mahaparinirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha, his profound non-sectarian, universal teachings were not confined to the borders of India but rather travelled throughout Asia crossing the paths of oceans, deserts and mountains reaching to the rest of the world. In the North-West of India a network of ancient trade routes popularly known as Silk Route was originated during the 2nd century A.D. It was used by different sections of people like merchants, traders, scholars, monks and missionaries etc. with which different ideas, culture, art and scriptures also travelled along. One of the essential philosophies that transmitted through this route was the Buddha Dharma. The dissemination of Buddhism and Buddhist art was launched from northwestern India to modern Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Xinjiang (Chinese Turkistan), China, Korea and Japan. The transmission of Buddha Dharma from North-West region of the Indian sub-continent to other land is incomplete without mentioning the royal patronage of king Ashoka of Maurya Empire, King Menander and King Kanishka of the Kushan Empire. In the Buddhist history, King Ashoka is considered as the first great royal patron of Buddhism post Mahaparinirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha. It was through his efforts and determination that Buddhism came to occupy a prominent position in both India and abroad. Buddhism was the first religious philosophy that transmitted along the Silk Route from India to Gandhara region, Central Asia up to China. According to Buddhist historical sources, King Ashoka organized the Third Buddhist Council under the chairmanship of Moggaliputta Tissa at Pataliputra (now Patna) in 247 B.C. This council was conducted to preserve the Buddha’s teaching in its purest form. Post this council, it was decided to send Buddhist religious missionaries to different parts of the world. Consequently, King Ashoka sent out Buddhist missionaries to countries outside India through land and sea routes thus reaching the lands west of India in Central Asia and South costal countries of Sri Lanka. Historical sources mentioned that he deputed monk Majjhantika to travel to Kashmir and Gandhara region though which Buddhism eventually reached China and thereafter further flourished up to Korea and Japan. Besides, he also sent his son Mahindra and daughter Sanghamitra to the southern countries as far as Sri Lanka. As the Ashoka’s empire extended to the northwestern borders of the Punjab therefore, the Buddhist monks were free to move throughout the region. An ancient Khotanese tradition credits Vijayasambhava, a grandson of King Ashoka for introducing Buddhism in Khotan. According to this tradition, Arya Vairocana, a Buddhist scholar from India came to Khotan and became the preceptor of the Khotanese King. With this the first Buddhist monastery in Khotan was erected in 211 B.C. Thus, during the Ashokan period Buddhism emerged as a distinct religion with great potential for expansion. After the decline of the Mauryan Empire, the Greeks established its suzerainty over the Afghanistan and north western region of India. Among the Greek rulers, the account of King Menander (also known as Milinda) is found in the Pali Buddhist literature called Milinda Panha (Question of Milinda). This text records a dialogue between King Menander and Indian Buddhist monk Nagasena where monk Nagasena through his masterly skill was successful in resolving the doubts of the King that ultimately led him to embracing Buddhism. It says that the King made donations to Sangha and also built a monastery called Milinda-vihara and gifted to Nagasena. Besides, the Buddhist wheel of Dharmachakra was found on the coins of Menander period and the king remained a great patron and supporter of Buddhism till his last breath. Subsequently, the foundation of Buddhism along the Central Asian route was further strengthened by King Kanishka of the Kushana Empire whose suzerainty was stretched from today’s Hindu Kush to Kabul, Gandhara, northern Pakistan and north-west India. Therefore, a ceaseless missionary activity was carried out from north-west India to the regions along the Silk route. Buddhist history records that King Kanishka played a vital role in the history of Buddhism. Under his patronage the king convened the fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir which was presided over by Vasumitra and Ashvagosha. Also during his period a new style of Indo-Greek art known as Gandhara Art was developed that flourished mostly in Punjab and north western India. An example of this art is very much alive in the form of Buddhist paintings and statues in the Himalayan region of Ladakh. Thus, the ancient trade route played a significant role in disseminating Buddhism beyond the Indian Territory. The Buddhist Art that originated on the Indian subcontinent played a vital role in the proliferation of Buddha Dharma to the Central Asia and as Far East Countries thereby adapting the local style and norms in each new host country.