Harvard Divinity School dhama Shakra day Buddhism and emancipation of marginalized classes in India October 19th 2023 I hearly welcome everyone to this beautiful evening uh and we would like to dedicate few minutes for building a peace in the world uh that’s what the event was also to do in India
So we dedicating few minutes for peace building in the times we all are experiencing and passing through so traditionally on this day uh three refuges and five PR was chanting chanted on their day by one bmes monk so here we got sumita so I would like to invite him
To uh chant uh three repes and five precept for us so distinguished professors colleagues and friends as my friend uh Santos doct santush said I’m going to present the F uh the going for refugees and five recepts in par so you can be part of that just you know being silent because
I’m not going to ask everyone to repeat after me as it happens traditionally so I’m going to just present it in Pary Bud D s Sur sadu Sadu thank you B has recited uh five precepts in Pali and in India we recite uh in call and response uh in Hindi or local languages but uh I’ll just uh recite them in uh English it’s in call and response those who want to join they can join otherwise you can just
Listen with Deeds of loving kindness uh I purify my body with with open hand generosity I purify my body with with Stillness Simplicity and contentment I purify my body with truthful communication I purify my speech with mindfulness clear and radiant I purify my mind so I’m uh extremely grateful and
Thankful first of all I would like to begin our uh evening with that with the director Professor Stang and uh Team of cswr and the uh coordinator and team and Professor Monika Jonathan for really a great support for organizing such a uh event which is needed for uh uh the message of the
Buddha to spread in the world uh at the same time it’s very unique uh evening in the sense for a unique event that has happened in 1956 uh Dr edar EMASS Buddhism against the all cast violences or the any kind of operations or discrimination against women or
Minorities or upper lows he wanted to dismantle the the structure to establish the equal just peaceful society and uh by uh denying all means of violence he went to the feet of of the Buddha so I’m just going to play uh uh 7 Minutes clip
So that you can have a feel how it was looked like in uh uh 1956 there was a great movie uh which won the national award uh uh and uh made recently uh uh 10 years back so I’m just going to play that clip just for uh Buddhist conversion
Part so that was the mood in 1956 uh uh after uh 10 years of Independence what happened after his conversion to Buddhism they inspired by the spiritual values but they left unattended by the guidance and uh that’s the process and researches are happening across the uh Indian uh Society what they should
Follow so that’s what we are going to hear from uh uh panelist but for that uh now I would uh humbly request uh director cswr Professor Stang to come on [Applause] di good evening and welcome my name is Charles Tang I have the privilege of serving as the Director here at the
Center for the study of world religions at Harvard Divinity School since its founding in the late 1950s the cswr has been at the Forefront of of promoting the sympathetic study and understanding of the world’s religions and spiritual Traditions it has supported academic inquiry and international understanding in this field through its involvement
With the study of Religion at Harvard its research efforts and funding and its public programs and Publications and from the very start the study of Buddhism has been one of the Cent’s priorities another priority of the centers has been the promotion of religion peace and social justice which
Is the specific theme of our annual gy lecture Beyond promoting research and programming the center also serves as a residential Community each year we bring together students and Scholars from across the country and across the globe from diverse religious and spiritual backgrounds in order to create an open supportive space that nurtures academic
Exploration and collaboration this year we are privileged to have Dr Santos route as part of our residential Community Dr rout has come to us from hydrabad India where he is a faculty member in the department of Aesthetics and philosophy at the English and foreign languages Institute his Publications focus on the
Interconnected themes of democracy Buddhist Aesthetics and women’s empowerment and education in India here at HDs he is one of the Buddhist Ministry initiatives International fellows Dr route was the first of the center’s residents this year to present his work to the community as part of our regular residential research
Talks we’re grateful to him I am grateful to him for introducing us to the legacy of Dr edar and his efforts to emancipate marginalized populations in India through large-scale conversions to Buddhism just as we saw and to promote social Equity throughout India we are pleased and proud to partner with the
Buddhist Ministry initiative in hosting tonight’s event and to be able to bring these important topics to the attention of the broader Harvard Divinity School Community we also want to give special thanks to Dr route for his leadership in envisioning and executing this event and for inviting leading Scholars and
Writers in the field to share with us their research and perspectives so I extend a very warm welcome to Dr edelglass professor torat and Dr vundu I’ll now pass the Baton or the mic as it were to my colleague Jonathan mccrany from the Buddhist Ministry initiative and then to Dr route who will
Introduce each of our distinguished speakers thank you and welcome once again [Applause] well good evening everyone um it’s so wonderful to see such a great turnout for this event uh my name’s Jonathan mccrany and I’m the multi-religious ministry initiatives coordinator in the office of ministry studies here at
Harvard Divinity School and in this capacity I have the privilege of managing the activities of the Buddhist Ministry initiative here at HDS um I’d first like to thank our generous hosts and co-sponsors for this evening the faculty and staff of the cswr many of whom are here um and uh you’ve been our
Constant partners and friends in many of our programs and so we really thank you for for your continuing friendship on that front and I’d of course also like to thank our convenor Dr Santos rout and it’s an honor to have you with us at HDs the Buddhist Ministry initiative at
Harvard Divinity School uh was the first of its kind at a Divinity School within a research University in in the United States uh and it trains future Buddhist religious Professionals in terms appropriate to Modern Global conditions drawing on the strengths of Harvard’s faculty resources in the academic study
Of Religion and Buddhist studies as well as spiritual care the BMI coordinates a range of courses on the history thought and practice of Buddhism and in the Buddhist Arts of ministry the initiative also supports the field education of Buddhist Ministry students in hospitals and other sites of pastoral care and
Leadership and offers the insights of Buddhist textual traditions and practice is to students from all religious Traditions who study Ministry at HDs and as part of the Buddhist Ministry initiative’s efforts to build connections to Buddhist ministerial movements in Asia the initiative offers a limited number of special scholarships
Each year to individuals who are deeply engaged in Buddhist communities in Asia uh to come join us as BMI International fellows for the year and U Dr Santos shout is one of those fellows this year and we’re most honored to have him with us and we’re extraordinarily fortunate
To have him here um I’ve already learned so much from him uh in my capacity with the initiative and I know all of our students have as well and our faculty and so we just really want to thank you again for organizing this program and for your leadership um here in the
Community and uh yes please and um I’ll also just note that the the topic for this evening um Buddhism and the emancipation of marginalized classes in India is a very time an important one for the BMI and indeed for Buddhists and non- Buddhists around the world and the work of the
Buddhist movement started by Dr edar in India is a model for all of us in standing in solidarity with those on society’s margins uh particularly as we seek to integrate a commitment to emancipation and Justice in all contexts and in all forms into our work in deeper
And greater ways um and so we look forward to learning from our speakers this evening and from Santos over the rest of his year with us and so without further Ado let’s continue with the program thank you [Applause] uh dear friends uh most of the scholars on Dr
Ambedkar uh those who are deeply studied him uh understands his political career social career educational career he was in Colombia studied in uh London School of Economics wrote Indian constitution both uh Buddhist and non- Buddhist everyone appreciates him with the sympathy the struggle he has gone through his
Life uh uh including those who are in power and those who are not in power everyone appreciates him for what he has uh brought to India what he has done to India to hold the largest democracy of India uh in the world uh and everyone is proud of that
Uh but most of them could not understand uh in at times even uh on his scholarship the last days of his life that the real democracy comes out of spiritual values or on the basis of dhama uh that angle uh is missed uh and recently the scholarship and research
Fellows are working on this and in fact when he said that uh uh use the word Liberty equality and fraternity he said in BBC interview 1954 that I did not borrow this world from French Revolution but I borrowed from my master the Buddha and he said that fraternity is another name of Mitri
The Meta the Friendship that’s what he uses and that’s not a fraternity is not a equip word for the Democracy that I wanted to defin I have to borrow the word from the Buddha’s dictionary he says and immediately after this event he went to Nepal invited by the king of uh
Uh Nepal and he was addressing not to The Untouchables he was addressing to the traditional Buddhist communist uh and the what we call the left-wing uh uh uh activist King asked him to deliver a message to them and Dr ambedkar said uh violence is not a means to bring change
It’s only the peace that can conquer uh the enemies uh if you kill the enemies you are killing the uh arguments also which will pertinent for longer time so we have to kill the wrong views the Mad diti uh that’s what he said and he said that may Buddha’s path appears to be
Long and tedious but it’s the shest way that’s the message he has given so I think this is something that is fascinates the cultural civilizational and historical and religious uh history I’m studying Theology and try to learn and try to understand what all those projects are and how to navigate that
Because religion is such a thing is very delicate and sensitive to fall either side Dr edar was very uh peacefully trading path without uh uh Bloodshed uh in his Revolution he launched in 1956 for that we have a wonderful ful speakers very accomplished uh uh speakers and panel we have today
So I will introduce uh first of all uh uh Dr William idel glass uh he is a director to uh Berry Buddhist center uh William uh is a director of studies at the bar Center for Buddhist studies director of the five colleges uh uh College Tibet Tibetan studies in
India and adjacent professor at the Central University of higher Tibetan studies in sarath William received his PhD in Philosophy from imori University working on Indian and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy as well as contemporary Western thinkers his writings and teachings engaged uh Buddhist studies uh environmental Humanities philosophy William Williams recent publication have
Addressed mindfulness and ethics meditation and well-being the ethics of uh difference and climate change BR ambedkar’s Buddhist political thought nonviolence and Justice the spread of Buddhism and the contribution of uh Buddhist Landscapes the role of faith in Indian Buddhist literature on the path uh Williams most recent book The
Routledge uh Handbook of Indian Buddhist philos philosophy uh is published in 2020 he’s also co-author co-editor of Buddhist philosophy essential readings published from Oxford and the Oxford Handbook of world philosophy that was in uh 2011 apart from uh his academic accomplishment and the expertise he’s a he is a great-hearted man very gentle
And I think what we study what we uh practice that as a effect on our person so that really resembles in his personal I would like to uh invite uh Professor uh William to come on the DI and take his seat please I will introduce panelist and
Then I will leave and I’ll hand it over to everyone next on the list we got Professor SK thorat I was not his direct student but I am his student uh while I was doing my masters I was in the same University and uh he he uh he’s
Very well-known Economist uh and policy maker in uh India uh he is a uh former chairman to University Grant commission which holds uh all the universities together in India he got padmashri award which the highest citizens uh award uh from from government of India in 2008 for contribution in social science uh and
Education the most prestigious Award of government of India his research ver focuses on agricultural de uh development uh ruler poverty uh institution and economic growth problems of marginalized group economic economics of cast cast discrimination and poverty human development uh thoughts of Dr ambedkar uh educational policies uh among marginalized group and also to
Some extent now he picked up interest in the uh philosophy of exclusion so here I would like to invite Professor Thor to come and uh take his seat please we got third uh speaker or panelist on the board uh Dr rajashekar Wu he’s the author of Gandhi ambedkar and Patel
Uh he serves as a chief secretary in harana state government of India rashar Wu uh uh his book is translated into marati Hindi telu and there are in processes many Indian languages uh it’s a very popular book uh and bestseller book in uh India is uh sort of critically engages with the
Electoral uh system uh in India and therefore the democracies uh he has written extens ly on ambedkar cast unability theit History Literature in epw uh new Indian uh uh Indian Express the Hindu uh business line Times of India Hindustan times economics times the Tribune and the Outlook magazines which are very
Prestigious uh magazines he is a recipient of the Dr ambedkar uh uh ratna award in 2016 from Delhi government uh he received India international Excellence award in 2019 uh UAE uh and Dr edar pruda bat Peace Prize award uh in nagpur 201 uh 19 uh Wu uh belongs to India’s Premier
Civil services the administrative Services since 1990 and held a very high administrative position in federal and state governments currently he holds a position as a chief secretary to government of harana in Department of Housing and civil aviation so here I would like to invite uh Dr [Applause]
Rashar thank you so much Santos for your warm introduction and for organizing this and professor thorat and Dr vundu I’m really honored do you need to close the door I’m really honored to uh be here with you and honored to be at Harvard Divinity School and the
Center for the study of world religions which has such a great history um and that the Barry Center for Buddha studies is connected with Mata is doing their field education placement at the Barry Center for Buddha studies they are our fourth student and everyone has been absolutely
Fantastic and we have a number of teachers from HDs and some board members and I am very grateful to be in relationship with HDs um Charles when you were talking about sympathetic interpretations of other Traditions I just wanted to note you probably noticed In that clip that we saw that edar has
Some hard things to say about um Hinduism and if you study on bedc car’s work and maybe some of what will come up here if you are a Hindu it might land in ways that are challenging and I just want to acknowledge that at the beginning and
Having just seen that clip that that might land for us in different ways for different people and in the tradition of sympathetic interpretations of uh world religions I just wanted to mark that and express that sympathetically Santos and I talked about me just giving a little bit of historical background there are people
In this room who know an enormous about about edar and there are some people for whom a little bit of situating oned cars conversion might be helpful and so I’m going to do that and as n says I I’d never trust a thought that I don’t get well walking and I am
Going to stand while I talk so edar was born in 1891 the 14th child of a family who belonged to the Mahar cast or the Mahar jati um jati is an igam group that is typically associated with a occupation and is regional as opposed to casts which are trans
Regional and and they are regarded as an outcast what used to be called Untouchable but now we refer to as dollet most of us um dollet from the Sanskrit roote doll meaning broken um and what that meant is for him when he was in school
He um sat in a burlap sack that he brought home every night he wasn’t allowed to sit in the chair his teachers didn’t touch his papers he wasn’t allowed to touch the chalkboard he wasn’t allowed to touch the Talk touch the chalk he wasn’t allowed to touch the
Water fountain and so for him to drink the peon the servant needed to pour water into his mouth because he wasn’t allowed to touch the cup and if the peon wasn’t there as he says in his autobiography waiting for a Visa he didn’t drink he went thirsty so remarkably he made it to
Elfin Stone college at the University of Bombay where he graduated with a degree in politics and economics and may have been the very first member of the Mahar jati to graduate from college and remarkably through the Goodwill of a very Progressive leader in Baroda he was given a scholarship to study at
Columbia where he went in 1913 and worked really really hard with some remarkable people he studied sociology philosophy with John Dewey especially economics and also history and he managed to do um a couple of Masters and eventually a PhD he didn’t finish the PHD until the
1920s and in 1916 he went to London where he lived at gry’s in became a Barrister and also did a masters and eventually a PhD at the London School of Economics his initial dissertation was rejected because he showed that British colonialism had a detrimental impact on the Indian economy which is professors
Did not appreciate so he had to rewrite much of it um but it is a remarkable amount of work in those years he studied really really hard and honestly as somebody who’s now spent a bunch of time thinking about edar and thinking about what scholarship can do especially as we’re in an
Academic institution right now he is a remarkably inspiring and humbling figure for what the motivation to study and what scholarship can contribute not just to one individually but to the world but when he came back to India and took up service in Boda his staff wouldn’t eat with him
They wouldn’t to give him papers they would throw it at him across the desk and he actually wasn’t even able to find a place to stay and so he had to leave service in baroa and he then devotes himself to a number of activities to uplift and support um the lowest most
Marginalized and exploited people and that involves starting schools political parties um as a jurist as a bar um he takes up dollet rights and most importantly perhaps for the telling of the story that I am offering he got very involved in Satya graha movements movements that were nonviolent
To to get access for dollits to public water tanks and to Hindu temples so this was especially in the late 20s and into the mid-30s um those movements were not supported by Gandhi and the congress party um Gandhi explicitly spoke against these movements and they failed a lot of years
Of nonviolent protest to get access to public water tanks and to get access to Hindu temples did not work and those years of unsuccessful nonviolent protests ultimately led edar to the conclusion that reforming the cast system was not possible so there were a lot of um reformers like edar who wanted to
Do away with untouchability there were many many many Progressive Hindus and many people in the congress party who wanted to do away with untouchability edar came to the view that you couldn’t do away with untouchability without doing away with cast which is articulated in his famous book the annihilation of cast and just
For a little bit of sympathetic a sympathetic moment from edar himself in that book even as he is deeply critical of cast and of Hinduism he argues there that cast is at the heart of Hinduism that the cast system is a system of graded inequality in which you have resentment and hatred
Of the ones who are above contempt for the ones who are below and the ones who are at the lowest levels do not have access to education or arms and therefore can’t improve their situation the ones who are in the middle resent the ones who are above but
They are too attached to their privileges to try to change the system this he thinks is at the heart of Hinduism he also makes very clear that he doesn’t think that Hindus who participate in the structural violence even some of the direct violence what today we might also talk about as
Epistemic violence cultural violence that Hindus who participate in that are not themselves bad people this is a good thing to keep in mind as all of us think about things like white privilege and um hierarchical situations in our context here more locally it’s not that Hindus
Are bad people but they he says are caught up in a set of cultural religious practices which lead them to think that acting in these ways that end up causing exploitation subordination violence that end up ex marginalizing large groups of people to the edges of village life so
That they cannot participate in communal life and live dependent upon the um dependent upon cast Hindus in the village but that has to do with a cultural spiritual social Arrangement and not with anybody actually being bad necessarily so very famously at a conference at Yola he
Says as was referenced in the clip I had The Misfortune of Being Born a Hindu but I have the choice and I will not die a Hindu and and he then has come to the point that reforming the cast system reforming Hinduism he thinks is a lost
CA and he looks around and a lot of people are looking at him siks Christians Muslims Buddhists who want him to convert to their religion and eventually he chooses Buddhism but even though though we’re celebrating the conversion that happened in October of 1956 in my mind the conversion is already happening in the
1950s I mean 1930s at this time because he articulates the conversion and the move to Buddhism in such clearly political terms ambedkar’s Buddhism it’s often thought of as instrumental as instrumentally political and and sometimes therefore thought of as not really Buddhist and that is particularly true because
Certainly in the west and also to some degree in India he’s often thought of as a constitutionalist because he became the first law Minister under an independent India and then neru appointed him as chair of the drafting committee for the Constitution how many more minutes do I have a few
Um he was chair of the drafting committee he’s often regarded as the main architect of the Indian constitution he’s often thought of as primarily a political thinker but one of the things that he comes to really emphasize is that even as universal rights are articulated in the Constitution without a spiritual moral
Religious transformation those rights mean nothing in a democracy he says the majority could commit crimes the majority could commit atrocities the majority could practice subordinating behaviors but it’s only really a crime that is punished if one person does it if one person commits a crime they’re punished but if everybody is doing he
Gets this from Edmund Burke and what he says is that what we need really to make this democracy work our mitry our benevolence compassion karuna transformation of the Mind training of the mind his argument is that what democracy really is is a system where when we fight with
Others we don’t bloody them so bad that we remain antagonists we engage with them so that we can continue to build community we engage with them so that we can continue to eat together to live together to share a communal life and that he thinks is what Buddhist practice is largely
About it sounds as if it could be primarily instrumental and political and in many ways it is political um but it is not a rejection of many of the classical orientations to practice whereby one cultivates the Mind One cultivates the Brahma baharas such as Mitri and karuna so the conversion
Then as I want to think about it really starts in the 1930s culminates in 1956 but already the years leading up to that conversion in 1956 he is becoming a deeply spiritually oriented man a man who sees spiritual practice as the very condition for a healthy democracy and for him all violence
Really all suffering is not as one might think of with the four noble truths for him violence is really the violence that comes from social subordination and so for him Buddhism is deeply about becoming the kind of people who can be open to others across difference of groups not be caught up in
An outgroup antiy but rather to find common commonality to see in the vulnerable bodies of others um a body with whom one can share food a body with whom one can marry across cast lines so those are a few contextualizing words about what ambedkar’s conversion means to me and
And I look forward to hearing my colleagues on this panelist on this panel say [Applause] more that really contextualizes the situation that he said that uh Reformation of the world cannot be possible by unless Reformation uh you reform your own mind and uh he says that
My battle is not for political gain or for uh any any wealth but my battle is essentially spiritual so maybe I would like to then uh invite Professor thorat uh uh after uh William good evening let me begin with a a profound thank and appreciation
To SOS R uh and the director of the center for religion at the university that they have given us this uh excellent opportunity to to celebrate and perhaps also discuss the conversion of Dr ambedkar which happened about 67 year before 3 days before the 14th of October 19 uh 56 uh friends
The the main theme of this uh discussion is the role of Dr ambedkar through Buddhism in elevating the marginalized section of the Indian Society in this context therefore I decided to sort of share with you my views on Dr ambedkar’s perspective on convergent to Buddhism and I sort of take a position
That this convergent to Buddhism was with the intention of restructuring Indian Society towards equality Liberty and fraternity uh replacing uh the Hindu society which is uh governed by the rule of inequality lack of freedom and antisocial Freedom antisocial attitude therefore what I will do is I
Will confin to the view of Dr ambedkar or rather interpretation of Dr ambedkar of Buddhism through is writing a very very excellent background has been given by Professor William delegates he he really captured the the early childhood and the education of Dr ambedkar I will therefore confine to uh Dr ambedkar’s views and
Perspective uh on Buddhism as an instrument as an ideology for the transformation of Indian Society taking towards the goal of equity Liberty bre food uh edar with more than 5,000 depressed Class People converted to Buddhism 67 year before on October 14 1956 at nagpur Maharashtra we have seen that uh
Documentary and this was perhaps the largest conversion in India after the spread of Buddhism during Buddha period after BC 600 before Christ 600 and later after the king Ashoka in BC 2053 and ever since 1956 there has been a conversion of EX Untouchable and other depressed classes also uh in various
Prov provinces in India officially as in today in 2020 the total population or our Buddhist constitute about 1% of India’s population almost from 0 to 1% is a is a big achievement and that all credit goes to Dr ambedkar now the issue is what was
The goal of Dr edar what was the mission of Dr edar for conversion which has been explained I will use I will use two documents two writing of Dr ambedkar in order to make the point Dr edar has not written much on uh Buddhism as much his his outstanding book is of
Course Buddha and dama that’s that’s the major source to understand what are view on uh Buddhism although he has given lectur but the main source is Buddha and is dama which he wrote and the 22 o administered at the time of conversion which we have seen here it seems obvious from this two
Writing that Dr ambedkar go goal was to reconstruct and rebuild the Hindu society around the principle of equality Liberty or individual Freedom frat and Brotherhood replacing the inequity and unfree social order of which the low cost particularly The Untouchables were the wor victim edar spent considerable academic energy to understand the causes of
Inequality and the and the situation of the Untouchable deprived situation of the Untouchable during the 1920s and the 30s his search led him to believe that the sources source of the deprived situation and inequality was the cast system as has been rightly pointed out which he mentioned in a lecture an election of
Cast in 1936 he also understood that the cast system was not a standalone social institution this is very important this point has been made by William uh he also under understood that the cast system was not a standalone social institution but it was constituent and integral part of the brahmanical
Religion I won’t use the word Hindu religion Hindu word came around 1,000 ad but Dr ambedkar all his writing he used the brahmanical religion or Vic religion edar observed the iniquity cast system was a divinely prescribed way of life as a religious Doctrine it has became incarnated in Hindu society and is
Shaped and molded in his thought and in doing so he’s bringing out a connection of cast system and untouchability with Hindu religion brahmanical religion therefore Dr made an appeal he was convinced by 1930 uh he made an appeal to Hindus in any Elation of c as a matter of fact for
A reform of Hindu religion and later announced the plan to live Hindu religion and convert to other religion to secure equality dignity to the Untouchable from 1935 onward I think it’s a coincident that he declared that he will he was born as a Hindu but he won’t die as a
Hindu that was on 13th of October 1935 so 20 year later he converted to Buddhism he waited for 20 years for Hindus to reform to come forward for the reform of the C system and Hindu religion but there was no respond and therefore then he took a decision to convert to the Buddhism
Now as I said the the goal was certainly that reform of cost system would not help reform of untouchability would not help he has started a civil right movement in 20s and 30 it is only the change of religion uh would help and therefore rebuilding necessarily involved when he was talking of
Rebuilding rebuilding necessarily involved replacement of one by another Wrong by right here for Dr ambedkar rebuilding of Hindu Society was replacement of brahminism by Buddhism as the governing doctrine of way of life for Hindu people to sources namely the book Buddha and his dhama and the 22 W
Administered by him to the follower on October 14 1956 at the time of conversion to Buddhism clearly bring out this if you look at these two writing they have two separate part very interestingly one part talks about the negation and rejection and another part talks about the acceptance dealing with
The principles which he reject and Dr edar very miraculously saw to it in this book Buddha andhad that each point he made he made that point quoting Buddha he only offered the interpretation but he quoted Buddha on each of the important point this tells us the mission of Dr edar to replace the
Religious ideology of brahmanism supportive of inequality lack of individual Freedom lack of fraternity with Buddhism which promote equality equal status Freedom fraternity and Brotherhood similar differences are Al are in religious speeching also now what he rejected Dr edar has a good section in Buddha and his dhama he rejected viic
Brahmanism quoting Buddha and what are Dr ambedkar’s views very briefly I will mention what is the main religious and social doctrine of the philosophy of viic brahmanism in the early stages of say around BC 1,500 to 1,000 in ambedkar’s view the quarrel between Buddhism and brahmanism was a issue and
That was the difference was what is truth how do we interpret truth what can be accepted as truth and he described the main feature of ramism then which of course he attribute to the downfall of Untouchable and a massive inequality Indian Society I just mentioned the main point
So that we can capture what he negates what Buddha negates the Brahmin doctrine of Truth was that it was something to which was declared by Vedas Veda are secred and infallable and hence not to be questioned Veda ordained that God created physical and human Universe solvation of human being or
Wellbeing lies in viic sacrifices and observation of religious rights and ceremonies and offering of gift to the god through Brahmin past Brahmin is a believe in life after death that is rebirth the many also believe in Soul and Karma and its linkages with rebirth the present life is determined by the
Karma in the past and the future birth determined by karma in the present th the present is fixed given and cannot be changed the karma is carried through the soul which is eternal with which decide the rebirth ramism beli sacrifices of animals in rituals and hence supported
Violence or H now this is as far as the religious ideology of viic brahminism has concerned which Dr edar has described in Buddha inama in a very simple word this was a book written for the ordinary people but the whism or bism had also the theory of uh so
Society ideal society and Amar outlined the feature of the cost system which is the ideal Hindu Society C system is a binding and unquestionable because it is given in Vedas and Vedas are infallable not to be question cast system is created by God from the different part of his body the first
Rule is that the society is divided into four classes or five cast based on the graded inequality and bounded with each other by unequal rights and privileges occupation of each cast are fixed by birth one class cannot trespass the occupation of other rules is that no social equality among the four five cast
Rule gives right to education to three classes three cast but not to sudra and the woman half of the population woman they did not have right to education fifth feature is that man’s life is divided into four stages uh brahmacharya Gama then Sasa and others first and the
Last stage was not open to the sudra and the woman thus the viic brahmanical ideal Society is based on the wna or cast with unequal right across cast with immense privileges to the brine at the cost of the denial of economic civil and religious right to the wor majority of
The low cost the motive behind religious and social philosophy is thus economic power and high social status there is hardly anything spiritual about it the cast as a social organization of Hindu is supported by Reda and all other vdas and other bical religious test in a volume called volume
Four riddle of Hinduism is the title Dr edar has studied all the religious okay all the religious uh test and po out that they contain the reference to cast which include Gita manusi puranas ramayana Mahabharata there is no Hindu test which has not supported the cast system now let me
Come very quickly uh what is the alternative that he has given in the form of Buddhism and again uh this is from Buddha and dama Buddhism emerged in BC 600 as a counter to brahmanism which did not recognize religious and social philosophy of viic brahmanism that is the rejection that is comeon
Edar interpreted Buddhism in a manner such that on each of the point the Buddha’s position is counterpose against bism this amount to offering an alternative religious and social philosophy and to build up the social relation on those alternative principle making Buddhism a im manatory laboratory liberatory project or what we
Use Liberation theology he doesn’t use theology he used ideology but it’s close to the idea of Liberation theology if we draw a parallel from discourse from Christianity let us mention ambedkar’s position uh which ambedkar has quoted Buddha on each of these Point very briefly on truth to Buddha the truth was
Something which is supposed to be by uh supported by proof and experience to which a person experience and bear witness and also perception logic and rationalism as a basis of understanding truth and generating knowledge Buddha deed Vedas are inflable and their Authority is non- questionable nothing is final everything should be subject to
Re-examination and and reconsideration freedom of thought was essential no belief in efficacy in right ceremony sacrifice as a means of obtaining human being No sacrifice Buddha made distinction between true sacrifice and false sacrifice self-denial for good of other is a true sacrifice but not sacrifice in terms of killing of animal
As a ritual denied cast system denied belief in God as the Creator and Brahma as a principle underlying Universe no belief in Atma or Soul no belief in karma based on the past deed oppose violence and reputed the theory of God created by universe so these are some of the
Rejection that comes from Buddha the objective of Dr edar in Buddha and his dma is counterpose Buddhism VAV is the brahmanical ideolog ology so I will not go I I will avoid the other differences uh of Buddha but basically then what alternative Buddha has given Buddha has
Given the alternative and I will WR read out very quickly the dhma is social dhma is rightousness which means right relation between man and man in all sphere of life does one man if he is alone does not need dhama this is the sentence that I pick up from Buddha and
Is dma when there are two men living in relation to each other they must decide what should be the relation between them so that they both benefit out of the relationship for men to behave with each other in rightness so that well-being of all the is maximized and that ideology
Again I don’t want to go into great detail it has been mentioned very clearly uh the pilas and the eight-fold path this is what in summary he has given I don’t have a time to uh go into detail but he also reject the theory of karma based on the past deed he also
Reject the existence of soul and he he also denied the existence of rebirth there is a special interpretation of Dr edar about the rebirth Rebirth of whom and Rebirth of what if you believe Rebirth of what then Buddha believe in rebirth but Rebirth of the same person
Buddha denied so this is what uh I think what Dr edar did in Buddha is dama is the counterpose Buddhism Vis the brah viic brahmanism some of some of the point he has modified and this was all with the intention of rebuilding Society uh highly an inequal Society on the
Basis of uh Buddhism so I think both on the religious side but also on the social side Society site waym believ is in C system edar quote Buddha and it’s very powerful I want to read it out Buddha system roots and branches what a powerful word he has brought out
Worth not birth is the measure of a man must promote equality between man and man oppose religion which recommend action that brings happiness to oneself by causing sorrow to other you can see that the the advantage of high cast are at the cost of the denial of right to the
Untouchable so this is what I think uh I Briefly summarize now same thing has happened in 22 WS if you read the 22 Wes uh there are there are 22s 1 to8 are rejection I don’t want to read it there is a list here but eight onward their
Acceptance Buddhism so the same approach you follow in the in the in the conversion also now I will make I just a five minute and stop then is that and this is a very important point in present context so I’m buying five minute from rashik Pres presentation is
That that that Dr ambedkar interpreted Indian history as a struggle between brahmanism and Buddhism as a struggle between equity and non-equity and then he he said that the the the struggle between brahmanism and Buddhism is not a one time in events it is it has happened throughout the
History and so he developed a theory of interpretation of Indian history what is called revolation and counter Revolution that there has been a Revolution by Buddha and Ashoka but there was a counter revolution of of romanism in the later period which it was so significantly important that it Leed to
The downfall and demise of the Buddhism Al together from the soil of its origin even before Buddha there was a counter Revolution you had a viic Brahmin there was what is called sanism which was opposing the principle of uh brahmanism now just I want to summarize by saying
That his theory of history is is nothing but a struggle between bism and Buddhism that is a struggle between having a society based on equality against inequality having a religious ideology which believe in rationalism empirical fact as against those which believe in God rituals and all that now what has happened is that
Today the same uh approach is being used in 1944 in in Madras Dr edar says that we are living in a in a period of counter Revolution that is Rise of brahmanism Buddhism was no nowhere there in 1944 it is Dr edar Who revived it and he
Said that we are living in uh um counter Devolution and if you see today is that there is a massive effort on the part of the group to revive brahmanism to revive brahmanical relig religious ideology and also to revive castism uh there are there are there are written statement and statement by the
People who talks about replacing Constitution by Vic brahminism replacing Constitution by Monti replacing Constitution by sanatan Dharma because Constitution was a revolution when you entire Hindu Society is based on inequality lack of Freedom when you accept the Constitution which talk of equality fraternity it was a revolution
So in order to sort of counter the Constitution you find that the counter Revolution is on I do not I don’t have a time uh I have this I will ask Santos to circulate to all of you who are interested that what is the nature of present counter Revolution the present
Counter Revolution follow the same method of accom accom accommodation and assimilation it follow the same method of violence against those who talk about equity and alternative ideologies and and that count counter Revolution which which started in 2000 BC by Manu continues today in the present time I think uh with this few
Observation I conclude thank [Applause] you well the kingdom of righteousness that’s what the Buddha uh used and that’s what Dr ambedkar expressed uh now I’d like to uh say that what he has rejected and what he accepted was a uh very peaceful means he adopted in the process of transformation of society and
I think more need to talk about Buddhism uh and the ideas that he interpreted in modern time to have a inputs for a liberation theology uh maybe I would like to invite now rajakar Wu for uh his presentation it’s a beautiful evening thank you all of you for coming
Over for a very significant and uh it’s going to be a very important event for the future here we are sitting trying to understand about for Dr BR ambedkar and his role in bringing back Buddhism in India and he brings it to the oppressed classes the marginalized classes of India I’m extremely
Thankful Harvard devinity School center for the study of world religions Buddhist Ministry initiative the director his entire uh staff and faculty and of course Dr Santosh R is also called his Buddhist name is Mitri nagarjuna he is a honorary director of uh an Institute called nagaloka in
Nagpur and uh every weekend he runs away from his university after teaching Buddhist Aesthetics to nagpur and he runs running an Institute is not very easy it tries to do it thank you so much all of you every one of you having come over here very beautiful talk by Dr Williams
He has introduced so beautifully about Dr BR ambedkar to all of us and his struggle the initiative when we are talking about oppressed classes every society in the world civilizations have oppress a section has oppressed the other section it’s a civilizational aspect and there’s always been a
Struggle and a fight and the powerful class wants to continue to oppress but we have a unique situation we had a unique situation still have a unique situation in India the scriptural sanction for the oppression is something different this scriptural sanction is written in the scriptures and what actually happened when Dr BR
Edar was studying the the religion during the British colonial period lot of Indian scriptures when Sanskrit or other language was translated into English so now we know Dr BR ambedkar came comes to know where is the where is the oppressive character of those scriptural sanctions and he
Goes about it he goes about it and that is the unique Journey Dr edar takes to understand and and to emancipate the oppressed classes but it was not Dr BR ambedkar alone who tried to do it in fact Dr Williams was mentioning about it I’d like to mention four Saints before him
They they attained sainthood and of course Baba Dr B ambedkar became a saint in the Buddhist tradition bodhisatwa we have two stupas Buddhist stupas uh for him one in Mumbai and other one in nagpur with his ashes kept here there in a Buddhist tradition the four Saints poet Saints came before him
From Tamil Nadu in Southern India nandar he he was the first to oppose the cast system he recited poetry but he was fighting within the within the Hindu religion so he he was a he was a worshipper of SIA it’s called shiism and he tried to enter the temple
He was denied so goes on the story so he was dying his all his poetry is about I’d like to look at the see the god at least once because in in in in temples they they close the doors in the evening or during certain periods that was that was in nandar was
In the 8th Century then we have chamea from the land of Dr BR edar he was again a saint trying to enter the Temple of voba another form of Hindu god and again he is denied so he sings songs he he has recites great poetry
Yearning to be with with the Lord or The God then we have uh the most important saint called Saint ravidas ravidas was a shoe maker and he goes about talking about equality he tries to talk to people bring in people together and he was during the period of 15th and 16th
Century similarly Saint Kabir he was a Viva and he again tried to reform Hinduism tried to bring in people beautiful poet this this period in in in the Indian history is called bti Revolution these are all called poet saints that is how they could connect to the people interestingly another religion I don’t
Know whether our school has really picked it up the Sikhism the most visible and prominent uh new religion comparatively over the centuries all the same Poets of Kabir and ravidas are in the holy book of Sikhism it’s called Guru gr sahib gurug gr ADI gr now what has happened when when when
You try to reform a religion like it has happened in several religions when you try to reform a religion the relig is so strong that it comes back like Professor Thor told us the counter Revolution it comes back to you all the follow followers of ravidas has made into a cust okay all
You ravidas you are a cust so the cast is called ravasi now the followers of Kabir Kabir panti p is the PA SE sect so they become C so what do we do about them so when when these when these uh the poet Saints poetry got into the holy book of
Sism and Sikhism is comparatively a beautiful religion they don’t have any rituals anybody can enter their holy place anytime and all are welcome so it it is it’s is a kind of a reformed religion but again even that religion which is a new religion got into the scge of cast
System so what the Ravid dasis who became siks they separated their gurudwara or the holy place of siks it’s called ravidas gurudwara you can find a lot of them you type on the Google you’ll find ravidas gurudwaras several of them in the US I’ve seen myself in in Pittsburgh
In California in in Seattle you you have one in New York maybe you might be having one in Boston so how when you try to reform a religion over the centuries how they they come back into again sex this is this is something so Dr BR ambedkar have all these people in fact
He dedicated one of his book where he studied untouchability for these three Saints r Das cha and nandar he he he dedicates to them so these emancipatory models in religion um Tred to reform but eventually they they became they became a part of the cast so when Dr edar went
About trying to understand he faced as Dr William said the political issue in 1911 in India under the British colonial period there was census the census for the first time enumerated Untouchables as a separate group so suddenly the the the Untouchable leaders felt that okay this
Is my number so I can claim political rights eventually in 1930s Dr BR edar after studying in Colombia goes back and uses the uh Census Data saying that okay I’m 9% I would like to have 9% political representation in the legislative bodies Here Comes Mahatma Gandhi he says no you
Are not a separate group you are a part of Hindus so here comes the fight between both of them the friction between both of them Gandhi wins Gandhi wins and he says that all the Untouchables are Hindus he he legalizes that thing by uh offering Hindu constituencies or electoral
Districts to Untouchables so we have elections in 37 1937 and then it goes on so when Dr BR edar goes about studying who are Untouchables he brings in another very significant aspect he tries to understand whether Untouchables are a separate race are there a separate race all racial factors most of them
Anthropological factors because when you suddenly go to India you all the people look like us and suddenly he’s different cast I’m a different cast he’s different cast so he tries to understand is there a racial thing about Untouchables or the cost system BR ambedkar in a very significant study it’s a one-off
Study he says there is no racial aspect to cstem and he and he tells us that The Untouchables were broken men they were thrown out of the society and made to do work or menial work to to be called as untouchabl he has another theory through several um he he quotes several texts
And he says when Buddhism was veining away it was almost dying the left out Buddhism Buddhists were treated by the powerful regimes of those times and they were pushed out of the society and made into Untouchables there are two theories of of of origin and he rejects Dr BR ambedkar Rejects
The Arian theory of migration he says nobody came to India nobody occupied India it is all the people belonged to India and they became different classes and groups so this was his journey but he gets when Dr BR ambedkar gets the first opportunity before conversion he writes the Indian
Constitution that was his first attack against the C system he creates a beautiful Constitution and the one of the most important thing along with Gandhi it was also a Gandhi’s campaign to abolish untouchability the first of all they abolish untouchability the way we AB abolished America abolished
Slavery he and in fact Dr BR ambedkar was here right in New York when um the former slaves were sitting and trying to understand what is happening to uh 50 years slavery he was right in in Harlem in in maybe in Colombia University trying to understand slav
Abolition of slavery so he pushes the abolition of untouchability in the Indian constitution and brings in equality Liberty and fraternity is a core aspect of the Indian constitution and gives us beautiful fundamental rights so that was his first attempt to break the cast system and emancipate the
Oppress but for him to understand and democracy he says democracy is a form of government where revolutionary changes in the society can be brought about in a social and economic manner without Bloodshed he says that is what is democracy or democracy should work towards that so that is how he
Moves towards the emancipatory aspects and of course the way Dr William and professor torat and and are clipping and Dr Santos told us he gets into the conversion I’m not going into the conversion part but he understands he looks at opt he looks at the option of Sikhism very seriously he seriously
Looked at the option of Sikhism because Sikhism is devoid of the ritual devoid of the ritual to to have a marriage there is no there is no Murat the way we do at particular time time to be fixed for a marriage anybody can get into the gurudwara get married get out of the
Gurudwara and and you can enter the gurudwara at any time worship the holy book sit and listen so it is a kind of an emancipatory religion but it also got into the so he he thought about sism and and maybe Dr Williams is Right politically not right so he
Waited and he comes here we are because of Dr BR ambedkar and uh on my personal note in the 50 on the 50th year of the celebration of conversion 2006 I converted to Buddhism in a huge program in Hyderabad and maybe New Delhi we had a huge Gathering it was a celebratory
Moment and we all Dr Santos Ra was on stage and he was again talking to us like this these were the movements now what happens we are going going ahead what has happened with these with these Dr ambedkar’s Buddhist last year one of the biggest and the largest
Buddhist stoa was constructed in a state of Hyderabad in India largest according to my understanding after Buddhism has veed away in India the first ever attempt to recreate a full-fledged Buddhist stoa was done by the followers of Dr BR ambedkar in India that is the journey
The Legacy and the beauty of and the impact of Dr BR ambedkar’s followers thank you so much for giving me [Applause] this well we have been studying a lot lot of theologians and the history of religions uh in Divinity School and I try to rethink about what Dr edar was
Trying to do the concept of religion itself what that should be and he he sort of uh uh gives the criteria that it should be uh religion is antithesis to uh slavery no discrimination should be done and he says that it should be based on uh uh Liberty equality and fraternity
What fraternity he meant by Buddha’s Freedom actually not just a political slogan uh still lot long way to go to understand the Buddhist vision of Dr ambedkar where he’s trying to really address the notion of Mind cast is a notion of mind and that’s the problem uh
Many uh uh of uh Indian Society or think as not able to understand they treat as a social and M political problem even institutions and the religious institution that has been come up they carry those Notions and that’s the uh uh Mission Dr edar had is spiritual values
Can really transform the society and politics Not Mere institutionalized uh setups monastic from the from monastic to the humanistic as he expresses anyway so if you have any questions now uh your questions are welcome actually we are sort of running of time but maybe couple of questions or
Yeah please uh okay my question is to Dr mention that that of is denied Rebirth of 10 is Den so that is what he mentioned in like he mentioned that buha have mention that Rebirth of same person is denied and I’m not sure what do you mean by The Rebirth of temp
Night sorry I because of lack of time I could not explain as I mentioned earlier that the in Buddha and dama you will see that he has taken the Brahmin concept of rebirth soul and Karma and then give the alternative uh views of Buddha on rebirth Karma and soul now the
Interpretation of ambedkar of Buddha is as follow the brahmanism believe in rebirth man dies and his material part get the be submerged with the materials in the universe but soul is supposed to be Eternal permanent so whatever did you do those impressions are on the soul and
It is the soul which takes the birth of the same person so in brahmanism the rebirth through soul is The Rebirth of the same person who dies now edar interpreted bud budd’s rebirth in a different way he said that Buddha does not believe in Rebirth of the same
Person when same person dies his material element became the part of the existing stock of the material element there is no soul which is eternal but rebirth can be consumed in this form and that is Rebirth of what and Rebirth of whom and Dr edar interpret that Rebirth of same person is
Impossible uh there is no soul so there is no question of having the rebirth of the same person but when the person dies and his all physical element air uh energy became a part of the stock of the air and energy so all take all living being are created through that common
Stock so to that extent what we can say Rebirth of of the same materials element and not the same person so Buddha was support you of rebirth but Rebirth of what and not Rebirth of whom not The Rebirth of the same person then there are then then there are there is a views
About Karma Theory which I could not explain because lack of time the brahmanical theor say that the your present life is determined by the past deed which come through the soul and the future life will be determined by the present uh deed and it is the deed which
Will decide your birth whether you are low cost or high cost Buddha reject this all edar interpret it karma theory of Buddha ambedkar place in one sentence as you s so do you reap so your present life is determined by your present effort because that is positive it gives incentive to you to
Work hard because in the present life itself you’ll get the reward but bical Theory said that your present life is determined by the past there is no scope for change you are to live as Untouchable live as Untouchable in that Karma theory was brought in support of
Cast system thank you is it clear okay I still remember in my Village his Holiness came and I asked the same question and he said that the there is a concept of rebirth in Buddhism problem is when you club that with the cast problem is you club with the fixity
That’s the problem and that’s what he very rightly corrected in two sentences that’s what Dr edar was referring to the milind Pano milind Pano you Flame the one candle to the another but are you passing the same Flame or is a new flame so that’s what Dr edar hinted uh in his
Some marati writing and that’s what he erected two institutions milin college and Noxen uh campus that’s the model he used probably uh he that’s not in the formal writing he expressed that with the one person whom I met who died recently uh what Dr ambedkar said to him
Maybe yeah maybe I’ll take a Mar’s question she question about the last thing you just said s and thank you all very much um do in sort of open to anyone um do you feel that if he were here today he would say that we’re in another moment of moving from the
Monastic to the humanist in terms of thinking as a world together and is there any um from his teachings that you think would be useful for us as students to consider in being able to help translate these ideas of moving from the monastic to the humanist the idea that we’re in a
Shifting moment like anything that would be useful to consider yeah that’s a that’s a a really good question the move from the monastic to the humanistic for those of you maybe who’ve read the Buddha and his dhama you remember at the beginning it’s not that he’s totally rejecting the monastic but he’s
Rejecting a certain vision of what the monastic has been taken to be by some people namely an idea of the monastic as devoted solely to their own practice I think edar recognizes that in many Buddhist Traditions there are other understandings of what a biku of what a
Monastic is that is a person not necessarily just oriented towards their own realization or their own Awakening but somebody who is serving a larger social um social purpose and for him he’s very clear the biku the monastic is really there as a servant of the society is somebody who is cultivating
Themselves not for their own benefit exclusively but is cultivating themselves to serve others so in that sense is this something that is relevant today I think yes as somebody who works at a Dharma Center it is very clear that many many people who come to the Dharma Center where I work are deeply
Interested in what the social implications are for their own practice what the social implications are for Buddhism in general I don’t think Buddhism is unique in this there are plenty of Christian traditions and other traditions this is we are living in a moment where any religious tradition that doesn’t address some of
These issues um is clearly not addressing the issues that are really alive in the for contemporary people so I don’t know if that actually answers your question the main point the main thrust is that Buddhist practice is not for oneself especially for the people who are most committed to the practice
The buikus but it is something that is serving others and it’s interesting I believe there’s a lot in terava Traditions that resonates with this but ambedkar at very particular moments articulates Mahayana views that come in like his view of emptiness um and a view of the bodh satva path um
So yeah does anybody else want to add more right no I think you right I think he was uh uh saying that uh function of dhma is to reconstruct the society and self that’s the function of the Dharma uh unless you do not reconstruct yourself you can’t reform others
Otherwise often uh me I must say this often ambedkar is negatively interpreted than the positively understood that’s the problem even Scholars on ambedkar face it’s often uh uh the criticism that uh on him that’s his negative interpretation that the positive constructionism so he was saying that
Dhma can be the seed where you can uh dismantle the idea that I am born this such and such class or cast or race or color exactly what Buddha encountered with HTI the fifth week of Enlightenment it’s only you are not determined by your birth but it’s AA is
Your actions that recast yourself and monks and the mon domastic life is a sort of model and representation of that they are sort of exhibiting that uh sample to rest of the world but if it becomes so much individualistic or exclusivist that would be the problem
Then rest the why s was formed because Buddha wanted his teaching to be allow in a person not as abstract idea in the book it’s a living experience s is a living experience it’s not an abstract idea we it’s a Sakaya what I called like Buddha lived so gave a Buddha Kaya
Buddha was there to to teach after his death uh or Pana uh Masters revived that dama sort of sustain in dhamak Kaya but how damak Kaya will sustain it will only sustain in a s Kaya s needs to be alive and if it is too formalist that Buddha’s
Dhama might be just Frozen to the uh uh monastic communities I don’t think any monastic Community actually wants that it’s only institutions that sort of makes it rigid so I think he was trying to break through and I’m sure all great Masters have did efforts to break through the institutionalized system to
The uh flow Dharma for liberation of everyone maybe last yeah okay okay this is um maybe I’ll address Dr vundu um in Indian Society is there a recognition that when a person converts to Buddhism that they can have a new life like I imagine you might convert to
Buddhism and then people say but you’re still the same person you were before because that’s how they see you but I’m hoping there’s a certain amount of a category where you can make that kind of personal declaration and it receives some resonance from others but I’m not
Sure how what your experience or the general situation is very interesting um the the my conversion or a lot of people who moved into Buddhism was uh the ambedkar’s path we took certainly a rejection of uh the existing religion we were born in and trying to understand Buddha it is
Not that that now that I’ve converted I’m as conversent as him or as conversent as Santos r on Buddhism but it is a rejection of the existing dogmas and we feel certainly in the movie uh Dr edar I’m liberated so it’s it’s it’s a frame of mind that you are
Liberated and sadly proudly I can go see around that if there is a ritual to be celebrated because the ma maity religion being a Hindu religion I would certainly say okay today is that celebration I don’t celebrate this or I’m not I’m not going to do this so it
That rejection of the dogmatic thing is a proud thing and and that I’m I’m different I’m liberated and I’m moving forward this is the kind of a feeling we have thank you interesting question um hi my name is PR I’m from the Kennedy school um my question is
There’s dual identities um that were mentioned in a in the political realm followers of Dr ambedkar are called ambedkarites some ambedkarites also converted and they hold the spiritual identity of being a Buddhist do you think these two identities are going to coexist stronger than ever in the future or do you think
The political identity is going to take a more stronger view over the spiritual identity as you look at the future of how the religion and politics is going to manifest in India see when we look at the political identity now we are going to use a new
Term the dalit identity so even I’m a spiritual as a Buddhist but certainly I’m the dalit when it comes to politics so the Buddhist ambedkarite Buddhist politics have never been a separate uh real in in in the entirety there’s never been a separate thing till now what we have seen in the politics
Till now uh Maharashtra state is the only example where they they tried to create certain things but it was not that so India is very complex when you look at the identity politics because of the way if you look at utar Pradesh the ravasi chamar jatav is that identity
Which also gets into politics if you go into Andra Pradesh there’s a Mala madiga Andra Pradesh and Telangana so these multiple identities but the universal identity singularly or schule cast as a dalit on the political identity I don’t personally look whether if some people are Christians some people are Hindus
Practicing or non-practicing Hindus most of the dalits are non-practicing Hindus if they are into Hinduism they they try to go with the go with the General Society so I’ve not seen a separate dalit Hindu or dalit Buddhist or a dalit Christian going to the political separately that’s what I look
At thank you you will last quickly I just want to add and I have a question to all of you so what I see edar at Buddhism the perspective of Buddhism from amedica in the western word it can be termed as engaged Buddhism and engage Buddhism I think
Mostly here from tatan and edar gave this engaged Buddhism idea even before tatan so I think if somebody can speak on engage Buddhism that that kind of relates very easily in the western world first I just want to say I appreciate everybody sticking around it
Is late it’s a long day there’s a lot of words and um I really appreciate everybody sticking with this so tikot Han actually gets the term engag Buddhism from a Chinese Buddhist taiu who cultivates or describes something as Buddhism for human life um and so there’s a prehistory to tikn Han there’s
Also very much a prehistory of engaged Buddhism in India to edar if anybody’s interested Douglas Ober has a wonderful book called dust on the throne which just came out this year maybe or last year but about the history of anti-c Buddhists that edar is building on and
Actually Charlie hesy had a student here about 10 years ago who wrote a wonderful doctoral dissertation on just this theme um so I do think the short so getting back to your question edar is widely regarded as a preeminent socially engaged Buddhist here um and and I think in that sense he’s with
People like budhha Dasa tikat Han others edar is such a interesting Rich figure you know his his in English his select his collected writings and speeches are 17 volumes of 14,000 pages that doesn’t include the morati and edar is having a moment if any of you are students and thinking about working on
Um bedar there is an enormous amount of Interest today and not a huge number of people in the US who are working on Edgar and so yes he’s an Engaged Buddhist but in some ways for me I feel like calling him an Engaged Buddhist as if we then understand him circumscribes
Him too narrowly that he’s such a big vast figure doing so many different things even within his Buddhism um but yes he’s also an Engaged Buddhist thank you for your question well thank you thank you thank you oh sorry see uh some references has been given about engage Buddhism but you have
Professor Christopher Queen from Howard who brought out a book on engage Buddhism with the latest example uh covering India Sri Lanka Thailand and also brah madesh I think the central point in my view as far as the engage Buddhism is concerned and this can also be related to the question
Monasticism see the issue is that uh as far as Buddhist teaching is concerned there are two aspect of it and very vly emphasized by Buddha and also highlighted by ambedkar that sponsors center for the study of world religions and Buddhist Ministry initiative copyright 2023 president and fellows of College
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