If some one has studied Buddhism very carefully – both Theravada and Mahayana – we will find that there are two kinds of dhamma that Buddha bequeathed to the world: (a) Theravada – the dhamma that he preached in Jambudipa Buddha Land; (b) The other that he preached in Tavatimsa heaven – to Bodhisatta’..If we take it apart of his teachings, we will find that the dhamma can be put into two regions.
Theravada – for those who live in Jambudipa;
Mahayana – for those who live outside of Jambudipa – China, Japan, Korea, etcs..
Why people in Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia embraced Theravada?In the early days, countries like Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos were religious and economic colonies of India. Many Hindu traders lived there and made their living there. Sri Lanka was and is part of Jambudipa. A Brahmin priest when they die in the colonies it is natural that he will reappear in the same region. Hence, many in these four countries have Brahmana lineage. In later part of the history, Hindu religion had penetrated into the core of the native civilization, that even today for instance, many in the Mon state still practice Brahmana ritual, a good example is the “Phaya Ko Zu Puzaw Pwe”or “Nine Gods Ceremony”, in which they made offering to the five great Brahmin Gods: Vishnu, Siva, Ganesh, Saravasti and Cindi. This offering is conducted in houses where sickness and death occurred too frequent. Angkor Wat ancient temples in Cambodia are another example of Hindu culture penetration into Cambodia.
I will quote the Jataka story of Buddha’s past existence, that in ancient time, Hindu culture has landed in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. Myanmar at that time was named Indradvipa in Hindu Sagar Map.
Manimekhala, a Divinity of the Sea
By Sylvain Levi
The Indian Historical Quarterly
Vol.VI, No.4, 1930.12, pp. 597-614
A large number of the stories of the Pali Jataka has drawn materials from the adventures in the sea. The sea and its navigation evidently occupied a large place in Indian life in the period when these stories were conceived. The study of these texts throws much light on the glorious period, almost completely ignored in other branches of literature, of the Indian civilization during which the mariners, the missionaries and the merchants of India carried the culture of their fatherland to the islands of the Archipelago, to the Malay peninsula and Indo-China. I shall confine myself here to the study of an obscure divinity of the sea, Manimekhala, "Girdle of Gems," who appears in Maha Janaka Pali Jataka .
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Maha Janaka Story Jataka 539.
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The Maha Janaka story, no.539, is one of the last of the collection. It is included in the "large section," and has for its hero one of the greatest names of the Indian tradition-the king Janaka, here Maha-Janaka, of the country of Videha, who has been glorified by the Upanisads, as well as by the epics, as the accomplished type of wisdom and whom Buddhism could not afford to neglect. It is superfluous to say that Maha-Janaka is no other than Buddha in a previous birth. One day the assembled monks were extolling the Master for having left the palace for searching and preaching the law. The Buddha intervenes and tells them: "It is not for the first time that I have left a palace,'' and he began to tell them the story of Maha-Janaka. Of this long story, full of incidents, I will draw the attention of the reader only to the episode in which Manimekhala, the goddess of the sea, appears. Mahajanaka Jataka (No. 539) Mahajanaka, the posthumous son of king Aritthajanaka who had been killed by his brother, is brought up in exile at Campa, in the house of a brahman who had given hospitality to his mother. His mother puts at his disposal the jewels which she had saved "Well, mother," said he, "give me this wealth, I will take half of it and go to the Land of Gold, I will bring from there much wealth and will recover my throne". He took half of this fortune, procured the articles of trade and embarked on his boat in the company of other merchants who were going to the Land of Gold. Before leaving, he bowed unto his mother and said:
"Mother, I am going to the Land of Gold." The mother said:
"My child, a voyage does not always succeed, there are many obstacles, better not go. You have abundant wealth for recovering the throne."
"No, I will go there, Mother", and he saluted his mother, went out and got on board the ship. This very day, Polajanaka, the first younger brother and the murderer of Aritthajanaka, was attacked by illness and took to bed. Seven hundred merchants had embarked on the boat, in seven days the ship had done seven hundred leagues, but on account of her high speed she could not hold out, the planks cracked, water poured in everywhere and the vessel foundered in the deep ocean. The men wept and cried and invoked all kinds of divinities. But the great sage did neither weep nor cry, nor did he invoke any divinity; when he saw that the boat was foundering, he mixed sugar with larified butter, filled his stomach with it, soaked in oil two of his robes which were very smooth, dressed himself tight, and held himself close to the mast. When the boat foundered, the mast floated, the men were eaten up by fishes and tortoises, and the water around was full of blood, The great sage clinging to the top of the mast observed:
"It is towards this direction that Mithila lies."
He then jumped from the top of the mast over the fishes and the tortoises and fell into the sea at a distance of one hundred and forty cubits. This very day Polajanaka died, and from this very moment he began to cross the ocean by force of his arms like a golden trunk of tree rolling on the waves which had the colour of gems. He swam for a full day and further on till the seventh day when he observed that it was a full moon day. Then he washed his mouth with saline water and observed the fast. There upon the four gods (Lokapala Devas of the four kings), the protectors of the earth, said:
"If there are beings that honour their mother even who are in danger of perishing in the ocean, a danger which they did not merit, you ought to save them."
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This is what they said to Manimekhala, the daughter of a god, appointed to watch the ocean. But during seven days she did not throw her glance at the sea as the fortune she was enjoying had distracted her thoughts. It is also said that the daughter of a god had gone to an assembly of the gods. "It is now seven days", she said to herself, "that I have not thought of the sea. Let me see what passes there." She then perceived Mahajanaka. "If Mahajanaka had perished I would not have been any longer admitted into the assembly of the gods." At this thought she went near the great sage, standing in the sky with the ornaments on her body and addressing the great sage she pronounced the first stanza:
"Who is there that toils in the high sea without
even sighting the shores? Thou shouldst know why thou
makest such an effort."
The great sage told her: "Now it is seven days
that I have been traversing the ocean and I have not
seen any living being except myself. Who is there
that speaks to me?"
He looked up into the sky and pronounced the
second stanza: "I know what the world is and what the
price of effort is. This is why I am striving in the
ocean even without sighting the shores."
The goddess interested to hear him talking on
religion told him in a verse:
"In the endless abyss,
thou seest not the shores. Thy effort is useless and
thou runnest towards death." But the great sage said:
"Who tells you that? If after making all my
efforts I must die, I will be blameless."
He who acts bravely does not repent. He is
discharged with regard to all, gods, parents, and
ancestors. As much as I can, I will exert myself. I will act
bravely striving towards the shores."
On hearing this the goddess praised him in a
stanza: "On the vast ocean and without the shores in
sight, thou makest a long effort without losing thy
courage. Thou shalt reach the place which your heart
longs for." And she asked him still, "Oh, Sage of great
energy, where shall I lead you?"--"To the city of
Mithila" was the reply. Thereupon she took him in her
arms raising him up like a bunch of garlands and
pressing him in her bosom like a cherished child she
shot forth through the sky. He had had his whole body
burnt while remaining in sea water for seven days,
and so he fell deeply asleep through the touch of the
goddess. Thus she carried him to Mithila.
Buddha then reveals the story to his Monks thus:The goddess of that time, Manimekhala , is to-day the Bhikkhuni Uppalavanna Theri; and Maha Janaka is I myself.
In ancient time, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, are the Indian trading colonies; thus Hindu culture and civilization has penetrated to these land. Needless to say, they embraced the Theravada Buddhism, the dhamma that Buddha preached in Jambudipa.
Topic: The Two Schools of Buddhism (Read 2144 times)