ENGMOHAN

Buddhist literature is vast. Very few daring explorers have delved deep into the ocean of Buddhist literature to understand the Dhamma. Ambedkar is one of the very few who have truely understood the essence of Buddhism. Here is an extract from one of his books:  Excerpt from the book "Buddha or Karl Marx" written by Dr B R Ambedkar:  Tenets of Buddhism: 1. Religion is necessary for a free society.  2. Not every religion is worth having. 3. Religion must relate to facts of life and not to theories and speculations about God or soul or heaven or earth.  4. It is wrong to make God the centre of religion.  5. It is wrong to make salvation of the soul as the centre of religion.  6. It is wrong to make animal sacrifices to be the centre of religion. 7. Real religion lives in the heart of man and not in the shastras.  8. Man and morality must be the centre of religion. If not , religion is a cruel superstition.  9. It is not enough for morality to be the...

The "kalama Sutta" clearly enunciates Buddha' s disapproval of blind Faith and secrecy. Here he urges critical investigation:  The Kalamas, inhabitants of Kesaputta seated respectfully on one side, said to the blessed one;  There are some recluses and priests who visit Kesaputta. While debating on their own doctrines, they despise, condemn and pull to pieces, the doctrines of others. There are other recluses and priests also, on coming to Kesaputta doing the same thing. Venerable sir, we are uncertain and we doubt as to which of these worthies speak truth and which falsehood.  ' well, Kalamas, you are justified in doubting, since doubt has arisen in something that is doubtful. Come, O Kalamas, do not be led by hearsay, nor by tradition, nor by reports, nor by scriptural injunction, nor by mere logic, nor by inference, nor by the appearances, nor by seeming possibilities, nor by the consideration:" this monk is our teacher". But , Kalamas, when you know for y...

Earlier, sometime in between 1988 and 1990, I had read this speech of Dr Ambedkar on Indian constitution delivered on 25th November, 1949. Today I thought of reading it again and I am reproducing it for the benefit of political scientists and the eager youth who want to study the art of writing a suitable constitution to the World Government. LAST SPEECH Delivered by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly On adoption of the Constitution Friday, the 25th November, 1949 The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, looking back on the work of the Constituent Assembly it will now be two years, eleven months and seventeen days since it first met on the 9th of December 1946. During this period the Constituent Assembly has altogether held eleven sessions. Out of these eleven sessions the first six were spent in passing the ejectives Resolution and the consideration of the Reports of Committees on Fundamental Rights, on Union Constitution, on Union Powers, on Provincial Constitution, o...

ಅಂಬೇಡ್ಕರ್ ಜಯಂತಿ :- ಅಂಬೇಡ್ಕರ್ ಜಯಂತಿಯ ಆಚರಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಎಷ್ಟು ವಿಧಗಳಿವೆ? ಅವು ಯಾವುವು? ಅಂಬೇಡ್ಕರ್ ಜಯಂತಿ ಆಚರಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಐದು ವಿಧಗಳಿವೆ. ಅವು ಯಾವುವೆಂದರೆ:-  ೧. ವಂತಿಗೆ ಪಡೆದು ಕೇರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮೆರವಣಿಗೆ ಮಾಡಿ , ಊಟ ಹಂಚಿ, ಪಟಾಕಿ ಸಿಡಿಸಿ ನರ್ತಿಸುವುದು. ೨. ಬಾಬಾಸಾಹೇಬರ ಉಕ್ತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಸಂಗ್ರಹಿಸಿ, ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಜಾಲತಾಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹಂಚುವುದು. ೩. ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಾಬಾಸಾಹೇಬರ ಫೋಟೋ ಇಟ್ಟು ಹೂ ಹಣ್ಣುಗಳನ್ನು ಇರಿಸಿ, ಸಿಹಿ ಪಾಯಸ ಮಾಡಿ, ಪೂಜೆ ಮಾಡಿ ಬುದ್ಧ ವಂದನಾ ಪಠಿಸಿ ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥಿಸುವುದು. ೪. ಗೆಳೆಯರೆಲ್ಲ ಕೂಡಿ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಸಭೆ ಮಾಡಿ, ಮಾಂಸದ ಊಟ ತಿಂದು, ಮದ್ಯ ಕುಡಿದು, ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಲಗುವುದು.  ೫. ಅಂಬೇಡ್ಕರರ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳನ್ನು ಓದಿರುವವರನ್ನು ಕರೆಸಿ ಏಳು ದಿನ, ಒಂದೊಂದು ದಿನ ಬಾಬಾಸಾಹೇಬರ ಒಂದೊಂದು ಪುಸ್ತಕದ ಬಗೆಗೆ ಒಬ್ಬೊಬ್ಬರಿಂದ ಭಾಷಣ ಮಾಡಿಸುವುದು.  ನನಗೆ ತಿಳಿದ ಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಮಾತನಾಡುವುದಾದರೆ ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ ಅಂಬೇಡ್ಕರ್ ಅನುಯಾಯಿಗಳೆಂದು ಹೇಳಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವವರು ಮೇಲಿನ ಈ ಐದು ವಿಧದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಂಬೇಡ್ಕರ್ ಜಯಂತಿಯನ್ನು ಆಚರಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಇವುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವುದು ಪ್ರಯೋಜನಕಾರಿ ಮತ್ತು ಯಾವುದು ಅಪ್ರಯೋಜನಕಾರಿ ಎಂದು ಚರ್ಚಿಸಿ ಅರ್ಥ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕಾದ ಸಂದರ್ಭ ಬಂದಿದೆ.  ಮೊದಲನೆಯದು, ಯಾರೋ ಕೆಲವರ ಬಳಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿ ಹಣ ಇರುವವರಿಂದ ದೇಣಿಗೆ ಪಡೆದು ಅದ್ದೂರಿಯಾಗಿ ಶಾಮಿಯಾನ ಪ್ಲೆಕ್ಸ್ ಹಾಕಿಸಿ ಕೇರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮೆರವಣಿಗೆ ಮಾಡಿ, ...

English to weaker sections of Indian society India is fast moving ahead as one of the technologically most advanced countries in the world. But, the tragedy of India is that the present generation is suffering from "mal-education". It is because the people and those in power ignored the educational department as one of the unproductive departments. Education is one of the social overhead capitals which lay the foundation of the future of any country. If education gets corrupted, the result cannot be seen immediately but after twenty years. The present dirt in education is going to choke the future generation. Some people think that denying education to the masses helps them retain power and position forever. But, history of man has proven that such a situation cripples the whole country. So, the urgent need is to cleanse all the dirt out of the department.  If the present education should cater to the future generation, it should concentrate on English education. Because the ...

Hello dear friends, Today let us understand meditation. There are different kinds of meditation. Now I am going to tell you about Buddhist meditation. Buddhists have breathing techniques and repetition of some words as tools of meditation. There are three schools of Buddhism, namely, Hinayana(Theravada), Mahayana and Vajrayana and their methods of meditation meditation.vary accordingly. First of all , let us take up Vajrayana meditation. It is being predominantly practiced in Tibet and Mangolia. Vajrayana is also called as Tibetan Buddhism. But scholars claim that it was a part of Mahayana school and widely popular in India before 8th century AD. However further research is needed. In Vajrayana and Mahayana schools they repeat certain sacred words which they call as mantras. In Mahayana, they meditate by repeating certain words like- "Om mani padme hum". It means: Be a drop of water on lotus. (Be unattached to worldly affairs as the world is impermanent). In Vajrayana, they m...