Where was the Buddha really born?

Ranajit Pal, Ph.D. (ranajitpal.com)

Bamiyan, Afghanistan, was near Kapilavastu, birthplace of the Buddha (Afghan Treasures)

The fantastic recent find of about 10,000 ancient Buddhist fragments at Bamiyan [Afghanistan], part of which is now in the Schoyen Collection, shows that Buddhism was born here. 

  

The names Tiŝŝa, Siddhartha, and Suddho-dana, of the Persepolis Tablets prove conclusively that Gotama [Gautama Buddha] was from Seistan-Baluchistan. 

  

About the iconography of a beautiful schist stele from Mes Aynak, G. Fussman of the College de France writes that the prince shown sitting under foliage of [a] Pipal [tree] is Siddhartha before his enlightenment. 

  

Sistan-Baluchistan, ancient Indian frontier

Gregory Schopen also writes about a "cult tied to a cycle of festivals celebrating four moments, not in the biography of the Buddha but in the pre-enlightenment period of the life of Siddhartha."
  
Yet neither he nor G. Fussman recognizes the need to integrate the Mes Aynak findings with the priceless inscriptions from the Persepolis Tablets, which mention Tissa, Sedda Saramana (Siddhartha), Sudda Yauda Saramana (Suddodana), and Saman.
  
Schopen's video, entitled "Buddha as a Businessman," is largely based on false Nepalese data. More

Read More

Ke$ha and Britney on The End of the World

Wisdom Quarterly (April 2011)
Ke$ha wrote the lyrics, Britney Spears sings them. Their advice for the end of the world? "Just dance." Translation: Don't pay attention. Add, "Make a lot of good karma," and we agree.

What if the world ends? What if it doesn't? The "world" as we know it is a series of rapidly forming and disintegrating moments. Because we do not pay close enough attention, we do not normally notice the incessant rise and fall of physical and mental phenomena. But together they form the "world." So long as there is life, there is rising and falling. This is not only true on the subatomic level, it is true on the level of history and our lives. It cannot be otherwise in the world of composite things. All things are things, composed of other things. There is only one exception -- nirvana. Liberation from all suffering is no plane (loka), condition (ayatana), heaven (sagga), or immaterial sphere (arupa loka), and yet it is not "nothingness" (akincanyayatanaupaga). What then is there to worry about? Only ignorance. The ultimate truth sets one free, whereas ignorance means bondage, incessant rebirth, and suffering. The only thing between one and the truth is a lack of absorbed-concentration (serenity) and wisdom (liberating-insight). Otherwise, change is the only constant.

• Was the Buddha born in Orissa, India? 
• How a US bank laundered billions from drug gangs 
• Seafood sales sink due to radiation fears 
• Woman in Georgia cuts off Armenia's Web access 
• 5 Best Positions to get Pregnant 
• Wales: Police reveal locations of many UFO sightings 
• Malcolm X: the gay man behind the myth 
• What the census means for India 
• Superbug gene rife in Delhi water supply 
• Most viewed headlines

Read More