--- "Ven. Pandita" <ashinpan@...> skrev:

> Mount Meru is only one instance of things not
> seeable by human eyes yet
> mentioned in scriptures. We have no experimental
> proof of the past lives
> or future ones; and, of 31 spheres of existences
> mentioned in
> Abhidhammatthasa'ngaha, only two are directly known
> to us --- the sphere
> of animals and that of men. Whether such invisible
> things really exist
> or not is an open question in science since they
> cannot be confirmed nor
> refuted using scientific methods. Perhaps the
> progress of science in
> future may get something to tell us.

True; but that was not the argument of the Ven.
Migettuwatte Gunananda in Panadura. In the report of
the controversy is written p. 154-155 in my copy,
printed in Sri Lanka probably about 1994 or 1995):

"The mariner's compass was the best proof he could
give them of the existence of Mahameru. Keep it where
you may, the attraction of the magnetic needle is
always towards the North. This demonstrated that there
was a huge mass in that direction which attracted the
needle towards it, and according to the Buddhist
books, Mahameru, the grandest and most stupendous rock
on the face of the earth, was situated in the North.
Were they now satisfied that their Mahameru did exist
in the North, as declared? If not, can the Christian
party adduce a single reason why there should be this
attraction in the needle toward the North more than to
the East, West or South? This was impossible. The
mariner's compass was the most conclusive argument for
the existence of othe famed Mahameru. The passage
through the northern zone of ice into the open Polar
Sea, where are lands, rocks and mountains, may
demonstrate this beyond a doubt."

It seems to me that he was speaking of ordinary
matter, not about fine-material things; the Ven.
Pandita's argument is quite a different thing, and
much better, I think. If I am permitted to boast a
little on behalf of us all, I think the level of
argumentation is higher in this list than it was in
Panadura - and, to humble us a bit, perhaps I should
remember that it is easier for an ant to climb the
back of an elephant than the other way around...

By the way, the Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda also is
reported to have said, at p. 150, about Angulimala
that "It never appeared in any Buddhist works that
even an ant had been killed by him, much less a man".
My reading of the Ven. Buddhaghosas commentary to the
Majjhima, and even of the Sutta itself, gives me a
different impression, so perhaps he did make some
mistakes.

My title of my source is, on the cover:

"The Great Debate

Buddhism and Christianity Face to Face

with Introduction and Annotations by J. M. Peebles M.
D., M. A., Ph. D."

On the title page it's longer:

"Buddhism and Christianity

Being an Oral Debate Held at Panadura Between The Rev.
Migettuwatte Gunananda, a Buddhist Priest, & The Rev.
David de Silva, a Weslyan Clergyman

Introduction and Annotations by J. M. Peebles M. D.,
M. A., Ph. D."

(plus a long list of Peebles other titles)

On the next page is written:

"Published by
Don Hema Udawattage
Hony. Treasurer
All Ceylon Buddhist Congress
No. 380, Bauddhaloka Mawatha
Colombo 7
Sri Lanka

ISBN 955-95705-0-1

Printed at Sridevi Printers (Private) Limited
27, Pepiliyana Road
Nedimala, Dehiwala"

I can find no indication of the printing year, but a
foreword by President J. R. Jayawardene is dated July
4, 1994; and a preface by Ananda W. P. Guruge
(Ambassador to the United States of America) is dated
July 22, 1994; so I suppose the book must have been
printed in -94 or -95.

In the Dhamma,

Gunnar



gunnargallmo@...