Pyu / earliest Buddhism in Burma

Branching off as a separate subject, in reply to L.C.:

> 4. There is no doubt that a form of Buddhism using a type of Pali is
> very old among the Pyu speakers in Burma, among the Mon speakers in
> Southern Burma and among Mon speakers in North, Central and even
> Southern Thailand ...

Although I do not disagree with this vague statement, what I was
specifically arguing against was the article's abuse of such generalities
(e.g., using terms like "very early" to gloss over a gap of many hundreds of
years) support the claim that (1) Theravada Buddhism pre-dates Mahayana
Buddhism in the region, and (2) the history of Pali literature (i.e., the
Pali canon) in Thailand dates from the arrival of missionaries sent by
Ashoka (i.e., contemporary with Ashoka).  I would expect that everyone on
the list will disagree with these two points; the question of exactly how
early Theravada Buddhism was among the Mon & Pyu (or what kind of canon they
might have had) is a very good question --but the answer (if it shall ever
be known) will have nothing to do with Ashoka or his missionaries.

E.M.


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