Re: email attachments

The author is known for his book on the Gods in Early Buddhism. But the
views expressed in this article are very much those of so-called
Protestant Buddhism (Buddhist Modernism). He tends to state as fact what
is only hypothesis. For example, we do not know how far ritual and
devotional elements in Ceylon Buddhism were shared with e.g. other
schools of South Indian Buddhism in the  early centuries A.D. We do know
that the cult of the stūpa and of past Buddhas is at least as old as Asoka.

But the greatest weakness of this understanding is that it does not
explain how the early Sangha was supported in the time of the Buddha.
Everything suggests that the practice of giving to monks, etc. was
widespread in the religion of Eastern India at the time and should have
contained a strong devotional element. No doubt over time this gradually
became more specifically Buddhist.

Lance Cousins


On 15/06/2014 03:14, Saccassa Esako bhutavadi@... [palistudy] wrote:
> Dear Members,
>
> May I have your informed and educated comments on this article and the
> reliability of its author?
>
> http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&pagearticle-details&code_title=103629
>