Posted by: kailoketa July 15, 2011
buddha was not born in NEPAL
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I respect the researchers’ inference that Lumbini indeed is Siddhartha's birthplace. I am proud that it is in present-day Nepal. It is one of the most serene places to visit on earth and peace be on this planet, the Lord’s message has made this place that much better.

Hold as I will this bit of history in the highest esteem as you and I can hold, and with due respect to others’ belief in the same, make no mistake, it is a happenstance that the Lord was born in Lumbini. That our ancestors sacrificed life and limb to protect Lumbini and adjacent areas to keep it inside our borders is a different debate.

Just because invoking association to his birthplace accords us some jingoistic pride and camaraderie with the folks from the outside world is no justification why I should be proud of Buddha being born in Nepal. Or that invoking his name garners some sympathy among the foreigners, or even the association with Mount Everest for that matter, is not a dignified way of associating with Lumbini or Everest.

To be fair and square with the ethos and ethics of this moral dilemma, I invoke my association to the country of the Lord’s birthplace even when I and my fellow foreigner friends read in the news that a Buddhist nun was raped in a bus by five miscreants – not just when I want to give them good impressions about my country. Yes, I hold my head in shame, but hiding my identity from being besmirched in guilt and shame doesn’t do justice to bring out Lumbini at times of happiness and peace alone.

I also tell them that we have hordes of greedy politicians who are congenitally inept and lame at successfully coming to an agreement to finish of the task they set out by way of writing a new constitution in five years.

If a researcher from a far flung place says he thinks the Lord was born in a different place, I will be the first one to ask for the research evidence, before I start pelting rocks at a media house for publishing such a story, unlike a few hundred Nepalis who did just that in Kathmandu sometime in 2003/4. I do not want to forget that similar researchers were the ones to provide us with the evidence of Lumbini as Siddhartha’s birthplace.

If an Indian says the Mt. Everest is in India, so be it – I am not here to argue every other stupid person’s ignorance. I have better things to do. But I make sure I let him know that I have a different opinion!

Last edited: 15-Jul-11 03:56 PM
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