Posted by: rethink September 11, 2013
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Finally able to get some time to get into this very interesting discussion.
Philosophically speaking nothing is necessary and everything is necessary. So one can even ask "Was this thread necessary?" It may not have been necessary, but it was a choice they made and we have to respect others' choice as long as it does not impinge upon our individual rights.
So the answer is, this was not necessary but it was a matter of choice, but the more important question is about maturity of Nepalese people. It seems like Nepalese people are holding onto anything that they can claim as theirs since they do not have much to be proud of. It is generally OK to be proud of achievements, and I suppose Nepalis are proud of Buddha's achievements in the area of resolution oriented meditation.
But, when you think about the circumstances at the time of his birth, Nepal was not even a country then. It is remotely comparable to being proud of that one dinasaur that saved the primitive man upon a chance encounter. That dinasour lived in the land millions of years ago, that is now called Lumbini and we will hold signs to show our love and devotion to this dinasaur.
As an example let's say I now rent an apartment where Martin Luther King used to live and consistently have fights with other roommates who throw any doubts about it. It makes me so proud to be living in the same place where MLK lived. I have nothing to be proud of so I hold on to that one thing that makes me so proud.
Interestingly since the time of Buddha, most Nepalis have had to go to a foreign country to find salvation. Even us, who are living in the US or abroad, have apparently found our salvation in a foreign land. Some of us may even be considering getting citizenship in the US. Just imagine what would have happened if India stepped in right now and posthumously granted indian citizenship to Buddha? Siddhartha Gautam would become Indian citizen. Just like us, we could become great rocket science, we could prove einstein's theory wrong, but we would all do this in America, an American institution would claim it was discovered in America.
Technically Buddhism was discovered in India, (now india). So instead of claiming Buddha was born in India, they should be claiming "Buddhism was born in India". That way both Nepalis and Indians would be happy. Maybe not Nepalis because we'd find serious problem with that too
Philosophically speaking nothing is necessary and everything is necessary. So one can even ask "Was this thread necessary?" It may not have been necessary, but it was a choice they made and we have to respect others' choice as long as it does not impinge upon our individual rights.
So the answer is, this was not necessary but it was a matter of choice, but the more important question is about maturity of Nepalese people. It seems like Nepalese people are holding onto anything that they can claim as theirs since they do not have much to be proud of. It is generally OK to be proud of achievements, and I suppose Nepalis are proud of Buddha's achievements in the area of resolution oriented meditation.
But, when you think about the circumstances at the time of his birth, Nepal was not even a country then. It is remotely comparable to being proud of that one dinasaur that saved the primitive man upon a chance encounter. That dinasour lived in the land millions of years ago, that is now called Lumbini and we will hold signs to show our love and devotion to this dinasaur.
As an example let's say I now rent an apartment where Martin Luther King used to live and consistently have fights with other roommates who throw any doubts about it. It makes me so proud to be living in the same place where MLK lived. I have nothing to be proud of so I hold on to that one thing that makes me so proud.
Interestingly since the time of Buddha, most Nepalis have had to go to a foreign country to find salvation. Even us, who are living in the US or abroad, have apparently found our salvation in a foreign land. Some of us may even be considering getting citizenship in the US. Just imagine what would have happened if India stepped in right now and posthumously granted indian citizenship to Buddha? Siddhartha Gautam would become Indian citizen. Just like us, we could become great rocket science, we could prove einstein's theory wrong, but we would all do this in America, an American institution would claim it was discovered in America.
Technically Buddhism was discovered in India, (now india). So instead of claiming Buddha was born in India, they should be claiming "Buddhism was born in India". That way both Nepalis and Indians would be happy. Maybe not Nepalis because we'd find serious problem with that too