SarathW wrote: ↑Fri Jan 12, 2018 9:20 pmIt depends on which camp you are on.
As a Sri Lankan, I see Catholicism as a European invention. We see it as a political organisation.
That is most interesting! I didn't think such would be possible. Here on the ground, Catholicism looks like it is making deliberate efforts not to be a merely national/racial phenomenon. (There are, however, some individual examples of national-Catholicism, such as in Spain, Croatia, Austria where they have a specific mixture of Catholicism and nationalism. So, for example, Austrian national-Catholics believe that the Austrian Catholics are superior to any other Catholics.)
I'm reminded of some literary texts written by black American authors (sorry, I forgot the exact reference). There was a scene where some black slaves, Christians, were talking about God, and it turned out they believed that God was white, and that Jesus was white. And imagining God and Jesus as white, this dragged in all the baggage of white supremacism for them, and how they, as blacks, were slaves to whites. So for these black Christian slaves, their religion was something oppressive, in some racial-specific ways.
I can't quite put my finger on it, but it seems I'm doing something similar as those black Christian slaves (and am probably not the only one).
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Asia is in so many texts about Buddhism originating from Asian countries and originally being written in Asian languages. Asia is in the notion that if one wishes to learn more about Buddhism, one ideally has to go to a Buddhist country, which is in Asia, which also means one better learn the local Asian language. Most of the relevant Buddhist physical infrastructure is in Asia (temples, monasteries, ...). Most Buddhist teachers are Asians. Most Western Buddhist teachers had Asian teachers. Most Western monks spend a considerable amount of time in Asia before returning to the West, and some even reside in Asia permanently. Buddhist teachings are sometimes explained with the help of concepts from Asian languages or culture. If one goes to a Buddhist establishment in the West, chances are that it will be supported by an Asian expat community. Some Western teachers hold Asians as the role-models of Buddhist practice and expect that Westerners should be the same (with the same obedience, reverence, generosity, subordination).
That's Asian.
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justindesilva wrote: ↑Sat Jan 13, 2018 8:05 amI have learnt that a bodisatva to be enlightened as budda decides where to be reborn on the factors as
kalaya (period)
dipaya ( land)
deshaya ( country) and decides on the mother and the family before the birth.
As such The country India, and the mother Mahamaya had been decided prior to birth.
Hence we have to accept that these factors were decided with valid reasons as of enlightment, and ecplaining the damma without resistance socially and politically.
With the above reasons India been the land and the family of King suddodana and the mother to be was Queen Mahamaya had been decided.
The question of Asia or the west does not arise. Perhaps the west at the time of birth of the budda was not the right place sociologically and climatewise.
That's informative!