MUMBAI (Reuters) - About 50,000 Indian low-caste Hindus and nomadic tribespeople converted to Buddhism before a vast crowd on Sunday in the hope of escaping the rigidity of the ancient Hindu caste system and finding a life of dignity.
Monks in orange and saffron robes administered religious vows to the converts as about half a million spectators, mostly Buddhists, cheered the ceremony at a horseracing track in downtown Mumbai.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070527/india_nm/india300192
3 comments:
So, here's the thing. Awakening is NOT a religion. It's WHAT'S INSIDE YOU. Even right now! See, Buddha did not come to start a new religion. He worked within the confines of the religious traditions of his time -- not without his unique spin, of course. While I can't blame these folks for wanting to convert, in this case, as in most cases of conversion, there are SOCIAL issues involved, rather than a commitment to pure awareness. That is always an individual concern.
I like it where you wrote someplace, that "you're on your own in enlightenment, but the WHOLE UNIVERSE helps you in your aloneness."
Buddhism and Hinduism are very similar at root, but the difference came with Buddha's "anatman" versus the Hindu "atman." But the awakened one sees it all the same.
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