[Buddha-l] Bhagwan, etc.

[jkirk]

Here's a good example of the contemporary ordinary use of the term bhagwan
to mean god or God:
Two Sikhs were bothering the author of this story in the Kao San Rd in
Bangkok, to tell his fortune:
"...I said to one of these guys: "sara kismat pata hote to koi aise kada
hote rasta men, bhikari ki tarah" : If someone knew all about the future why
would he be loitering around on the street harassing people like a beggar?
Rather direct, blunt, and cutting, but anyway he responded: "Bhagawan bhi
milte rasta men": you also can find God on the street.
But I wonder if any contemporary Buddhists, say in Bengal, would refer to
the Buddha as Bhagwan. I doubt it because they tend to be theravadins and
don't go in for making the Buddha into a deity.
Joanna