[Buddha-l] the 22 vows

[jkirk]

Hi Chris:

Bhimrao Abedkar wasn't killed. He died in his sleep. 

Quickie from wikipedia:

"Since 1948, Ambedkar had been suffering from diabetes. He was bed-ridden
from June to October in 1954 owing to clinical depression and failing
eyesight.[9] He had been increasingly embittered by political issues, which
took a toll on his health. His health worsened as he furiously worked
through 1955. Just three days after completing his final manuscript The
Buddha and His Dhamma, it is said that Ambedkar died in his sleep on
December 6, 1956 at his home in Delhi."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambedkar

You and Curt need to read up on Ambedkar and, in order to understand Dalit
antagonism toward Hinduism,  on the literature on untouchables in India.   

Ambedkar was always political! He viewed his movement to convert Dalits
(known then as untouchables) as a political strategy, designed to empower
Dalits so that they would resist their oppression and take on political
roles. He believed that only political solidarity, as well as changing their
"out-caste" status by leaving the religion that oppressed them via casteism,
physical, and mental suppression, could save them from their superstitious
resignation to the status of untouchability via the versions of Hinduism
that they followed. The common MO of caste Hindus when enforcing out-caste
status, an MO that Dalits identified with as well, was this: They were born
untouchable because of great sins that they committed in a former life. 
There are some excellent studies of untouchables--group studies and life
histories--that indicate the strength among that group of this very Hindu
rationalization of their despised social status.  

Sri Lankan monks from time to time turn up in India and also at Ambedkarite
get togethers, but the Dalit Buddhist converts are mainly inspired by
Ambedkar and his writings.  Sri Lankan concerns aren't an issue. 

Ambedkar converted to Buddhism ceremonially just two months before he died,
but he had been atending Buddhist gatherings and researching it starting six
years before, including a visit to Sri Lanka and two to Burma.

Joanna
==============================================
Didn't Ambedekar convert to Buddhism only a few months before he was killed?

The Buddhist movement being carried on in his name does seem to be highly
political. I also wonder how much influence on this movement has come from
Sri Lanka where many Buddhists have their own differences with the (Tamil)
Hindus.
There were formerly many monks from Sri Lanka in the Maha Bodhi Society of
India.

- Chris


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