[Buddha-l] Nakedness

[Joy Vriens]

I am currently reading Madeleine Biardeau's Mahabharata (which btw she thinks was written in reaction to the rise of Buddhism) and learn with interest about Gautama's description of a bhiksu (his term for a sannyaasin) in his dharmasutra. Similarities with Buddhist bhiksus are quite striking, but so is one of the differences: they were naked or wore a simple loincloth. And I just wondered whether one of the reasons of Buddhism's "success" in the West wasn't the fact that Buddhist bhiksus were more or less decently clothed. At least their outfit isn't not that different from that of our own familiar ancient greek philosophers. I am almost sure that they have been taken more seriously because of their non-nudity by e.g. Victorian academics. Would the protestant creators of protestant Buddhism have been taken as much with Buddhism as they did? But I also expect that even nowadays someone like the Dalai-Lama would have been less popular, or - if popular for the wrong reasons- ta!
 ken less seriously in the West if he gave his teaching naked or "dressed" in a loincloth. Would he have been invited to oecumenic gatherings? I am always amazed at the Buddha's impressive premonitions. He also made the right choice of uniform to allow the future spread of Buddhism in more puritan countries. I thought it was nice to share this thought with you. 

Joy