[Buddha-l] Another One Bites the Dust

[Jo]

Joy--I never read this one before--thanks.  

I'm astounded to see in #176 story the earth swallowing motif re: cheating
heroine (Sita in the Ramayana) and anti-heroine Cincamanavika----both for
the same reasons. 
Rama suspected Sita of having had sex with Ravana when she was captured and
hauled off by Rav. to Sri Lanka. He tested her when she was restored to him,
she passed--but "people gossiping" led Rama sgain to put her aside as a
cheater. Sita then calls on her mother the earth to take her, and it
swallows her up. (Etymologically Sita means "fissure" as made by a plow.) 

Then we have Cinca--who was a cheater (liar) and exposed after group
objections surfaced, she does not pass the test when a monk destroys her
disguise, and is swallowed up by the earth.

Ain't folklore wunnerful!

Best,
Joanna 

-----Original Message-----
From: buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com
[mailto:buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of Joy Vriens
Sent: Monday, March 04, 2013 10:15 AM
To: Buddhist discussion forum
Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] Another One Bites the Dust

The only possible element that I can think of is the story of Cincamanavika
(http://www.tipitaka.net/tipitaka/dhp/verseload.php?verse=176).One could see
this story as a case of damage control, a cover up. Accusations of this type
could have been made against the Buddha or his monks. And this story could
then have been used to discredit the alleged victim and/or as a means to
dissuade any possible future accusers. Any woman coming forth with this sort
of accusations could then be referred to as a woman with evil intentions
like Cincamanavika.Good devout souls would probably not even need a story to
prove the purity of the Buddha and his monks.
Non Buddhists could still have been convinced because of Sakka's
intervention or by the cracking and fissuring swallowing up by the earth.But
for modern readers, the intervention of Sakka and his four rats and the
opening of the gates of Hell are a very suspicious Deux ex machina, rather
pointing to a clumsy cover up attempt.

If one believes the Buddha is a fictional character, then it doesn't make
sense the literature about the Buddha would mention sexual abuse or other
misdemeanors and misconduct by the Buddha.

Le 04/03/2013 08:11, Richard Hayes a écrit :

> As an aside, when the world-famous Jémez Thunder (the fortnightly 
> newspaper of Jémez Springs, NM, the village of 250 human denizens 
> where Sasaki-owned Bodhi Manda Zen Center is situated) ran a story on 
> Sasaki-roshi on January 1, 2013, it said that this problem was nothing 
> new in Buddhism. After all, said the story, the Buddha himself 
> reportedly sexually abused his disciples. This was news to me, and I 
> wondered where on earth the writer of the story got that idea. What 
> was written in what book that could be misremembered or misinterpreted 
> in such a way that it became that claim? Any speculations? Richard 
> _______________________________________________ buddha-l mailing list 
> buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com 
> http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l

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