The Buddhist origins of Reiki (video)

Reiki Founder Mikao Usui

Mikao Usui (1865-1926), commonly Usui Mikao in Japanese, was the founder of Reiki, a form of spiritual energy healing used as an alternative therapy for the treatment of physical, emotional, and mental diseases.

He taught Reiki to over 2,000 people during his lifetime. Eleven of these students continued their training to reach the Shinpiden level, equivalent to the Western third degree or Master level.

Early life, family, and education

What is our energetic aura?

He was born in Taniai village (now Miyama cho), Yamagata district, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, now located near present-day Nagoya. His ancestors were the once influential Chiba clan of Hatamoto samurai.

According to the inscription on his memorial, Tsunetane Chiba, a military commander during the end of the Heian period and the start of the Kamakura period (1180-1230), was one of Usui's ancestors.

In 1551, Toshitane Chiba conquered the city Usui and thereafter all family members acquired that name.

Usui was raised as a samurai from childhood, specifically in the martial arts techniques of aiki (合氣術) or "Way of Aiki" = Aikido.

• A Shumei member recently told us that three Japanese men all belonged to an organization called Oomoto Kyo ("Great Source"). One went on to develop Reiki, another (Morihei Ueshiba) Aikido, and a third (Mokichi Okada) Jyorei energy healing and Shumei.
• Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba developed Aikido as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. His goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attackers from injury. Aikido is often translated as "the way of unifying (with) life energy" or as "the way of harmonious spirit." According to the founder's philosophy, the primary goal in the practice of aikido is to overcome oneself instead of cultivating violence or aggressiveness against others.

Although there are many stories extant in the United States that Usui earned a doctorate in theology at the theological seminary of the University of Chicago, he never attended, let alone received any degree from the University of Chicago.

Career and activities

There is a universal life force (chi or ki)

As an adult, it is believed that he traveled to several Western countries, including the Americas, Europe, and China as a part of his continued study.

His studies included medicine, history, Buddhism, Christianity, psychology, and Taoism.

It is believed that the aim of Usui's teachings was to provide a method for students to achieve connection with the "universal life force" energy (prana, esoteric energy, holy spirit, spiritus, animating force) that would help them in their self-development.

What sets his teachings apart from other hands-on healing methods is his use of attunement (reiju) to remind students of their spiritual connection.

It seems that all of his students received five principles to live by and those with a further interest in the teachings became dedicated students.

There does not appear to have been a distinction between clients and students in the beginning though this may have changed at some point.

People began coming to Usui Mikao possibly for different purposes -- some for healing and others for the spiritual teachings.

Shugendō is a Japanese mountain ascetic shamanism that incorporates Shinto and Buddhist practices [15].

The roles of Shugendō practitioners include offering religious services such as fortune telling, divination, channeling, prayer, ritual incantations, and exorcism.

Shugendo was often used by family clans to heal disease or avoid misfortune [11].

Claims of Reiki's Christian origins

Hawayo Takata, a Reiki Master under the tutelage of Chujiro Hayashi (林 忠次郎, 1880–1940), lied about Reiki's history of development to make Reiki more appealing to the West [16].

To this end she made a relation of Reiki with Jesus Christ and not with Buddhism.

Buddhist origins of Reiki

She also falsely presented Usui as the dean of a Christian school. While he had obtained the knowledge of Reiki from the Buddhist religious book The Tantra of the Lightning Flash, Takata claimed that he had been inspired from the story of Jesus Christ, who had healed with the touch of his hand.

So Usui, it was said, had come to America to learn Reiki. She told this to spread Reiki among Christians, too, believing it would otherwise be extinct.

However, in 1994, the original manuscript was found, which claimed that Reiki had originated from Gautama Buddha, the historical founder of Buddhism [17]. More

• Healing in Buddhism: Part 2 (abuddhistlibrary.com)
• Original Reiki info the sources: Part 3 (stason.org)
• Reiki: Tibetan Buddhist Origins? (aetw.org)
• Reiki is not a religion: The 2003 CESNUR Conference: The "Quasi-Religion" of Reiki (Menegotto)

The origins of Reiki and the glory of India:  It's all prana (breath, spirit, spiritual-energy)

(Yogiraj SatGurunath Siddhanath) Nov. 22, 2015. Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath World Tour Schedule: siddhanath.org

• Dhr. Seven, Caroline, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly, Wiki; Yogiraj SatGurunath Siddhanath

Malaysia: Buddhist-Hindu temples discovered

(Obsidian Discoveries) Impossible Buddhist discoveries in Malaysia that terrify everyone

• Buddhism in Malaysia
• Buddhism in Singapore
• Bujang Valley
• Sungai Batu
• Tambun rock art
• Mount Jerai Mountain
• Candi temples: A candi (from Kawi caṇḍi [1]) is a Hindu or Buddhist temple in Indonesia, mostly built during the Zaman Hindu-Buddha or "Hindu-Buddhist period" between the 4th and 15th centuries.
• Does the Indonesian yakkha or "Bigfoot" (Orang Pendek) live in these jungles protecting natural resources?

Swami on overcoming the sex itch

Begins in English at Minute 13:13

(Western Hare Krishna/Hindu monk Bhatki Vikasa Swami) Overcoming the Sex Itch | SB 7.9.45

• His guru A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
• Brahmacharya: restraint, sexual abstinence
• Misogyny: literally "hatred of females," figuratively promoting separation of the sexes or normative sex role stereotyping [or saying there are only two genders]
• Ashtanga (The Eight Limbs of Yoga)
• Celibacy: choosing to abstain from sex
• Bhakti Yoga: union by way of devotion
• Vedas: ancient Indian "knowledge books"
• ISKCON: Int'l Society of Krishna Consciousness
• The Dharmic religions of India

Heart Sutra: Buddha's Mother: Perfect Wisdom

(Buddha's Wisdom) Who is PRAJNA PARAMITA? The mother behind the Heart Sutra

• The Buddha's [6] Mothers' Day (Prajna Paramita as 7th)

Perfection of Insight, Prajnaparamita (LACMA)

All hail the Goddess (Devi) Prajna Paramita (of Java), the Mother of the Perfection of Wisdom, the most tremendous, the most excellent of the Ten Perfections (paramitas) which the historical Buddha cultivated for aeons as the Bodhisatta (the "being bent on supreme enlightenment").

The Heart Sutra is the world's most popular Buddhist sutra. Sadly, from a young age, even I recognized something in its magical wording (Edward Conze translation). It had a small tract of it in English and Chinese, and I would approach Chinese friends to translate some of the incomprehensible parts -- one line in particular: "until we come to."

Sveta Sofia (Wisdom) of Bulgaria

What in the world? It turns out that was just Conze's way of saying "...". And other parts were explained to me as having been written in an archaic form of Old (liturgical) Chinese few people spoke, which they were very embarrassed to admit. The Berkeley Zen Center was even more forthcoming, suggesting it was just something to chant, not something one could hope to make sense of, like a Sanskrit seed-mantra. So they just chanted it, on the one hand, rote, mindlessly, thoughtlessly, with no investigation that it might actually mean something sensible. I, on the other hand, was tenacious, spending years making sense of it. And every year it made more and more sense.

The lost meaning has been recovered. 

My Theravada study of it revealed exactly what it was all about after a few years due to some key phrases that do not make sense on their own but make perfect sense as references to ancient Buddhist texts, such as lists of the BASES (ayatanas). The final crowning explanation came from Alan Watts* making sense of the strange wording, which might trip one up for years. I attribute this to a flexible way of translating any Sanskrit or Pali word, all of which have much wider valence, admitting to a range of translations, not one fixed English word to serve all situations.

• 

  A bodhisattva helping living beings

  The key secret is to realize that Śūnyatā ("Emptiness," void) is synonymous with the Pali suññatā ("impersonal" = anatta). Then everything else falls into place.
• This is because what the Heart Sutra (Prajñā-pāramitā-hṛdaya Discourse) is talking about are the Five Aggregates clung to as self, pointing out that every "heap" -- each one of the Five Aggregates -- is actually devoid of self. It is impersonal and is in that sense "empty." It has no "independent existence." What kind of existence does it have? It has a dependently-originated one. It is foolish to think there is nothing there at all as if all things were the void: There is no thing there, but there is something, some stuff, something is appearing. In the ultimate sense, "things" (dhammas, dharmas, phenomena) have an existence and so are called "things." The one thing that is not a thing is nirvana (the deathless, amata/amrita, the unconditioned element). Nirvana, being free of conditions, does not bear the (three universal) marks of "things." This "self" we cling to is just such a "thing," a conglomeration of other "things" (aggregates, groups, heaps), bearing the universal marks of being impermanent, unsatisfactory, and impersonal.

• 

  Avalokitesvara (in basalt)

  "Self" arises in this way, not as a real entity but an illusion brought about by the presence of the aggregates. When one grasps that all there has ever been are phenomenal aggregates -- impermanent, disappointing, and impersonal -- then the heart naturally lets go with no prompting and becomes free of all clinging and all further suffering.
• It is called the "Heart" (hṛdaya) Sutra not because of emotions or sweetness but because it comes as the culmination, the brief summary, the pith, the essence of 100,000 lines or verses of detailed explanation. It is the essence of perfected wisdom. It is the key to stream entry, that which when not grasped keeps us as ordinary worldling but when grasped causes a "change of lineage" (gotrabhu) to the noble ones. The Buddha himself said it. There are not enlightened disciples to be found in other traditions, at least not in the Buddhist sense of the term bodhi ("awakened," "enlightened," "liberated") because nowhere else is this Doctrine of No-Self ever taught, ever revealed, ever explained, although all popular religions seem to have an innate understanding that being egoless is far wiser than being full of ego. For example, in popular Christianity, in the eyes of God, what is the worst sin? Pride.

Beloved Kwan Yin (Guanyin)

Better than [the Goddess of Compassion] Kwan Yin (the feminine form of Avalokiteshvara)? More beloved than [the Cosmic Buddha of Light] Amitabha? No, probably not, but what is higher and more exalted than wisdom?

The Buddha himself noted how popular and beloved Ananda was, whereas the monastics did not seem to realize the kalyana-mitta (noble/enlightening friendship) potential of Ven. Sariputta, the male monastic he declared foremost in wisdom. One can easily imagine the same thing must have happened among the females with the Buddha highlighting the value of the great bhikkhuni Ven. Khema, the nun he declared foremost in wisdom.

Sariputta and MM become disciples

Now, one may ask, Why is Avalokiteśvara -- who is later transformed into the Goddess or Personification of Compassion (Kwan Yin/Guanyin) -- addressing Ven. Sariputra of all people in this most famous of all apocryphal "discourses"?

UCLA Prof. Robert E. Buswell Jr. (who ordained as a monk in Korean Zen then Sri Lankan Theravada before becoming a Western academic) explained the reason to us in class. Brahminical/Chinese Mahayana is holding up the monk disciple (shravaka) the Buddha declared "foremost in wisdom" as a scarecrow, stick figure, or punching bag to mock his supposed "wisdom," as if he were a mere intellect, a clueless egghead, a Brahmin nerd, a clueless dork compared to their god (deva, deity) Avalokita, whom they declare an "enlightenment being" (bodhi-sattva) and "great being" (maha-sattva, a Mahayana maha-sthamaprapta).

• How the Western world personified Wisdom (Sophia): The personification of wisdom
• But there has to be a "self," right? No, here are some examples of in what sense there is not-a-self: Egoless Led Zeppelin (JBLZE) in Hollywood?

How to make the Heart Sutra simpler?

Rewrite it in modern English so readers get it

Holding lotus, symbol of blossoming

Wow, this perfection of wisdom is cool! It's eye-opening!

Avi, awake and wanting to awaken others, was reviewing the wisdom that has gone beyond. He looked down from on high and saw just five heaps, saw that in and of themselves they are impersonal, NOT A SELF, empty.

Herein, Sali, form implies emptiness, and emptiness implies form. Emptiness is not different than form, and form is not different than emptiness. They are mutually dependent. Anything that is empty, impersonal, and not-self is form.

• 

  The Zen ensō (zero, circle)

  [Conze translates these famous line as: "Form is emptiness, and the very emptiness is form; emptiness does not differ from form; form does not differ from emptiness; whatever is emptiness, that is form; [whatever is form, that is emptiness;] the same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses (cetana, volitions), and consciousness."
• What in the world does it mean? "Form" (Rūpa) and "Emptiness" (Pali Suññatā, Sanskrit Śūnyatā), Alan Watts explains in the video below, go together, are inseparable, are relational, one revealing the other, making no sense without the other. The instant one comes into being (arises), the other necessarily comes into being at the same time, for one cannot be without the other, just as opposite pairs depend on one another: being/nonbeing, birth/death, origin/cessation, yin/yang, figure/background. One would be meaningless without the other, for the other provides contrast and give it its definition.
• So it would, in fact, be more sensible (better for meaning) to translate this line as, "Form (shape, color) reveals (exactly is, is inseparable from, always goes with, is inseparably related to) emptiness..." or "Form (solidity, density, tangibility) is not (designated, defined, found) without emptiness (a hollow or void) because they co-arise mutually. "One (exhibits) brings out the fact of the other.]
• What is an Enso? (Lion’s Roar)

And the same is true of [of the other four heaps/aggregates] sensations, perceptions, formations, and consciousnesses.

• 

  Sali is Ven. Sariputra in this scene.

  [Rather than a solid thing that can easily be grasped like form (Four Elements, maha-bhuta or dhatus, qualities of materiality of form-particles), the stream of consciousness is an impersonal PROCESS, not a static object.]

Herein [here within this Doctrine], Sali, all phenomena are impersonal. They bear the mark of being impersonal, empty: They are not produced and not stopped, not dirty and not clean, not missing something and not full.

So you see, Sali, in the impersonal, there is no form (no body composed of the Four Elements), nor sensations, nor perceptions, nor formations, nor consciousnesses.

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva as "Avi"

There are no bases for these things [that are all dependently originated]: no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, nor the things that impinge on them: forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, or objects of mind, nor the things these sense depend on for their sensitivity: no element (sensitive tissue) of sight, and so forth, until we come to: no element (sensitive tissue) at the heart of consciousness.

[Why? It is because, after all, all things are impersonal, empty, not a self, so a bunch of them together don't make a self either).]

Devi Prajnaparamita of Java

Likewise, really, there is no ignorance, so there is no end of ignorance [since it doesn't really exist except as an illusion), and so forth, until we come to: There is no aging and death, no end of aging and death. There is no disappointment, no coming into being, no extinction, and no path to the extinction of disappointment. There is no knowing, no attainment, and there is no non-attainment of this realization.

And so, Sali, because of one's not-attaining anything that a being-bent-on-enlightenment, perfecting this wisdom that has gone beyond, dwells free of discursive thoughts. In their absence, one is free of trembling. One has overcome all that can upset and so realized nirvana.

Sophia (Library of Celsus)

All those who appear as supremely awakened teachers the three periods of time -- past, present, and future -- fully awake to this utmost realization, right and perfect awakening because they have perfected the wisdom that has gone beyond.

So, Sali, everyone should know this perfection of wisdom as a kind of mantra, the mantra of great knowing, the utmost mantra, the unequalled mantra, the allayer of all disappointment and ill. It's true; I mean, what could really go wrong except that it be an illusion?

By perfecting the wisdom that has gone beyond, this mantra becomes clear, and it runs like this:

Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha!

("Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, oh what an awakening, it's true!")

This is indeed the pith of perfect wisdom.

Self, in the ultimate analysis, does not exist

(Khenpo Sodargye's Teachings) If there is no self, who reincarnates? | National Taiwan U Q&A

*Alan Watts: "Form is emptiness, AND emptiness is form." Why?

(Alan Watts, Zen Reconsidered, Part 2) Alan Watts explains shunyata at Minute 32:34

We were happy just to CHANT it

Reciting Heart Sutra for Wisdom, Compassion, Purification; Om Gate Mantra (Buddha Weekly)

.

Is enlightenment possible for everyone?

 

Icon of Holy Wisdom (Vologda)

(Dalai Lama) Can everyone be enlightened? Moksha ("liberation," vimutti, "freedom" from samsara and suffering, "deliverance," salvation) is of two kinds, two levels, a happy life here and now [with possibly a heavenly rebirth for moral behavior hereafter] or attaining liberating-insight and final emancipation here and now in this very life through moral behavior, stillness (samadhi, settled calm, concentration), and vipassana (comprehending and cultivating Dependent Origination sufficient in theory and complete in practice).

• The Heart Sutra: Insights from Gautama Buddha's Teachings (Beetle Book Shop)
• Buddha's Wisdom (video); Dalai Lama (Q&A); Khenpo Sodargye (Q&A); Alan Watts (Zen Reconsidered, Pt. 2); Dhr. Seven (text), CC Liu (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Gay pervert or eunuch? What's a pandaka?

Gaga the Pandaka: moment in queer history

As is well known, the Pali term pandaka has two different meanings. The first is "eunuch." This meaning is not in doubt.

• 

  Italian militant, Second Italo-Ethiopian War

  [Though what most individuals in the West imagine a eunuch is may well be in doubt since it has more to do with testicles and testosterone production than the presence or absence of a penis after castration, which most think means "penis removal." Removal of the male gonads or testes, such as in the case of Italian Catholic castratos, will produce a "eunuch" with an intact penis but not a means of producing adequate male hormones.]
• [What are testosterone, steroid hormones, and synthetic steroids? They are androgenic or masculinizing compounds, present and important in the development and of both males and females, is what makes a person "virile" (Pali viriya "energetic, effortful, industrious, heroic"). Although androgens are commonly thought of only as male sex hormones, females also have them, but at lower levels: They function in libido and sexual arousal. Androgens are the precursors to estrogens in all humans.]
• [My Old Man's a Fatso: Hey, Dad, get TestoGreens Max! But it's his aromatase. Where's his saw palmetto extract?]

Castration as punishment, 16th century

Indeed, related terms are found in several Indo-Aryan languages (cf. Turner 1966;435, no. 7717, panda- [m.] "a eunuch, weakling"; Monier-Williams 1899:580; Childers 1875;328):

Sanskrit: panda-h (m.) "a eunuch, weakling"; pandaka-h (m.) "a eunuch, weakling"; pandaga-h (m.) (probably) "a eunuch, weakling"; pandra-h (m.) "a eunuch, impotent man"; pandraka-h (m.) "a eunuch, impotent man."

Pali: pandaka- (m.) "a eunuch, weakling"; pandika (f.).

Prakrit: pamda-, pamdaga-, pamdaya (m.) "a eunuch, weakling."

The Indo-Aryan terms are usually taken to be loanwords from Dravidian (cf. Mayrhofer 1956-1980.II:196; Burrow 1973:384):

Tamil pen "woman," pentu "woman, wife," pentan, pentakan, pentakam, "hermaphrodite, eunuch," pennan "effeminate man," peti "hermaphrodite";

Malayalam pen "a female, especially a female child, girl," pennan "effeminate'';

Kannada pen, pennu, penda "female, woman," pentana "state of being a female, feminine character or behavior";

Telugu penti "woman," pedi "eunuch"; etc. (cf. Burrow-Emeneau 1984:388, no. 4395).

Second definition

That there is a second meaning is also not in dispute. However, what, exactly, that meaning is has been the source of controversy.

According to one interpretation, the second meaning of pandak is "male homosexual." This cannot possibly be correct and is based upon a critical misinterpretation of a key [Theravada Buddhist] text, namely, the story about a pandaka who was ordained as a [Buddhist monk or] Bhikkhu [1] and who, overcome by sexual desire, went around trying to persuade other Bhikkhus and lay persons to sodomize him.

• [Indonesian Orang Pendek means "short person" or "little man," a kind of cryptid Bigfoot creature or bipedal primate from the remote, forested mountains of the island of Sumatra.]

After several lay persons did so, the Sangha [2] was criticized for allowing such a person to be ordained as a Bhikkhu.

When this came to the Buddha's attention, He forbade pandakas from being ordained and ordered the pandaka in question to be expelled from the Sangha. [He also set up a rule not to ordain pandakas in the future and that if someone had already been ordained and was found to be a pandaka, that person was to be immediately expelled. See Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender edited by UCSB Prof. José Ignacio Cabezón for more details on this incident.]

As noted by Kelvin Wong (2005), it is clear from the Pali Tipitaka [3] that the Buddha was aware of the difference between eunuchs, hermaphrodites, and homosexuals.

More: The Two Meanings of the Pali Term "Pandaka" | PDF | Pali | Indian Religions by Allan R. Bomhard

FOOTNOTES

1. A Buddhist Monk. A Buddhist Nun is called "Bhikkhuni."

2. The Buddhist Monastic Order.

3. The canonical scriptures of Theravadin Buddhism, preserved in the Middle Indo-Aryan language now known as "Pali," the original meaning of which was simply "text." These scriptures are divided into three-"baskets" (ti-pitaka): (1) the disciplinary rules for Monks and Nuns (Vinaya Pitaka); (2) the discourses of the Buddha and several of His chief disciples (Sutta Pitaka); and (3) the "higher doctrine" (Abhidhamma Pitaka) [or the Dharma explained in ultimate terms].

• Open-access under the terms of creativecommons.org/license/by/4.0)
• Allan R. Bomhard, 2021 (scribd.com); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

PTS: The Pali Text Society (new website)

The Pali Text Society (PTS)

The British Pali Text Society was established in 1881 and gave us some of the very first translations of ancient Theravada Buddhist texts by such renowned and influential scholars as:

• Isaline Blew Horner
• T. W. Rhys Davids
• Mrs. Caroline A. F. Rhys Davids
• Christmas Humphreys
• R. C. Childers
• F. L. Woodward
• and others who so influenced our teacher
• American Bhikkhu Bodhi, student of
• Sri Lankan Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya
• German Ven. Nyanaponika
• German Ven. Nyanatiloka (author of the best Buddhist Dictionary)
• Sri Lankan Ven. Walpola Rahula (author of What the Buddha Taught)
• and the staff of the Buddhist Publication Society
• and British Maurice O'Connell Walshe (translator of The Long Discourses of the Buddha),
• who in turn had such a preponderant influence on Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal that, were it not for PTS and BPS, there would be no WQ in the English language.

Why Pali and not Sanskrit?

Pali [Magadhi or Magadhi Prakrit, a lingua franca similar to but simpler than Vedic Sanskrit, the exclusive liturgy language of elitist Brahmin priests who adhered to the Old Vedic Religion that preceded Hinduism by thousands of years] is the language of the most complete collection of early Buddhist texts, the Pali canon or Ti-pitaka (the collected Buddhist texts in "Three Baskets" of suttas, vinaya, and abhidhamma), which constitutes "the word of the historical Buddha" as handed down by the tradition of Theravada (the "Teachings of the Enlightened Elders of the Buddha") Buddhism for over 2,000 years.

Since 1881 the Pali Text Society has promoted the study of Pali texts by publishing editions, translations, and other works related to the study of Pali literature.

On the new website one can purchase PTS publications, download many PTS publications for FREE, and find other material and links related to the study of Pali Buddhist texts.

One can also support the Society by becoming a member, getting a 20% discount on all purchases: palitextsociety.org

• The official site of the Pali Text Society (PTS)
• Pali Text Society c/o Gravita Oxford LLP
• First Floor, Park Central 40 - 41 Park End Street
• Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 1JD
• UK Telephone: +44 (0)7436 534 179
• Skype: palitextsociety
• Email: info@palitextsociety.org

Buddhism split: Mahayana emerged

(Buddha's Wisdom) Heretical new texts turn the historical Buddha Shakyamuni's Dharma (Doctrine) on its head, infusing it with the Old Vedic Religion of the Brahmins, Taoism, Hinduism, and later thought, sometimes directly opposing what Gautama Buddha taught about nirvana and samsara and many other things, including the Ten Perfections (reduced by Mahayana to six) and the 31 Planes of Existence (reduced to six)...

Priceless relics of the Buddha found

Dr. Ranajit Pal, Ph.D.

Bones of the Buddha is a documentary about the British excavation of one of the eight stupas (Buddhist burial mound and reliquary found in Piprahwa, now India, near the border with Nepal) where the historical Buddha's cremation remains (sarira or relics) were placed after the Buddha's final nirvana (parinibbana). More

• Ranajit Pal's Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander makes sense of the ancient history of proto-India and India and sheds light on the real motives of Alexander the Great in his Gedrosian expedition.

What treasure was in the stupa?

(Doug's Dhamma) William Claxton Peppe excavates on his land in India

Bones of the Buddha: full documentary puts this monumental find in context

• Charles Allen; Bones of the Buddha (documentary); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly